hi,
I'd like to show my program, which I'm sharing with the source code as copyleft.

I wrote it to manage plug-ins in Windows. Maybe someone will find it useful. Maybe someone will develop it and port it to macOS etc. I don't care.

I am ready for feedback, but keep in mind that I am not a professional programmer.


OVERVIEW:
A simple tool for managing VST and CLAP plugins in Windows, designed to streamline your music production workflow.


KEY FEATURES:

1. Plugin Management:
• Temporarily disable plugins without uninstalling them
• Make specific plugins invisible to your DAW
• Quick enable/disable functionality with visual feedback
• Supports VST2, VST3, and CLAP formats

2. Preset System:
• Save different plugin configurations as presets
• Perfect for different workflows (e.g., Electronic Music, Band Recording, Podcast Production)
• Instantly switch between preset configurations
• Auto-enables all plugins before loading a new preset

3. Search and Filter:
• Real-time search functionality for quick plugin location
• Filter by plugin type (VST2, VST3, CLAP)
• Optional view of only disabled plugins
• Clear visual indication of disabled plugins (shown in red)

4. Directory Structure:
• Scans standard plugin directories:
- VST3: C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3
- VST2: C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST2
- CLAP: C:\Program Files\Common Files\CLAP

TECHNICAL NOTE:
The program works by adding '-disabled' to plugin file extensions, making them invisible to your DAW while preserving the original plugin files.
All changes are easily reversible - simply enable the plugins again when needed.

THIS SOFTWARE IS COPYLEFT

### Download ###
EDIT: https://codeberg.org/deathroit/f-ing-simple-plugin-manager

 

Last edited: Oct 26, 2024

Thanks @deathroit for sharing for free and congratulations on your new "F***ING SIMPLE AUDIO PLUGIN MANAGER".
Open Source forever!

 

Hm, Github shows a 404 error.

Edit:
Might because some Antivirus devs detect malicious code in here.
https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/d1d8fe31a657874046bccce59a555bade72576c5793e427395da1fadb2b0b497

Doesn't happen when I compile it on my side.

 

Last edited: Oct 26, 2024

Is it possable to change the vst 2 standard plugin director to another as i dont have my vst2 there ?

 

Is it possible to edit this section to reflect where plugins are stored:

# Predefined folders to scan
self.folders = {
"VST3": r"C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3",
"VST2": r"C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST2",
"CLAP": r"C:\Program Files\Common Files\CLAP"
}
self.plugins = []

 

i built this using pyInstaller --hide-console hide-late --uac-admin
maybe its because renaming filenames in CommonFiles required UAC

 

I will try my best to move path from code to conf files

 

Looks nice and handy. Thank you very much for sharing.

 

Last edited: Oct 26, 2024

That's cool. Was just inquiring because a lot of people organize their plugins in a myriad of nonstandard ways. I can see this program having a spot in my toolbox. I've always thought that a similar system should be integrated into Ableton, or DAW of your choice. Thank you for sharing, and thank you for your open source contribution.

 

that be great if possible

 

Looks an attempt to mimic functionality of Reaper's plugin manager

Got an 404 at github too

 

What would be really useful is if you could, in addition to changing VST2 Path, keep this as fast as it is, but also have it load the VST version number.

 

would be cool if there was an option to add and search by tags as well. examples being (compressors/stereo widening/[emulates]1176/etc)

 

Absolutely wonderful work!!!

 

I thought about it, but I didn't know how to load the plug-in metadata from a file. I abandoned the idea and focused on the file name and path which allowed turbo fast file scanning and turbo fast loading of presets.

 

Didn’t know that about Reaper. I will check it.

I was inspired by OwlPlug Plugin Manager which allows to rename file to hide plugin, but OwlPlug was so slow that I was able to raise kids during plugin scanning, so I decide to build own solution.

I moved source code and build with and without UAC to codeberg.org

 

In Reaper hiding is realised in a different way, you rename the plugin beginning with a (#) and it looks like your implementation is more elegant.
You can even create favourite folders within Reaper like "reverbs", "delays", "synthesizers", "samplers" or use favourite brands or a mixture of both. I guess you could peek one or two interesting options there.

 

I uploaded version 0.2 to codeberg.org repository:
https://codeberg.org/deathroit/f-ing-simple-plugin-manager
source code updated, change list available.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To add new paths:

1. Open _internal\path.conf in any text editor
2. Add new paths under the [Paths] section
3. Use any unique name as the key
4. The program will automatically scan all paths listed in the configuration file

The filtering system now works purely based on file extensions, so it will properly categorize plugins regardless of their location, as long as they have the correct file extension.

 

VST3SDK has "moduleinfotool" that can spit this information out:

Code:

$ moduleinfotool -create -version 1.0 -path TesslaSEmkIII\ \(64\).vst3
{
  "Name": "",
  "Version": "1.0",
  "Factory Info": {
    "Vendor": "Variety Of Sound",
    "URL": "https://varietyofsound.wordpress.com",
    "E-Mail": "",
    "Flags": {
      "Unicode": true,
      "Classes Discardable": false,
      "Component Non Discardable": false,
    },
  },
  "Classes": [
    {
      "CID": "A490FD83971D4A7CB53B40396F0BD1B8",
      "Category": "Audio Module Class",
      "Name": "TesslaSEmkIII",
      "Vendor": "Variety Of Sound",
      "Version": "1.3.0.0",
      "SDKVersion": "VST 3.6.13",
      "Sub Categories": [
        "Fx",
        "Dynamics",
      ],
      "Class Flags": 0,
      "Cardinality": 2147483647,
      "Snapshots": [
      ],
    },
  ],

However, this is only for VST3 and it'd have to be compiled and bundled for all platforms. I'm not sure if CLAP or VST2 plugins carry similar information. And it'd add quite a bit of complexity to this F-in simple plugin manager, which is great by itself, good stuff!

 

this is interesting, I'll check that just for curiosity, thanks