NKS User Library

Updated all thumbnails to correct wrong sizes and also improved thumbnail images. Next plugins to be added:

FabFilter - One and Twin
Timewarp 2600
Revival
Falcon (possibly)

 

Xavier hasn't updated the download archives section since the website changes, so I cannot get the original version currently. At least not that way. I tried renaming the DLL to simply XILS 3.dll from XILS 3.2.dll but it did not work with this template.

I guess that one will wait till I can write Xavier to get an old version, or you update this template. ;-)

Terry

 

Templates and support files added for:

FabFilter - One and Twin
Timewarp 2600
Revival

thinking about Falcon - isn't possible to make a one size fits all template as every patch is so different so will probably just add thumbnails and an example patch and let people do what they want with it

 

No point in doing a template for 3.2 for me, a) it's patch compatible with XILS4 so I just use that and b) I consider it a downgrade from the original sonically

 

Posted something for UVI Falcon - it's simply not possible to make a one size for all style template for this modular plugin as every patch needs a different approach. Nor is it realistic for me to save out lots of patches as I could get into copyright issues, not to mention the work. So I have just saved one mapped macro based patch as an example of an approach to this, along with thumbnails and database entries all set up. This way users can save their own patches using this as a starting point.

 

Added:

Nusofting Modelonia and Knagalis
XILs-Lab MiniSyn-X
Virsyn Poseidon

 

New V2.1 NKS Releases from Freelance Soundlabs
I am very pleased to announce an update to all NKS libraries from FreelanceSoundlabs will be happening over the next few weeks. Omnisphere 2 factory library is now updated and live with the rest to follow very soon. I will post here when available and all registered users will receive emails about the updates.

This is quite a large update with a lot of new features and work invested but the result is a huge improvement in all areas so here is what is new with v2.1...

Library Banks

All instruments will now have the ability to select an individual library or expansion from the software/hardware (if it's needed). This makes it much easier to filter your sound search to a certain library within an instrument. This was rolled out to the first few instruments a month ago but has now been updated and tested over all instruments now I know it works on a larger scale.

Improved Tagging
Old / New

Tags have been significantly cleaned up with many duplicate tags or tags such as "Synth" and "Synths" condensed. Over 150 garbage tags were removed across all libraries and a lot of work has now gone into synchronising tags over all instruments and 3rd party libraries. Some tags that were almost empty were removed or consolidated with other tags. This is most noticeable with many 3rd party libraries for Omnisphere which contained a huge mess of tags that you see above. Some additional work has gone into adding more tag data to some instruments too such as Korg Wavestation which did not have much tag data but has now been processed by hand to add tags to every preset. The Sound Browser helps speed this kind of thing up.

Updated Library Artwork

I spent some time updating artwork for all plugins to make it fit in better with the factory style. This is of course optional if you have custom artwork or like the original artwork but if you have the previous v1.x and wish to update the artwork you will need to copy the files in the IMAGES folder and overwrite the existing images.

Sound Previews
This is the biggest update and the one that required the most amount of work to achieve. Sound previews are now available for ALL presets for v2.1+ NKS libraries. This increases the download size and the installation size so keep this in mind.

You will have to delete your existing NKS library files and install this latest package. Installation is the same, nothing special. You need to keep in mind that any favourites you have marked will be overwritten.

I have tested the sound preview feature extensively and it works extremely well. All sound files generated are batch processed to 6 seconds or less to -3db and file sizes are small (in some cases smaller than the NKS file). There may be a few sound files not processed correctly or some missing. Just let me know if you find anything not quite right and I will get it fixed up.

NOTE: There is no volume control for the previews in User library so you need to switch to Factory library to adjust the preview sound.

New Download/Purchase System
We now have a completely automated system for digital downloads. You no longer have to register an account, send a payment and twiddle your thumbs waiting for me to wake up and send you your download. You will now find payment buttons with a quick checkout, no account needed, and an instant download delivered to your email.

However, we do recommend creating an account if you want easy access to your downloads or updates at a later date. The system will create an account if you are not logged in using your PayPal email. If you have an account just login before purchase to have it saved to that account.

For existing registered users that have already purchased v1.x libraries you can upgrade to the new library for just $2.99 by logging in, going to Downloads > My Downloads then visiting the Donor Downloads section of your account. You will now see an "Upgrade" button that will add the update to your account. If you are not interested in any of the new features then you don't need to upgrade.

Installation Instructions
I have created a quick video for installing the NKS library's for new users. Detailed instructions are also included.


Visit the Forum Thread for more info

 

In between, my 50 cent. For all don't know yet.
Here a huge library from jhorology on Github with over 35 full assembled Vst Plugin's for NKS. Free for download.

