Hi all, is there a way to implement read-only parameters for an unlicensed version of a plugin? Or would this require knowing if the DAW was reading/writing automation and this is not part of any plugin interface?
The idea would be that when the plugin is activated, all automation is written but if you then go and open the project elsewhere without a license, it will still sound the same but you can’t keep working on it.
Thanks for any clues.
you could just let your plugin not interpret the parameter changes if there’s no license. so even if a host allows your non-automatable parameter to be automated it would still encourage the user to get the full version
I would still want to use the parameter values being sent from the DAW, but not allow new automation to be written… Does the DAW communicate to the plugin which mode of automation it’s using? Or is there any way to distinguish between a user turning a knob on a console and a DAW playing back recorded automation?
Hi!
You can’t disable features of the DAW, so that’s not an option. The user will always be able to control parameters in the DAW.
What you can do though is disable all or most means of interaction with the plugin UI, which in my opinion is enough of an inconvenience to encourage purchasing the full version.
Another idea for a friendly “demo version” model: Sabotage non-realtime export, it’s possible to detect that pretty reliably.
Thanks for confirming that, @jcomusic, and for the suggestion. I browsed the AAX SDK but couldn’t find mention of the host telling the plugin what automation mode it’s running either. 
