Some user interface suggestions

1. Add undo
2. Enable deleteing a parameter, instrument etc. by right click menu instead of selecting then going to the top of the screen buttons. This way, it can be done without touching the keyboard or moving the mouse all over the place
3. When the EDIT button is pressed, auto scroll all of the instruments up or down so that the selected instrument is at the top of the screen to better expose the edit area as much as possible.
4. Add a mode that uses normal windows or mac pull down menus, dialog boxes and scroll bars for those of us with large screens and tired eyes.
5. Use conventional explorer/finder file tools such as double clicking on column seperator expands out to expose the longest file name.
6. Use standard windows control and shift selectors when selecting objects in the mapping editor.
7. Allow grouping of loaded instruments (sort of like layers in Adobe Photoshop) and allow various levels inside a group to be set and adjusted relative to each other. For example, if I set a piano and string as group and have the strings volume a little lower than piano. When I move midi fader, have the volumes change relative to each other instead of moving to the same level on both.

 

#7 is brilliant!!! When combining instruments, the blend you use for one song may not be the blend you use for another. It would be nice to be able to save presets of the blends including pan and effects settings. It would also allow you to have "wet" and "dry" drum kits set up without having to store extra multi files (and associated samples) on the hard disk.

 

These are very good points! Come on N.I. get them in there!!!

 

Does anyone have any to add to the list?

 

Those are great idea's avpc. Got me thinking now.

 

User interface suggestions...

bump... Anyone else have any to add to the list?

 

I think a global loop mode switch in the 'loop editor' would be handy and save time creating new instruments. Setting each sample individually with the loop mode type is unnecessary when you simply want all samples to be ex. 'one shot'
It would be good for basic instruments and percussion setups.
With more advanced setups, it could be used as a starting point by setting a particular loop mode type to all samples [zones] and then later change the few samples that need another appropriate loop mode setting by deselecting the global switch.

I'd say It would be a realistic feature to add....


darkfact

 

uuumm... ok one more

Merge Multi option....

Say you just made a "killer 4 instrument multi" with many parameter settings. Since you have finetuned each instrument you would have to
resave each instrument individually and then reload them all into your pre-existing "equally killer 5 instrument multi" [and many other combinations like this].
Why have all this extra saving & loading [plus searching in some cases] when a 'merge' function would trim off some of those minutes which surely add up.....
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Here are some more:

1a. click on any data field and type in value from keyboard

1b. if you're in a data field hitting tab takes you to the next one

2. copy and paste groups with all parameters and inserts/effects between instruments

3. when zones are layered on top of one another in a group it would be helpful to have a function where you could grab just the top layer or just the bottom layer or else send all doubled layers to a new clone or empty group

 

Well - how about a 'save' button that saves the current instrument to the location and in the way specified by the last save, so you can quickly save a change and remain in the editor window?

 

forward backward buttons for instruments or multis

 

Some tools to make drawing scaling curves in those controller scaling windows easier. A curve where we could add and drag around control points would be ideal.

 

Come to think of it, a more modular modulation approach. For instance, how about a set of modulators that are sort of "middle" modules, both a modulation source and destination. These could
be things like scalers, summers, inverters, smoothers, and so on.

So for instance, you send a midiCC to a scaler, and the scaler module has the drawing tools to make a nice curve.

This way you could do away with the special settings in the actual destination modules (the sliders and scalers in the amp and filter modules, for instance)

These modules should be name-able so you can keep track, and chain-able so you can run the output of one into the input of another. When you choose a modulation source for any paramater, these will then show up in the list.

We also need more control over *how* a modulator modifies a value. It appears now to be somewhat absolute. IE if I route a midiCC at 100% to some value, that value always varies from 0 to full. What if I wanted to use a midiCC to vary the value of some parameter between, say, 65% and 97%?

Or what if I wanted to set some value (say amp level) at say 15, then use a midiCC to modulate it from *whatever the current set value is* up to full and back down to that set value (when the midiCC is at 0)?

For this we'd need an "add" mode of modulation. Emu has three modes, "add", "subtract" and "around". rgc z3ta allows you to set the two endpoints of modulation.

Just some thoughts off the top of my head... they could use some refinement, but I'm at work getting paid to do work at the moment

 

Sorry, one more... a global velocity adjustment like KomPakt has. Some controllers don't have good velocity mapping internal to them, so this becomes a critical adjustment when tailoring the "feel" of an instrument.

Steinberg's The Grand (and maybe Halion on which it's based?) has a global velocity mapping graph where you can put in your own control points and drag them around to make your curve.

The critical thing here is that this needs to apply to velocity *globally*, before it is routed to the various modules. Otherwise it won't affect how the different velocity cross-switched sample zones are selected. (This is why drawing a curve in, say, the vel->amp scaling graph won't help). Also, if you already have velocity applied to various parameters in different ways, you don't want to have to adjust all those different routings just to tailor your instrument to a different controller.

 

Sorry.. not all of these are interface issues but....

1) I wish Kontakt would recognise keystrokes!
2) I'd like a save, save as, delete, and undo button on each instrument module
3) More effects (expanders, gates, fuzz, vocoders, etc)
4) An standalone format import/conversion utility (so you can do batch transfers etc)
5) Skinnable interface
6) Automatic sample mapping (pitch detection)
7) Easier context sensitive preview/auditioning of instruments
8) Ability to use WDM drivers when using standalone Kontakt
9) Improved CPU efficiency for time/tone machine
10) Hyperthreading and dual processor support for PC
11) Right click context menus
12) Ability to manipulate EQ and filter graphs graphically
13) Ability to drag audio from the seqencer desktop straight into Kontakt
14) Better library (more natural instruments please
15) Ability to integrate DX/VST effects into Kontakt (i.e. it becomes a DX/VST host) so you can introdcue your favourite effects into the signal path
16) File association (so you can click on an nki, nkm etc and launch the instrument in Kontakt).
17) Amp modelling