Chicken Systems Translator

AlmostAnonymous

Is anyone still using this? My end game here to to convert my kontakt libraries to exs24 to ultimatly dump into virsyn audiolayer.

Its iLok software (blech) and the free/demo version doesnt allow conversions (yeah, "demo my software, but you cant demo what youre gonna use it for"). Reviews on various other sites are a mixed bag and nothing very recent.

Or maybe someone else knows of another application to convert these libraries?
I mean i could auto sample things, but "aint nobody got time fo dat"

https://www.chickensys.com/products2/translator/

StudioES

If they're encrypted, you're SOL.

I haven't used it in years, and don't know of anything modern that'll decrypt and convert the encrypted samples and read the accompanying files.

I still mostly do it manually, or autosample it.

AlmostAnonymous

Im not really limiting it to konkat stuff either. Ive still got tons of akai and emu formatted stuff as well.

AlmostAnonymous

That stuff i know has worked in the past., but they dont contain much metadata

StudioES

The older version of Translator that I used was fine with sf2 and sfz as well as Akai pgm and akp files, but won't work with the newer xpm format. Also fine with the Emulator and Gigasampler files. I also recall that pre-Kontakt 4 libraries are fine (?), but my memory is foggy, so don't quote me on that.

But in the long run, parameters were off or completely missing, so cleaning up took almost as long as manually mapping the samples and setting parameters, for me at least. Well, unless it was a big multi-layered patch.

What format does Audiolayer use? sfz?

Just curious - If so, have you tried to load libraries from Alchemy, Dimension Pro, Rapture (which use sfz) directly into Audiolayer?

Edit: Ok, for the folks whose undies are too tight - this is for testing purposes only. Don't threaten to 'report' me for breaking license agreements.

rs2000

Does CST even work with more recent encrypted Kontakt libs??

AlmostAnonymous

@ocelot said:
What format does Audiolayer use? sfz?

It will import sfz and exs instruments

@ocelot said:
Just curious - If so, have you tried to load libraries from Alchemy, Dimension Pro, Rapture (which use sfz) directly into Audiolayer?

Don't have any of these.

@rs2000 said:
Does CST even work with more recent encrypted Kontakt libs??

Whats more recent and when did this cutoff happen? CST videos show converting 5.8 to earlier versions. Most of my libraries at v5 and earlier.

Edit: there is also this at the bottom of their site: https://www.chickensys.com/k6.html

StudioES

Yeah, pre-Kontakt 4.2 libs. You can check the version of the lib somewhere inside the pkg or exe file. Or maybe if the files have an underscore (_) before them - I think - memory is foggy. I vaguely remember testing this years ago.

Before Kontakt file version v4.2, Kontakt files (nki's) could be fully read by typical advanced programming techniques. When v4.2 came out, NI changed the format and also added a layer of 128-bit encryption to the file, rendering it impossible to read unless it was "hacked". At that time, NI provided us with a code library that allowed access to about 80% of the file contents - it was missing the modulator, filter, and effects information, plus a couple other things. This was valid up to v5.8. As of v6.0, NI did not update this code library to include v6.0+ files.

In short, the encryption makes any reverse-engineering or reading impossible to do on our own.

AlmostAnonymous

If it was 50$, id just buy it, and if it didnt work, cest la vie.
But 150? Meh...i wanna try it first....but this cracks me up really:

@chicken systems translater website says:
However, this should not be a concern for anyone interested in Translator. Sometimes, we get complaints - valid ones - where people want to know "how do I test the conversions?"

Our answer is - you don't need to test them. The only reason you'd want to do that is make sure the quality is what we say it is. We can understand that, but since we can't provide that, you'll just have to take our word for it. We understand that isn't what you'd usually do, but cosider this:

StudioES

It inspires confidence.

Used to be 300 or 400 iirc.

Nice thing about sfz or some xml and other formats is they can be opened in a text editor like Notepad to find all the parameters yourself, since Translator never grabbed them all.

Edit: But some library creators were clever and found ways to make that difficult too, by adding and subtracting parameter values and wild sample mappings.

colonel_mustard

Be warned: It's frustrating to work with. Impressively so. You might think they'd have ironed out the kinks (it's been around since '98) but it has the feel of a bug-riddled pre-release imho. A half-built house with corridors that lead nowhere, advertised features not implemented etc. I knew it had problems going in, but I was still surprised at how unfinished it feels. I don't recommend the product, and I can't recommend the company (you can search them out on KVR).

That said, I do use Translator for various tasks from time to time, and it's saved me a huge amount of grunt work, converting patches between exs24, nnxt, sf2, sfz, and stripping/mapping samples, preserving loop points etc. I've not had much luck with Bitwig and TAL-Sampler conversions and I don't have Kontakt, which seems to be your focus. It won't help you with encrypted files. I doubt you can translate Komplete, for instance.

Ultimately, I don't regret getting it (half price) but it's been a pain in the ass and I don't like it. As @ocelot says, there's always a lot of time-consuming clean-up involved and in my experience, a lot of trial and error and strange behaviours trying to get it to work in the first place, which it might not. You can certainly wave goodbye to nuance and multi-layered patches (and anything copy-protected). After wading through the shit, you might reach a point where you have banks of patches to tweak and finish, rather than starting over, and that might save many hours/days of your life, so it can be worth it for some people.

Temper your expectations and work out your hourly rate, would be my advice.

AlmostAnonymous

yeah. im being lazy. rather spend 150$..... if i know it works 80%, i'd rather spend that than spend time in text editors, manually doing it, or auto sampling. just line up 200 libraries and walk away.

I just need the raw samples and key layouts. i don't need all the filter parameters, etc.

auxmux

I've had ok luck with Extreme Sample Converter. Try the demo: https://www.extranslator.com/ it worked for NKI files that are pre 4.2. I used for same propose, to convert collections of other sampler files to SFZ for AudioLayer.

jonmoore

@auxmux said:
I've had ok luck with Extreme Sample Converter. Try the demo: https://www.extranslator.com/ it worked for NKI files that are pre 4.2. I used for same propose, to convert collections of other sampler files to SFZ for AudioLayer.

I second this recommendation, and it’s approx $40 (plus local tax if applicable). I mainly use it to convert old Akai/Gigasampler/Emulator libraries, so can’t comment on it’s Kontakt capabilities, but it’s proved to be reliable and flexible over the years.

michael_m

I haven't used it, but have seen it mentioned from time to time on other music forums. Unfortunately the context is usually issues that people have had, and I don't often see them get resolved.

There are other options (most seem cheaper too), so perhaps do a little digging before making a decision on what tool to go with?

jebni

Is there an option between editing the parameters in a text file and using a full blown app?

I recently saw that someone on the DecentSampler forum created an app to convert Exs24 to DSampler files using the Unity3D game engine IDE (!), and while such ingenuity is awesome, surely there are more open and maintainable ways to automate such translation work?

This isn’t my area, so shooting in the dark, but isn’t this the kind of problem that nerds fix with Python scripts or XSLT, and whack on GitHub?