# Xtant Audio: Kontakt Scripting Tutorial Videos Now Available



## d.healey (May 12, 2014)

Hello

I'm very happy to announce that a series of Kontakt Scripting Tutorial videos I have been working on over the last few months is now available at http://xtant-audio.com This is our new website where you can also find all of our old products too.

Taken from the website - 

In these lessons you will learn everything you need to know to be a professional Kontakt scripter. Going from the basic principles of computer programming and scripting in lesson one to the more advanced concepts in lesson four.

The topics and techniques covered in these lessons are too numerous to list in this one page but some of the highlights include:
◦Round robin repetition scripting
◦Interface design
◦Scripting frameworks
◦True legato
◦Mapping and organising samples
◦Automapping samples
◦Loops
◦PGS keys
◦Macros
◦Tabbed interfaces
◦Modulators
◦ADSR
◦Effects
◦Dynamic crossfading
◦Multi-mic/channel mixer with solo and mute buttons

Thanks guys, I hope you find these useful.


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## mk282 (May 12, 2014)

Once your videos get pirated (which they will, no doubt about it) that will likely singlehandedly kill all the simpler scripting jobs that were modest but decent earners for some of us... Not happy about that at all.


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## Robym (May 12, 2014)

I understand what you mean... Maybe if the customers had to provide at least a proof of ownership of kontakt maybe it would be a sort of warranty that they would not pirate the videos. I don't know if there is a way to pirate proof tutorials. But it would've been good. Only there are a lot of people wanting to learn and it's a fine obscure art to write scripts. I don't think anyone buying these will instantly replace script artists and respected geniouses like Nil or Bob or Mike or anyone else. And to write scripts like ... Spitfire's or 8dio or soundiron will take much more. I understand your complain though... But it goes for any software though... It's a sad thing.


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## KingIdiot (May 12, 2014)

> Once your videos get pirated (which they will, no doubt about it) that will likely singlehandedly kill all the simpler scripting jobs that were modest but decent earners for some of us... Not happy about that at all



felt that way about Keymap. Even stated it in an article I wrote about it. I t totally ate up work. But some people also started making shitty product.

collaboration is the only way to push things further. Convey that with a good steady set of developers and maybe the mindless junk will stay "mindless" and the envelope pushing stuff will get everyone, including ourselves, excited.

I wish more people gave a shit about talking and collaborating about new ideas in the raw data/assets department. So much more can be done these days.


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## mk282 (May 13, 2014)

What hurts most is that TC surely relied a lot on tips and tricks posted on Kontakt subforum here and probably the Scripting subforum back at NI's forum, coming from Bob, Nils, Greg from OTS and others by their own good will, and he's now trying to capitalize upon that.

Definitely not a nice, and I would even say quite a short-sighted move. I know I won't post any more KSP tricks or script suggestions/solutions now, whether here or back at NI forum. Way to go, David.


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## Daryl (May 13, 2014)

mk282 @ Mon May 12 said:


> Once your videos get pirated (which they will, no doubt about it) that will likely singlehandedly kill all the simpler scripting jobs that were modest but decent earners for some of us... Not happy about that at all.


I'm sure that musicians say the same thing about sample libraries. :wink: 

D


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## Maestro77 (May 13, 2014)

This is great. David, any chance you could post a sample/preview from one of your videos? I'm interested but would like to see what I'm getting. Thanks!


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## pkm (May 13, 2014)

I think it's short-sighted to be opposed to people other than yourselves learning Kontakt Scripting. 

Are you also against Mike Verta's composing/orchestration videos? Or any number of tutorial videos on YouTube? More relevantly, what about the Novy book? (Speaking of the Novy book, why is the woman on the cover not wearing any pants??)

Personally, I am getting into scripting myself, will probably buy these videos, and most likely wouldn't have hired any of you lovely scripters in the first place as I only do it for my own libraries and for close composer friends.



Maestro77 @ Tue May 13 said:


> This is great. David, any chance you could post a sample/preview from one of your videos? I'm interested but would like to see what I'm getting. Thanks!



+1


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## Casiquire (May 13, 2014)

Thank you, PKM, for sharing my own impressions. I was starting to wonder if I was on a different planet for a minute.


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## peksi (May 13, 2014)

mk282 @ Tue May 13 said:


> Definitely not a nice, and I would even say quite a short-sighted move. I know I won't post any more KSP tricks or script suggestions/solutions now, whether here or back at NI forum. Way to go, David.



Are you for real? So you prefer not to have classes on anything so that "competition is less"? Come on man, that is unfair to say the least. The whole thought of suppressing the development around you to push your success is absurd and false.

Tutorials, documentation, classes.. whatever teaching is always good! It makes instruments better, music creation more fun and you get new ideas too.

And you will keep your earnings if you are serious enough to keep ahead of the tutorial students.


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## mk282 (May 13, 2014)

peksi @ 13.5.2014 said:


> And you will keep your earnings if you are serious enough to keep ahead of the tutorial students.



I seriously hope that will be enough. Time will tell if I was right or not.


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## duanran007 (May 13, 2014)

Hi David, could you tell me the support email address? I just purchased the tutorial but have problem with the download links... the contact form on the website is not working and it says "There are some errors on the form, please correct them and try again." after I sent messages... 

thank you!
RD


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## peksi (May 13, 2014)

mk282 @ Tue May 13 said:


> peksi @ 13.5.2014 said:
> 
> 
> > And you will keep your earnings if you are serious enough to keep ahead of the tutorial students.
> ...



You won't break a sweat if you're really into this thing. My wild guess is that 99% of programmers are more or less hobbyists and lose their interest in the first obstacle.


