VidPlayVST Free For Linux

A native plug-in developed in Ubuntu 18.04 and tested with Ardour, Harrison Mixbus, Bitwig Studio, Tracktion Waveform, Renoise, Reaper and Carla. The download also includes a Linux version of VidRenderVST (see the VidRender page for instructions how to use it).

System Requirements

64-bit Linux distribution
64-bit host DAW with support for Steinberg VSTi v2.4 Instrument plug-ins
MESA OpenGL 2.0 or later

Host Specific Notes and 'Gotchas'

Ardour and Mixbus - In these DAWs native Linux plug-ins are referred to as 'lxVST' or 'linuxVST'.

Bitwig and Renoise - Both these DAWs have options to run VST plug-ins inside an independent host process (sandbox). This should not normally be necessary, but is an option if there are any problems of incompatibility with other plug-ins. This is also a workaround if you want to run multiple instances (see below).

Multiple Instances - The Linux version of VidPlayVST is not able to run more than one instance of the plug-in. If you load a second instance and open the plug-in window you will see an error message. In DAWs that allow multiple open sessions (called 'edits' in Tracktion Waveform) this might be confusing. VidPlayVST in the first loaded session will work ok, but in session 2 the plug-in will show the error message.

Synchronisation in Bitwig Studio - In this DAW VidPlayVST syncs to the host timeline ONLY WHEN THE TRANSPORT IS RUNNING (i.e. the user has hit 'play'). When the transport is stopped the plug-in window does not refresh if the playback start time is moved by clicking in the timeline ruler. This is a limitation of the plug-in interface provided by this particular DAW. A workaround is discussed here: Bitwig Page

Key Frames, Key Frames!! - Most videos are encoded with frequent key frames, and these are required for VidPlayVST to work correctly. A key frame interval of 1 second or less is ideal. Click on the plug-in logo to open the About window, where video statistics are displayed, to confirm the 'Average key frame interval, msecs'. If this exceeds 5000 msecs then there will be noticeable delays in synchronisation when the DAW timeline is moved around.

NVIDIA OpenGL graphics with ArchLinux - VidPlayVST is not compatible with the closed-source proprietary OpenGL library supplied with NVIDIA graphics drivers. If your Linux machine has a NVIDIA graphics card you may need to install the open source 'Nouveau' graphics driver. This provides a bridge from MESA OpenGL to the NVIDIA graphics processing unit (GPU).
Command line tool 'glxinfo' can be used to determine the installed version of OpenGL.

VideoValidator: diagnosing playback problems - Free FFmpeg app

Download

VidPlayVST-2.3.1-Setup.run (Link opens Google Drive page. Click on download symbol.)

If you like the plug-in please contribute to the development effort by buying the Windows or OSX version.

Installation

VidPlayVST for Linux is distributed as a self-extracting archive VidPlayVST-2.3.1-Setup.run. Download it and then in your desktop file manager right-click on the file name. Select 'Properties->Permissions' and check 'Allow executing file as program'. Close the Properties panel and double-click on the file name. Choose 'Run' and enter your [sudo] password when prompted.

If you prefer, you can run it in a Terminal as follows...
cd /folder/where/you/saved/the/file
/bin/sh ./VidPlayVST-2.3.1-Setup.run

The installer puts the plug-in shared libraries VidPlayVSTv2.so and VidRenderVSTv1.so in folder /usr/lib/vst

The following required libraries are copied into folder /usr/share/vidplayvst
libfltk_gl.so.1.3
libSDL2_ttf.so
libavformat.so.58
libIPlug.so
libavutil.so.56
libSDL2_image.so
libfltk.so.1.3
libavcodec.so.58
libswscale.so.5
libSDL2-2.0.so.0
libfreetype.so
libswresample.so.3
libx264.so.155
libfltkVR.so.1.3

The installer also creates folder ~/VidPlayVST-Install-Extra ('~' means 'path to your $HOME folder') which contains the Bitwig specific java extension VidPlayTransportNotifier.bwextension discussed on the Bitwig Page.

After installation, instruct your DAW to re-scan the plug-in folders.