I've been working on an Audio Unit Plugin. Since I'd like people on Windows to be able to use the plugin, I've decided to try my hand at the VST3 SDK. I do not want to use JUCE because I may end up selling the product and don't want to live in a cardboard box afterwards (JUCE commercial licenses are rather pricey). I've hit the following problem with little luck finding an answer online: How do you compile a VST plugin for use in a host on Windows? I have the VST SDK and ASIO and VSTModuleArchitecture downloaded from the Steinberg website. I guess it's probably an elementary question, but I've really hit a brick wall on how to compile.
Note: this is not a duplicate of this question because my question is specific to Windows.
Let's say you want to compile AGain. Go to:
{SDK Folder}\public.sdk\samples\vst2.x\again\win
Assuming you have Visual Studio, double-click on "again.vcproj". It'll create a project "again.vcxproj", which you can then build normally.
FWIW: I don't see you likely living in a cardboard box using JUCE. I too think it's too pricey for comfort, and isn't entirely essential; but it costs nothing to develop in, and your license for your first plugin costs substantially less. The license for the second and further plugins is full price. It's not a subscription, but a lifetime license. Once it's bought, you never have to pay more. By contrast, while you have to sign a confidentiality agreement and I can't be sure, rumor has it that developing an AAX plugin for ProTools costs $500/year, which you start paying BEFORE you start developing, and then have to continue paying to continue to sell. Don't sell enough to make it worth $500/year? Tough cookies. After 10 years, it costs HUGELY more than JUCE. Developing for AAX is MUCH more likely to lead to a cardboard box than JUCE.