Kontrol 2024 outlook: what was, what now, what next?
Comments
-
I personally like the layout and navigation. It took some time to adjust to it, but now I'm very proficient at it and can get what I want very quickly with very limited interactions.
I think the secret to efficiency is knowing what you're looking for and using favorites and user presets for those things you use commonly. Even if you're not sure what you want it's very easy to identify candidates and in a couple of moments figure out if it's going to fit your needs before actually loading it.
After all that IS the definition of what "browsing" is…
0 -
Not MIDI Template in March, not in April, not in May?
It's quite frustrating to wait for this update, and then wait to see if it works properly. If it wasn't for the keybed, I would have already gone to other brands, because it doesn't seem normal to me that a MIDI keyboard controller, can't be used as MIDI keyboard controller
Sorry for my English
Saludos
5 -
I totally agree with you. I went from an MK1 where I could do live performances to an MK3 that currently can't support me. Now I'm struggling with another keyboard and a lot of effort after selling the MK1. In my opinion, the real problem is transparency. I certainly didn't think that by buying a new keyboard, there wouldn't be the software to use it fully. I don't know how many people "play" using the instruments browser and other features that, in my opinion, are more aesthetic than useful. My core functionality was programming with MIDI, and as you said, after three months still nothing. It's embarrassing. I even offered to be a beta tester, but I haven't received a response yet. It's a real shame. Then I see that at this moment NI is more focused on expanding the bundle with mostly useless instruments when the main functionalities are not there. We wait and see.
2 -
I don't know how many people "play" using the instruments browser and other features that, in my opinion, are more aesthetic than useful.
It gives you direct control over plugin params using the knobs which you can customise to your liking if you don't like what they come with. I find it much more flexible than MIDI, for a start I have higher res control (although MIDI 2 will equalise things there when it comes) but also I can map an entire plugin to controls if I need to, and create different mappings for different situations. MIDI cc doesn't allow for that level of detailed mapping as you only have so many cc's to play with. Also it interfaces better with the DAW's own host automation system. It's certainly not 'aesthetic'.
3 -
Maybe we are talking about two different things. For me, the useless function is browsing the instrument, selecting it as it is, and changing its parameters as decided by whoever made the instrument. Customizable mapping is a completely different matter. What is missing, and what I used to do with the MK1, was integrating with MainStage or Camelot and selecting instruments. By instruments, I mean very complex layers, arpeggiators, and other configurations in MainStage or Camelot, which I controlled from the MK1, including all parameters—not just for a single instrument but for the entire performance. Then, with a simple button on the MK1, I could switch to the next performance. That's how it works live. This is how I use it, but obviously, it's not the only way, and these are my personal considerations. What I don't understand is how, after months, the functionality that was previously available is still missing. To me, it's a serious mistake because it excludes at least half of the users. Practically, at the moment, it can't be used for live performances, at least not in the way I use it. Moreover, for MainStage, the ability to switch to controller or DAW mode is completely missing...
7 -
OK I understand now, thanks
0 -
@fafax I think that type of midi mapping was never the strength of these controllers... but I have hopes the new system will change that for me :)
2 -
Thanks tips. I had no idea there was other keyboards out there until you just told me now. It's not like I've had an Akai Advance, three of these NI keyboards, an M Audio piece of junk, and now an FL Key. You just told me to throw away the NKS Standard integration, that accounts for 3/4's of my plugins, instead of just tell the company to fix it for the future. Brilliant.
3 -
Please tell me how someone can "know what they are looking for" when they first encounter a new set of plugins for the first time. Or how someone can efficiently bookmark what they want to save for later, and then efficiently draw it up again, without an elegant system to do this. Considering with just NI packages alone, we have tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of presets and samples in our libraries.
"Knowing what they are looking for" is tantamount to telling me to not use Google Maps. "Real men know where they're going." LOL. We have this technology for a reason. The people in the past would have given an arm and a leg to have the time and effort saving things we have now. If I say that the browsing and favorites system could be twice as good with the things I've noted, that's because I'm not wrong. If someone would think about what I said they could see clearly that I'm spittin facts here.
1 -
Sincerely appreciate the thoughtful response and effort to to do a mockup! That said, I personally would find your design quite frustrating on account of the fact that the buttons and knobs do not align with their on-screen counterparts. I think that would be endlessly frustrating, constantly turning the wrong knobs because it's not clear which on-screen knob is being controlled. I definitely agree with you that it'd be nice if the browser and plugin could both be on the screen at the same time, though.
I'm a UI designer by trade — trust me, there are countless things I would have done differently in Kontrol Mk3 design if I had full reign (even though I think it's pretty good, overall). But my question was a simpler one — "how would you improve the middle section of the existing plugin screen?"
