VST MediaAddOn
Note:
I've stopped development and support of the
software described on this page long ago. This page is provided basically for
history and entertainment.
The VST add-on integrates Steinbergs widely accepted VST plugin standard with the BeOS Media Services. It can load installed VST plugins as separate media nodes, providing kind of a 'micro-host' for each. This implies that every plugin runs in its own thread and can be connected to any other audio producing/consuming node on your system (like the audio input, a file player, a software synthesizer etc.). The VST add-on isn't actually an application itself, it enables any application that supports the BeOS Media Kit to 'host' VST plugins without having to know the VST specification.
To make any use of the VST MediaAddOn you'll need VST plugins compiled for BeOS (see the Plugin List) as well as an application that enables you to instantiate and connect media-nodes (for example Cortex).
BeOS is one of the supported platforms of Steinbergs VST specification since version 2.0, and porting plugins to BeOS can be as easy as a recompile in many cases (see Porting VST-PlugIns to BeOS for more information).
Download
- Download from BeBits or directly (Version 0.4.0)
- Read the online documentation
- View the plugin list, which links to all VST plugins I know of that are currently available in BeOS versions.
Screenshots
The VSTAddOn comes with a Preferences Panel that allows you
to install/deinstall plugins and change the default plugins directory.
Here you can see the VSTAddOn in action. From within Cortex, the VST plugin
SupaPhaser (by Bram de Jong)
has been instantiated and connected to the audio input. SupaPhaser comes with
its own control panel provided through Steinbergs cross-platform GUI
library.
Here the output of two ObjektSynth
patches is each routed through a VST plugin (mda RezFilter and mda Leslie by
maxim digital audio).
As these plugins do not provide their own UI, you can control its parameters
either through the normal parameter view (a service of the BeOS Media Kit) or
the default UI which you can see here for the RezFilter plugin.