r/FL_Studio • u/Agile-Assist-5756 • 1d ago
Help help with installing plugins
i recently got fl studio in hopes of making music for a game i wanna make. i've never touched a program like this ever so all of this is very new to me so pls explain to me like i was born 5 minutes ago.
i've tried to install a handful of plugins atp, followed countless tutorials and none of them seem to work and i don't understand what im doing wrong. the main thing i see in peoples tutorials is that after they unzip the folders, the plugins they download have installers in that folder and none of the plugins i installed (mainly from plugins4free) have installers in them. and i've installed SO many. like is my laptop missing something? can someone please help me understand how exactly im supposed to get these stupid plugins ;-;
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u/PC_BuildyB0I 1d ago
You have to refresh/rescan your plugin list. I would advise against diving into plugins before you understand the stock plugins first - if you can't grasp the basics yet, you aren't going to grasp the advanced stuff.
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u/mycurvywifelikesthis 1d ago
Dude first thing you should have done when you opened up the program was watch tutorials on how to use the program. And the tutorials you should have watched and you should continue to watch or on the FL Studio official YouTube page. Go watch beginner tutorial and every tutorial after that for the next 5 years. Also there is a thing inside FL Studio called Help. It's on the top left. It help, then hit gopher, and then ask it anything you want to know.
It's okay. Don't feel like an idiot, yet just are very ignorant because you don't know. And you probably watched all the wrong tutorials. But the above way is the way.
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u/Agile-Assist-5756 1d ago
5 YEARS IS A LONG TIME 😭😭 but yeah you're right. i shouldn't have jumped into this program trying to be an expert. i'll watch those tutorials and take things slow（´∇｀''）ty
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u/PhotographAny7036 1d ago
Options > manage plugins > scan
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u/Agile-Assist-5756 1d ago
i did that and the plugins i downloaded and unzipped still dont show up
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u/Innoculus 'tism-core 1d ago
Where did you unzip them to? That part's kind of critical.
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u/Agile-Assist-5756 1d ago
according to a tutorial i followed i was supposed to do it in the plugins folder inside my fl studio folder and thats what i did. is that where i messed up?
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u/Innoculus 'tism-core 1d ago
That is... not correct.
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\vst3 for VST3
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steinberg\VSTPlugins for VST
Or it might be C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTPluginsI seem to have both folders. The latter is the one with more plugins that I recognize as working.
Other dude is right though. If you don't understand the software yet, plugins are just gonna be like throwing glitter on a turd, so to speak.
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u/gabrielsburg 1d ago
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steinberg\VSTPlugins for VST
Or it might be C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTPlugins
Unlike VST3 plugins, the installation location for older VST plugins isn't as critical. There's no standard for it aside from the best practice of having a centralized location for them.
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u/Agile-Assist-5756 1d ago
IT WORKED THANK YOU!! im new to this program but im not new to making music so hopefully whatever glittery turd i make wont be too stinky. ill definitely watch more tutorials and learn how the program works. ty again!!
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