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## mk282 (May 13, 2014)

I'm "into this thing" for 4-5 years now. I don't plan on quitting, but if less and less work comes my way (and not just my way, as I am friends with other fellow KSPers) from this point onward, I will know what might have been a cause for that.


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## Maestro77 (May 13, 2014)

I've been wanting to learn KSP for several years and there really aren't very many resources out there. If this turns out to be good (sample video please David!) I'll be very grateful for it. I imagine current KSP gurus know they've had an exclusive hold on the market for awhile and aren't too keen on others stepping in, but I wouldn't worry. You've got 5 years on anyone new and as long as you keep your clients happy I don't see why you'd lose any. Looking forward to learning.


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## Blackster (May 13, 2014)

@mk282: Don't complain. You can't control things like that. If TotalComposure would not have done it, another one would have created such videos. 

And if it means that full-time scripters loose work, well, than let it be this way and adept to it. You have no choice anyway.


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## mk282 (May 13, 2014)

It's a free world, I can complain if I want to. Am I going against forum rules by complaining? I'm not. Am I trolling? I'm not. I'm just expressing my general concern, which seems to fall on deaf ears.


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## Blackster (May 13, 2014)

Relax buddy  ... I hear you very clearly and I can understand your point. To be honest, I don't believe that tutorials like that will bring good scripters down. Because scripting remains lots of work! ... 

I have shown so many mixing and composing techniques and tricks to others and how many of them copy it? Almost none, because people realize that it is not just a thing you can do between breakfast and jogging ... :D

And if I'm totally wrong with that, well ... then be it so and I will adept!


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## mk282 (May 13, 2014)

I really really hope it will end up being that way.


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## Casey Edwards (May 13, 2014)

mk282 @ Tue May 13 said:


> What hurts most is that TC surely relied a lot on tips and tricks posted on Kontakt subforum here and probably the Scripting subforum back at NI's forum, coming from Bob, Nils, Greg from OTS and others by their own good will, and he's now trying to capitalize upon that.
> 
> Definitely not a nice, and I would even say quite a short-sighted move. I know I won't post any more KSP tricks or script suggestions/solutions now, whether here or back at NI forum. Way to go, David.



Dude, you need to have a little bit more faith in yourself than that. Mike Verta openly gives out his bag of tricks in his videos (some of which are free) and basically dares people to do better than him. Not because he thinks he is the greatest, but because he knows he's spent years honing a craft that doesn't develop over night. Or even in your case, 4-5 years. David isn't doing anything nasty, dirty, or immoral here. Sure you have freedom to say whatever you want, but you're really muddying up clean water here for no reason and pointing a finger of shame at a good guy. I hate coming into these forums these days for reasons like these, but really felt this needed to be said on David's behalf.


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## Martin K (May 13, 2014)

Casey Edwards @ Wed May 14 said:


> Dude, you need to have a little bit more faith in yourself than that. Mike Verta openly gives out his bag of tricks in his videos (some of which are free) and basically dares people to do better than him. Not because he thinks he is the greatest, but because he knows he's spent years honing a craft that doesn't develop over night. Or even in your case, 4-5 years. David isn't doing anything nasty, dirty, or immoral here. Sure you have freedom to say whatever you want, but you're really muddying up clean water here for no reason and pointing a finger of shame at a good guy. I hate coming into these forums these days for reasons like these, but really felt this needed to be said on David's behalf.



Very well said, Casey! 
Keep it up David and don't let this discourage you 

best,
Martin


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## Daryl (May 13, 2014)

mk282 @ Tue May 13 said:


> It's a free world, I can complain if I want to. Am I going against forum rules by complaining? I'm not. Am I trolling? I'm not. I'm just expressing my general concern, which seems to fall on deaf ears.


Of course you can complain. But I think it's unfounded, if you are any good at what you do.

Look, to put it in perspective, it's a bit like me worrying that a "composer" who plays Omnisphere Presets with one finger backed by Stylus loops will put me out of business. Not going to happen.

In any case, there is nothing wrong with education and I think what the general comments are referring to is the idea that knowledge is only allowed for a select few, and the rest aren't allowed to possess such dangerous things. I know that's not what you think, but your post seems to hint that you do.

D


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## Chriss Ons (May 13, 2014)

mk282 @ Tue 13 May said:


> I know I won't post any more KSP tricks or script suggestions/solutions now, whether here or back at NI forum.


I hope you'll reconsider eventually, because I am inclined to think that the availability of resources like these videos will mean the following: 

far more people will:
- start learning KSP
- inevitably run into issues they can't solve without the help of a seasoned scripter like yourself
- contact you, for a paid scripting gig

Everybody wins.

Unless of course you choose to no longer profile yourself as a knowledgeable scripter in the forums - in which case people _will not even know they can turn to you for help_... How could that be good?


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## d.healey (May 13, 2014)

Hi Guys,

Sorry for the delay in replying, things have been pretty busy the last couple of days. Thanks for the great response and support, let's see if I can answer some of these questions.

*Most importantly:*
_DuranDuran007_ - I have sent you an email - we'll sort out the download links for you ASAP.

_Maestro77_ - I have some free videos on YouTube, my style isn't any different their than in the Kontakt scripting ones. I encourage you to check out this one - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZV0q2oNWTU - I posted it recently (I also posted two yesterday and one today) in it I show how to create an unscripted round robin. I'm not sure what I could provide for a sample of the scripting tutorials as they take on the form of creating a whole instrument, so a single part wouldn't have much meaning. I'm going to put some more information up on the website tomorrow about them so hopefully that will help. If you have any specific questions about the content just ask away.

