Third party NKS factory library integration

Diam · September 2022

Since the removal of sounds.com support, all of my third party NKS libraries have disappeared from the factory tab. This is quite the inconvenience for me. Despite following a previous thread on the old forum, I have been unable to resolve this problem.

https://www.native-instruments.com/forum/threads/how-to-integrate-user-library-into-factory-library.349159/page-2

Has anybody here been able to resolve this issue or restore this location in the factory tab, by creating a registry entry on Mac? Despite numerous attempts and name variables, this is an unresolved issue for me. Can somebody at Native Instruments please provide a solution, as you would clearly be the best suited to provide a solution for Mac/Win users? A generic go to folder for all of our third party NKS. I am not so specific about the separate entries, just “one location to rule them all” so to speak? Thanks in advance. :)

JesterMgee · September 2022

Windows is a lot easier to make this work, I tried a quick test in the past but was not successful and never cared enough about macOS to dive any further than that... I could possibly figure out how the .plist files are suppose to work by digging into existing files and testing more but i'd have to be pretty bored and lacking anything remotely interesting to do, that is rarely ever the case.

I do note another user in that linked thread from the old forum posted a zip with the files he created to make it work. Would think it should be a case of swapping out the info there to make it work? Had a quick look and seems easy enough.

Diam · September 2022

Thanks for the response. I did also see that entry from the user in the previous thread, but the links didn't really help much. It appears plugins (in this case plugin alliance) seem to have some existing file structure/metadata that helps the process. An example being, I was able to fix my Analog Lab, as there was an existing mock template in the arturia library folder. I just migrated the presets and they were recognised along with the native NKS templates.

If I knew how to identify or generate specific metadata from unsupported libraries, it may help, though this is slightly beyond my level of knowledge.

Hope that makes sense. If you do have any revelations, please keep us updated, but I appreciate the feedback.

JesterMgee · September 2022

I don't think all that is needed, at least on Windows it doesn't need the specific metadata, just a path to a location and then when NKS files are detected in that location an antry is enabled in the factory library.

I might mess around with it on my mac tomorrow and see how long it takes before I want to throw it out the window.

Diam · September 2022

Haha! No problem. Tbh, that's where I got to with it. Really appreciate the consideration.

JesterMgee · September 2022

Just to update on this, I give up for the moment.

Haven't had any success and the macOS file system and constant nagging to enter a password to move files for testing reminds me of why I prefer Windows for technical stuff. Macs are for simply using, not messing with, I mean who places a big DELETE key on their keyboard that does not even do what it says on the tin without an additional modifier key (which is not accessible from a VNC connection)!

So chalk this one up in the too hard basket for the moment, macOS users are on their own when it comes to doing this or simply use the user library. Windows users will have no issue as the process is 1 minute and requires like 2 steps.

Diam · September 2022

No probs. I will probably keep trying combinations to fix what I can. If I make any progress I will post my findings. Thanks.

Diam · September 2022

I managed to create registry entries for a few u he and plugin alliance VSTs, without official NKS support, by copying the existing XML/plist from supported plugins and editing the content. I used the same file paths as in the original entries and created corresponding folders for the NKS presets in the relative locations.

Not yet worked out my outstanding list, but it is good to know it works in theory.

Mac OS Monterey

JesterMgee · September 2022

What are the exact paths?

I checked existing plist files which reference a specific path in \library\audio

What I wanted to test is how to just use a custom directory in Documents and instead of making an entry for every plugin, rather set a custom folder location that all user NKS can be installed into so you only have to do it one time.

Diam · September 2022

So, I have been varying the paths relative to whether the vendor already has a generic content or preset folder. Either Audio/Presets/Vendor name/NKS/Product name, or Library/Application Support/Vendor Name/NKS/Product name.

In instances where none of the above exist, I have been creating a folder in either main Preset or Application Support directory. It seems this is working for most things now, as I have just managed to get my Spectrasonics installed.

plist Example (Macintosh HD needs to be your specific drive name)

<key>InstallDir</key>

<string>Macintosh HD:Library:Audio:Plug-Ins:VST:</string>

<key>ContentDir</key>

<string>Macintosh HD:Library:Audio:Presets:Spectrasonics:NKS:Keyscape:</string>

<key>ContentVersion</key>

I have been entering the UPID where possible, so not sure if this helped, but I managed to create a registry for U he, Tyrell for which I was unable to locate the UPID.

