BFD3 | How to Import and Use Custom Palettes

This guide explains how to import and organize custom groove palettes in BFD3. Palettes are a collection of MIDI grooves saved into a single file, allowing users to refer to a single point in BFD3 when loading their favourite grooves. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• What is a Palette in BFD3?
• How to Create and Save a Palette
• How to Import Custom Palettes
• Tagging and Organizing Your Palettes

What is a Palette in BFD3?

A Palette in BFD3 is a user-defined collection of MIDI grooves organized into slots, with additional metadata such as tags, tempo, time signature, and genre. Saving grooves as a Palette allows users to:

• Organize grooves into musical or functional groups

• Assign tags for easy filtering and searching

• Share multiple grooves in one file

How to Create and Save a Palette

1. In BFD3, open the Groove Editor tab.

2. Drag your MIDI grooves from a folder into the slot area on the right-hand side.

3. Once grooves are loaded into the palette slots, click the i icon to open tag settings.

4. Use the Palette tab to set name, author, BPM, time signature, genre, and comments.

5. Click Copy to Grooves if you also want to move grooves into your User Groove library.

6. To save the palette:

   • Click the top-left BFD3 menu icon → File → Save Groove Palette...

How to Import Custom Palettes

To import palettes from another user or external source:

1. Copy the .bfdpal palette file into the following directory:
   Documents\BFD Drums\BFD3\Grooves

2. Launch or re-open BFD3.

3. Go to the Grooves tab.

4. If the palette doesn’t appear automatically, click the top-left menu → Tools → Set up content locations → Grooves, then click Rescan User Paths.

Important: Avoid using batch import for shared palettes. Manually move them to the correct folder.

Tagging and Organizing Your Palettes

1. After importing, select the palette and click the i icon.

2. Edit tags and metadata under the Palette and Groove sections.

3. Tags allow you to filter and sort grooves using the Search bar or tag filters.