Code:

Alchemy
AnalogLab
AnalogLab 2
BassStation
Cyclop
DB-33
Diva
EightyEight
Hive
Hybrid
iris 2
Keyscape 5
Loom
LuSH-101 5
Mini V2
MiniGrand
Neutron
Neutron Compressor
Neutron Equalizer
Neutron Exciter
Neutron Transient Shaper
Ohmicide
Spark
Serum
SerumFX
Spire 1.0.x
Spire 1.1.x
Strike
Structure
Stutter Edit
Synth Anthology 2
SynthMaster2
theRiser
Thorus
Twin 2
V-Station
Vacuum Pro
Velvet
Xpand!2

https://github.com/jhorology/nks-presets-collection

 

Hey guys,
I was thinking about to create some consistent artwork for all the plugins, which were named in this thread here.
I started going thru this thread here and I'm actually at page 5 and I've listed 43 plugins. So I guess, there are a lot more on the next 20 pages.
Every plugin needs 6 pictures and I assume, that's a lot time consuming work. Actually I found no opportunity to get the pictures showing in plugin mode. But as long as I search for sounds, the pictures are displayed correctly.
I want to ask you, if there's someone in the community, who owns Photoshop and could work on this pictures together with me. I have the psd files already in place and can share it. The only rule is, that every user needs to accept my color scheme, because I use the same color in the images as it contains in the color.json file.
If someone is intherested to share the work with me, please let me know.
I propose to send all the results to Kymeia and he/she can provide/integrate the images on his repository site. I've attached some example pictures. In my opinion, the bigger and colored plugin name is more convinient to read on the new Maschine or Keyboard displays.
What do you think about it?

 

Thanks - shouldn't one of those be MST_plugin.png? (even if that's the one that currently doesn't show with user plugins I am hoping that get's fixed)

Personally I find the existing text display adequate and would prefer to just have images as I think the name obscures too much but it would be good to give people the choice

 

I agree on the text display. Adding to the images seems redundant to me.

 

Yeah I agree too, there isn't a need for the text on the images.

It's an individual thing but when I updated my artwork I followed the factory library way of doing it so it looks the same... The "Artwork" named files are an artistic shot of the physical version of the instrument or an artistic angled shot. The "Plugin" file is a section of the actual plugin GUI, a recognisable part or element of the plugin and the "Logo" is exactly that, a larger logo with the branding on it. That is basically the format to follow.

Personally I like each image being "different" with a different appearance, different angled shot etc because it helps make a visual guide. I select based off the thumb images out the corner of my eye... It may look more uniform to have them all with the same kind of elements (coloured tag) but it makes it look too static and as Kymeia pointed out, takes away valuable real estate to see the image itself.

 

Yep that's how I do it too - plugin view (even though this one rarely shows in the keyboard due to a 'bug') is a screenshot of whole plugin, artwork views I either pick a nice 3D photo if I can find one or zoom into a nice portion of the gui

 

With all these different people (thankfully) creating NKS packs, we will now start to have the problem of comparing various packs for the same VST. Which one is better? Which one addresses tags better? Better sound previews? Nicer artwork?

I can see this getting out of hand pretty quickly... duplication of effort... the difficulty of any given user to be able to determine which pack they should download from whom. With this vibrant community here, there should be no reason for multiple people to create separate packs for the same instrument. (Yes, I understand that some of it may be down to personal preferences.)

I like the idea of a GitHub or other repository. I would allow those folks who want to contribute to the freeware release of these packs to combine and coordinate efforts. So, if 2 or 3 or more people want to contribute to a pack for a given VST, they can go into that src folder, see what's there already, and suggest or contribute additions, changes, etc.

Thoughts?

 

As far as I can see it's only Jester actively creating packs still, maybe JHorology too but he hasn't posted here in a long time. I'm very clear that my goal is primarily just to get plugins into the browser and mapped to the controller, I have neither the interest, scripting skills, or time to create packs of NKS presets too and frankly don't think it's worth it for me to have to fight the frustrating KK interface to have to do that, although I do appreciate those that do

 

Yeah without the proper tools for users it's almost impossible. I'm a qualified technical problem solver so that's what most of my life has been. For me the challenge is quite fun but mostly, it started with me wanting more out of what I had and exploring every avenue possible to achieve it. The donations justify the time I spend and allow me to keep plugins updated, purchase new plugins/libraries etc.

If there was a proper setup mechanism provided to us to do these things i'd certainly use it.

 

It's annoying because I would prefer complete control over my ability to import presets, without that I'm always limited to factory patches largely and I'm not a factory patch person, I have hundreds of my own presets I'd really love to have integrated, as well as many third party ones. So for now my priority is control, the librarian aspect is secondary.

 

I noticed on my system (Windows 10) that the software searches for these missing images in the wrong place, it looks under

C:\Users\Public\Documents\NI Resources\image\<plugin_name>
instead of
C:\Users\Public\Documents\NI Resources\image\<vendor_name>\<plugin_name>

So as a workaround I now have copies of the user plugin images in both places, e.g. I have the same set of images under

C:\Users\Public\Documents\NI Resources\image\omnisphere
and
C:\Users\Public\Documents\NI Resources\image\spectrasonics\omnisphere

(Both locations are needed as some icons are only found under the first path and others only under the second path).

Nevertheless I hope this will be fixed in a future update.

 

Are you saying the plugin thumbnail shows when you double up like this? Must try this.

 

Yes confirmed - it looks like the software browser thumbnails are using:

NI Resources\image\companyname\plugin

but the keyboard screen is using

NI Resources\image\plugin

(and can use this folder for the browser images too - but when you remove the longer one the software browser loses them)

Thanks, useful info