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Creating a cmake plug-in project from scratch

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Goal

This tutorial provides a step-by-step guide for building a VST 3 plug-in's CMakeLists.txt from scratch. It covers the necessary steps, like defining a plug-in version number, adding C++ source files, linking to the sdk target, and setting platform-specific options.

You can also use the VST 3 project generator which generates the CMakeLists.txt.

Building the CMakeLists.txt

Make a new directory, and name it like your new plug-in, e.g. MyPlugin. Afterwards, create a CMakeLists.txt file inside the new directory, and open it in a text editor. Add the following lines to it.

Set the minimum required version of cmake. In this example, 3.15.0 is sufficient.

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.15.0)

See also: https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/cmake_minimum_required.html

Name the project MyPlugin, add a VERSION and an optional DESCRIPTION.

project(MyPlugin
    VERSION 1.0.0
    DESCRIPTION "MyPlugin Effect"
)

See also: https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/project.html

Set the variable vst3sdk_SOURCE_DIR to the VST SDK's directory. The directory must contain the root CMakeLists.txt of the SDK. Add the SDK as a subdirectory, and call smtg_enable_vst3_sdk right after this.

set(vst3sdk_SOURCE_DIR /path/to/vst3sdk)

add_subdirectory(${vst3sdk_SOURCE_DIR} ${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/vst3sdk)
smtg_enable_vst3_sdk()

Add a plug-in library and its source files by using the smtg_add_vst3plugin function.

smtg_add_vst3plugin(MyPlugin
    source/version.h
    source/myplugin_cids.h
    source/myplugin_processor.h
    source/myplugin_processor.cpp
    source/myplugin_controller.h
    source/myplugin_controller.cpp
    source/myplugin_entry.cpp
)

Link the VST SDK sdk to the plug-in library.

target_link_libraries(MyPlugin
    PRIVATE
        sdk
)

Configure the plug-in version by calling smtg_target_configure_version_file. This generates a temporary projectversion.h header, which is automatically included in your project.

smtg_target_configure_version_file(MyPlugin)

Define platform-specific settings.

For macOS, this includes

  • setting the BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER to org.mycompany.myplugin,
  • setting a proper COMPANY_NAME to My Company and
  • an executable .../VST3PluginTestHost.app to start the plug-in with in debug

For Windows, it needs

  • a resource file resource/win32resource.rc,
  • setting the VS_STARTUP_PROJECT to MyPlugin and
  • an executable .../VST3PluginTestHost.exe to start the plug-in with in debug
if(SMTG_MAC)
    smtg_target_set_bundle(MyPlugin
        BUNDLE_IDENTIFIER org.mycompany.MyPlugin
        COMPANY_NAME My Company
    )
    smtg_target_set_debug_executable(MyPlugin
        "/Applications/VST3PluginTestHost.app"
        "--pluginfolder;$(BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR)"
    )
elseif(SMTG_WIN)
    target_sources(MyPlugin
        PRIVATE 
            resource/win32resource.rc
    )
    if(MSVC)
        set_property(DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR} PROPERTY VS_STARTUP_PROJECT MyPlugin)

        smtg_target_set_debug_executable(MyPlugin
            "$(ProgramW6432)/Steinberg/VST3PluginTestHost/VST3PluginTestHost.exe"
            "--pluginfolder \"$(OutDir)/\""
        )
    endif()
endif()

Add plug-in GUI editor by using VSTGUI

In order to add a VSTGUI editor to the plug-in, link to the vstgui_support target.

target_link_libraries(MyPlugin
        PRIVATE
            vstgui_support
    )

Add a myplugin_editor.uisdesc file as a resource. This file needs to be created manually.

    smtg_target_add_plugin_resources(MyPlugin
        RESOURCES
            "resource/myplugin_editor.uidesc"
    )

A plug-in with a basic *.uidesc file can be created by using the VST 3 project generator.