I’ve “wished” for this functionality myself but don’t remember ever asking for it because implementing it raises all the questions already raised here (and probably a lot more).
But as long as it’s a topic now, here’s what I thought…
- simplest: the panel tries to preserve links to the plugin either by the “name” as set by the user, or maybe the OSC/GPScript Handle as set by the user. If a plugin by that name isn’t currently in the wiring view either automatically stick it in (assuming the VST exists) or just sever the links.
- much more complex: somehow link the panel(s) and the plugins into the “favorites” system (which I’ve never actually used, so can’t even speculate on the feasibility or practicality of that)
I don’t have a burning desire for this. It would be a “nice to have” that I’d certainly use because it fits with the way I use GP.
I tend to have way more knobs, buttons, and sliders on my panels than I would ever even contemplate touching while performing. I do that because I tweak sounds a lot during “sound design”, and prefer to tweak using widgets rather than the plugin windows. I get the sense a lot of users work this way.
I also tend to separate my panels into logical groups that follow how I set up sound chains or my controllers. e.g., for guitar I’ll typically have a panel for the pre-amp FX (chorus, overdrive, trem, wah, etc.), a panel for the amp sim, and a panel with parametric EQ. It would be handy to be able to load a “favorite” that combines a panel with a block of (say) four fx VSTs. Then I just load that and wire it up to the rest of the rackspace. Similar for the amp sim and the eq panels.
Again, not a priority wish for me, but since the topic is open those are my thoughts.