About CLAP

[baconpaul]

How much effort will it take for them to develop for the CLAP format? Are there any special programming skills they will need to gain or a learning curve or ?

Way less effort than supporting VST3 properly. If they are already coding VST2/3, they already have the necessary skills (C/C++).

So it's just a matter of dedicating man hours to CLAP versions. Is it a few lines of code to convert or a major rewrite?

So I've written or maintained at least one plugin in almost every format at this point and have worked on a couple of hosts too. I agree with Evil that the skills you need to code a VST2 are the same skills you need for a CLAP at the outset.

I think one thing I like about CLAP, though, is how straight forward the API is. This is a bit difficult to explain if you aren't a dev (and I am not sure if you are) but sometimes APIs just feel "clean". I've been programming a long time and CLAP API has those feelings of a clean API while also having the necessary technical features to be very very platform neutral and ABI stable. And it's just not hard to code. For laughs, I wrote a bitwig note device the other night that allowed me to do arbitrary microtuning of the PolyGrid, and to get something crappy which worked took me 45 minutes. Now that's not a complete plugin of course, but it does speak to the ease of the API once you become conversant with it.

Of course there are things to learn and effort; and I've been working on CLAP for a while now (I wrote my first CLAP plugin on July 17, 2021, it seems, and posted it on my public GitHub, but no-one noticed except Alex ) so i don't want to diminish the work developers have to do. But approaching the CLAP API is relatively straight forward task of (1) understanding the core model (what is a host, plugin, extension, and what are the core threading models) and then (2) implementing a relatively small and well documented set of functions in a dynamic library.

Hope that helps.

[Teksonik]

This is a bit difficult to explain if you aren't a dev (and I am not sure if you are

I'm not a developer but I do beta test for several so I'm interested in how adopting the format will affect them, especially if they are working hard right now on updates and new products in already established formats.

I'm also interested in what I'll have to do to test those CLAP plugins for them when the time comes (what DAWs I'll have to use if my current ones don't support it etc).

I'm rooting for the success of the format so time will tell....

[glokraw]

For the quite formidable gathering peanut gallery, poster rncbc above, is a foremost linux audio developer, who sussed out the 'multi-vst in one plugin' capability as found in Zebra 2, making it's linux port contents scan correctly in his linux Qtractor daw. He also has released qpwgraph, a gui for the new linux pipewire audio system, so connections can be visually managed in linux, along the lines of his long running and oft used qjackctl patchbay gui. Not to mention coding multiple synths, that could benefit from more formats becoming readily available.
Cheers

[zvenx]

or a 'proper' Preset Browser..lol

but yes...

lol
rsp

[glokraw]

There'll also be examples with a variety of gui toolkits soon, I'm sure. The one from schwaaa should easily be updated to CLAP 1.0 and then it's as rapid for prototyping as it'll ever get.

I suspect your use of the term 'rapid', is a subtle homage

Hehehe, I'm standing on the hose here... you mean Rapid the synth? We haven't talked to them yet...

I have to disappoint, I'm talking about Rapid Prototyping in software, which uses tools or shortcuts to circumvent others tedious tasks in favour of quick results...

'Rapid' being the lead-in word of the Reaper acronym, and schwaaa being one of Reaper's key devs, I thought maybe you were trying to slip one by us. Now it seems you might be being subliminally assimilated to the Reaper consortion

Never tried the 'Rapid' synth, as my U-he collection is quite transcendant, and full of new territories to learn.
Cheers

[glokraw]

It was indeed as I recalled too, but I am waiting to see if that is what happens and how well it does happen.
rsp

I expect it will go as well as the resurgence of Surge synthesizer.

[glokraw]

or a 'proper' Preset Browser..lol

but yes...

lol
rsp

If you're referring to stock lv2 synth preset handling, I wholly agree, it severely limits
plugins that use it. Proper user friendly preset handling should have been a linux dev priority 10 years ago. The Yoshimi and Rakarrack gui's have their own preset systems, and being open-source, woulda coulda shoulda been been put to good use.
Cheers

[zvenx]

Sorry it was a jab at teksonik. Sorry.
Rsp

[Urs]

or a 'proper' Preset Browser..lol

Uhm, CLAP does indeed address an issue or two here.

[zvenx]

Sorry.. that comment was teasing teksonik and had nothing to do with clap. Sorry.
That said.. sure if it brings something new to the preset browser that would interest me.

Rsp

[glokraw]

Sometimes a jab is a lucky punch. Teksonik has ducked quite a few, and counterpunched quite a few Clap may not issue a first-round knockout,
but by the 5th round, will have warn down the opponants like rope-a-dope

[Urs]

This is a bit difficult to explain if you aren't a dev (and I am not sure if you are

I'm not a developer but I do beta test for several so I'm interested in how adopting the format will affect them, especially if they are working hard right now on updates and new products in already established formats.

Nobody is forced to do anything. There won't be a major CLAP only host anytime soon. People can just go on supporting whatever format they want.

People who use common frameworks will be CLAP without much of an issue. We can show success stories of people who use JUCE where it's literally a matter of hours. Others will need days, but going from "VST2 as base of everything else with wrapper classes" is going to be fairly easy with CLAP.

But I do think people will see the advantages of supporting CLAP for various reasons. There'll be perks. They can do this in their own time, and I think it's going to be transformative. It surely is for us.

[glokraw]

Will there be snacks?







(quoting famous techie, Ratbert )

[Urs]

(also fun fact, CLAP's really cool features can be implemented gradually... so first one does CLAP, then one takes their time to figure out how to do parameter modulation, then polyphonic parameter modulation. No need to rush. We just did that and NoteExpression is next, for a few of our plug-ins. And if anyone ever wanted to do multithreading, that's so easy and great with CLAP, it's no-brainer)

[Urs]

(and again, it pains me not to be able to disclose right now what we're going to say in the official announcement. A lot will unfold)