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TutorialPros and cons
June 14, 2020

Pro and Cons

It's difficult to compare Plug'n Script to other software, cause it's rather unique. Some tools have a similar idea of writing DSP processing in scripts, like VST Pascal Script by Christian W.Budde, but they don't come even close to Plug'n Script possibilities.

But to be fair let's try to make a list of what are PnS strengths and weaknesses.

Pros:

  • if you're new to DSP world, you can get in very quickly, and if you're experienced developer, you can prototype plugins considerably faster
  • no need to close and reopen the DAW after every build of a plugin, the processing reloads "on the fly"
  • a good list of factory scripts that you can start with and learn from
  • very fast generic-GUI customization (select colors, controls to use and you're done)
  • you can write your own GUI from scratch using KUIML and it will work on both Windows and Mac
  • if you're using AngelScript, you can make plugins for Mac without having a Mac
  • AngelScripts (in comparison to C++) rarely crashes your DAW if you make a mistake in your code, so it's amazing for beginners
  • when your AngelScript version is working fine you can port it to Native (C++) version using the same DSP API, so your plugin will be as fast as regular plugins
  • Plug'n Script works as a plugin or standalone in all major platforms (Windows, Mac OS X) and plugin formats (VST, VST3, AAX, AU) and you can export your plugins to all of these formats (VST, VST3, AAX, AU)
  • a solid underlying framework, tested by 15+ years of Blue Cat Audio experience
  • a lot of things are done by Blue Cat already, so you don't have to worry about them - saving and loading presets, undo-redo, metering, MIDI controls linking, misc plugin-formats and OS-specific things, data model communication, basic GUI skin, and much much more, so you can focus on DSP part
  • exemplary and supportive developer, you can get helpful answers on the Blue Cat Audio forum and ask for new features
  • you can sell your plugins (for VST you need to sign VST3 agreement with Steinberg)
  • Plug'n Script is evolving and getting better and better
  • a third-party highly customizable skin and KUIML library by LetiMix
     

Cons:

  • Plug'n Script is closed-source and proprietary software, so if something happens to the developer, it would likely be impossible to get bug fixes or any further improvements
  • you get what you get, so if something is missing in the DSP API or KUIML core, there's not much you can do (sometimes it's good, though)
  • limited number of input/output parameters, slightly limited DSP<->GUI communication
  • exported plugins cannot be incapsulated in a single DLL; it's a DLL (~10Mb) plus data folder
  • KUIML can be very tricky to get things done
  • (yet) not very big community and lack of tutorials/examples
  • (yet) no convenient way to share scripts
  • (probably) you'll spend most of your time developing new plugins, instead of doing other important things in life