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Wave Factory Essentials

A family of focused audio plug-ins designed as real AU, VST3, and CLAP products, with custom interfaces, local signal processing, and host-level validation gates.

My role: Creator and plug-in engineer
Scope: DSP, plug-in architecture, interface design, and product direction
Stage: Pre-release tester builds
Core technologies: C++ · iPlug2 · AU · VST3

Threefold Palm audio plug-in interface from the Wave Factory Essentials collection

Case study

Treating every plug-in as a product, not a demo.

The problem

An audio effect can sound interesting and still feel unfinished if it lives in a standalone prototype or a generic control panel. The signal path, host behavior, automation, interface, and release process all shape the instrument musicians actually use.

What I built

I am building a family of host-loadable AU, VST3, and CLAP effects in C++ and iPlug2, pairing local signal processing with custom interfaces and distinct visual identities. The current builds are for testing while the remaining host and release gates are worked through.

Key decisions

01Build for the host from the start
The products use real plug-in formats, stable parameters, saved state, and automation boundaries rather than postponing host integration.
02Keep the signal path local
DSP runs deterministically on the machine with no account, upload, telemetry, or network service required to process audio.
03One family, distinct instruments
Shared engineering discipline supports interfaces with their own control language, atmosphere, help, metering, and performance states.

Inside the work / 06 views

A plug-in family with its own visual world

The collection pairs purpose-built controls with a distinct art direction for each instrument. These are product interfaces and source art from the plug-ins themselves.

Valley Spirit audio plug-in interface running inside a plug-in host — 02
**Valley Spirit**
A five-control pitch-shifting echo presented as a moonlit, playable instrument rather than a generic utility panel.

Threefold Palm visual surface with a martial-arts figure and animated energy treatment — 03
**Threefold Palm / gesture state**
The alternate gesture surface leaves room for controls while the character and energy treatment communicate an active performance state.

Valley Spirit visual surface with moonlit mountains and an animated energy gesture — 04
**Valley Spirit / gesture state**
A second performance state extends the same nocturnal visual language used by the finished plug-in interface.

Threefold Palm Temple of Mastery source art with a martial-arts master inside a dark mountain temple — 05
**Threefold Palm / Temple of Mastery**
The high-resolution Temple of Mastery scene provides the atmosphere and negative space that the plug-in controls occupy.

Spirit Mirror source art showing a spectral hand reflected in an ornate moonlit mirror — 06
**Spirit Mirror / visual foundation**
The source scene for Spirit Mirror establishes the spectral, camera-conducted member of the product family.

Technical view

Architecture

Host-loadable real-time audio system12 components · 12 connections

The DAW, plug-in adapter, real-time DSP, interface, and optional camera controller remain deliberately separated by thread and process boundaries.

Audio hostMusician-owned runtime

Plug-in processHard real-time boundary

Optional local controlNever required for audio

Release gatesSeparate evidence, not one checkbox

Logic · host DAW
DAW session
Audio, automation, saved state
AU · VST3 · CLAP
Format adapters
Host lifecycle and parameter bridge
iPlug2 parameters
Host automation
Stable IDs and normalized values
C++ · iPlug2
iPlug2 adapter
Host events into product code
wave_factory_dsp
Shared DSP core
No allocation, locks, file or network I/O
C++ real-time audio
Product signal path
Split, shape, delay, diffuse, mix
Lock-free state
Meter bridge
Relaxed atomics leave audio thread clean
iPlug2 UI
Custom interface
Controls, help, metering, art direction
macOS helper
Camera helper
Local capture outside plug-in process
Apple Vision
Hand pose model
Two 21-point hand skeletons
CC 20–25 · local IPC
Gesture bridge
Six signals over local bridge or MIDI
auval · CI · notarization
Validation pipeline
Host · listening · signing · packaging

surfaceservicedataaiintegrationcontrolruntime

Read system connections

DAW session → Format adapters
Format adapters → iPlug2 adapter
Host automation → iPlug2 adapter
iPlug2 adapter → Shared DSP core
Shared DSP core ↔ Product signal path
Product signal path → Meter bridge
Meter bridge → Custom interface
Custom interface ↔ iPlug2 adapter
Camera helper → Hand pose model
Hand pose model → Gesture bridge
Gesture bridge → Host automationoptional
iPlug2 adapter → Validation pipelinebuild artifacts

Built so far

Targets AU, VST3, and CLAP rather than substituting a standalone demonstration for a host-loadable product.
Keeps signal processing offline and local, with no accounts, uploads, telemetry, or model service dependency.
Treats build output, host validation, listening tests, signing, and packaging as separate release gates.

Where it stands

Current artifacts are pre-release tester builds. The products have not been publicly released.
Release still depends on host, platform, signing, notarization, and packaging checks.

Repository

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