Example of a self contained VST3/VST2 plugin

Note 2020/01

This project was created in 2018 using the VST3 SDK 3.6.9 which includes VST2. More recent versions of the SDK have removed VST2 support. Although this project is still valid as long as you use 3.6.9, you should check Jamba which offers a very easy way to bootstrap a blank self contained plugin which depends on the SDK. Jamba also offers a lot of additional features.

Why this project?

The latest VST3 SDK (3.6.9) provides instructions to build a VST that doesn't live inside the SDK itself which is a big enhancement from prior versions which did not provide this capability.

That being said, the solution introduced is still backward in my mind: you need to tell the SDK where your plugin is. The name of the project is still vstsdk.

In addition, the VST3 SDK 3.6.9 introduced a couple of issues which makes it impossible to build it without using Xcode.

This project is exactly the again example that ships part of the VST3 SDK but self contained and depending on the SDK (vs being part of the SDK). As a result it can be used as a starting point to build other plugins.

What this project is not

This project is not a tutorial on how to write a VST3 plugin. It only deals with building a plugin outside the SDK.

Configuration and requirements

This project is known to work on macOS High Siera 10.13.3 with Xcode 9.2 installed. It requires cmake version 3.9 at the minimum. Because it uses cmake it should work on other platforms but it has not been tested.

Downloading the SDK

You need to download the VST3 SDK version 3.6.9 (3.6.9 as of 2018/03/01 and what is used in this project) (shasum 256 => 7c6c2a5f0bcbf8a7a0d6a42b782f0d3c00ec8eafa4226bbf2f5554e8cd764964).

Installing the SDK

Unpack the SDK to a location of your choice (in my case the SDK is unpacked and renamed /Applications/VST_SDK.369/).

Configuring the SDK

In order to build both VST2 and VST3 at the same time, you need to run the following commands

cd /Applications/VST_SDK.369/
./copy_vst2_to_vst3_sdk.sh

Building this project

• Create a folder outside the source tree and cd to it:

    mkdir /tmp/vst3-again-build
    cd /tmp/vst3-again-build
  

• Generate the Makefile(s): VST3_SDK_ROOT needs to point to the root of the VST3 SDK (as installed/configured previously) and provide the path to the source of this project (which contains CMakeLists.txt):

    cmake -DVST3_SDK_ROOT=/Applications/VST_SDK.369/VST3_SDK -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug /Volumes/Development/github/org.pongasoft/vst3-again-sample
  

• Now build the plugin (all its dependencies will be built as well):

    cmake --build .
  

• Testing that it is a valid VST3 plugin (already run part of the build, but can be run separately):

    > ./bin/validator VST3/again.vst3
  
    * Loading module...
  
    	/tmp/vst3-again-build/VST3/again.vst3
  
    * Scanning classes...
  
      Factory Info:
    	vendor = Steinberg Media Technologies
    	url = http://www.steinberg.net
    	email = mailto:[email protected]
  
      Class Info 0:
    	name = AGain VST3
    	category = Audio Module Class
    	cid = 84E8DE5F92554F5396FAE4133C935A18
  
      Class Info 1:
    	name = AGain VST3Controller
    	category = Component Controller Class
    	cid = D39D5B65D7AF42FA843F4AC841EB04F0
  
      Class Info 2:
    	name = AGain SideChain VST3
    	category = Audio Module Class
    	cid = 41347FD6FED64094AFBB12B7DBA1D441
  
    * Creating tests...
  
    * Running tests...
    ....
  

• Testing that it is a valid VST2 plugin (with MrsWatson):

    > mrswatson64 --display-info -p VST3/again.vst3
    - 00000000 000001 MrsWatson version 0.9.8 initialized, build 20150122
    - 00000000 000001 Plugin 'VST3/again.vst3' is of type VST2.x
    - 00000000 000001 Opening VST2.x plugin 'VST3/again.vst3'
    - 00000000 000099 Information for VST2.x plugin 'again.vst3'
    - 00000000 000099 Vendor: Steinberg Media Technologies
    - 00000000 000099 Version: 16973825
    - 00000000 000099 Unique ID: GnV2
    - 00000000 000099 Plugin type: effect, category 1
    - 00000000 000099 Version: 1
    - 00000000 000099 I/O: 2/2
    - 00000000 000099 InitialDelay: 0 frames
    - 00000000 000099 Parameters (1 total):
    - 00000000 000099   0: 'Unit1.Gain' (1.000000)
    - 00000000 000099 Programs (0 total):
    - 00000000 000099 Current program: ''
    - 00000000 000099 Common canDo's:
    - 00000000 000099   sendVstEvents: No
    - 00000000 000099   sendVstMidiEvent: No
    - 00000000 000099   receiveVstEvents: No
    - 00000000 000099   receiveVstMidiEvent: Yes
    - 00000000 000099   receiveVstTimeInfo: Yes
    - 00000000 000099   offline: Yes
    - 00000000 000099   midiProgramNames: No
    - 00000000 000099   bypass: Yes
    E 00000000 000099 Output source could not be opened, exiting
  

• Deploying the plugin and testing in a real DAW

  -- For VST2 (like Maschine and Reason) you copy and rename it:

    mkdir -p ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST
    cp -r VST3/again.vst3 ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST/again.vst
  

  -- For VST3:

    mkdir -p ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3
    cp -r VST3/again.vst3 ~/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3
  

Because this project uses cmake you can also generate an Xcode project by using the proper generator (-G Xcode). You can also load the project directly in CLion.

Licensing

Since this project contains an exact copy of the again sample code provided with the VST3 SDK, the licensing is the same as the VST3 SDK: GPL version 3