Building REAPER CSurf with Visual Studio

This repository contains a REAPER Surface Controller (CSurf) project for all Reaper versions, running on Windows 32 and 64 bit. It describes step by step how to build and debug with Microsoft Visual Studio (Free Community Edition).

Introduction

A surface controller allows users to control a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), in this case REAPER. Supporting new surface controllers in REAPER is not well documented. The goal of this project to provide you a quick-start.

The free C++ REAPER Extension SDK is required to build a Surface Controller for REAPER. It is based on an old Visual C++ 6 project and supports a 32-bit version only for REAPER. Upgrading the project to a newer Visual Studio versions requires some project changes and knowledge which are already applied.

Prerequisites

Windows (7/8/10)
Microsoft Visual Studio (Tested with the free Community Edition):
REAPER version 4, 5 and 6. (32 or 64 bit)
REAPER Extension SDK
A compatible surface, for example:
C++ knowledge

Installation

Install Visual Studio 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 (Free Community Edition) or higher. VS2019 requirements during installation:
- MSVC v142 - VS 2019 C++ x64/x86 build tools.
- Windows 10 SDK
- C++ MFC for latest v142 build tools
- Others are optional
Download REAPER SDK from: https://www.reaper.fm/sdk/plugin/reaper_extension_sdk.zip
Extract reaper_extension_sdk.zip for example into C:\reaper_extension_sdk\.
Add an environment variable to the REAPER Extension SDK:

Start Windows Explorer
Right mouse click This PC
Click Advanced system settings
Click Environment Variables...
Create a new System variable:
- Variable name: REAPER_EXTENSION_SDK
- Variable value: C:\reaper_extension_sdk

Clone this repository with the GIT command: git clone https://github.com/Erriez/reaper_csurf_vs201x.git or download and extract the ZIP of this repository.
Open the solution Builds\VisualStudio<VERSION>\reaper_csurf.sln with Visual Studio.
Note: Replace <VERSION> with the Visual Studio version, for example 2013, 2015 or 2017.
Select in the toolbar:

Debug (Default)
For REAPER 64-bit: x64 (Default)
For REAPER 32-bit: x86

Open the Solution Explorer | Right mouse click reaper_csurf | Properties:
- Select Configuration: Debug or Release.
- Select Platform: Win32 or x64.
- Set Debugging | Command:
  - For REAPER 32-bit: C:\Program Files (x86)\REAPER\reaper.exe
  - For REAPER 64-bit: C:\Program Files\REAPER (x64)\reaper.exe
- Check the REAPER Extension SDK environment variable:
  - VC++ Directories | Include Directories: should contain $(REAPER_EXTENSION_SDK) or the full path to the REAPER Extension SDK.
- Set Build Events | Post-Build Event | Command Line:
  - For REAPER 32-bit: copy "x64\Debug\reaper_csurf_x86.dll" "%APPDATA%\REAPER\UserPlugins\"
  - For REAPER 64-bit: copy "x64\Debug\reaper_csurf_x64.dll" "%APPDATA%\REAPER\UserPlugins\"
Rename original REAPER CSurf DLL to something else to prevent conflicts between the original and new CSurf:
- For REAPER 32-bit: C:\Program Files\REAPER\Plugins\reaper_csurf.dll.org
- For REAPER 64-bit: C:\Program Files\REAPER (x64)\Plugins\reaper_csurf.dll.org
Set a breakpoint in csurf_main.cpp function REAPER_PLUGIN_ENTRYPOINT().
Click the green Local Windows Debugger button to build and start debugging.
REAPER will be started automatically and the breakpoint should be hit. Now you're ready to debug and add support for new surfaces or change the behavior of existing surfaces.
In REAPER click Tools | Preferences | Control/OSC/web Click Add to add a surface.

Wiki

A more detailed description of the CSurf project settings and code is located on the Wiki page.

FAQ

Q: Is OSX supported?

Short answer: No. Long answer: I will not support MAC.

Contact

Please use the REAPER forum.

Erriez / reaper_csurf_vs201x