Is there any possibility of an NKS-maker tool, for Mac users?

el-bo
el-bo Member Posts: 35 Member
edited January 2023 in Komplete Kontrol

I know there's one for Windows users (Not sure if it's still being maintained), but nothing for MacOS users.

Been finding a certain amount of resistance from 3rd-party preset-developers, in terms of providing NKS or more specifically audio previews for NKS stuff.

It's understandable that many wouldn't want to sink the extra development time into it, but leaves many users in a situation in which the new hub of our productions is missing huge swathes of searchable, preview-able sounds.

I'm not adverse to the idea of organising stuff myself, but without some kind of tool to help cut out a lot of repeated tasks, it seems like a total waste of time and energy

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Comments

  • Kymeia
    Kymeia Member Posts: 3,612 Expert
    edited January 2023

    I really feel NI should have made those tools available to users in the first place. Kore 2 had preset import and built in previewing (which didn’t require exporting audio files). I know some tools for things like bank creation and previews are available to NKS developers but there is no reason why NI should keep this in house apart from they clearly want to maintain control over this process rather than empower users like they used to do more of

  • JesterMgee
    JesterMgee Member Posts: 2,531 Expert

    Because mac is way more of a pain than Windows to make anything for.

    I personally don't use a single tool, I ahve probably about 15 different utilities for different ways of making libraries and all of them I have had to make from scratch because different plugins impose different challenges for getting data out of them, no single tool can do it.

  • el-bo
    el-bo Member Posts: 35 Member

    Thanks!

    It's such a shame they seem to be shooting themselves in the feet. Evidently certain companies don't want in, either 'cause they've spent tons of time and money in R&D honing their own tag-able, searchable systems. Or perhaps the just don't feel they need to suddenly jump into NI's idea of a universal hub/engine. And for sound-designers...who knows? I've come up lucky with a few, but those who don't provide them seem to just ghost me when i enquire (Just out of curiosity) what puts them off, and what it might take to get them to provide them.

    My few attempts to work out how to do it suggest that even the simplest instructions are above my pay-grade, and so, yeah...I'm just left wishing for a utility that, as you say, should've been provided from the outset, for those who're happy to put in the time and effort to get everyone on the same page.

    You and a few others have clearly done a lot of work to get this working, and I'm hoping to benefit from some of that with some of the stuff I'm missing. Would also like to offer some assistance, if there's any part of the process that I could help with (Making audio previews etc.).

  • el-bo
    el-bo Member Posts: 35 Member

    Another one who's done magnificent work for the community. Crazy to hear the lengths you've had to go to to get it working.

  • el-bo
    el-bo Member Posts: 35 Member

    Even trying to install this stuff seems really convoluted.

    Trying to install some Repro presets from Bob Swans.

    The initial zip he sent over seemed to be missing the ogg previews. After some back-and-forth, he sent a separate folder, but I still couldn't access them. Managed to find out if I unhid files in MacOS, I can see them. But I'm still no wiser what to do with them. In Library...Application Support...u-he I find Repro siles. Within the Repro 1 and 5 folders are a list of nksf files, but no preview folder. Even when i try to unhide files, the previews don't show up. However, they do show up for Podolski, within the same folder.

    I'm not sure if I'm supposed to dump my whole list of nksf files into the same long list that's there, or if I have to add them to the list in the current folder. Same for previews. If u-he doesn't even have it's ogg previews there, where di I put those?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers :)

  • Kymeia
    Kymeia Member Posts: 3,612 Expert

    They go in the same folder as the nksf presets

    like this

  • el-bo
    el-bo Member Posts: 35 Member

    That's great, thanks! So I should dump the whole folder e.g "BoB SwanS Repro-5 Patches NKS" into the destination (Studio...Library...Application Support...u-he...Repro-1...NKS...Repro-5), in it's entirety? Then do the same for any other 3rd-party banks?

