Question concerning Kontakt's Giga import

[JWB]

Hi,

I\'m a GigaStudio user interested in switching over to Kontakt and its new update.

Question: How does Kontakt stream Giga samples? Does it convert them to its own format (.???) before streaming or read them outright without a conversion? If a conversion is needed, is it better to use a dedicated conversion program (like CS Translator) or Kontakt\'s own program?

Thanks for any help,
Jon

[Scott Cairns]

Hi Jon, the Giga samples need to be first converted to the Kontakt nki format. THe import has been vastly improved with keyswitching support, but it still wont take over all the features from what I have heard.

I dont know that using a third party converter will make that much difference, I think there are still a few limitations with Kontakts playback capabilities. I could be wrong though, and if anyone can tell us otherwise I would welcome the information.

Regards, Scott.

[chickensys]

Here\'s a couple differences (I\'m speaking just for Translator)

You can make .nkm files
You can convert in bulk, and it\'s faster
You can stipulate an effect of your choice to be thrown in
You can convert to .wav files or AIFF files, your choice
The Giga velocity curves are simulated programmatically, not just linearly
Groups are named with the placement info (keyrange, Vel, Keyswitch)
Supports .art files that serves as updates for .gig files
You can convert the .gig files to mono, then import them that way - this saves in polyphony

There\'s a couple more, I\'ll post them when I\'ve confirmed them.

I would suggest a third party convertor anyway (not just because of my bias) because it\'s a dang handy thing to have in your toolbox - you\'ll eventually find use for it, and it also mean you can buy any library available IN THE NATIVE PROGRAMMED FORMAT and with Kontakt, since it has every parameter conceivable in any quantity, it will be programmed to the best quality.

[Rich Pell]

Garth speaks the truth.Kontakts imports .gigs pretty good now.Just not the Mod wheel stuff(any extra layers of articulations).But u can learn to program that yourself.Hopefully Kontakt 1.3 will implement that automatically..I import .gig stuff all the time..Rich

[madfiddler]

Still, that main thing that\'s missing is the gigtools, like the Garritan stuff. These can\'t be replicated in Giga can they?

[KingIdiot]

Most of the tools are jsut MIDI manipulations, There\'s a logic environment of some of the GOS stuff already available. Its possible for someone to do the same for VSL\'s tools.

Also, you can route through the tools back into another sampler. The toolsare usually seperate applications and not contained within giga themselves.