KVR Audio

bhoke · Post by **bhoke** » Tue Mar 26, 2013 2:44 pm

I have not been active in music software for a long time but am considering doing so now. I wrote lot's of MIDI and DSP related code in the old days before VST.

Which VST SDK version should I develop with at this time for commercial products? Will I have compatibility problems if I develop in VST 3.x?

Which cross platform GUI framework should I spend time learning?

--Bob Hoke

Ninja_Edit · Post by **Ninja_Edit** » Tue Mar 26, 2013 5:29 pm

VST SDK 2.4 is more well supported with more resources. Try RackAFX?

random_id · Post by **random_id** » Tue Mar 26, 2013 6:24 pm

I like tools like Juce and WDL/IPlug. They allow you to write once, and deploy on multiple targets. I personally use WDL/IPlug because it is free for closed-source development. You can take look at it here(http://www.cockos.com/wdl/). Juce (http://rawmaterialsoftware.com/juce.php) is very popular and has an active community. For open-sourced projects it is free. For closed source, it costs.

I guess it is a trade-off. Juce costs for closed-source, but there is a lot of support. WDL/IPlug has a smaller community, but it is free.

...incidentally, the version that I am using (WDL-OL) can deploy on VST2 and VST3, as well as AU, RTAS, and others. I also agree that for now, VST2 is still more wide-spread.

AdmiralQuality · Post by **AdmiralQuality** » Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:54 pm

IMHO, VSTSDK 2.4 and VSTGUI 3.6 (RC2) from here...

http://sourceforge.net/projects/vstgui/ ... GUI%203.6/

LemonLime · Post by **LemonLime** » Wed Mar 27, 2013 12:35 am

AdmiralQuality wrote:IMHO, VSTSDK 2.4 and VSTGUI 3.6 (RC2) from here...

http://sourceforge.net/projects/vstgui/ ... GUI%203.6/

Why not VSTGUI 4? Given the problems you're having with 3.6 on OS X, wouldn't 4 be better to start with? It works perfectly fine for me in both OS X (UB, 32-bit/64-bit, and Windows).

AdmiralQuality · Post by **AdmiralQuality** » Wed Mar 27, 2013 12:42 am

LemonLime wrote:
AdmiralQuality wrote:IMHO, VSTSDK 2.4 and VSTGUI 3.6 (RC2) from here...

http://sourceforge.net/projects/vstgui/ ... GUI%203.6/
Why not VSTGUI 4? Given the problems you're having with 3.6 on OS X, wouldn't 4 be better to start with? It works perfectly fine for me in both OS X (UB, 32-bit/64-bit, and Windows).

I'm not having any problems with 3.6. Once I switched to RC2 the tutorial example compiled fine for all platforms. I didn't have to change a thing.

I do however have a bunch of custom controls that were subclassed from an earlier version of 3.6 that don't seem to work with the VSTGUI deprecations disabled (which apparently we need to make 3.6 work with OSX x64). So in MY case I have months of coding and years of testing that I have to consider throwing away and starting over on. Not a problem for the OP or anyone else though.

As for VSTGUI 4, I still see lots of people having lots of problems with it on the mailing list. And my first attempts were very discouraging as well. You feel it's ready for prime time?

LemonLime · Post by **LemonLime** » Wed Mar 27, 2013 5:28 am

AdmiralQuality wrote:
LemonLime wrote:
AdmiralQuality wrote:IMHO, VSTSDK 2.4 and VSTGUI 3.6 (RC2) from here...

http://sourceforge.net/projects/vstgui/ ... GUI%203.6/
Why not VSTGUI 4? Given the problems you're having with 3.6 on OS X, wouldn't 4 be better to start with? It works perfectly fine for me in both OS X (UB, 32-bit/64-bit, and Windows).
I'm not having any problems with 3.6. Once I switched to RC2 the tutorial example compiled fine for all platforms. I didn't have to change a thing.

I do however have a bunch of custom controls that were subclassed from an earlier version of 3.6 that don't seem to work with the VSTGUI deprecations disabled (which apparently we need to make 3.6 work with OSX x64). So in MY case I have months of coding and years of testing that I have to consider throwing away and starting over on. Not a problem for the OP or anyone else though.

As for VSTGUI 4, I still see lots of people having lots of problems with it on the mailing list. And my first attempts were very discouraging as well. You feel it's ready for prime time?

Oh ok. Good thing you got that figured out. Bummer about having to possibly start over after all that testing though.

I've noticed that too on the mailing list regarding VSTGUI 4. Still, I have had few issues with it. Admittedly, I haven't gone super complex with my GUIs yet, but considering it's still in version 4.0.1, perhaps 3.6 is the safer bet for now.

AdmiralQuality · Post by **AdmiralQuality** » Wed Mar 27, 2013 5:35 am

My thinking exactly. I'll be happy to try VSTGUI 4 again once the bug reports die down.

