This repository a series of examples demonstrating how to write UGens for SuperCollider (not to be confused with quarks, which are libraries for the language). The Writing Unit Generators helpfile is a comprehensive tutorial. Chapter 25 of the SuperCollider Book is also a useful resource, although the build instructions are outdated.
Beyond this repository, the reader is encouraged to look at sc3-plugins for more complex, real-world examples.
- 01a-BoringMixer -- minimal example of a plugin
- 01b-BoringMixer -- using a newer C++ wrapper
- 02-MySaw -- introduces multiple calculation functions and state variables
- 03-AnalogEcho -- introduces memory allocation and cubic interpolation
Make a directory for the cmake build files:
plugin-example/01-BoringMixer/$ mkdir build && cd build plugin-example/01-BoringMixer/build/$ cmake -DSC_PATH=/path/to/sc3source/ ..Here, /path/to/sc3source/ is the path to a directory of the SuperCollider source code. The source code version should match your SuperCollider app version. Slight differences will probably be tolerated, but if they're too far apart you will get an "API version mismatch" error when you boot the server.
The path should contain a file at include/plugin_interface/SC_PlugIn.h. If you get a warning that SC_PlugIn.h could not be found, then SC_PATH is not set correctly.
If no SC_PATH is provided, the build system assumes the SuperCollider include files in /usr/include/SuperCollider/.
plugin-example/01-BoringMixer/build/$ make plugin-example/01-BoringMixer/build/$ make installWARNING: on OSX, if you want to install into CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX, you have to specify it by disabling the IN_PLACE_BUILD cmake option which defaults to ON (see below).
You can install each folder -- or the entire repository -- as you would a quark: Quarks.gui => Install a folder.
Alternatively, you can copy, move, or symbolic link the folder into your Extensions folder. You can find out which one that is by evaluating
Platform.userExtensionDir from within SuperCollider. Alternatively, you may install the plugin(s) system-wide by copying to
Platform.systemExtensionDir