    I so have a couple of other questions, if I may:

    1) Can I make NKS sets (for non-NKS instruments and 3rd-party sound designers) directly from within KK? I'm assuming it'd have to be done one-by one, with audio previews done by hand and added afterwards.

    2) Is there a way of making a 'dummy' super-preset instrument/folder, in which I can store duplicate nksf and ogg files. not a fan of binary favouriting, and not so trustworthy of favourites remaining in place.

    Thanks :)

  • Kymeia
    Kymeia Member Posts: 3,612 Expert
    edited January 2023

    You can do the same for any bank as long as there is 1:1 correspondence between what is in the .previews folder and NKS folder - so if there are subfolders (eg ‘basses’ ‘leads’ etc) you will need a .previews folder for each. The system only works 1 level deep

    1) Yes you can do most of it in Komplete Kontrol - I mostly create a control template as a starting point, then once happy with the mapping use that to save out presets 1 by 1 but that part is a slow tedious process so I tend to only do that myself for plugins with a reasonable number of presets. My primary interest is control anyway - the presets are secondary as I make a lot of my own anyway. Also there are several people like Jason on the forum who have the skills to automate that part using scripts and various apps (eg that GULP app) but this is largely command line stuff and beyond me.

    2) Not entirely sure what you are wanting from that? I do use a custom folder myself for home made NKS and works in progress

  • el-bo
    el-bo Member Posts: 35 Member

    You can do the same for any bank as long as there is 1:1 correspondence between what is in the .previews folder and NKS folder - so if there are subfolders (eg ‘basses’ ‘leads’ etc) you will need a .previews folder for each. The system only works 1 level deep

    Ok. That makes sense :)

    Yes you can do most of it in Komplete Kontrol - I mostly create a control template as a starting point, then once happy with the mapping use that to save out presets 1 by 1 but that part is a slow tedious process so I tend to only do that myself for plugins with a reasonable number of presets. My primary interest is control anyway - the presets are secondary as I make a lot of my own anyway. Also there are several people like Jason on the forum who have the skills to automate that part using scripts and various apps (eg that GULP app) but this is largely command line stuff and beyond me.

    I have no knowledge of coding, scripting etc.and given there's no one-utility-to-rule-them-all, it seems that 1-by-1 is the only way I'd be able to achieve it. Unlike you, control is not my priority (Could probably cover what I needed in no more than 2 pages). Just want all sounds to be tagged and with audio previews. Such a shame I can't get Logic's synths in there, also.

    I get it's gonna be a slow process, but with a few handfuls a day, I'll get there soon enough ;)

    Not entirely sure what you are wanting from that?

    Haha...Not sure I do, either ;)

    I guess I want something like 'Projects', or whatever it's called in Omnisphere. Would be great to have a folder that contains duplicates of all my favourite presets, taken from a cross-section of all synths, to be searchable just like it was it's own sound-pack. Just not sure if there's a way to do that

    Anyway...Never really been a completionist/perfectionist, but there's definitely a sense with KK (at least for me) that I either have to be able to access everything from it, or I'll ditch it entirely. Still could go either way, but I'll make a start with the stuff I have missing (Some of which seems to have been covered by you and others. Thanks for that), and see how I get on.

    Thanks for the thorough answer, and all your help.

  • el-bo
    el-bo Member Posts: 35 Member

    Hmmm...Despite following the instructions (Dropped all the Bob Swans folders into the designated places) and re-scanning in both KK standalone and the plugin, the presets aren't showing.

    All I'm seeing is this:


  • Kymeia
    Kymeia Member Posts: 3,612 Expert

    thats factory try switching to user

  • el-bo
    el-bo Member Posts: 35 Member

    Thanks! But they're not in there. I suspect I've got the location wrong, or shouldn't have placed the entire folder...or just something.

    I'll mess around with it over the weekend, and see if I can get it to work. I should be able to figure this out, and really don't want to waste any more of your time.

    Many thanks!

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