Any hope Kontakt's UI will have a refresh?

Hi,

During the latest times, I've used Kontakt-based libraries less and less. The reason being that both the major and smaller indie developers whose instruments I use have been abandoning Kontakt year after year. So, I mostly use their players. And when using a Kontakt-based library, I use my Quick-Load sets.

But since I've recently started exploring some fantastic libraries from NI themselves, I had to find again how user-hostile, careless Kontakt's UI is. The endless list of libraries on the left can't be organized in folders, nor seen in a more compact way. Opening and closing the list can't be done with a dedicated button in the toolbar. Characters in the UI are so small that you have to magnify the Mac's display. Text is so grainy that I doubt it is Retina-compliant. Editing groups and samples is still done in tiny windows, with groups falling out of the window not even automatically located when playing.

I wonder why this part of the software has been abandoned for all these years. And I understand why the developers once relying on Kontakt have been abandoning it: the user experience is abysmal, and this reflects on any library running on it.

Paolo

 

We already have a thread on Kontakt's UI in the subforum where you wanted to delete your thread.

The quick answer is: Kontakt is a 20 years old codebase, and graphics library used doesn't know what HiDPI/Retina is. It's a huge undertaking and it's going to take more time to solve it.

Also, get a non-Retina monitor and your problems mostly go away.

 

ED, I'm sorry, I was sure we had discussed about this issue other times, but couldn't find the main thread.

That's the problem: HiDPI is here to stay. Very worried about my beloved software that is slowly sliding into a niche for vintage hardware enthusiasts, with all the germinal UI conventions making one feel a tech hero and an old fellow of Woz. Some of us could be part of them, but having to use other software will not allow most of us.

Paolo

 

And NI is very well aware of that, as you can see their most recently released plugins do have UI scaling.

Kontakt will get there eventually, but consider the size of NI's portfolio (all those older effects before Mod/Crush Pack, all the synths before Massive X...). It is going to take a lot of effort and time.

 

If this is a joke then fine....but if not....I appreciate you're a mod but this kind of attitude doesn't help anyone.....

 

It's a bit tongue in cheek, sure, but it's also the only thing that will really work, today. I am not upgrading to HiDPI until all important software I use is ready for it (and this is, to me, the only logical path to take).

 

the joke is: all the other software is hdpi ready...
btw.: i discovered the last kontakt 6 update supported hdpi scaling in studio one.
its great

 

Well no. There are plenty of other programs and audio plugins which are not HiDPI ready.

 

The whole UI needs a rework... a better filesystem/sorting experience too is pretty crucial at this point