Translation from Reaktor 5 Core Reference book's tutorials

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Peran
Peran Member Posts: 6 Member
edited October 2024 in Reaktor

I decided I wanted to dive into Core, and the Reaktor 6 "Building in Core" book is pretty thin. NI posted the Reaktor 5 "Core Reference" book on their page with Reaktor 6 docs, so I started following the tutorials there...

...and now I realize Core was overhauled quite significantly between v5 and v6, stuff like "Ctl mix", "Ctl Amount", "Chain" etc don't have any obvious equivalents in v6. Some of the stuff I solved using the addition and multiplication boxes, but not everything.

Was there ever some sort of translation guide when NI released Reaktor 6? I've watched a lot of Reaktor videos on youtube, but the best resource for me personally has been the written documentation - I guess it has to do with age? :-)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers, Per.

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Best Answers

  • ANDREW221231
    ANDREW221231 Member Posts: 351 Pro
    Answer ✓

    much of the V5 core reference still holds to reaktor 6, and the things that are different are basically everything that is covered in the v6 reference. are you referring to some of the missing modules? if so, those can be found in the user library thanks to our user @Paule being such an archivist

    some of them come in pretty handy as well IME


    https://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/entry/show/11019/

  • colB
    colB Member Posts: 1,123 Guru
    edited May 2022 Answer ✓

    Nothing was removed from core, so everything from the R5 core reference still works.

    Things to watch out for:

    Changes were made to Reaktor initialisation that can effect some core code, but shouldn't have an impact on learning all the basic stuff.

    There used to be two different types of core cell, now only one type, but that one type can do everything that the old ones could do, and more, so where the R5 manual might refer to Audio core cells and Event core cells, R6 you would just use a core cell, and change the parameter for inputs and outputs between Event and Audio handling.

    Some approaches used in R5 core would/should be handled differently in R6 because of new features. However the old approaches will still work. Stuff like distribution busses, and bundles were added making clock handling much more powerful, but also somewhat different in practice.

    I think the main sticking point is that it looks very different because of the graphical updates to the edit pane, and that there are changes to the library content - so where there was just a single z^-1 macro, now there are lots of different ones, same for latches... None of this changes the fundamentals though - and if you learn the basics well, you can just crack open any of these macros and work out how they work internally for yourself.

    Any questions about specifics, just post them. Core is very coherent and logical, so most problems arise through simple misunderstandings. Easiest solution is to tackle specific issues as they arise. And best to do it sooner - don't want to build a mental model based on misunderstandings of the fundamentals.

    A good start would be for you to explain where the terms "Ctl mix", "Ctl Amount", "Chain", come from. I'd guess that the first two are related to some macro(s), in which case, they don't matter too much, and maybe 'chain' is from an 'OBC Chain'? in which case that is the same in R6 as it was in R5

    EDIT: Or is "chain" from chain adders? in which case, they are very easy to recreate

Answers

  • ANDREW221231
    ANDREW221231 Member Posts: 351 Pro
    Answer ✓

    much of the V5 core reference still holds to reaktor 6, and the things that are different are basically everything that is covered in the v6 reference. are you referring to some of the missing modules? if so, those can be found in the user library thanks to our user @Paule being such an archivist

    some of them come in pretty handy as well IME


    https://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/entry/show/11019/

  • Peran
    Peran Member Posts: 6 Member

    Awesome, big thanks to both you and @Paule !

  • colB
    colB Member Posts: 1,123 Guru
    edited May 2022 Answer ✓

    Nothing was removed from core, so everything from the R5 core reference still works.

    Things to watch out for:

    Changes were made to Reaktor initialisation that can effect some core code, but shouldn't have an impact on learning all the basic stuff.

    There used to be two different types of core cell, now only one type, but that one type can do everything that the old ones could do, and more, so where the R5 manual might refer to Audio core cells and Event core cells, R6 you would just use a core cell, and change the parameter for inputs and outputs between Event and Audio handling.

    Some approaches used in R5 core would/should be handled differently in R6 because of new features. However the old approaches will still work. Stuff like distribution busses, and bundles were added making clock handling much more powerful, but also somewhat different in practice.

    I think the main sticking point is that it looks very different because of the graphical updates to the edit pane, and that there are changes to the library content - so where there was just a single z^-1 macro, now there are lots of different ones, same for latches... None of this changes the fundamentals though - and if you learn the basics well, you can just crack open any of these macros and work out how they work internally for yourself.

    Any questions about specifics, just post them. Core is very coherent and logical, so most problems arise through simple misunderstandings. Easiest solution is to tackle specific issues as they arise. And best to do it sooner - don't want to build a mental model based on misunderstandings of the fundamentals.

    A good start would be for you to explain where the terms "Ctl mix", "Ctl Amount", "Chain", come from. I'd guess that the first two are related to some macro(s), in which case, they don't matter too much, and maybe 'chain' is from an 'OBC Chain'? in which case that is the same in R6 as it was in R5

    EDIT: Or is "chain" from chain adders? in which case, they are very easy to recreate

  • Peran
    Peran Member Posts: 6 Member

    The "Ctl mix" comes from the bottom of page 40 of the Reaktor 5 Core Reference:

    [...] just use a control signal mixer instead, for example Standard Macro - Control - Ctl Mix:

    And there may very well be an obvious substitution for an experienced Core developer, but not for a noob like me. And as to whether they matter - well, they're kind of crucial for my understanding of the book :-)

  • colB
    colB Member Posts: 1,123 Guru

    You would need access to the Ctl Mix macro to be able to look inside! I think if you did, you might immediately understand it though, assuming you don't start looking for deeper meaning in something so completely redundant ;)

    It seems that Ctrl Mix is literally a macro wrapper around an addition module:

    image.png

    That stuff about "using it [add] generally requires some knowledge of fundamental Reaktor Core low-level working principles" is... off-putting and unnecessary hyperbole IMO. There are some gotcha's hiding in core, but not as many as in the Primary layer, and those 'fundamental low level' principles are applicable to macros as much as to low level modules - they apply equally to all of core.

    I imagine that's why the Ctl Mix Macro doesn't exist any more - it's just silly. Much better for folk to understand why/when addition is the correct thing to use, and use that as a launching pad for a deeper dive into stuff about when it's maybe not, and then introduce latches and modulation macros - that's the fundamental low level detail that needs to be learned eventually... Ctl Mix and other unnecessary wrappers just muddy the waters IMO :)

    I think some of the stuff like this might have been done the way it was because initially when core was first introduced, many users were learning it from the point of view of already being proficient in Primary, so wrapping things up in more familiar looking macros was done to ease the transition. I don't think that worked though - just made it more complicated, and made the idea of raw low level core somehow more scary and 'difficult'.

    TL/DR, just use an addition module in place of Ctl Mix

  • middle_hat
    middle_hat Member Posts: 5 Member
    edited June 2022

    Wrong topic my dudes. Apologies for the out of context comment in German. Have a nice one.

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