# Can someone explain kontakt sizes to me? - Analog Strings



## chillbot (Mar 17, 2017)

Sorry for the dumb question.

I have one instance of Kontakt always visible and available, obviously I use it quite a bit.

Even with two 32" monitors in Sonar, screen real estate is at a premium. I need to have my piano roll, and my media browser, and Stylus of course. I keep Kontakt and Stylus always up on the far right because I use them so often, I don't want them to float. And I want as much room for track view as possible.






(Screenshot attached.)

Why am I always fighting Kontakt and why doesn't it stay still?

I want the library pane to be as small as possible but the middle divider isn't "draggable" anymore?

So I load "Analog Strings" and the instrument is too big, instead of resizing the library pane to be smaller, now Kontakt is off the screen to my right. So I have to drag it back, resize it, which makes the library pane smaller, then reposition it.

Then I close "Analog Strings" but Kontakt doesn't stay the same larger size, it shrinks. Now I have to reposition and redrag it, but this enlarges the libraries pane as well.

I seem to fight it most with Output libraries, is this an Output thing or a Kontakt thing? Am I missing an easy fix (I hope)?


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## chillbot (Mar 17, 2017)

I just swapped the Kontakt and media browser... this will help with the Kontakt window going off the screen to the right. The workflow issue is that I drag-and-drop all the time from the media browser to the track view and now it's further away... but... I use the Kontakt window like 5x more often than the media browser so I think it's ok.


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## jtnyc (Mar 17, 2017)

Drag from the lower right hand corner of the Kontakt window to make the library tab smaller

Hmm, I just re read your post and that sounds like some weird behavior. I've never seen the rack portion of Kontakt change size. It sounds like that is what your describing, yeah? or I'm just confused..


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## chillbot (Mar 17, 2017)

I think yes weird behavior, now that I've been working with it it's mainly just Analog Strings, though I feel like other libraries have done it too but I'm too lazy to go through 70+ libraries to see which other ones are a pain. Analog Strings definitely resizes the rack pane whereas every other library seems fine. Is the rack length not standard anymore?

See where I added the question mark here.... Rise & Hit on top in standard rack view, Analog Strings on bottom:






EDIT: See here a bunch of standard libraries minimized and Analog Strings:


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## chillbot (Mar 17, 2017)

FYI I just updated from 5.6.5 to 5.6.6 didn't make a difference.

I think also a lot of the "pain" behavior I was talking about earlier was from Output libraries like Signal, Substance, etc, where in previous versions of Kontakt I wasn't able to browse patches unless I selected the minimized view from the top right of Kontakt. But now I seem able to since I went to 5.6. Not sure, I may be making this up.


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## chillbot (Mar 17, 2017)

Updated the thread title to reflect, is it really just this one library?


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## Jdiggity1 (Mar 17, 2017)

Yes. Analog strings has been scripted specifically for 5.6
The other libraries are compatible with older versions of kontakt, and thus are designed within the graphical constraints of 5.5


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## chillbot (Mar 17, 2017)

Jdiggity1 said:


> Yes. Analog strings has been scripted specifically for 5.6
> The other libraries are compatible with older versions of kontakt, and thus are designed within the graphical constraints of 5.5


Size isn't everything. I don't want it bigger. They're forcing bigger on me.


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## Jdiggity1 (Mar 17, 2017)

chillbot said:


> Size isn't everything. I don't want it bigger. They're forcing bigger on me.


Correct.


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## chillbot (Mar 17, 2017)

Also, why would anyone look at the above screenshots and say, oh that's fine like that.


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## kurtvanzo (Mar 17, 2017)

That is a bummer. I suppose the side effect of building a bigger interface, but hopefully in a future version Kontakt will allow you to size the window and cut off the extra width if you don't want it- while still getting to the scroll bar on the right. For now you may want to stick analog strings in it's own knotakt instance if you can, so it doesn't add the space to the right on the rest.


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## chillbot (Mar 17, 2017)

kurtvanzo said:


> That is a bummer. I suppose the side effect of building a bigger interface, but hopefully in a future version Kontakt will allow you to size the window and cut off the extra width if you don't want it- while still getting to the scroll bar on the right. For now you may want to stick analog strings in it's own knotakt instance, so it doesn't add the space to the right on the rest.


Agreed, if that is the case. I'm not going to run it in it's own instance as I don't use it that frequently. What I want, is for it to not change the kontakt window size but to make the library pane smaller. I can drag it smaller to resize the library pane but then when I close Analog Strings it (again) resizes the kontakt window. In a battle for screen real estate this is not working for me.


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## chillbot (Mar 17, 2017)

The workaround for now (hopefully it gets fixed in the future?) is I swapped the media browser and kontakt window so that when kontakt expands it just overlaps the media browser instead of going off-screen. This is a pain, as I said I drag-and-drop from the media browser all the time... and speed of workflow is everything to me... plus I just don't like the way it looks in the kontakt screenshots above.