Hope this helps and/or makes sense.

Diam · September 2022

I agree the custom folder thing (which they did for sounds.com), would save a whole lot of trouble. This is a very timely process. NI really left us hanging with that one.

Diam · September 2022

Third Party NKS Factory Registry example.zip

So, here is a little template I reworked from the bits provided on this forum that enabled me to restore my third party plugins to the factory tab. Hope it helps others. Thanks to JesterMgee for lighting the way on this one.

JesterMgee · September 2022

I'll test this out and let you know.

Ideally I want to be able to easily do the same on mac as I do on PC and that is to simply have a custom folder set (preferably in the documents folder) where ALL custom NKS files can be added. The examples I have seen so far are making a dedicated entry per plugin with the plugin ID added and everything which is not needed on PC. You just create a folder location and anything you place in there is added into factory, it's all very easy to do even for a novice.

Diam · September 2022

No, you were right. I did not need the plugin UPID. Fortunately!

JesterMgee · October 2022

Ok, found some time to test things out and have managed to simplify what exactly is needed in the files to make an entry.

The simplest thing to do is create a single custom factory library entry which you would use to scan in ALL your custom NKS libraries, just to save having to make a separate entry for every plugin which you can still do, but the only benefit is it creates a separate scannable library entry in the factory list.

The .plist file sets the path to where the NKS files will be, this is a root directory so anything within will be scanned.

I discovered for .plist files it is IMPORTANT to make sure the actual entry after the vendor starts with a capical letter so my .plist file is:

com.native-instruments.Freelancesoundlabs.plist

The name of the .plist file (refered to as a [regfile] ) is "Freelancesoundlabs" and this needs to begin with a capital as I found if it does not then it is not valid.

The only thing that needs to be set in this file is the "ContentDir" string:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>InstallDir</key>
	<string></string>
	<key>ContentDir</key>
	<string>Macintosh HD:Library:Audio:NKS Presets</string>
	<key>ContentVersion</key>
	<string>1.0.0</string>
</dict>
</plist>

The path separator is a colon and "Macintosh HD" is the name of the drive where you will be placing the files then the full path to the root folder.

The location is completely up to the individual and in the case above it is not possible to manually create a folder within the Library/Audio folder so to do this, create the folder on the desktop then drag it in if this is the location to make as the NKS custom library.

This .plist file is placed here: [Macintosh HD]/Library/Preferences

You should see other .plist files for NI here also:

Next is the XML file which sets the actual entry for the factory library and links it to the .plist file (which sets the path to the actual NKS files)

This XML file can be named as anything (does not matter just start it with a capital) and has the following basic info you need to edit:

<RegKey> = This is the .plist ID created and needs to exactly match the bold part of the .plist file:

com.native-instruments.Freelancesoundlabs.plist

<FactoryLibrary> <Name> = This is the name that will be displayed in the factory library list within the KK/Maschine browser

<ProductHints>
  <Product version="1">
    <UPID></UPID>
    <Name></Name>
    <RegKey>Freelancesoundlabs</RegKey>
    <BinName></BinName>
    <AuthAppID>500</AuthAppID>
    <PluginID fx="false"></PluginID>
    <Company>Freelance Soundlabs</Company>
    <FactoryLibrary>
      <Name>Freelance Soundlabs</Name>
      <Relevance>
        <Application minVersion="1.5" nativeContent="false">KKontrol</Application>
        <Application minVersion="2.4" nativeContent="false">Maschine</Application>
      </Relevance>
    </FactoryLibrary>
    <Type>Plugin</Type>
    <AuthSystem>None</AuthSystem>
  </Product>
</ProductHints>

No other information needs to be added to make an entry since that info is stored in the NKS files itself and it is only specifically needed for developers to enter their own specific plugin information. The "Company Name" does not need to be entered either for what we need.

This XML file is placed at: [Macintosh HD]/Library/Application Support/Native Instruments/Service Center

Again, you should see a heap of existing files already:

Once this is done you need to place a library of NKS files into this new location so that KK/Maschine can scan the files in and create an entry for the first time. Once you launch KK/Maschine the NKS files should scan in and a new entry is created in the factory library list and your plugin should now appear in the plugin list. If you have installed the database and artwork files for the library it should appear as it does in your user library.