*My philosophy: - Sorry, this may be a long one.*

The videos will be pirated, as all other media is these days; that's unfortunate but something all of us who put our work on the internet live with.

I too am a scripter and for the last two years the majority of my personal income has come from scripting work. I don't fear for my job security, in fact the first thing I did when I completed this series of videos was to send free copies to some of my scripting clients who had expressed an interest in them. I don't think I'm going to lose those clients because they now know "the secrets", but I do think it will help them to make better sample libraries, and maintain their existing ones.

Remember that there is at least one Kontakt scripting book, a very detailed (although a little out of date) guide provided by NI, a KSP reference manual, Nils Liberg's wonderful tutorials - from which I learned so much, and of course this forum. The information in my videos comes from all of those sources, plus my own experiments and experiences. I am not providing anything that isn't already available, I am just offering it in a form that is more accessible to the common man.

_mk282_: Although we may encounter a small loss of business through the release of these videos we must not put ourselves first, we should think of the greater good. Everyone has the right to access this information, and everyone already can. When I first started learning Kontakt scripting I was heavily disappointed by the lack of educational resources, but I gathered information from all the sources available and spent countless hours failing before I succeeded. I hope to save others some of those hours.

Throughout the videos I continually encourage the viewer to teach themselves. As well as providing specific information I also give jumping off points for them to investigate further and to experiment. In one of the lessons (I forget which) I go through some of the KSP reference manual to explain how it's laid out and how the viewer can gain more from it - to a none coder the manual is not an easy read. I also urge them to visit this forum, to ask questions, and seek advice from those who know more.

During the videos I occasionally make a typo, minor error, or mistake, and I have left these in the videos so that the viewer can see a real world example of debugging and fixing errors.


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## tripseemcguy (May 13, 2014)

I was interested in these and actually contemplated buying until I read your response.



TotalComposure @ Tue May 13 said:


> Although we may encounter a small loss of business through the release of these videos we must not put ourselves first, we should think of the greater good.


The greater good? Funny I checked the page and you're wanting $150. Doesn't seem like _the greater good_ to me...

I'm a bit of a lurker and newbie posting here, but here's the problem I think some people are having. I had a peek through your posts and threads you'd been in and it seems like a few people went well out of their way to help you when it comes to scripting, with no gain and really at their expense. In turn you've taken this free help, advice and experience given by people in their spare time and are now selling it at a profit.

Problem with saying _we must not put ourselves first, we should think of the greater good_ at the same time as charging $150 for a lot of information and techniques people freely gave you is that you may come across to some people as a self-righteous asshole.


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## d.healey (May 13, 2014)

The greater good is sharing knowledge and, importantly, not withholding it because we are worried potential clients will solve their own problems and not come to us - I didn't comment on the morals of charging for one's time for writing, recording, editing, and supplying a series of tutorial videos with over 20 hours of content. You may also see from my regular forum posts (not threads) that I help others freely as much as I am able to. I also spend a lot of time helping my colleagues privately via IM. 

Unfortunately I don't know everything about Kontakt so you may see me asking for advice occasionally, there is no shame in that, and a proportion of the information I have gained through asking for help has formed some of the core of my scripting practises that is expressed in a unique way in the lessons.

I have been programming for over a decade and scripting Kontakt for about three years. I did not come on this forum, grab a load of info and churn out some easy money videos, as you seem to suggest. I spent a long time planning and writing these lessons and recorded and edited them over several months in between scripting projects, all the while providing free advice and knowledge as best I could on the topics I have some expertise in - see my YouTube channel. 

I believe the price I have put on the lessons is entirely reasonable considering the relatively small target audience that they will appeal to. The price you list refers to all the lessons, They are also available indivually for those who have some experience already and or are only interested in specific topics.


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## tripseemcguy (May 13, 2014)

TotalComposure @ Tue May 13 said:


> I didn't comment on the morals of charging for one's time for writing, recording, editing, and supplying a series of tutorial videos with over 20 hours of content.


And neither did I. I simply said that if you're going to make a condescending comment such as _we must not think of ourselves, but of the greater good_ and then charge people for that greater good, expect some people to form an opinion that your actions are slightly hypocritical and your words a bit self-righteous. 

I've been using Big Bob's math library inside of Nils KScript now for a few weeks to get the hang of things. Both feel like an immense amount of time and effort has gone into them at great cost to the people involved. Both appear to still be free. By all means, fill a gap and make some money, but you have to expect some people to call you out when you add it's _for the greater good_ on top. If it's really that great-of-a-good you'd release them for free.



TotalComposure @ Tue May 13 said:


> I did not come on this forum, grab a load of info and churn out some easy money videos, as you seem to think.


Again, I did not say this either. I simply said that looking through your posts I find people going out of their way at no cost to help you as recently as 2012/2013 with things such as your legato technique, crossfading and so forth. It's not that hard to understand why some of these people may be slightly fuzzed off when you sell on the help they gave you as part of a $150 package and claim it's for the greater good.


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## BrandonSpendlove (May 13, 2014)

I'm not a KSP scripter as a job, but I do like to do my own scripts for my own libraries because I feel like I achieve much more when I do it myself. The only way I found out how to do everything I've done is look all over the internet and keep doing it myself.

I didn't want to get involved but all I can say is: mk, EvilDragon, Bob and a few other talented guys have really helped me out just by looking at their explanations on other forums/topics etc...