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## kurtvanzo (Mar 17, 2017)

chillbot said:


> when I close Analog Strings it (again) resizes the kontakt window.


 This is weird, hopefully an update of Kontakt will fix this resizing issue. Please mention your issue in an email to NI, if they hear enough, like other recent "corrections" (purge multi, key colors) will get the ball rolling. Until then you seem to have a great solution, I wish I could get all four of those windows on one screen, but I would need a pair of 40" to see it all. I deal with windows slightly overlapped so I can get to each fairly quickly (one offset up, another right, another down). Kudos on a nice layout, speed is important.


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## chillbot (Mar 17, 2017)

kurtvanzo said:


> Please mention your issue in an email to NI


Thanks I just did.


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## jtnyc (Mar 17, 2017)

Wow, I've never seen anything like that before. When did NI start allowing devs to decide on the width of the nki? Is Output the first to do it? Seems like a bad idea to me. Soon enough they will be all over the place and of coarse getting bigger and bigger. Looks real messy...


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## kurtvanzo (Mar 17, 2017)

jtnyc said:


> Wow, I've never seen anything like that before. When did NI start allowing devs to decide on the width of the nki? Is Output the first to do it? Seems like a bad idea to me. Soon enough they will be all over the place and of coarse getting bigger and bigger. Looks real messy...



This was added with 5.6. Probably one of the most asked for features (a larger space for GUI's) but I think most expected it to be scalable. There were a few new instruments in this wider format, but I think many developers were sticking to 5.5 because of issues with 5.6. Now that most of the issues have been corrected, expect to see more of these wider GUI's. I can even see developers updating current instruments to this wider format to accomodate more controls or a bigger look. Some, like "Ethereal" already did.


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## EvilDragon (Mar 18, 2017)

chillbot said:


> Is the rack length not standard anymore?



This is correct. Since Kontakt 5.6, libraries can use bigger GUI sizes, with maximum of 1000x750 pixels. Previous maximum was 632x540 pixels.

This is expected behaviour, not much can be done about it.


Analog Strings is not the only library out there that uses the new GUI sizes. Vir2 Vital Series - Mallets is another one (scripted by yours truly). And more will be coming, for sure.


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## Lindon (Mar 20, 2017)

Yes a lot more, developers have been asking for this feature for years, so NI are not likely to remove it in a hurry, but then they dont do anything in a hurry...


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## paoling (Mar 20, 2017)

Please, it's time we to pick a "default" new size: how NI decided to handle the different UI sizes is at weird to my eyes.


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## EvilDragon (Mar 20, 2017)

There's no easy way to handle different UI sizes, really... other than only showing one GUI at any time, which is not what Kontakt's instrument rack is all about.


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## P.N. (Mar 20, 2017)

I could see this:

A standard (the 633 width) and a "XXL" (1000) size co-existing in the same instrument.

Using the script tabs to change between scripts and thus sizes, since each script can have a different UI size.

It would better if NI allowed for customization of the script tabs, both skin and location (we could hide it inside an options menu). 
This would be very painful, since it would require 2 times the graphics (well, maybe) and PGS everywhere. It would look cool, though.

Cheers


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## chillbot (Mar 30, 2017)

Well now I have at least two [annoying] SUPERSIZED libraries in Analog Strings and NOVO.

NI wrote me back:

"Currently, this issue is limited due to size/resizing options in Kontakt. Our development team is aware of this and are working to further improve this in future versions."


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## EvilDragon (Mar 30, 2017)

omiroad said:


> with the old plugins being scaled.



No, that would look like *crap.*


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## P.N. (Mar 30, 2017)

It would look bad, yes. One possible solution would be spacing the ui controls in a proportional ratio to the new max gui size, but you'd still have to upscale the wallpaper...

So, what's done is done. Unless developers have the urge to update their old GUIs... :D But it would be imperative that NI creates some internal commands that allow more flexibility.


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## P.N. (Mar 30, 2017)

Omiroad, i understand your frustration. My comment was regarding graphical fidelity.

Cheers


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## EvilDragon (Mar 30, 2017)

omiroad said:


> Then what would you call what this looks like?



Not ideal, but upscaling older GUIs would be a blurry mess, so by all accounts much worse than this.


Plus, there's something you guys might not be aware: the new maximum width of 1000 px is just that - a maximum. It can be ANY number in between 632 and 1000. Now consider what happens when some libraries start using those in-between numbers.

Upscaling is NOT the solution, it never will be.


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## EvilDragon (Mar 30, 2017)

Thankfully I'm not really that "high" on high DPI screens, still rocking double 1920x1200's here. 