"How would you entirely redesign the keyboard hardware and software from scratch?" is also an interesting exercise, but it's a pretty different one than what I was asking about.3 -
It could be used for a great number of things. While not touch-screen, it could provide a lot of visual feedback regarding the state of the loaded instrument, in a more natural and easier to understand form than a row of knobs with names such as 'FltEnvAmt' and 'TpWrmth'. Think envelopes, EQs, waveforms, even basic step sequencers - all things that are fundamental to many NKS instruments.
The MicroFreak has a monochrome screen measuring only one x half inch (!) and every single parameter has a graphical representation, some even including animations, that show up each time a hardware knob or button is touched or turned - and it helps, a lot. You can of course compare to products with more similar screen real estate, such as the MPC series. Montage M went as far as adding a secondary screen that can be dedicated to any group of parameters - because instant visual feedback matters, especially with complex instruments.
2 -
There's a difference between asking devs to fix things and what you are suggesting which is a complete redesign. Also the tone you're using to present these suggestions won't get you very far, but you do you.
3 -
I agree with you, but with or without MIDI, making it a versatile controller is a fundamental part of the solution. That's why I'm frustrated.
0 -
Yep, I mentioned a lot of these ideas (modulators, waveforms, etc.) in my original post. However, as I said there — that only really applies to synths. The Komplete library is chock full of instruments this wouldn't be appropriate for. So…what then? Envelopes and waveforms aren't going to be too useful in the East Asia instrument. Or The Gentleman. Or Session Bassist. Or Session Strings. Or Glaze. Or Studio Drummer. It's easy for us synth nerds to forget that there's a lot more than synths in Komplete. :)
But I think these are cool ideas and I'd love to see it. Realistically, though, I think the creator of each NKS instrument would need to do a lot custom UI work for this area that is appropriate for their instrument. The UI for the buttons and knobs on the top and bottom are NOT custom UI — those controls are provided at an API level, and done so in a standard way that is applicable to every instrument. Right now it's pretty easy for any plugin maker to adopt NKS. Most of the heavy lifting has been done by NI. The types of ideas we're talking about would require far more detailed work by the plugin makers, I think. And even if that were possible, I still don't know what the heck I'd put there for East Asia. :)
Comparrisons to the MicroFreak or the Montage I think aren't very fair — those are synths made by a single vendor that are entirely in control of the whole UI. That's not the case here. NKS is not a synth, it's a platform available to all instrument makers. NI doesn't just have to build a UI for a single synth — it has to build a platform for creating instrument UIs, and then instrument vendors need to adopt that platform, and then they need to do good design — a lot of which is outside the control of NI. And our expectation is that this all works great and has awesome UIs for thousands of different synths. It's just not the same thing as Artuia designing a handful of screens for a small OLED on the MicroFreak.
TL;DR: These ideas are cool, but I think they'd put a much heavier burden on the plugin makers, and NI might risk them not adopting NKS at all if too much is put on them.2 -
Yep, I mentioned a lot of these ideas (modulators, waveforms, etc.) in my original post. However, as I said there — that only really applies to synths. The Komplete library is chock full of instruments this wouldn't be appropriate for. So…what then? Envelopes and waveforms aren't going to be too useful in the East Asia instrument. Or The Gentleman. Or Session Bassist. Or Session Strings. Or Glaze. Or Studio Drummer. It's easy for us synth nerds to forget that there's a lot more than synths in Komplete. :)
Realistically, I think the creator of each NKS instrument would need to do custom UI work for this area that is appropriate for their instrument. The UI for the buttons and knobs on the top and bottom are NOT custom UI — those controls are provided at an API level, and done so in a standard way that is applicable to every instrument. The types of ideas we're talking about would require far more work on the part of each individual plugin maker, I think. And even if that were possible, I still don't know what the heck I'd put there for East Asia. :)
This is already what happens, the controls are not a standard one size fits all approach, NKS controls are already customised per instrument so a synth may get an envelope and a sample lib something more relevant (although I like envelopes with my sample libs anyway)
0
Categories
- All Categories
- 19 Welcome
- 1.3K Hangout
- 59 NI News
- 708 Tech Talks
- 3.6K Native Access
- 15.2K Komplete
- 1.8K Komplete General
- 4K Komplete Kontrol
- 5.3K Kontakt
- 1.5K Reaktor
- 355 Battery 4
- 783 Guitar Rig & FX
- 403 Massive X & Synths
- 1.1K Other Software & Hardware
- 5.3K Maschine
- 6.7K Traktor
- 6.7K Traktor Software & Hardware
- Check out everything you can do
- Create an account
- See member benefits
- Answer questions
- Ask the community
- See product news
- Connect with creators