# Komplete Kontrol for non-Player Kontakt libraries



## GiuseppeS+OS (Apr 29, 2021)

Hello everyone,
recently I had a conversation with a customer who brought to my attention an important topic (I'll use a made-up name, Tom) : he's a visually impaired composer who strongly relies on Komplete Kontrol to use sample libraries, he explained how controllers like the S49 are making a remarkable difference in the community of composers who suffer the same problem. The keyboards provide spoken text to speech feedback from the computer on Mac and Windows, which allows blind users to browse and edit plug-ins like Kontakt (when hosted within Komplete Kontrol).

In several occasions, Tom asked if I had plans to make my libraries compatible with Komplete Kontrol, by exposing assigned parameters to host automation and assigning them to physical controls. 
I only release non-Player Kontakt libraries, and I know that it is still possible to set a Kontakt library to show up parameters so that they work within Komplete Kontrol. However, I've also read of some issues with snapshots when a library with no NKS license is moved from a location to another one.

How recommendable or not is this for a commercial release?
Thanks


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## soundtrax (Apr 29, 2021)

You can use NiMBank to extract a Komplete Kontrol mapping from a nksn file and write it into a nki. It's a bit tricky to set up, but it works really well, and the mapping setup stays in the nki even after a re-save in Kontakt. It is also possible to write a KK-mapping into multiple nkis, which is quite nice.

Here is the tutorial: https://denivel.blogspot.com/2019/10/how-to-create-third-party-kontakt.html


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## GiuseppeS+OS (Apr 29, 2021)

soundtrax said:


> You can use NiMBank to extract a Komplete Kontrol mapping from a nksn file and write it into a nki. It's a bit tricky to set up, but it works really well, and the mapping setup stays in the nki even after a re-save in Kontakt. It is also possible to write a KK-mapping into multiple nkis, which is quite nice.
> 
> Here is the tutorial: https://denivel.blogspot.com/2019/10/how-to-create-third-party-kontakt.html


Thanks a lot, much appreciated!


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## thorwald (Apr 29, 2021)

Hello @GiuseppeS+OS 

As a blind user myself, I can confirm that this is indeed true. Having parameters mapped to UI elements is the only way we can access a Kontakt UI, as keyboard access does not work, and the UIs do not have any standard control (or very often non-graphical text) that a screen reader might recognize.

Partly because of Native Access, developers might think that knob mappings only work in Kontakt Player libraries, however, this is not true as you mentioned. If you load any NKI file into Komplete, you can drag any CC-automatable parameter to a knob, then save the NKI (no snapshots are required). In fact, snapshots are often not preferred, because batch resave does not pick them up, and you often get a "Content Missing" window when attempting to load them via the Komplete browser.

Here's a video, in case it's useful: 

I also have experience testing mapped libraries, please let me know if you need more info on best practices, what to avoid, or any help whatsoever (even via a PM).

Hope this helps, and thank you very much for keeping blind and visually impaired composers/musicians in mind ☺️


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## Mike Greene (Apr 29, 2021)

It's completely doable with non-Player libraries. I do all the knob assignments and stuff in an unencoded version before sending to NI. That unencoded nki works perfectly with an nks keyboard. It has to work, in fact, otherwise I couldn't test it while I'm making the nki. 

You do need a special Maschine app from NI, though, because that's what you use to do a lot of the assigning and store the settings. (Weird that it's done in Maschine and not in Komplete Kontrol, but that's the way it is.) Contact NI and they should hook you up with what you need, even if it's not for a KPlayer library.


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## GiuseppeS+OS (Apr 30, 2021)

@thorwald Thanks a lot for the valuable information, I've put this off for too long for a variety of reasons, I'd like to make some progress for the future releases (and perhaps update also the current ones).

@Mike Greene That's VERY useful information Mike, thanks a lot!


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## soundtrax (May 2, 2021)

Mike Greene said:


> You do need a special Maschine app from NI


It looks like NI doesn't make the app available to everybody. You have to be an official dev for NKS libraries to get access to it - at least that's what I've been told.


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## thorwald (May 2, 2021)

soundtrax said:


> It looks like NI doesn't make the app available to everybody. You have to be an official dev for NKS libraries to get access to it - at least that's what I've been told.


This is what I've heard as well, hence my suggested video for CC-automatable parameters. The library will not be NKS-compatible, strictly speaking, i.e. nothing will be displayed on Komplete Kontrol keyboards, the light guide will be also unavailable, but the knob assignments will work.


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## Mike Greene (May 2, 2021)

soundtrax said:


> It looks like NI doesn't make the app available to everybody. You have to be an official dev for NKS libraries to get access to it - at least that's what I've been told.


I'd ask them anyway. (Here's the page where you can find contact info.) Making the NKS knobs work with more and more products helps them sell hardware, so it's in their interest to let you do it. It's not like it costs them anything.

You could also tell them you'd like to see what's involved, because you're considering doing a KPlayer library. Not to sound like a shill for NI, but it's not that expensive. From that same link, for a $100 library, the cost for encoding plus 100 licenses would be $1,700. That's the low end, obviously, but speaking for myself, I think their pricing is very reasonable.


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