If I upgrade, the only option for me would be a non-"Retina" but a huge 43" 4K Dell that is 4 monitors in one (and that is still just 4 times the bog-standard 1920x1080, pixel density is not about "Retina"-like clarity, but it results in MUCH more real estate for desktop, a godsend for DAW work, without the need for upscaling things).


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## jononotbono (Mar 30, 2017)

EvilDragon said:


> Thankfully I'm not really that "high" on high DPI screens, still rocking double 1920x1200's here.
> 
> If I upgrade, the only option for me would be a non-"Retina" but a huge 43" 4K Dell that is 4 monitors in one (and that is still just 4 times the bog-standard 1920x1080, pixel density is not about "Retina"-like clarity, but it results in MUCH more real estate for desktop, a godsend for DAW work, without the need for upscaling things).



I just bought a 43 inch 4K Philips. I have 2 x 28 inch screens set to 1440p to each side of the 43 inch. It's brilliant and I can't ever go back. The real estate is insane. I do start wishing Kontakt could be better in regards to the GUI now though. I'm not a developer so I don't know the problems and difficulties that come with this kind of stuff. Buy a 43inch 4K. It is hands down the best thing I have bought for a long time.


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## EvilDragon (Mar 30, 2017)

Oh, this is the baby I'm looking at: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=fed&cs=16&sku=210-ahsq


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## jononotbono (Mar 30, 2017)

Yeah I know but I couldn't stretch to that however, I couldn't be happier with my purchase and it allows my to view 4 different machines as well if I wanted to. Also, the same amount of real estate applies for both screens. A DAW on a 43 inch 4K is a sight to behold. And, when I drag things onto my 28inch 4K screens either side of it (set to 1440p) the font sizing is the same on all three which is absolutely fantastic. Those Dells look amazing if you have the money


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## chillbot (Apr 11, 2017)

Oh it gets better. I thought Analog Strings and NOVO were big.... Riff Generation is massive. Is there an upper limit to this or will they reach a point it won't fit on one screen...? This is an ugly and silly solution to me.


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## polypx (Apr 11, 2017)

I think that's the new maximum, 1000 pixels.


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## jononotbono (Apr 11, 2017)

This is going to become a bit of a mess isn't it!


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## mac (Apr 11, 2017)

For libraries with a complicated interface, it's great that designers now have a larger area to work with. A really good move IMO, and hopefully things will also go fully vector one day. As far as use cases like the one above, I think a good solution would be to have the library shrink back down to the old size when its minimised. Really no need to be larger as nothings different in that view.

Either that or run one library per instance like a real man!


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## Zhao Shen (Apr 11, 2017)

In the end it's all just aesthetic, though it still looks very unprofessional. Small, elegant GUIs are still a major bonus for me.

A question to developers - did you guys actually need this change? I'm struggling to think of any situation where the standard width is completely inadequate but the new width solves that.


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## EvilDragon (Apr 11, 2017)

You cannot resize, but you can focus to just one instrument at a time by enabling Mini mode in Kontakt ("-" button in Kontakt's toolbar).

New maximum size is 1000x750 pixels. And yes, we used that in Riff Generation because we wanted things to look nice, evenly spaced out, and give plenty of room for editing the sequencer table.


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## jononotbono (Apr 11, 2017)

EvilDragon said:


> You cannot resize, but you can focus to just one instrument at a time by enabling Mini mode in Kontakt ("-" button in Kontakt's toolbar).
> 
> New maximum size is 1000x750 pixels. And yes, we used that in Riff Generation because we wanted things to look nice, evenly spaced out, and give plenty of room for editing the sequencer table.



I'm definitely up for Kontakt libraries being maximum size. Is there a reason why a Dev wouldn't now choose the Maximum size now it's actually an option?


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## EvilDragon (Apr 11, 2017)

Sure there is, it depends on what the intention of the instrument is. There's not a lot of point in wasting a shitton of space for a relatively meager number of controls (good example is Ethereal).


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## jononotbono (Apr 11, 2017)

EvilDragon said:


> Sure there is, it depends on what the intention of the instrument is. There's not a lot of point in wasting a shitton of space for a relatively meager number of controls (good example is Ethereal).



Ok. I'm not a Dev nor have I any experience in making Kontakt libraries hence the question. Thanks.

I'm guessing there's a reason why Kontakt doesn't allow for the GUI to be resizeable? And by resizable I mean drag the corner with mouse and make it as small or as large as your screen.


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## Lindon (Apr 12, 2017)

Zhao Shen said:


> In the end it's all just aesthetic, though it still looks very unprofessional. Small, elegant GUIs are still a major bonus for me.
> 
> A question to developers - did you guys actually need this change? I'm struggling to think of any situation where the standard width is completely inadequate but the new width solves that.



Yes we've been asking for a bigger interface for YEARS. I agree this is a half-assed solution but its better than nothing.


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