So I'd like to butt in and say: Thank you so much guys, Seriously.... I've always wanted to hire mk or ED, but I was waiting until I get a bit more money with selling current libraries. Hopefully you'll be hearing from me in a few months


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## d.healey (May 13, 2014)

I donate to Nils every year as I encourage others to do through the link on his website, his software is fantastic - which is also the reason I'm currently hosting his sublime text 3 plugin in my drop box account and allowing everyone to access it - with Nils permission of course, I found it odd that noone else had offered to do that despite the plugin being available to several others for quite a while before I had access to it.

Nil's editor is required for lessons 3 and 4 because it provides many features and allows us to achieve things with ease that would otherwise be very difficult.

I do intend to continue making free videos - I mention this in the lessons - there were some subjects I didn't get chance to cover fully, so I want to fill in those gaps.

Once again to clarify, I believe that 'the greater good' is the loss of small scripting jobs weighed against giving people the information needed to be able to write their own scripts, regardless of the form that information is given in. I meant that phrase to be taken in the context of the paragraph, not the single line, that was my mistake and I hope it's more clear now. I also realise that mk helps many people on this forum, including myself and I always greatly appreciate any help and advice I receive.

As I have explained, my lessons are a paid for package including some information that is freely available, I have never claimed otherwise. I do claim that much of the content is derived entirely from my own experiments, my teaching methods are my own, and the scripting framework I present in lesson four is my own creation.

I've toyed with the idea of sharing my framework in the past but as I explain in the videos I don't feel it's quite polished enough for everyone else to get much value from it - I also don't want to be the guy setting the framework standard. In the lesson I use it as an example and show the viewer how to make their own version which will meet their needs better than mine can.


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## Casiquire (May 13, 2014)

The Laws of Gravity were already known before Newton put them together. Classic recipes and cooking techniques predate the cookbooks that include them.

mk282, this is what I believe is more likely: people who don't have the knowledge/time/smarts/desire to learn Kontakt will continue to ask for your help. People who have the knowledge/time/smarts/desire to learn it for themselves won't want to pay someone else to do it for them. These people will look for books, videos, or free knowledge. I don't believe there's much overlap in the Venn Diagram.


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## mk282 (May 13, 2014)

Josquin @ 13.5.2014 said:


> Unless of course you choose to no longer profile yourself as a knowledgeable scripter in the forums - in which case people _will not even know they can turn to you for help_... How could that be good?



My profile and previous posts will of course remain, people will still be able to contact me if they want. I will just stop replying to new posts because, hey, there are $150 worth of videos that can sort you out for majority of questions that get raised over and over because people don't know how to use the search function on forums (of course that's not the general case, but I'm making a point here)...



tripseemcguy @ 14.5.2014 said:


> TotalComposure @ Tue May 13 said:
> 
> 
> > I didn't comment on the morals of charging for one's time for writing, recording, editing, and supplying a series of tutorial videos with over 20 hours of content.
> ...



Touché. Well said.

I don't believe the "greater good" is losing out on smaller jobs here. How can losing ANY kind of job be a "greater good"? :roll:


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## Roya (May 14, 2014)

Thank you for this incredible Tutorial 

your help and your effort is priceless :wink:


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## StrezovSampling (May 14, 2014)

I am afraid that this is yet another bashing thread on VI Control. We have worked with David on a couple of products and he is a very nice and pleasant person to work with - I'd say he's anything else, but hypocritical. I don't see anything wrong in writing and selling tutorials - I myself have written a bunch of tutorials on AudioTuts+ (_the one called "A guide to creating an epic orchestral track" apparently is popular enough for people to send me emails 2 years after its release_) and I was paid for those - I think it was $150 a piece or something. Should my orchestration/composition teachers feel jealous for this? 

Don't forget that teachers in schools ALSO work for the greater good (educating and guiding our children) - but they get paid, right? 



mk282 said:


> My profile and previous posts will of course remain, people will still be able to contact me if they want. I will just stop replying to new posts because, hey, there are $150 worth of videos that can sort you out for majority of questions that get raised over and over because people don't know how to use the search function on forums (of course that's not the general case, but I'm making a point here)...


@mk282 - according to your thinking Robin Hoffmann should stop writing his Daily film scoring bits because Mike Verta is selling online masterclass videos?

Let's stop bashing and focus on keeping this community friendly and helpful. 

Best,
G.


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## d.healey (May 14, 2014)

Thank you for the kind words George. 

I feel there are a plenty of videos and resources for the big programming languages (c++, python, php, etc.) and there are still plenty of jobs for programmers of those languages, my videos are intended to enable more people to be able to script and get them up and running quickly.

_Maestro77_: Here is the first video from the first lesson, it sums up how the lesson will progress and how it fits in to the series as a whole.


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## mk282 (May 14, 2014)

You're forgetting that industries requiring C++ or Python or any other widely acclaimed programming language are MUCH LARGER than this one based around scriptable samplers. Of course there will be more jobs available there, duh!


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## d.healey (May 14, 2014)

mk282 @ Wed May 14 said:


> You're forgetting that industries requiring C++ or Python or any other widely acclaimed programming language are MUCH LARGER than this one based around scriptable samplers. Of course there will be more jobs available there, duh!



A very good point, this is a bit of a cottage industry. But I see my lessons as being beneficial to people who want to learn to write scripts for Kontakt, and supplemental to the information that is already available. If people want to learn then why should they be restricted to what others are willing to share on a forum, or the examples in the user manual, why should they not be able to choose a direct structured course of training?


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## emid (May 14, 2014)

TotalComposure, please carry on with the spirit you started. Finally, some scripting knowledge getting shared.


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## mk282 (May 14, 2014)

emid @ 14.5.2014 said:


> Finally, some scripting knowledge getting shared.



Finally? It has been shared on these forums for years now.


