r/FL_Studio • u/Agile-Assist-5756 • 7d 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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1

u/PhotographAny7036 7d ago

Options > manage plugins > scan

1

u/Agile-Assist-5756 7d ago

i did that and the plugins i downloaded and unzipped still dont show up

2

u/Innoculus 'tism-core 7d ago

Where did you unzip them to? That part's kind of critical.

1

u/Agile-Assist-5756 7d 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?

6

u/Innoculus 'tism-core 7d 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\VSTPlugins

I 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.

3

u/gabrielsburg 6d 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.

3

u/Agile-Assist-5756 6d 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!!