u-he

david.beholder · Post by **david.beholder** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 8:37 pm

OreoSplitter wrote:what is MPE?

http://expressiveness.org/2015/04/24/mi ... ession-mpe

omiroad · Post by **omiroad** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 8:51 pm

Urs wrote:The reskinning is a bit of "testing some UI concepts for Zebra3" and seeing how much needs to be developed still.

I had wished for a release long time ago (both Z2.8 and Z3), but recent years had become very draining - testing even. That's what happens when one releases products like Diva and The Dark Zebra and suddenly one needs to go from a small team of 4 to a company of 15. One needs the manpower, but overall efficiency sinks, so one needs more products to cough up cash for wages, and then that asks for more manpower. Fast growth comes with depressing side effects.

OTOH I'm pretty much the only one who knows and understands development of Zebra modules. I can't just define some specs for a module, give it to another developer and wait for the results - works for some stuff, but not for much of it. So I had to free myself from other obligations (support, design, training, project management, communication, that kinda stuff). There's still KVR and a shitload of boss stuff on my plate, but with some luck I can do a module or two a month, while the guys can keep doing other stuff.

You're awesome at answering questions and not twisting them into some sort of attack on you. With those devs I just stop daring to ask questions altogether. I understand how this all came to be now so it's much appreciated.

OreoSplitter · Post by **OreoSplitter** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:08 pm

david.beholder wrote:
OreoSplitter wrote:what is MPE?
http://expressiveness.org/2015/04/24/mi ... ession-mpe

Thanks. Doubt I would ever need it. "Multidimensional" props to the marketing team that came up with that one.

OreoSplitter · Post by **OreoSplitter** » Mon Apr 17, 2017 10:09 pm

double

SPLAZERlazer · Post by **SPLAZERlazer** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 5:46 pm

Will the 2.8 update add support for NKS?

dayjob · Post by **dayjob** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 6:07 pm

SPLAZERlazer wrote:Will the 2.8 update add support for NKS?

what's NKS?

Sound Author · Post by **Sound Author** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 6:48 pm

dayjob wrote:
SPLAZERlazer wrote:Will the 2.8 update add support for NKS?

what's NKS?

"Native Kontrol Standard" software integration...

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/p ... eries/nks/

^ A.K.A. a brilliant way to sell a bunch of REALLY expensive MIDI controllers.

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 8:36 pm

SPLAZERlazer wrote:Will the 2.8 update add support for NKS?

We'll talk to NI to see if they accept setting up Zebra's XYs as the main controls, maybe as the only controls. It's virtually impossible to map all modules to the controller pages for each patch. But even then, going through a couple of hundred factory presets and mapping XYs for each will take some people out for a couple of months. Hence... not sure.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 8:42 pm

Urs wrote:
SPLAZERlazer wrote:Will the 2.8 update add support for NKS?
We'll talk to NI to see if they accept setting up Zebra's XYs as the main controls, maybe as the only controls. It's virtually impossible to map all modules to the controller pages for each patch. But even then, going through a couple of hundred factory presets and mapping XYs for each will take some people out for a couple of months. Hence... not sure.

The major limitation here, besides the time it would take, is Komplete Kontrol's mapping editor doesn't you to move around user pages. So unlike in Kore or Bitwig where I can create a user page (or 2) per module and simply drag them around to match the exact modules used in each patch, in KK that's impossible. The only realistic approach is as Urs suggests, just a basic mapping of XY controls, but then the problem is most patches do not use them.

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Tue Apr 18, 2017 9:06 pm

I think that call was made for consistency.

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Wed Apr 19, 2017 5:22 am

aMUSEd wrote:
Urs wrote:
SPLAZERlazer wrote:Will the 2.8 update add support for NKS?
We'll talk to NI to see if they accept setting up Zebra's XYs as the main controls, maybe as the only controls. It's virtually impossible to map all modules to the controller pages for each patch. But even then, going through a couple of hundred factory presets and mapping XYs for each will take some people out for a couple of months. Hence... not sure.
The major limitation here, besides the time it would take, is Komplete Kontrol's mapping editor doesn't you to move around user pages. So unlike in Kore or Bitwig where I can create a user page (or 2) per module and simply drag them around to match the exact modules used in each patch, in KK that's impossible. The only realistic approach is as Urs suggests, just a basic mapping of XY controls, but then the problem is most patches do not use them.

We can do this programatically. In Diva you'll see that when you convert a preset to NKS format, the controls are laid out according to the modules in Diva. That is, we can automatically create a layout based on the modules in the patch. We would like to do this in realtime, but that isn't how NKS is meant to work (less of a sound design tool, more of a performance solution). We have proposed a few simple extensions to NI which would enable us to improve the situation for our stuff. There'll be a meeting with them during Superbooth, I'll bring it up again.

aMUSEd · Post by **aMUSEd** » Wed Apr 19, 2017 7:59 am

40watt · Post by **40watt** » Wed Apr 19, 2017 6:27 pm

RE. The NKS support.
I was unsure as to the benefits NKS would provide me when I bought the thing, but I got to admit Diva and NKS is sublime. I don’t use the pre-set tagging so much but the ready-made maps of important controls that are clearly labelled in combo with the fatar keyboard is a complete winner....
So much so I had to go buy a new PC to compensate for the number of tracks Diva ended up on..... Urs you cost me a fortune.....
Currently for Hive/Bazille I have an initial patch in Komplete Kontrol with the filters and reverb mapped, and I use the internal synth browser to select patches. This would be better if I could use the Navigation on the keyboard and not have to reach for the mouse but it’s better than mapping CCs all the time.
Some sort of basic support for Zebra would be very welcome, even if it were not to support tagged patches.

ontrackp · Post by **ontrackp** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:19 am

Urs wrote:Yeah, sure.

The idea is to support Z2 for many more years. It will receive global enhancements (tag based preset browser, plug-in formats and all that), but it might not necessarily receive new modules or such enhancements that are the reason to do Z3 in the first place. Zebra2 is pretty much without a chance for MPE support due to the way MIDI is processed internally.

The effort we put into Zebra 2.8 will hopefully reflect our commitment to it, despite our confidence to release Zebra 3 within this decade.

I just re-visited Zebra HZ for OSC, and to me it remains the best of all the VST's I've tried. The distance from mental concept of a sound to execution is short and efficient, the sound is great, and the opportunities for creative "noodling" for both expected and unexpected results is unrivaled. The four lane and module UI is more intuitive than any other software synth. So thank you for continuing to support Z2 -- it's remarkable software!

Urs · Post by **Urs** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 4:15 am

The basic concepts of Zebra2 will remain nearly identical in Zebra 3. There will however be fundamentally new concepts that have been missing in the software world, or just weren't ever intuitive. We have to yet evaluate if these concepts will work, but in my mind I can spin a whole universe of expressive goodness.

I so can not wait...

u-he

KVR Audio

Zebra3 Info