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## d.healey (May 14, 2014)

Thank you Emid!

mk282 is absolutely right this is not a new idea. It's a new format.

On a forum you can ask questions for problems you have encountered and get brilliant, specific, solutions. But what if you don't know what question to ask. In video and written tutorials there is no asking questions there is just information provided; it's a mixture of general and specific knowledge that will lead the viewer/reader to finding their own solutions to problems that they encounter as they become a scripter - and then the forum is even more useful to them because they know what to ask when they can't find a solution themselves.


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## emid (May 14, 2014)

mk282 @ Wed May 14 said:


> emid @ 14.5.2014 said:
> 
> 
> > Finally, some scripting knowledge getting shared.
> ...



mk282, I did not want to say but why this rivalry man? I have read your posts in the past and I found them helpful too. David is not going to snatch anything from you and me or others are not going to become a kontakt scriptwriter in one night. May be the information was here on this forum, but bit by bit, here and there. Now I can access it at one point. I assure you that I see these videos as a source to increase my knowledge. I am doing MORE than fine in my own profession.


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## mk282 (May 14, 2014)

emid @ 14.5.2014 said:


> I am doing MORE than fine in my own profession.



Good for you. KSP scripting is my ONLY profession so far, so I really hope everyone can understand my concerns.


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## emid (May 14, 2014)

mk282 @ Wed May 14 said:


> I really hope everyone can understand my concerns.



I sincerely wish you the best. Just don't underestimate yourself and don't ruin your image which you are doing now.


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## d.healey (May 14, 2014)

Hi Guys,

Just to let you know, based on your feedback, I've updated the website with more information about the lessons, hopefully it will answer some of your questions. And the video I posted here earlier is also available on the website too.

Thanks


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## OnKey (May 14, 2014)

(o)


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## d.healey (May 14, 2014)

OnKey @ Wed May 14 said:


> All this information, was once free, and community based. With techniques and advice being shared freely on VI-C.



Some, not all, of the information was once free and still is. As is the case for almost all commercial reference material. I'm also sure you will see many people who have seen the lessons appearing on the forum and using material from them (combined with their own experience) to help out others.


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## Maestro77 (May 14, 2014)

This argument is ridiculous. We're basically proposing that if we learn something from someone else or through research, we should never profit from it. David may have acquired knowledge from this forum and others who taught him a few tricks along the way, but so did each and every one of us with composing & recording techniques (and everything else we learn to do in life, for that matter). We didn't come out of the womb with the ability to record in Logic or play an instrument. Does that mean we should go back and split our sync fees and publishing with our 6th grade piano teacher?

One more point - if David's profits are the issue, would you rather he release these videos for free? Then you'd certainly have quite a lot more competition. I get the feeling some are just pissed David was smart enough to make a useful video series that people are willing to pay him for. If someone else had done it before they'd be the one pocketing the dough. 

KSP is something I've wanted to learn for years for the purposes of making my own instruments so these videos are a great find. Saves me the hours it would've taken to search through the forums and other online resources. Thanks David for collecting & mastering it and for posting the sample video. Don't let a few frightened others spoil your work. Will be happy to purchase the series and who knows, maybe they'll make me a grand master coder and I'll steal everybody's clients.


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## benmrx (May 14, 2014)

If all this information has already been available, then why sweat it now? Just curious. There's also TONS of free info on mixing, orchestration, etc., AND there are people who do 'paid for' tutorials on the same stuff...., how is this any different. 

In fact, there's already quite a few KSP tutorials on youtube, maybe this is just the first time to find everything in one easy to digest package. Personally, I learn MUCH easier visually through a mentor of sorts vs. digging through a backlog of forum threads. I'm stoked someone took the time to organize everything like this.

Also, to anyone that already does KSP scripting, isn't there a real GOOD chance that _you too_ will learn something new through this series.


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## mk282 (May 14, 2014)

benmrx @ 14.5.2014 said:


> Also, to anyone that already does KSP scripting, isn't there a real GOOD chance that _you too_ will learn something new through this series.



Depends on experience of the scripter, of course.


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## d.healey (May 14, 2014)

mk282 @ Wed May 14 said:


> benmrx @ 14.5.2014 said:
> 
> 
> > Also, to anyone that already does KSP scripting, isn't there a real GOOD chance that _you too_ will learn something new through this series.
> ...



Very true, that's why I grouped the information into lessons that are separated by the viewers skill level, and also to avoid overloading them with too much information in one go.


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## Luca Capozzi (May 14, 2014)

I wouldn't want to say anything on the matter, even if I can fully understand both mk and TC point of views but... IMHO, being a programmer (and a sound designer) it's not only a matter of knowledge but it's a "state of mind". You need to be creative and a problem solver. You need to have an analytical mind and that cannot be learned reading a book or watching a video tutorial. That's the same if you are a sound designer or synth programmer. Yes, you could achieve interesting results by blind tweaking knobs or recording and processing sounds in many ways... but being random it's not the same as mastering a profession and, yes, you need to KNOW what you're doing and how to overcome problems when they show up. If you know to "not know", you'll hire a professional. 

My 2 cents. o-[][]-o 

Cheers,
Luca


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## Ben H (May 14, 2014)

I agree with Luca.

Being able to write code and being a good problem solver/programmer are two different skill sets.


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## Pingu (May 15, 2014)

Politics completely aside, what I'd be interested in is tutorials that go right through some of the thornier parts of sampling, right from recording to scripting. 

