How are VST Plugins made

Question

I would like to make  or learn how to make  VST plugins  Is there a special SDK for this  how does one yield a  vst instead of a  exe  Also  if one is looking to make Audio Units for Logic Pro  how is that done  Thanks

User · Answer

I wrote up a HOWTO for VST development on C++ with Visual Studio awhile back which details the steps necessary to create a basic plugin for the Windows platform (the Mac version of this article is forthcoming). On Windows, a VST plugin is just a normal DLL, but there are a number of "gotchas", and you need to build the plugin using some specific compiler/linker switches or else it won't be recognized by some hosts.

As for the Mac, a VST plugin is just a bundle with the .vst extension, though there are also a few settings which must be configured correctly in order to generate a valid plugin. You can also download a set of Xcode VST plugin project templates I made awhile back which can help you to write a working plugin on that platform.

As for AudioUnits, Apple has provided their own project templates which are included with Xcode. Apple also has very good tutorials and documentation online:

Audio Unit Programming Guide

I would also highly recommend checking out the Juce Framework, which has excellent support for creating cross-platform VST/AU plugins. If you're going open-source, then Juce is a no-brainer, but you will need to pay licensing fees for it if you plan on releasing your work without source code.

User · Answer

I know this is 3 years old  but for everyone reading this now  Don t stick to VST  AU or any vendor s format  Steinberg has stopped supporting VST2  and people are in trouble porting their code to newer formats  because it s too tied to VST2   These tutorials cover creating plugins that run on Win Mac  32 64  all plugin formats from the same code base

User · Answer

Start with this link to the wiki  explains what they are and gives links to the sdk  Here is some information regarding the deve  How to compile a plugin - For making VST plugins in C  Builder  first you need the VST sdk by Steinberg  It s available from the Yvan Grabit s site  the link is at the top of the page    The next thing you need to do is create a  def file  for example   myplugin def   This needs to contain at least the following lines   EXPORTS main  main   Borland compilers add an underscore to function names  and this exports the main   function the way a VST host expects it  For more information about  def files  see the C  Builder help files   This is not enough  though  If you re going to use any VCL element  anything to do with forms or components   you have to take care your plugin doesn t crash Cubase  or another VST host  for that matter   Here s how    Include float h  In the constructor of your effect class  write   control87 PC 64 MCW EM MCW PC MCW EM      That should do the trick   Here are some more useful sites   http   www steinberg net en company developer html  how to write a vst plugin  pdf  via http   www asktoby com  vsttutorial

User · Answer

I realize this is a very old post  but I have had success using the JUCE library  which builds projects for the major IDE s like Xcode  VS  and Codeblocks and automatically builds VST 3  AU v3  RTAS  and AAX   https   www juce com

User · Answer

If you know a  NET language  C  VB NET etc  then checkout VST NET  This framework allows you to create  unmanaged  VST 2 4 plugins in  NET  It comes with a framework that structures and simplifies the creation of a VST Plugin with support for Parameters  Programs and Persistence   There are several samples that demonstrate the typical plugin scenarios  There s also documentation that explains how to get started and some of the concepts behind VST NET   Hope it helps  Marc Jacobi

[c++] How are VST Plugins made?

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