diff --git a/effects/internal/vsthostwin.cpp b/effects/internal/vsthostwin.cpp
index f3c79fffe..093298907 100644
--- a/effects/internal/vsthostwin.cpp
+++ b/effects/internal/vsthostwin.cpp
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 #include <QPushButton>
 #include <QDialog>
 #include <QMessageBox>
+#include <QFile>
+#include <QXmlStreamWriter>
 
 #include "playback/audio.h"
 #include "mainwindow.h"
@@ -30,6 +32,9 @@ extern "C" {
 		case audioMasterGetCurrentProcessLevel:
 			return 0;
 		// Handle other opcodes here... there will be lots of them
+		case audioMasterEndEdit: // change made
+			mainWindow->setWindowModified(true);
+			break;
 		default:
 			dout << "[INFO] Plugin requested unhandled opcode" << opcode;
 			break;
@@ -214,6 +219,27 @@ void VSTHostWin::process_audio(double timecode_start, double timecode_end, quint
 	}
 }
 
+void VSTHostWin::custom_load(QXmlStreamReader &stream) {
+	if (stream.name() == "plugindata") {
+		stream.readNext();
+		QByteArray b = QByteArray::fromBase64(stream.text().toUtf8());
+		const char* data = b.constData();
+		if (plugin != NULL) {
+			dispatcher(plugin, effSetChunk, 0, (VstInt32) b.size(), (void*) b.constData(), 0);
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+void VSTHostWin::save(QXmlStreamWriter &stream) {
+	Effect::save(stream);
+	if (plugin != NULL) {
+		char* p = NULL;
+		VstInt32 length = dispatcher(plugin, effGetChunk, 0, 0, &p, 0);
+		QByteArray b(p, length);
+		stream.writeTextElement("plugindata", b.toBase64());
+	}
+}
+
 void VSTHostWin::show_interface(bool show) {
 	dialog->setVisible(show);
 }
diff --git a/effects/internal/vsthostwin.h b/effects/internal/vsthostwin.h
index 8b164576f..cf057cfee 100644
--- a/effects/internal/vsthostwin.h
+++ b/effects/internal/vsthostwin.h
@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ public:
 	VSTHostWin(Clip* c, const EffectMeta* em);
 	~VSTHostWin();
 	void process_audio(double timecode_start, double timecode_end, quint8* samples, int nb_bytes, int channel_count);
+
+	void custom_load(QXmlStreamReader& stream);
+	void save(QXmlStreamWriter& stream);
 private slots:
 	void show_interface(bool show);
 	void uncheck_show_button();
diff --git a/project/effect.cpp b/project/effect.cpp
index cf0c495ea..64ccefbc5 100644
--- a/project/effect.cpp
+++ b/project/effect.cpp
@@ -641,42 +641,6 @@ void Effect::load(QXmlStreamReader& stream) {
 				while (!stream.atEnd() && !(stream.name() == "row" && stream.isEndElement())) {
 					stream.readNext();
 
-					// read keyframes
-					/*if (stream.name() == "keyframes" && stream.isStartElement()) {
-						for (int k=0;k<stream.attributes().size();k++) {
-							const QXmlStreamAttribute& attr = stream.attributes().at(k);
-							if (attr.name() == "enabled") {
-								row->setKeyframing(attr.value() == "1");
-							}
-						}
-						if (row->isKeyframing()) {
-							stream.readNext();
-							while (!stream.atEnd() && !(stream.name() == "keyframes" && stream.isEndElement())) {
-								if (stream.name() == "key" && stream.isStartElement()) {
-									long keyframe_frame;
-									int keyframe_type;
-									for (int k=0;k<stream.attributes().size();k++) {
-										const QXmlStreamAttribute& attr = stream.attributes().at(k);
-										if (attr.name() == "frame") {
-											keyframe_frame = attr.value().toLong();
-										} else if (attr.name() == "type") {
-											keyframe_type = attr.value().toInt();
-										}
-									}
-									for (int k=0;k<row->fieldCount();k++) {
-										EffectField* field = row->field(k);
-										EffectKeyframe key;
-										key.time = keyframe_frame;
-										key.type = keyframe_type;
-										field->keyframes.append(key);
-									}
-								}
-								stream.readNext();
-							}
-						}
-						stream.readNext();
-					}*/
-
 					// read field
 					if (stream.name() == "field" && stream.isStartElement()) {
 						if (field_count < row->fieldCount()) {
@@ -698,9 +662,6 @@ void Effect::load(QXmlStreamReader& stream) {
 								}
 							}
 
-							// TODO DEPRECATED, only used for backwards compatibility with 180820
-							if (!found_field_by_id) dout << "[INFO] Found field by field number";
-
 							EffectField* field = row->field(field_number);
 
 							// get current field value
@@ -752,10 +713,14 @@ void Effect::load(QXmlStreamReader& stream) {
 				dout << "[ERROR] Too many rows for effect" << id << ". Project might be corrupt. (Got" << row_count << ", expected <" << rows.size()-1 << ")";
 			}
 			row_count++;
+		} else if (stream.isStartElement()) {
+			custom_load(stream);
 		}
 	}
 }
 
+void Effect::custom_load(QXmlStreamReader &stream) {}
+
 void Effect::save(QXmlStreamWriter& stream) {
 	stream.writeAttribute("name", meta->name);
 	stream.writeAttribute("enabled", QString::number(is_enabled()));
diff --git a/project/effect.h b/project/effect.h
index d1a2cb4b2..f3f39e7d9 100644
--- a/project/effect.h
+++ b/project/effect.h
@@ -136,7 +136,8 @@ public:
 	void copy_field_keyframes(Effect *e);
 
 	void load(QXmlStreamReader& stream);
-	void save(QXmlStreamWriter& stream);
+	virtual void custom_load(QXmlStreamReader& stream);
+	virtual void save(QXmlStreamWriter& stream);
 
 	// glsl handling
 	bool is_open();