I'm working on some other things at the moment that don't require Poly-Ana's fancy knobs, so I'm quite good with VST 2.4/VSTGUI 3.5(RC2). It's a huge relief to finally have a project that compiles for all 4 platforms. (In fact 6 as I've added Symbiosis to it to make AU!)

I now have a template that's going to make new product development VERY rapid. I'm excited! Platform schism has been a huge headache for years, will be wonderful to leave that behind. (Now watch Apple break everything next week.

)

bhoke · Post by **bhoke** » Wed Mar 27, 2013 12:24 pm

Thanks to all for taking the time to reply, it is very helpful.
--Bob Hoke

mfa · Post by **mfa** » Sun May 12, 2013 3:06 pm

Hello,

AdmiralQuality wrote:I'm not having any problems with 3.6. Once I switched to RC2 the tutorial example compiled fine for all platforms. I didn't have to change a thing.

I'm trying to build 32-bit VSTi OS X version using VST SDK 2.4 rev 2 and VSTGUI 3.6. With VSTGUI i've tried both the latest from SVN and RC2, neither links.

I remember you were building with Xcode 3.x, i'm on Xcode 4. Now i'm trying with older Base SDKs. Could you tell me which OS X SDK version you managed to build the tutorial against please? Which compiler you are using?

FabienTDR · Post by **FabienTDR** » Sun May 12, 2013 3:09 pm

mfa wrote:Hello,

AdmiralQuality wrote:I'm not having any problems with 3.6. Once I switched to RC2 the tutorial example compiled fine for all platforms. I didn't have to change a thing.
I'm trying to build 32-bit VSTi OS X version using VST SDK 2.4 rev 2 and VSTGUI 3.6. With VSTGUI i've tried both the latest from SVN and RC2, neither links. I remember you were building with Xcode 3.x, i'm on Xcode 4. Now i'm trying with older Base SDKs. Could you tell me which OS X SDK version you managed to build the tutorial against please? Which compiler you are using?

I recommend you to download juce, build the introjucer and create projects to taste. You'll have a working VST/AU configurations for almost any development tool within seconds. Inspect these project setting, or move on with JUCE.

If it doesn't work, JUCE is FULLY documented.

Keith99 · Post by **Keith99** » Sun May 12, 2013 3:18 pm

I learned VST2.4 since VST 3 was not so well supported but I think now I will switch to VST 3 and use the interfaces (it now comes with) to provide 2.4 wrappers. Thing is 2.4 is troublesome!, its relatively simple but primitive and hence prone to different interpretations by Daw makers. It has a sort of hacked together feel to it. Anyway just my current thinking, once I get going with 3 I may find it is just as bad

mfa · Post by **mfa** » Sun May 12, 2013 6:47 pm

FabienTDR wrote:I recommend you to download juce, build the introjucer and create projects to taste. You'll have a working VST/AU configurations for almost any development tool within seconds. Inspect these project setting, or move on with JUCE.

If it doesn't work, JUCE is FULLY documented.

Well it's tempting,

but as i'm developing freeware i can't pay for the closed source licence, have to stick with the free tools.

Anyway, i think i'm getting my plugin working on OS X 32-bit with Base SDK version 10.5 and 10.6.

FabienTDR · Post by **FabienTDR** » Sun May 12, 2013 7:45 pm

mfa wrote:
FabienTDR wrote:I recommend you to download juce, build the introjucer and create projects to taste. You'll have a working VST/AU configurations for almost any development tool within seconds. Inspect these project setting, or move on with JUCE.

If it doesn't work, JUCE is FULLY documented.
Well it's tempting, but as i'm developing freeware i can't pay for the closed source licence, have to stick with the free tools.

Anyway, i think i'm getting my plugin working on OS X 32-bit with Base SDK version 10.5 and 10.6.

Oh, I was only talking about the project settings. You know, just as a reference. The introjucer is always a reliable reference regarding these things, even if you don't use the JUCE lib at all.

AdmiralQuality · Post by **AdmiralQuality** » Sun May 12, 2013 8:40 pm

mfa wrote:Hello,

AdmiralQuality wrote:I'm not having any problems with 3.6. Once I switched to RC2 the tutorial example compiled fine for all platforms. I didn't have to change a thing.
I'm trying to build 32-bit VSTi OS X version using VST SDK 2.4 rev 2 and VSTGUI 3.6. With VSTGUI i've tried both the latest from SVN and RC2, neither links. I remember you were building with Xcode 3.x, i'm on Xcode 4. Now i'm trying with older Base SDKs. Could you tell me which OS X SDK version you managed to build the tutorial against please? Which compiler you are using?

"Mac OS X 10.6"

I think your linking problem may be some Core Audio libs they famously left out of XCode 4.

Let me know if you figure out how to get it to compile in XCode 4.x. Someday I'll need to know.

Which VST SDK version and GUI framework should I learn and use?