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  • User Interface Elements

User Interface Elements

Abstract

This page offers a comprehensive overview of all Kontakt user interface elements and their function.

There are a number of common interface elements that are used throughout Kontakt. The handling of these common elements is always the same, but the context in which they appear will vary. The following overview highlights the main elements and explains how to interact with them using a mouse.

Name

Example

Description

Interactions

Unipolar Knob with Value Field

A unipolar mix knob.

Used to adjust parameters in the range of 0% to 100% from left to right.

  • Click + drag up/down to change the control’s value.

  • Hold [Shift] while adjusting the knob for fine-tuning.

  • Hold [Ctrl] (Windows) or [Cmd] (Mac OS X) + click to reset the control to the default value.

Bipolar Knob with Value Field

A bipolar panning knob.

Used to adjust parameters in the range of -100% to +100% from left to right. The center position is 0%.

  • Click + drag up/down to change the control’s value.

  • Hold [Shift] while adjusting the knob for fine-tuning.

  • Hold [Ctrl] (Windows) or [Cmd] (Mac OS X) + click to reset the control to default value.

Unipolar Slider

A unipolar slider.

Used to adjust parameters in the range of 0% to 100% from left to right.

  • Click + drag left/right to change the control’s value.

  • Hold [Ctrl] (Windows) or [Cmd] (Mac OS X) + click to reset the control to default value.

Bipolar Slider

A bipolar panning slider.

Used to adjust parameters in the range of -100% to +100% from left to right. The center position is 0%. The value is displayed above the slider control.

  • Click + drag left/right to change the control’s value.

  • Hold [Ctrl] (Windows) or [Cmd] (Mac OS X) + click to reset the control to default value.

Unipolar Slider and Meter display

A vertical volume meeter.

Used to adjust parameters in the range of 0% to 100% from bottom to top. The meter displays the signal as determined by its respective slider.

  • Click + drag up/down to change the control’s value.

  • Hold [Ctrl] (Windows) or [Cmd] (Mac OS X) + click to reset the control to default value.

Dropdown Menu Arrow

A button with an arrow facing down indicating a dropdown menu.

Used to open a dropdown menu relating to the respective control or setting.

  • Click on the arrow to open or close the dropdown menu.

  • Click on any of the available entries to select the option and close the dropdown menu.

Dropdown Menu Button

An expanded dropdown menu.

Buttons with arrows indicate a dropdown menu. Click the button to open a menu that provides options relating to the respective section or function.

  • Click the arrow button to open or close the dropdown menu.

  • Click on a list entry to select the option and close the dropdown menu.

  • Selected a new value or click elsewhere in the window to close the menu.

Dropdown Menu and Sub-menus

The submenu of an expanded dropdown menu.

Some menus have additional sub-menus; these will be indicated with a small right arrow next to the name of the menu item. Moving the selection bar to one of these items will open the respective sub-menu.

  • Move the selection bar to an items to open the respective sub-menu.

Sync Tempo Menu

The sync tempo menu.

Synchronizes time-related parameters to the song tempo.

  • Click the time unit to open the dropdown menu.

  • Click a note value to select it for the parameter.

  • Select <default> to un-sync the control.  

Function Button

Toggle buttons for solo and mute.

A button represents a parameter that can be switched on and off. Each click on a button toggles it between those two states. The current state of a button is being indicated by its background color; if a parameter is activated, its button will be highlighted.

  • Click the button to toggle between the control's active and inactive state.

Option Button

A plus and minus button.

Opens a menu or dialog with additional options.

  • Click the button to open its menu.

Tab Button

A tab button to toggle between different views.

Switches between two options. Each click on a button toggles between those two states.

  • Click a button to toggle between the two options.

Banks Tabs

Four tabs with the first one highlighted.

Used to select one of four pages of banks.

  • Click the tab to select it and display it in the Rack.

Value Field

A value field displaying Kontakt player's master volume.

Some controls contain editable numeric fields that allow you to manually enter values.

  • Double-click the field and enter a new value with the keyboard.

Value Arrows

Up and down arrow buttons next to a number field.

Hovering over a value field can display small up/down arrows on right side of the value. Click the arrows to increase or decrease the value incrementally. Only available for some controls.

  • Hover over a value to display the value arrows.

  • Click the up or down arrows to increase or decrease the value incrementally.

Search Field

A search box with text input functionality.

Enter names or key words to help search libraries and databases.

  • Click in the Search field and enter a key word. Press [Enter] to search.

Scroll Bar

Close view of a scroll indicator, highlighted by hovering over it with the mouse.

Scroll through content using the horizontal and vertical scroll bars.

  • Click on the position indicator bar + drag it to scroll the viewport across the contents.

  • Click on the empty space of a scrollbar to jump to the respective position.

Checkbox

A checkbox interface element.

Used to select and unselect various options and settings.

  • Click a box to check the option. The box fills to indicate it is checked.

Close Button (x icon)

A close button with an X icon.

Used to clear a search field, or close a window or module

  • Click the button to clear the search field, or close the window or module.

Info Pane

The Info Pane displays a short help text for whichever control the mouse is currently hovering over. The Info Pane area is located at the bottom of the Kontakt window. It can be used to quickly understand the function of a particular knob, button, menu entry, or any other user interface element. Hover a mouse over a control while the Info Pane is visible and a description of the control will be displayed.

To display the Info Pane:

  1. Open the Workspace menu in the Kontakt header.

    The Kontakt header with the courser hovering over the Workspace button.

  2. Click on the Info option.

    The Kontakt Workspace menu expanded. The cursor is hovering over the Info entry.

    The Info Pane is activated and displays in the window.

    The Kontakt Info pane.

Setting the Language of the Info Pane

The Info Pane help is available in five languages: English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese. Language preferences are set via the Language drop-down list in the Interface tab of the Options dialog. Restart Kontakt after selecting a new language. If you select Automatic the language follows the language selection of your operating system. For more information, see Interface Tab.

Saving and Loading Presets

Presets allow you to save your settings in any part of Kontakt and recall them in another context. The Kontakt environment is split up into modules, and most of these offer a preset drop-down menu that allows you to manage presets for the respective module. Loading a preset in a module doe not affect the other modules in your Instrument, allowing you to freely combine different presets into your own Instruments.

Presets are saved in files (file extension: .nkp) which reside in a series of sub-folders within a “presets” folder. Kontakt creates two of these preset folders on your system: one contains the factory presets and is located in a directory which is not writable by normal users; the other one resides within your home directory and will be used to store your own custom presets. Kontakt will create this user presets folder when you first start it up.

Factory and user preset folders will be created in the following folders:

Windows Factory

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Native Instruments\Kontakt 7\presets

Windows User

C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Native Instruments\Kontakt 7\presets

Mac OS X Factory

Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/Native Instruments/Kontakt 7/presets

Mac OS X Users

Macintosh HD/Users/[username]/Documents/Native Instruments/Kontakt 7/presets

Kontakt provides a large number of ready-made presets for most of its modules, which are good starting points for your own settings. Browse the Factory preset list of a module when you have a specific task in mind and don’t know where to begin.

Preset management in Kontakt takes place within each module’s preset drop-down menu. You can access this by clicking on the drop-down menu labeled Pre or Preset, which is located on the left side of each module. It contains all preset files that were found in the respective preset folders on your hard disk, with further subdirectories (if any) appearing as sub-menus. The Save Preset entry at the bottom of the menu will open a dialog, which asks you for a filename. Enter a descriptive name and click Save, and your settings will be available within the User submenu of the presets drop-down menu. This will not work, however, if you change the path in the save dialog, so it is recommended that you always save your presets to the default path.