Hi, I am just starting to get back into programming. I programmed stuff mainly in fortran over 25 years ago. I took c and piddled in visual basic. I am sort of a newbie then just getting back into things and I am looking for a little guidance.
I thought of a little project I'd like to try. The old MDA plugins always had a crappy GUI when loaded, so I thought it would be neat to customize them. I see on the sourceforge page their source code is available.
I need a little advice on how to approach this.
Can I just load in the source code and forms into visual c++ and just change the forms there and resave/recompile?
Again, thanks for any guidance and your patience,
Gary
I would like to make some skins for the MDA plugins
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- KVRist
- 92 posts since 26 Sep, 2005 from France
There is no graphical interface at all in the old MDA plugs.
What you're seeing is the standard interface provided by the host in case there is not.
So you need to start from scratch with whatever GUI library you want.
What you're seeing is the standard interface provided by the host in case there is not.
So you need to start from scratch with whatever GUI library you want.
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- KVRian
- 1265 posts since 9 Sep, 2005 from Oulu, Finland
There are no VS forms to edit with the MDA plugins, they have no GUI code to begin with, it's the host application (Cubase, Reaper etc...) that automatically generates whatever GUI you are seeing for the plugins, based on the plugin parameters. If you want a custom GUI for them, you need to code it with C++ (or maybe C) from scratch, like Chaotikmind mentioned. If you decide to go that route, it's probably best to forget the Visual Studio GUI design things even exist, those are not commonly, if ever, used for VST plugin development, so you would likely be stuck trying to figure it all out by yourself. (The Microsoft GUI systems also are not cross platform.)
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 4 posts since 9 Aug, 2019
Ok thank you guys so much.
My plan of action is to
-read a book like c++ for dmmies or something along those lines
-go through a few online c++ tutorial courses
I intended initially to download Visual Studio/Visual C++ but it sounds like the GUI can be built itself with C++ and visual C++ is not needed or preferred.
My next question is: what would the best C++ work environment/compiler to download for this type of project? (preferably free, but could buy if needed.) Should I download visual studio and just use the c++ stuff inside of it without their forms and gui stuff?
Thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction.
My plan of action is to
-read a book like c++ for dmmies or something along those lines
-go through a few online c++ tutorial courses
I intended initially to download Visual Studio/Visual C++ but it sounds like the GUI can be built itself with C++ and visual C++ is not needed or preferred.
My next question is: what would the best C++ work environment/compiler to download for this type of project? (preferably free, but could buy if needed.) Should I download visual studio and just use the c++ stuff inside of it without their forms and gui stuff?
Thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction.
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- KVRist
- 194 posts since 13 Oct, 2012
I'd say that Visual Studio is quite common for plugin development on Windows.
Actually, mda SpecMeter does have a GUI but it uses VST GUI which does not seem to be included in the sourceforge download. Getting this to compile at all might be a task not well suited for a beginner.
A good start might be to have a look at JUCE and start with a gain plugin there to get used to the framework. After that, you could implement the compressor code AudioDevAcademy supplied the source code for recently (link).
One big advantage of JUCE is that an active community exists that can help you with questions that certainly arise during programming. Also, it is well written and documented.
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- KVRian
- 1265 posts since 9 Sep, 2005 from Oulu, Finland
Yes, that's the path of least resistance on Windows. There may be options to just get the Microsoft C++ compiler etc, but realistically you really want an IDE too, so getting the whole Visual Studio makes sense. Note that it may not by default these days install the C++ compilers, tools and libraries! You need to check that the installer has those enabled. And you probably want to disable installing Visual Basic, C# etc, those are not going to be useful for VST plugins development.
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 4 posts since 9 Aug, 2019
Thanks everyone for the great advice and sending me in the right direction. I’m going to start learning/orienting myself to juce/and c++. (A gain plugin sounds like a great btw.)
Also fyi I have been building analog opto compressors and diode compressors in my electronics lab and have been fitting input output curves as functions. I have all the math to model them so it wouldn’t be hard to program. I did alot of measuring “dynamic resistance” of diodes at very low currents in the low microamp range these are not included in spec sheets. However they determine how diode compressors behave. I will post in a a different area of the forum later when Ive studied a little more but it would be easy to make an analog diode compressor plugin. Maybe someone would want to collaborate in the future.
Also fyi I have been building analog opto compressors and diode compressors in my electronics lab and have been fitting input output curves as functions. I have all the math to model them so it wouldn’t be hard to program. I did alot of measuring “dynamic resistance” of diodes at very low currents in the low microamp range these are not included in spec sheets. However they determine how diode compressors behave. I will post in a a different area of the forum later when Ive studied a little more but it would be easy to make an analog diode compressor plugin. Maybe someone would want to collaborate in the future.
