66 lines
2.8 KiB
HTML
66 lines
2.8 KiB
HTML
|
|
<p>
|
|
Thanks to the combined work of Torben Hohn, Kjetil Mattheusen, Paul
|
|
Davis and a few other developers, it is possible to use Windows
|
|
<dfn><abbr title="Virtual Studio Technology">VST</abbr>
|
|
plugins</dfn> (that is, plugins in VST format built and distributed
|
|
for the Windows platforms) on Ardour running on Linux.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>However, doing so has three <em>substantial</em> downsides:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>It requires a special build of Ardour that is fundamentally
|
|
very different from normal builds</li>
|
|
<li>Support depends on <a href="http://winehq.org/">Wine</a>,
|
|
a Windows "emulator"</li>
|
|
<li>As usual with plugins, a crashing plugin will take Ardour down
|
|
with it—and crashes in Windows VST plugins are more likely when
|
|
used in this way</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
The dependence on Wine makes it almost impossible for the Ardour
|
|
project to support this feature. Wine's functionality generally
|
|
improves over time, but any given release of Wine may behave worse
|
|
with some or all Windows VST plugins. It may even just crash Ardour
|
|
completely.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Step back and think about what "using Windows VSTs" really means:
|
|
taking bits of software written with only one idea in mind—running
|
|
on the Windows platform—and then trying to use them on an entirely
|
|
different platform. It is a bit of a miracle (thanks largely to the
|
|
incredible work done by the Wine project) that it works at all. But is
|
|
this the basis of a stable, reliable DAW for a non-Windows platform?
|
|
Getting Ardour on Linux to pretend that its really a Windows
|
|
application running on Windows?
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
It is understandable that there are many outstanding plugins available as
|
|
Windows VSTs and, that in many cases, no equivalent is available for Linux.
|
|
If a workflow is so dependent on those plugins, Ardour should be used on
|
|
Windows (or potentially used with an actual Windows VST host running inside
|
|
of Wine). If the effort can be made, a better environment can be obtained by
|
|
using a normal build of Ardour and exploring the world of plugins built to
|
|
run on Linux natively. This covers LADSPA, LV2 and Linux VST formats, and
|
|
even some outstanding proprietary plugins such as those from
|
|
<a href="http://www.loomer.co.uk/">Loomer</a>.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2>A Plea To Plugin Manufacturers</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Please consider porting your plugins so that users can enjoy them on
|
|
Linux too. Several other commercial plugin developers have already
|
|
done this. You can choose between using "Linux VST" (which is what
|
|
Loomer and others have done)—you will find toolkits like JUCE that
|
|
help to make this fairly easy—or using LV2 format which is
|
|
ultimately more flexible but probably requires more work. We have
|
|
users—thousands of users—on Linux who would like to use your
|
|
plugins.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|