Particularly, for instance, creating genuine (i.e. recorded transitions) legato. I'm a reasonably intelligent person, and I figure I could eventually teach myself how to script so that hitting a key triggered some kind of check for any other key that was being held, and triggered an appropriate transition sample. But how to connect up the held note and the transition? Without an obvious seam? No matter when the next key is hit? I'm sure that the answer to these questions has implications that go back to how to record the samples in the first place, and some implications that require quite deep understanding of the physics of the waveforms. So I'm more interested in tutorials that do the 'joined up' thinking, rather than isolated tutorials on scripting. I think there's more of a market for that because, despite a few comments here to the contrary, there are actually some scripting resources out there (and obviously the scripting forum here), and there are plenty of resources on recording, but there's nothing that takes you through how some of the big-hitting libraries are made. If you want to be an 8DIO or a VSL then you have to reinvent the wheel yourself.


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## d.healey (May 18, 2014)

Pingu @ Thu May 15 said:


> Politics completely aside, what I'd be interested in is tutorials that go right through some of the thornier parts of sampling, right from recording to scripting.
> 
> Particularly, for instance, creating genuine (i.e. recorded transitions) legato... how to connect up the held note and the transition? Without an obvious seam? No matter when the next key is hit? I'm sure that the answer to these questions has implications that go back to how to record the samples in the first place



Sorry for not replying sooner I only just saw your post.

There are some good posts in the Kontakt forum about recording true legato intervals but basically: You have to record the musician playing a transition from one note to all the other notes. Usually you limit this to 12 notes up and 12 notes down max but with many instruments you could go further.

So for instance you record a transition from C - C#, C - D, C - D# and so on all the way up until you've recorded 12 transitions, and you do that for each note, then you do the same coming down. It's a lot of work, and you have to edit the samples afterwards to find the 'sweet spot' for the crossfading (which is done via the script).

The method you use for the true legato scripting will be related to the interval recordings (lesson 3). You can script it so that the crossfading goes something like this: Play a sustain note, crossfade it into an interval note, and crossfade the interval into a new sustain note. So that requires two crossfades (it can get more complicated but this is a typical scenario).

An alternative method is to play a sustain note, crossfade it into an interval note - and the interval note already has the following sustain in the sample as well. You only need the one crossfade for this and it requires that when you did the recording you recorded the post interval sustain into the interval sample. This is simpler from a scripting and editing point of view, but it may have limitations if you want to crossfade to different samples after the interval, for example if you were doing post interval round robin.

This all works well until the user tries to play more notes while crossfades are taking place, you have to cancel previous crossfades and make sure the correct notes are turned off or you'll get problems with hanging notes and stuck keys. If you're trying to do a retrigger legato script as well things get even more fun! And I've seen that there have been some recent developments in polyphonic true legato which sounds fantastic and I imagine is quite difficult to script.

This post has some good information about sampling and scripting legato, it will almost certainly explain it better than I have here - http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtop ... ght=legato


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## Pingu (May 18, 2014)

Thanks David,

I don't know why, but I assumed that commercial products weren't using crossfades, since some of them make awfully smooth transitions, whereas crossfades have really obvious phase issues. I think I imagined a process that looped the sustain, then let the sample proceed to the transition when another key was pressed. Which would have the obvious problem that Kontakt would have to know in advance which interval was going to be needed, since each sustain would be hardwired with its own transition.

Your response has already helped me understand a great deal more than I did. I, for one, will be buying your tutorials...just as soon as my wife gives her permission.


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## mk282 (May 18, 2014)

Crossfades can work nicely if the samples are phase-aligned, and equal power crossfades are used.


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## d.healey (May 18, 2014)

Thanks for your support Pingu, I appreciate it.

Big Bob's maths library documentation is the place to go for more information about crossfades.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/80404485/Kontakt/Math%20Library/Docs/KSPMathUserGuide_V610.pdf (https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/804 ... e_V610.pdf)

I did the legato scripting for Wavesfactory's muted trumpet and I think it sounds incredibly nice and is very responsive. The surprising thing is there are no equal power crossfades used, the samples didn't work as well with EP as the simpler method we decided to use, nor are the samples phase aligned. But each case is different and it comes down to experimenting with all the available options to find the one that works with the samples you have.

I scripted it with a switch that gave the guys at wavesfactory a choice of which method of legato crossfading to use (the method with two crossfades or the method with one) - I don't know which one they're using for this particular library but it works well with their samples.

Here's the wavesfactory demo video



they just didn't work as well with the sampled material as the method we settled on which is a more simple crossfade.


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## Casiquire (May 19, 2014)

Just watched your videos. Extremely useful stuff! I scripted my own legato completely differently from how you scripted yours and it took much less code in my particular situation but it's useful to see how different situations work. Thanks!


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## d.healey (May 19, 2014)

That's great! There are so many different ways to do most things in Kontakt


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## geronimo (May 19, 2014)

Luca Capozzi @ Thu 15 May said:


> I wouldn't want to say anything on the matter, even if I can fully understand both mk and TC point of views but... IMHO, being a programmer (and a sound designer) it's not only a matter of knowledge but it's a "state of mind". You need to be creative and a problem solver



Thank you to Lucas outrank me because that's what I thought, in addition to mastering the scripting for Kontakt, must still have ideas. Technical and artistic _

Secondly, I understand the concern of Mike and others who don't manifest themselves through this forum, when you read this in the introduction to the first tutorial: " _In these lessons you will learn everything you need to know to be a professional Kontakt scripter._".

The message is clear and I understand Mike's concern.
When the espor sharing concepts learned by customers of these tutorials, I don't believe it too. This argument seems to me out of this century earned by individualism appalling .
Who will share what he paid ? Person ! :oops: 
Moreover, it does not may not be the law _

Sorry for my bad english _


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## Will Blackburn (May 21, 2014)

Thanks for these, will be very useful.


