Where is the vst3 looking for the clap file?

[codemonkeynorth]

Hi,

I compiled the vst3 wrapper for a CLAP instrument

if they both sit in C:\Program Files\Common Files\CLAP then it seems to work

If i try move the files eg to F:\Plugins\VST3\Instruments, and in my case point Reason to that folder, the load fails

is there a hardcoded path in there somewhere?

When I run the build i'd assumed it's not locating the CLAP file and harcoding the path into the wrapper shell, but just defining that it will load MyPlugin.clap in the same folder as MyPlugin.vst3 ?

thanks
J

[defiantnerd]

There defined CLAP paths that are searched for a .clap with the exact same filename. It searches 2 folders deep.
You can check them out in the CLAP documentation.

It also looks in the same path and for an entry in its own binary when fat linking.

Make sure that you have provided the CLAP_WRAPPER_OUTPUT_NAME cmake variable or that youbhave used the clap_first function in your cmake.

There are no hard coded paths.

[codemonkeynorth]

@defiantnerd I did this:

cmake -B build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64 -DCLAP_SDK_ROOT=d:\dev\sdks\audioz\clap -DVST3_SDK_ROOT=d:\dev\sdks\audioz\vst3sdk -DCLAP_WRAPPER_OUTPUT_NAME="Apricot"

then:

cmake --build build --config Release

if I move the Apricot.vst3 / Apricot.clap files away from:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\CLAP

then the plugin load fails in Reason

I had ecpected if I move the files here:

F:\Plugins\VST3\Instruments\Apricot.vst3
F:\Plugins\VST3\Instruments\Apricot.clap

then it should load fine in Reason, but it doesn't. I'm not sure why

[defiantnerd]

Leave the CLAP in the CLAP folder.

[baconpaul]

Or set the %CLAP_PATH% env var. The wrapper will search the official paths from the spec. https://github.com/free-audio/clap/blob/29ffcc273be7c7c651f6c9953b99e69700e2387a/include/clap/entry.h#L12

I suppose we could make the wrapper check the same directory as the vst3 on windows maybe?

Note that F:\Plugins\VST3 is not a VST3 spec compliant directory. That reason allows it is a reasonable but out of spec choice. That wont' impact the wrapper per se but just sharing.

Finally the reason that some of us ship 'fat' clap wrapper builds rather than dynamic ones is exactly this. The way to make the VST3 self contained is to link the clap inside it.

Hope that helps!

[codemonkeynorth]

@baconpaul I'm not using a fat wrapper because it's not my plugin - the original CLAP-format developer (https://nakst.gitlab.io/audio/) is just happy for me to distribute the wrappers (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Uflb6kjOvn_OM66N2ODOOGVDD8NCd74G/view?usp=drive_link)

thanks for the info... a bit of an annoying choice from Steinberg to be honest (and seemingly unnecessary!), I just don't really want the files on my system drive (but I could symlink it in advance for simplicity)

but yes I found the info here:

VST3 Plug-in path: The VST3 format has a dedicated installation path all VST3 plug-ins must comply with. All your VST3 plug-ins should be installed here https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-us/articles/115000177084-VST-plug-in-locations-on-Windows

I'll close this, but looking for the .clap in the same folder as the .vst3 would be a useful addition to the wrapper, thanks