NBPL or Previews - which one?

Jojo123 · 2025-06-29T11:16:33+00:00

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Ive almost completed installing K14UCE on my new Mac Studio (M4). At this time Im wanting to share the NI content libraries on an external SSD between My iMac and the Studio.

Heres the thing. In KK on the iMac all previews play as normal. On the Studio a number of previews in KK don't play. In my NI content library the folder is named NBPL but in NA there's only a Previews Library which Ive found out is the same thing, and when I go to "add content" and point it to the NBPL Folder of course I get an error.

This is an 8.5GB download and I was hoping to use the same Folder for both computers, like Ive done for everything else. Is there any way I can get the Studio to see it without having a second copy or redownloading it?

Thanks for any help.

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victorp.sg

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/232633#Comment_232633

The standalone download is called "Native Browser Preview Library"—look under "N"—NBPL for short.

I can't remember if it is "Previews Library" or simply "Previews" as I discovered this "bug" about 4 years ago, and I have since did a total re-install (except Kontakt libraries) about 1.5 years ago, so it is named as "NBPL", the default. Try both and see which Native Access will accept.

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victorp.sg

Just rename the “NBPL” folder to “Previews”, refresh the library list, and repair the content location to this “Previews” folder.

Jojo123

Thanks. I thought of renaming but was a bit leary of the outcome. For certain reasons Im still using NA1 on my iMac. Will check what its called there and see if its Previews or not.

victorp.sg

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/232503#Comment_232503

For a fresh new installation of the Previews Library, Native Access (NA) will named the content folder as "NBPL" (an acronym for Native Browser Previews Library). Subsequently, if you need to change its content location (perhaps you move the library folder elsewhere), NA will not allow you to point to this "NBPL" folder complaining that it is an invalid location unless you rename it from "NBPL" to "Previews". One other library that I know of that needs renaming if you change its location is "Maschine 2 Library" to "Machine 2 Factory Library".

Jojo123

Thanks again for your response. In NA1 it was called Previews, which after your explanation made sense. I have never moved the library, and all NI stuff has always been in the same location.

Ok so I renamed it "Previews Library" repaired it for the iMac and that worked. However the new Mac, no deal. So I Renamed it just Previews and no deal either.

Is yours named Previews or Previews Library.

Thx.

victorp.sg

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/232507#Comment_232507

Did you install Previews on your new Mac Studio when you are installing K15CE? If you did not, like non-Kontakt libraries such as Expansions, you need to install them first before you can relocate them within each computer system as NA requires the required relevant JSON, XML, and PLIST files for the library to work on. Perhaps you can do a google search for the required information to see which JSON, XML and PLIST files to copy across from your iMac to make content relocation work.

Jojo123

OK so as Ive explained in another post, just to re-iterate here, what my intention is, is to share an external drive between my iMac and my New Studio for K14 UCE. My goal has been to have the new mac see the HD without downloading the content files again. Of course Ive installed all necessary Applications first, before doing anything else. In choosing the "add content" option from those 3 dots Ive been successful in getting everything on the new Mac, with just a couple of issues to figure out.

victorp.sg

Only NI Kontakt libraries can be (re)located from other locations on a system that has never had any NI products installed before, other than Native Access and Kontakt (Player).

Previews library, like NI Expansions, cannot be (re)located this way on such a system. You need to install Previews library first on that system, use content location on that system to relocate to your external volume "Previews Library" folder, then delete the "NBPL" folder that was installed on that system.

In this post "New mac setup - still have to re-download all expansions?" more than 3 years back, D-One has a solution where you need to copy some files from your iMac to Mac Studio to trick NA on your Mac Studio that NI Expansions (that includes Preview Library) are already installed. Whether it will work with the current NA version is unknown.

Jojo123

Im sorry but I didn't get to finish my last post before the forum glitched out on me and I somehow got logged out. Ive only just been able to log back in now.

Thankyou for your insight, I get it about your first bit on Kontakt. Im not sure I understand fully the procedures you've said on the 2nd bit. Ive followed the link. It's not clear what NA those guys were on at that time but I'll finish what I was going to say.

When I "installed" everything including expansions to my new Mac, it definitely didn't do a full install which was what I was hoping. There was no option other than "install" for expansions but they didn't do a full install. The reason I know this is because I'm on ADSL. Trust me, a 1GB download takes MUCH longer than a minute to finish downloading. Most expansions took around a minute to install much less for the smaller ones and a little longer for the bigger..

I didn't see any locate options. All I saw was the "add content" thing and so I used that and it worked.

So if I read you correctly I basically will need to re-download the whole 8.5GB Previews Library?

victorp.sg

Perhaps the latest current version of Native Access (NA) allows "add content" feature to "install" Expansions (and Preview Library) that are stored elsewhere other than the default location. 2 years ago when I changed my Mac computer, I have to reinstall Expansions even though there were already on external storage installed previously on my old Mac.

You can now download a standalone installer of "Native Browser Preview Library" at Product downloads without using NA, but you still require to use NA after standalone installation to activate (if needed) and set the correct content location. You can try and see if it will help.

Jojo123

Yes the latest NA on the Studio indeed did as I explained. IIRC there was a (fairly) recent change in how NI dealt with installers and installing stuff, but I never came across a full explanation of exactly what that entailed.

Yes I made a thread re the new Product Downloads. I went there yesterday specifically to look for Previews but I didn't see it there.

Can you please let me know if your Previews Folder is called 'Previews', or 'Previews Library' ?

Thx

victorp.sg

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/232633#Comment_232633

The standalone download is called "Native Browser Preview Library"—look under "N"—NBPL for short.

Jojo123

Ah should've looked for NBPL. Thx

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