How To Change Vst Plugin Code
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- Computers running macOS / Mac OS X have dedicated system folders for VST, AU, AAX or RTAS plug-ins. Do not move your plug-in files to another location as your host sequencer will not be able to detect them. If you want to learn more about VST plug-in administration on Windows computers, watch this video.
- Open the plug-in window and go to the Browser section. Then click the PROGRAMS button to show the Program List (see screenshot) Drag & drop presets from the browser on the left side into the Program List to make them available for MIDI Program Change.
Formats definition of a VST 3 plug-in and its preset and where they are located on different platforms.
For the macOS platform
On the macOS platform, VST 3 plug-in is a standard macOS bundle, its file extension is '.vst3' and has the following folder structure:
VST Plug-in Standard. Created by Steinberg, a German musical software and equipment company, the VST plug-in standard is the audio plug-in standard that allows third-party developers to make VST plug-ins. Users can download VST plug-ins on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. The vast majority of VST plug-ins are available on Windows.
For the Windows platform
On the Windows platform a VST 3 plug-in is organized as a bundle like package format (simple folder), its file extension is '.vst3' and has the following folder structure:
In previous SDKs the VST 3 plug-in was defined as a single dll file with the vst3 extension. This is deprecated since VST 3.6.10.
The file desktop.ini should contain:
and you should then change their attributes with this command line (s for system to make sure that Windows will use it for the folder/bundle, r for read-only and h for hidden (optional)):
For the Linux platform
On Linux, a VST 3 plug-in is organized as a bundle like package format, its file extension is '.vst3', it follows this folder structure:
Snapshots
Since VST 3.6.10, a VST3 bundle can contain pre-rendered snapshot images for a VST3 host as a visual representation of the plug-in UI.
This snapshot must have a predefined format and file name so that a host can recognize it.
- The image format must be PNG
- The image needs to be located inside the bundle directory in the folder Resources/Snapshots/
- The file name must start with the unique ID of the audio processor printed in the form 84E8DE5F92554F5396FAE4133C935A18 followed by the string _snapshot and optionally followed by the HiDPI scale factor _2.0x and ending with the file extension .png.
- For example, again's snapshot must be named:
- 84E8DE5F92554F5396FAE4133C935A18_snapshot.png
- 84E8DE5F92554F5396FAE4133C935A18_snapshot_2.0x.png for the 2x scaled HiDPI variant.
- If the HiDPI scale factor is omitted, a scale factor of 1 is used.
- For example, again's snapshot must be named:
Merged Bundle
Note that all the bundles can be merged to one, which allows to have a cross-platform bundle/folder.
For example:
A VST 3 plug-in should be installed at specific folder location, the following tables specify these predefined locations for different operating system.
VST 3 does not require a plug-in registration like it is used with DirectX.
Links, Symbolic links or Shortcuts could be used from these predefined folders.
3 levels of folder location are defined:
- User: available only for the current logged user
- Global: available for all users of the system
- Application: available only inside an specific Audio Application (local Plug-ins)
For the macOS platform
On the macOS platform, the host application expects VST 3 plug-ins to be located in:
| Priority | Location | Path | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | User | /Users/$USERNAME/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3/ | |
| 2 | Global | /Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3/ | |
| 3 | Global | /Network/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3/ | |
| 4 | Application | $APPFOLDER/Contents/VST3/ |
Note: The host recursively scans these folders at startup in this order (User/Global/Application).
For the Windows platform
On the Windows platform, the host application expects VST 3 plug-ins to be located in:
| Priority | Location | Path | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Global | /Program Files/Common Files/VST3/ | native bitdepth: 32bit plug-in on 32bit OS, 64bit on 64bit OS |
| 1 | Global | /Program Files (x86)/Common Files/VST3/ | 32bit Plug-ins on 64bit Windows |
| 2 | Application | $APPFOLDER/VST3/ |
Note: The host recursively scans these folders at startup in this order (Global/Application).
For Linux platform
On the Linux platform, the host application expects VST 3 plug-ins to be located in:
| Priority | Location | Path | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | User | $HOME/.vst3/ | |
| 2 | Global | /usr/lib/vst3/ | |
| 3 | Global | /usr/local/lib/vst3/ | |
| 4 | Application | $APPFOLDER/vst3/ |
Note: The host recursively scans these folders at startup in this order (User/Global/Application).
- The file extension has to be '.vstpreset'.
- Specification of a VST 3 Preset file
- Check Steinberg::Vst::PresetFile source code which allow to read and write such preset.
VST 3 presets are located at predefined folder locations on the computer, depending on the operating system.
- 3 levels of preset scope are defined:
- User: available only for the current logged user
- Public: available for all users of the system
- Apps: available only inside a specific audio application
- 4 types of preset are defined:
- User: presets created by the user
- User_Factory: like User type, but more hidden
- Shared_Factory: factory presets installed by the plug-in installer
- App_Factory: presets installed by a audio application installer, only visible for this specific audio application
$COMPANY and $PLUGIN-NAME folder names contain only allowed characters for file naming (replace characters '*?/:<>|' by '_').
Note: Each path defined below should be scanned in the given priority, presets extracted and added to the preset list.
For Mac platform
| Prio | Type | Scope | Writable | Path | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | User | User | X | Users/$USERNAME/Library/Audio/Presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/ | |
| 2 | Shared_Factory | Public | - | Library/Audio/Presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/ | Computer shared FactoryROM |
| 3 | Shared_Factory | Public | - | Network/Library/Audio/Presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/ | Network shared FactoryROM |
| 4 | App_Factory | Apps | - | [$APPFOLDER]/VST3 Presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/ | Host Application (Cubase, ...) |
For Windows XP/2000 platform
| Prio | Type | Scope | Writable | Path | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | User | user | X | [my documents]/vst3 presets/$company/$plugin-name/ | csidl_personal |
| 2 | User_Factory | user | X | [documents and settings/$username/application data]/vst3 presets/$company/$plugin-name/ | csidl_appdata |
| 3 | Shared_Factory | public | - | [documents and settings/$allusers/application data]/vst3 presets/$company/$plugin-name/ | csidl_common_appdata |
| 4 | App_Factory | Apps | - | [$APPFOLDER]/VST3 Presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/ | Host Application (Cubase, ...) |
For Windows Vista/7/8/10 platform
| Prio | Type | Scope | Writable | Path | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | User | User | X | [Users/$USERNAME/Documents]/VST3 Presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/ | FOLDERID_Documents |
| 2 | User_Factory | User | X | [Users/$USERNAME/AppData/Roaming]/VST3 Presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/ | FOLDERID_RoamingAppData |
| 3 | Shared_Factory | Public | - | [ProgramData]/VST3 Presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/ | FOLDERID_ProgramData |
| 4 | App_Factory | Apps | - | [$APPFOLDER]/VST3 Presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/ | Host Application (Cubase, ...) |
Vst Plugins For Fl Studio
For Linux platform
| Prio | Type | Scope | Writable | Path | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | User | User | X | $HOME/.vst3/presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/ | |
| 2 | Shared_Factory | Public | - | /usr/share/vst3/presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/ | |
| 3 | Shared_Factory | Public | - | /usr/local/share/vst3/presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/ | |
| 4 | App_Factory | Apps | - | [$APPFOLDER]/vst3/presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/ | Host Application |
New Free Vst Plugins
How To Change Vst Plugin Codes
See [3.5.0] Remote Representation of Parameters Support
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