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## jesusginard (Jun 5, 2014)

I just finished watching the first lesson of these tutorials, although it's simple I learned some useful tips that I wasn't using! A must have for everyone involved in the Kontakt world, no matter your level. I wish I had these tutorials when I first started, it would make it the whole thing easier. This is the bible, thank you David for you awesome job. Can't wait to see the other lessons! A MUST HAVE!


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## d.healey (Jun 6, 2014)

Thanks for the kind words. I'm really glad you're finding the videos useful.


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## Click Sky Fade (Jun 6, 2014)

Just a quick question which may have already been answered. Have all the videos been recorded and ready for download or is it a kind of trickle feed?

Looks very interesting. All the best

Dave


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## d.healey (Jun 6, 2014)

They're all recorded and up on our website, running at a bit over 20 hours.

I will continue to add more free videos to our YouTube channel too which is more of a trickle.


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## Click Sky Fade (Jun 6, 2014)

TotalComposure @ Fri Jun 06 said:


> They're all recorded and up on our website, running at a bit over 20 hours.
> 
> I will continue to add more free videos to our YouTube channel too which is more of a trickle.



cool I shall find some time to browse through your offerings this weekend


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## d.healey (Jun 6, 2014)

Cool - btw if you can hold out till Monday we'll be putting out a discount code on our Facebook page


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## Click Sky Fade (Jun 6, 2014)

even cooler


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## Lindon (Jun 19, 2014)

OK time to weigh in....

Mario, you know me, and you know the lost business you suffer will be the same loses I will suffer too. Yeah it's not so nice that someone asks our advice in the KSP forum and then takes that wisdom, packages it up and sells it. But, he did package it up, he made *some* effort beyond, dragging it into the pdf and selling that. He can charge for it too if he wants, its a bit galling I know, but you are one of the best KSP scripts out there, you'll live. I think of it this way the price of these videos is going to put off a LOT of people to start with(yeah sure they be pirated..) but really that leaves the audience as 

1. Those with more money than time, who will come to you and me when they see just how hard it is...
2. Those who think stealing stuff is OK - and we didnt want to work with them anyway right?

So to that end I propose TC you INCREASE the price of the videos ASAP.


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## Pingu (Jun 19, 2014)

Lindon @ Thu Jun 19 said:


> I think of it this way the price of these videos is going to put off a LOT of people to start with(yeah sure they be pirated..) but really that leaves the audience as
> 
> 1. Those with more money than time, who will come to you and me when they see just how hard it is...
> 2. Those who think stealing stuff is OK - and we didnt want to work with them anyway right?



You're forgetting a 3rd group. Those of us who have an inkling of how difficult it is, and still genuinely want to go down that path, but don't want to trawl the forum here, piecing the advice together in the random order it was presented. 

I'm a hobby samplist, and have built reasonably large instruments - a few thousand samples - but we were at version 1 of Kontakt when I started, so no scripting. Then my job got in the way, and now I come back to sampling to find that scripting is a fully matured art form already, and I missed the boat. I want a source that presents information in a semi-logical order, so that I can get a reasonable handle on it quite quickly. 

I'll probably still find myself coming to the experts for bigger jobs, but at least I'll be able to do smaller jobs without help. I find the fact that someone took the time to organise all this information a positive thing, although I totally get that, if you were the first to figure out how to do something, seeing it handed out as though it were just common knowledge is really a bummer.


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## d.healey (Jun 19, 2014)

Pingu @ Thu Jun 19 said:


> although I totally get that, if you were the first to figure out how to do something, seeing it handed out as though it were just common knowledge is really a bummer.



I agree about that 3rd group - that's what I was when I started.

I don't think there is anything in the videos that isn't common knowledge (to all KSP scripters) other than my own developments and additions.

The odd occasions where something is taken directly from another source, such as this forum, the source is credited.

Out of my 320 posts I've only started 33 threads, and I'm not asking for information in all of them. The majority of my posts are helping others and pointing out things that I think other scripters may want to know (usually they already do).


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## d.healey (Aug 5, 2014)

Hello guys,

I've seen a few posts recently regarding GUI stuff in Kontakt so I've decided to make a few videos from Lesson 3 of my Kontakt Scripting tutorials available for everyone. These videos give a quick introduction to the lesson, a look at creating skins/wallpapers for Kontakt, and then a quick KnobMan tutorial for creating GUI controls.

There is no scripting in these 3 videos, they are really focused on the format GUI elements need to take to be used with a Kontakt script.

These videos will be useful to graphic designers who are new to designing for Kontakt as well as scripters who want to see how to create some GUI elements. Please share the links with anyone you think will benefit from them.

Don't worry if you've already purchased this lesson, these three videos are only a small part of the whole thing which runs to more than 6 hours.

Video 1


Video 2


Video 3


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## kitekrazy (Aug 5, 2014)

You can learn how to make a loaf of bread but that doesn't mean you stop buying bread.


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## d.healey (Aug 5, 2014)

kitekrazy @ Tue Aug 05 said:


> You can learn how to make a loaf of bread but that doesn't mean you stop buying bread.



Are you saying it's not worth learning how to do something you can pay for or that even if you learn to do something yourself you may still choose to pay someone else to do it? If it's the latter I agree.


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## pkm (Aug 5, 2014)

Ha, I just bought the whole package only a couple days ago, largely for the GUI stuff. Still very glad I did though!


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## d.healey (Aug 6, 2014)

Thanks PKM, don't worry those three videos are just a small piece of the whole.


