PLUGINS - PARAMETERIZATION/INTERFACE WITH CAKEWALK

[Milton Sica]

I'm starting to develop a plugin that has some features that are part of my workflow.

Where can I get plugin interface documentation (VST3) with Cakewalk, parameters, DLLs involved, etc.

All help is welcome.

[Glenn Stanton]

the VST3 is a Steinberg specification which is licensed directly via Steinberg. if you develop to those specs and test rigorously, then the plugin should work in almost any DAW. https://steinbergmedia.github.io/vst3_dev_portal/pages/VST+3+Licensing/Index.html

Edited June 21 by Glenn Stanton

[azslow3]

Writing a VST3 from scratch is not an easy task...  It is simpler to use frameworks, most common is JUCE: https://juce.com/

Also note that as long as you are (A)GPL compatible (your plug-in is open source or you don't distribute it to anyone), you don't have to pay and  you don't need Steinberg registration. But in case you want make it close source, even if you don't ask money for it, you need Steinberg registration: https://steinbergmedia.github.io/vst3_dev_portal/pages/VST+3+Licensing/What+are+the+licensing+options.html and some license for the framework (JUCE is not cheap...).

But may be you can do the trick with ReaJS (https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/ ). Then you can write processing (and GUI) using  JSFX (https://www.reaper.fm/sdk/js/js.php, NOT JavaScript). Tons of scripts are already written.

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But may be you are looking for Control Surface API, that is completely different from VST (and the only way really communicate with Cakewalk). Then you need https://github.com/Cakewalk

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The only known Cakewalk API for VST3 is proprietary extension for ProChannel modules. It is not documented.

There is no full scale DAW API which can be used from VST(3) plug-ins in Cakewalk (it is not REAPER...).

[msmcleod]

As a starting point, I'd recommend these books:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Designing-Audio-Effect-Plugins-Theory/dp/1138591939
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Designing-Software-Synthesizer-Plugins-Audio/dp/0367510464

The software that comes with the book creates a lot of the boiler-plate code needed for creating a VST3 plugin - all you need to do is fill in the blanks.

Even if the UI elements it aren't quite what you want, it'll at get you to the stage of being able to test your DSP code very quickly.  You could then use something like JUCE to create a more elegant UI and cut/paste the DSP code into your JUCE project.

Of course, these books only cover VST / VSTi plugins.  

If you need to control the workflow within Cakewalk/Sonar itself, the only real way to do this is via the Cakewalk Control Surface SDK. This will give you programmatic access to running Cakewalk commands:   https://github.com/Cakewalk/Cakewalk-Control-Surface-SDK

[pwal³]

the big challenge being that each daw implements vst3 differently, good luck