• Software
  • Blue Cat Plug'n Script - a different take on a builder
2014/09/18 11:53:41
drewfx1
http://www.bluecataudio.com/Products/Product_PlugNScript/
 
Uses AngelScript scripting language and a JIT compiler instead of connect the dots. Looks intriguing.
2014/09/18 15:27:45
The Maillard Reaction
Looks cool.
2014/09/18 18:38:26
dmbaer
I just downloaded a demo version - mainly to get the manual.  I'll report back after I've had a chance to read through it.  This thing looks hella intriguing.
 
2014/09/18 20:15:23
drewfx1
I looked over the online docs and it looks interesting, but I'd say the phrase, "With this plug-in, you can write your own effects with very little knowledge about programming" is a little misleading as you clearly do have to know how to program. But if you do know how, it looks fairly straightforward, and though they don't seem to have the included scripts online, they do have a picture of a very simple tremolo script:
 

 
You can read the docs here:
 
http://www.bluecataudio.com/Doc/Product_PlugNScript/
 
and the programming part that one would likely be most interested in starts here:
 
http://www.bluecataudio.com/Doc/Product_PlugNScript/#ProgrammingReference
 
I'll probably have to download the demo to learn more, but I'm just intrigued by the fact that it falls into the gray area between full blown programming with the VST SDK and more typical "connect the widgets" builders like Reaktor, which make some things easy, but make other things that are easy in code messy and tedious. 
2014/09/19 03:01:39
bluecat
Thanks for mentioning our plug-in. It will indeed be much faster for some particular things that cannot be easily built using  graphical environments.
 
It's right that you need to know a little bit about programming (scripting), be honestly, it is pretty fast to learn, especially if you have written a little bit of JavaScript, ActionScript, C++ or Java in the past. It is definitely not comparable to writing a VST plug-in from scratch :-).  Also, writing scripts to process MIDI events is very simple, and there are not so many MIDI VSTs out there...
 
It is even be very convenient for professional audio developers who do know about programming plug-ins, as it can be used to prototype algorithms very quickly: we have been using this for years to build the first prototypes for many of our other plug-ins. Tweaking parameters and algorithms is so fast... And you can do it right into Sonar!
2014/09/19 04:36:28
mettelus
I am on my cell ATM, but wanted to make a quick comment so I can find this again.
2014/09/19 04:36:29
mettelus
Dupe
2014/09/19 09:03:38
sharke
This looks ideal for me as someone with a tantalizingly small knowledge of C++. I always thought it would be fun to write the "logic" part of effects but without getting bogged down in the nerdy DSP side of it (which to be frank I just don't have the time nor the inclination to learn). Will have a good look at this, thanks. 
2014/09/19 16:13:16
dmbaer
My initial take, although I might be wrong on a point or two - these comments are based upon a single read through the documentation.
 
Pluses:
 
Very powerful, object-oriented programming language.  Close enough to C++, C#, Java that anyone who's used those languages will come up to speed very quickly (but a non-programmer isn't going to have a clue).
 
Clean and uncluttered API - *way* simpler than the Steinberg VST API, for example.
 
Minuses:
 
The only UI widget seems to be the knob.  No switches, no selection-list control.
 
Can only run within the development tool, meaning there's no way to create tools for general distribution.  Only fellow owners of the tool can run your creation.  This looks like it would be a wonderful tool for prototyping effect processing, but it's not going to allow week-end warrior effects developers build stuff for other than their own use.
2014/09/19 16:58:40
bluecat
That's an interesting point of view. Thanks for posting!
 
It's true that the default generic user interface that adapts to loaded scripts proposes only knobs. However, it is possible to build your own user interface using our Skinning Language (descriptive XML), with tons of widgets available (buttons, switches, sliders, 2D or 3D graph displays, etc.). It is a bit more work, but you can end up with a user interface that is dedicated to your script and looks more like a custom plug-in. The current version of the plug-in supports it, but does not show examples of such custom skins. We plan to create a few ones to show this capability in a future update.
 
It is already possible to share your work with others (if they have the plug-in, that's right), and distributed as a preset with a custom interface, it can look like another plug-in. For sure, it is not the same as exporting it as an independent entity, and that was not the original intent of this plug-in. But that's maybe something we'll do in the future, probably packaged differently. Let's see how people use this and what gets produced! 
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