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## pkm (Aug 7, 2014)

Oh I know, I've gotten pretty deep into it already. No buyer's remorse here. I've already gotten more than my money's worth. Your videos multiplied my KSP understanding exponentially, very quickly.

Some of the GUI stuff was eluding me, even with the KSP manual and the Novy book, so my curiosity (or ineptitude) served as more of a jumping off point into the videos than anything.


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## geronimo (Jul 5, 2015)

Good job for the positioning system of the buttons included in the script (Lesson 3).


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## d.healey (Jul 5, 2015)

Thanks, I really appreciate your feedback


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## prodigalson (Jul 5, 2015)

> Are you saying it's not worth learning how to do something you can pay for or that even if you learn to do something yourself you may still choose to pay someone else to do it? If it's the latter I agree.



Im pretty sure he meant the latter. Because I feel the exact same way. I have no knowledge or perspective on this alleged "repackaging" of past "advice". Though, philosophically, it's rather a ridiculous accusation, IMO. Rimsky-Korsakov didn't invent the art of orchestration when he wrote a thesis about it. I'm sure more than a little of what he espoused was based on experiences informed by "advice" and "tips" from former teachers. 

Despite the fact that most people have some knowledge of how to play piano, I somehow still make a living as a professional pianist/keyboardist. 

I, personally, would love a little information on kontakt scripting as I would like to make my own small, custom, purpose-built instruments. I will still go to the pros for my major libraries. I have neither the time nor the inclination to learn how to be a professional programmer. And I'd imagine most people here realize that watching a few videos on scripting isn't going to allow you to start programming professionally or for major developers tomorrow. 

At the very least, in principle, noone has a monopoly on knowledge


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## MA-Simon (Jul 5, 2015)

Question: Do you also cover coloured keys?


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## geronimo (Jul 6, 2015)

Does someone managed to install this on an Apple computer? Despite this small film, I have not managed and can't move forward in the Lessons.



Can an Apple addict could help me: I have the impression that Sublime Text sees the files but does not load them _:(


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## d.healey (Jul 6, 2015)

MA-Simon said:


> Question: Do you also cover coloured keys?


Yes, I think this is in every lesson except the first. But you don't need my videos for that, setting the key colour is easy - just use the set_key_color() command.


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## MA-Simon (Jul 6, 2015)

Great, thank you David!
I had plans on getting a few of your tutorials anyway.


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## d.healey (Jul 6, 2015)

MA-Simon said:


> Great, thank you David!
> I had plans on getting a few of your tutorials anyway.


Cool, thanks :D


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## geronimo (Jul 7, 2015)

Hello Mac users; can you help me ? With Sublime Text 3, I can't have access to the Sublime Text 3 Tools .


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## d.healey (Jul 7, 2015)

It might be better to post that in the Kontakt sub-forum


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## Eric George (Jul 7, 2015)

I just tested this on a mac without a prior installation. Latest OS X. It works fine for me. Unzipped and dragged sublime into my applications folder. Preferences->Packages. Unzipped KSP add on and dropped it into here. Restarted Sublime and Cmd-Shift-P to switch to KSP mode. Tools show up as usable. This is with a trial Sublime license.


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## geronimo (Jul 7, 2015)

Eric George said:


> Unzipped KSP add on and dropped it into here.


OK, thanks: It's this operation that seemed mysterious by working from the Preferences. This is normally open but I found nothing to transfer.
I will try reinstalling.


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## geronimo (Jul 7, 2015)

After reinstallation, I arrive to this Window after opening Sublime Text 3 Preferences/ Browse Packages . I don't understand what to unpack or move: no change compared to the previous installation !









On an Apple machine, the compile Command is different as with PC; finaly, it's Cmd K . But nothing new on my machine _


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## Eric George (Jul 7, 2015)

Move the SublimeKSP folder up to the same level as the User folder under Packages (instead of inside of the User folder). Try that.

Also - the KSP.sublime-settings file is in my SublimeKSP folder - not the User folder. My User folder is empty.

Here's a pic:


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## geronimo (Jul 8, 2015)

I just have this as your image and have access to the tools now: thank you so much for your patience . 

I have yet other questions: after use Compile command, how much translate the file in Kontakt windows Script .
I have yet other questions. what are the commands that must be checked or unchecked: I just try to copy the text of a script of a lesson with the "Copy as BB code" after Compile command (Command K) and it's not a good solution for KONTAKT . (I think I'll watch the short film put together by David whom I thank for his patience, availability and home to an newbie like me) .

I hope that this installation experience can benefit others . :D


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## d.healey (Sep 4, 2015)

Our website's been unavailable for the last week or so while I updated it to be more automated and comply with the EU VAT rules that were introduced at the beginning of the year. I've just finished (I hope) the update and the website is now available again - http://xtant-audio.com/. Thanks for your patience and support. Please let me know if you come across any issues with the new site.


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## dreamawake (Sep 12, 2015)

d.healey said:


> Our website's been unavailable for the last week or so while I updated it to be more automated and comply with the EU VAT rules that were introduced at the beginning of the year. I've just finished (I hope) the update and the website is now available again - http://xtant-audio.com/. Thanks for your patience and support. Please let me know if you come across any issues with the new site.


David, is the site currently down again? Trying to look over the Kontakt scripting videos and I can't get to the site.

Thanks,
Dreamawake


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## d.healey (Sep 13, 2015)

dreamawake said:


> David, is the site currently down again? Trying to look over the Kontakt scripting videos and I can't get to the site.
> 
> Thanks,
> Dreamawake


I believe our hosting company has been doing some hardware upgrades which may affect the website over the weekend, it seems to be back online at the moment.


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