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Formats definition of a VST 3 plug-in and its preset and where they are located on different platforms.

This is a user interface toolkit mainly for audio plug-ins (VST, AudioUnit, etc). Based on the XML definition of the plug-in UI, VSTGUI includes an embedded editor (UIDescription Editor) which allows the developer to create a plug-in UI just by drag & drop of the UI element.

About VST Files. Our goal is to help you understand what a file with a.vst suffix is and how to open it. All file types, file format descriptions, and software programs listed on this page have been individually researched and verified by the FileInfo team. Reverse engineering a binary file format is a bit like (legally) cracking a safe. It can take minutes, hours, or a very long time. After understanding the plugin's preset format and implementing a Preset Parser, I actually need to test the implementation. RTAS compatibility is available by using the FXpansion VST-RTAS adapter. This plugin is compatible with Windows (32- and 64-bit Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 and later versions) and Mac OS X (10.7 and later versions, 32- and 64-bit, Intel processor-based) computers (2 GHz dual-core or faster processor with at least 2 GB of system RAM required). Likewise, the plug-in is very “light weight” demanding an absolute minimum of CPU resources so it won´t slow down your host. MacOS 10.8 and newer, 64 bit only, Universal Binary 2; Windows 7 and newer, 32 & 64 bit; Supports. AAX Native (Pro Tools 10.3.10 and newer), AU, VST 2, VST 3; Sample rates from 44.1 to 384 kHz.

For the macOS platform

On the macOS platform, VST 3 plug-in is a standard macOS bundle, its file extension is '.vst3' and has the following folder structure:

For the Windows platform

On the Windows platform a VST 3 plug-in is organized as a bundle like package format (simple folder), its file extension is '.vst3' and has the following folder structure:

In previous SDKs the VST 3 plug-in was defined as a single dll file with the vst3 extension. This is deprecated since VST 3.6.10.

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The file desktop.ini should contain:

and you should then change their attributes with this command line (s for system to make sure that Windows will use it for the folder/bundle, r for read-only and h for hidden (optional)):

For the Linux platform

On Linux, a VST 3 plug-in is organized as a bundle like package format, its file extension is '.vst3', it follows this folder structure:

Snapshots

Since VST 3.6.10, a VST3 bundle can contain pre-rendered snapshot images for a VST3 host as a visual representation of the plug-in UI.
This snapshot must have a predefined format and file name so that a host can recognize it.

The image format must be PNG
The image needs to be located inside the bundle directory in the folder Resources/Snapshots/
The file name must start with the unique ID of the audio processor printed in the form 84E8DE5F92554F5396FAE4133C935A18 followed by the string _snapshot and optionally followed by the HiDPI scale factor _2.0x and ending with the file extension .png.
- For example, again's snapshot must be named:
  - 84E8DE5F92554F5396FAE4133C935A18_snapshot.png
  - 84E8DE5F92554F5396FAE4133C935A18_snapshot_2.0x.png for the 2x scaled HiDPI variant.
- If the HiDPI scale factor is omitted, a scale factor of 1 is used.

Merged Bundle

Note that all the bundles can be merged to one, which allows to have a cross-platform bundle/folder.
For example:

A VST 3 plug-in should be installed at specific folder location, the following tables specify these predefined locations for different operating system.
VST 3 does not require a plug-in registration like it is used with DirectX.
Links, Symbolic links or Shortcuts could be used from these predefined folders.

3 levels of folder location are defined:

User: available only for the current logged user
Global: available for all users of the system
Application: available only inside an specific Audio Application (local Plug-ins)

For the macOS platform

On the macOS platform, the host application expects VST 3 plug-ins to be located in:

Priority	Location	Path
1	User	/Users/$USERNAME/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3/
2	Global	/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3/
3	Global	/Network/Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3/
4	Application	$APPFOLDER/Contents/VST3/

Note: The host recursively scans these folders at startup in this order (User/Global/Application).

For the Windows platform

On the Windows platform, the host application expects VST 3 plug-ins to be located in:

Priority	Location	Path	Comment
1	Global	/Program Files/Common Files/VST3/	native bitdepth: 32bit plug-in on 32bit OS, 64bit on 64bit OS
1	Global	/Program Files (x86)/Common Files/VST3/	32bit Plug-ins on 64bit Windows
2	Application	$APPFOLDER/VST3/

Note: The host recursively scans these folders at startup in this order (Global/Application).

For Linux platform

On the Linux platform, the host application expects VST 3 plug-ins to be located in:

Priority	Location	Path
1	User	$HOME/.vst3/
2	Global	/usr/lib/vst3/
3	Global	/usr/local/lib/vst3/
4	Application	$APPFOLDER/vst3/

Note: The host recursively scans these folders at startup in this order (User/Global/Application).

The file extension has to be '.vstpreset'.
Specification of a VST 3 Preset file
Check Steinberg::Vst::PresetFile source code which allow to read and write such preset.

VST 3 presets are located at predefined folder locations on the computer, depending on the operating system.

3 levels of preset scope are defined:
- User: available only for the current logged user
- Public: available for all users of the system
- Apps: available only inside a specific audio application
4 types of preset are defined:
- User: presets created by the user
- User_Factory: like User type, but more hidden
- Shared_Factory: factory presets installed by the plug-in installer
- App_Factory: presets installed by a audio application installer, only visible for this specific audio application
  $COMPANY and $PLUGIN-NAME folder names contain only allowed characters for file naming (replace characters '*?/:<>|' by '_').
  Note: Each path defined below should be scanned in the given priority, presets extracted and added to the preset list.

For Mac platform

Prio	Type	Scope	Writable	Path	Comment
1	User	User	X	Users/$USERNAME/Library/Audio/Presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/
2	Shared_Factory	Public	-	Library/Audio/Presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/	Computer shared FactoryROM
3	Shared_Factory	Public	-	Network/Library/Audio/Presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/	Network shared FactoryROM
4	App_Factory	Apps	-	[$APPFOLDER]/VST3 Presets/$COMPANY/$PLUGIN-NAME/	Host Application (Cubase, ...)

For the macOS platform

For the Windows platform

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For the Linux platform

Snapshots

Merged Bundle

For the macOS platform

For the Windows platform

For Linux platform

For Mac platform

For Windows XP/2000 platform

What Is A Vst Plugin Binary