studiorack-template-juce

Audio plugin starter template using JUCE framework to build binaries using:

• Bash
• CMake 3.15.x
• JUCE 6.0.x

This repo demonstrates two ways to build JUCE plugins:

1. cmake: ./.github/workflows/release.yml
2. Projucer ./.github/workflows/release_projucer.yml

Installation

Install CMake and Xcode using:

brew install cmake
xcode-select --install

Check you have the correct dependencies installed:

cmake -version
xcodebuild -version

Ensure all git submodules are initialized:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Usage

Make all your plugin development changes in the source folder at:

./src

Ensure you also update the preview image and audio files:

./src/assets/name.png
./src/assets/name.wav

Testing your plugin

Todo

Build (manual)

Depending on the the operating system you are on/building for, swap the generator string in the build commands:

• Linux: "Unix Makefiles"
• MacOS: "Xcode"
• Windows: "Visual Studio 16 2019"

Compile a development version of the plugin using:

cmake \
  -G "Xcode" \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug \
  -DJUCE_BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON \
  -DJUCE_BUILD_EXTRAS=OFF \
  -S ./sdk \
  -B ./build
cmake --build ./build --config Debug --target AudioPluginExample_All

View the built plugin files at:

./build/examples/CMake/AudioPlugin/AudioPluginExample_artefacts/Debug/VST3

Build the final plugin binaries using:

cmake \
  -G "Xcode" \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DJUCE_BUILD_EXAMPLES=ON \
  -DJUCE_BUILD_EXTRAS=OFF \
  -S ./sdk \
  -B ./build
cmake --build ./build --config Release --target AudioPluginExample_All

Rename file if it contains invalid characters/spaces:

mv "./build/examples/CMake/AudioPlugin/AudioPluginExample_artefacts/Release/VST3/Audio Plugin Example.vst3" ./build/examples/CMake/AudioPlugin/AudioPluginExample_artefacts/Release/VST3/audio-plugin-example.vst3

Copy any additional files:

cp -v ./src/assets/* ./build/examples/CMake/AudioPlugin/AudioPluginExample_artefacts/Release/VST3

For metadata generation as json use the studiorack-cli:

npm install @studiorack/cli -g

Validate your plugin:

studiorack validate "./build/examples/**/*.{vst,vst3}"

Convert and enrich validator report metadata into json:

studiorack validate "./build/examples/**/*.{vst,vst3}" --json

Build (automatic)

Release a plugin version on GitHub by simply creating a version tag:

git tag v0.0.1
git push && git push origin --tags

This will run an automated build and release process on GitHub Actions:

.github/workflows/release.yml

Resources & guides

• JUCE framework source code and examples
• Official JUCE guide to creating VST audio plugins

Contact

For more information please contact kmturley