Troubles getting Studio Strings Pro Installed [Solved]

RPerrillo

Hi all - took advantage during the sale to spend money I don't have for the Herrman Toolkit and Studio Strings Pro. I believe they will compliment each other for my style of composing. In any case...

The Herrman Toolkit downloaded and installed without issue. After more than 15 hrs, Studio Strings Pro downloaded. I clicked install and the unzipping/merging process seemed to go as normal. Registered it Native Access without issue. Opened up a project in Logic to give it the library a quick perusal. The library banner and all instruments and folders are present in the free Kontakt Player browser. Trying to load any Studio Strings Pro patch Kontakt player diplays a missing content dialogue box. Looking at my external SSD the folder for Studio Strings Pro is present right there next to the Herrman Toolkit and Tundra folders. When I opened the Studio Strings Pro folder there are over 3500 .Im files listed. The Documentation, Instruments, Samples folders and one "Spitfire Studio Strings Professional.nictn" are listed after these 3500 .Im files. The .Im files are alternating, very small text files and much larger text files. Looking at the Spitfire App the install button for this library is still present, as if it were not installed. I clicked the install button and this time watched it very closely. The unzipping/merging process proceeded as expected to 100%, but then started over at 0%. At the conclusion of this second pass, for less than a second "installation error - contact support" is displayed. It's so fast that I could only capture it by using the slo-mo on my iPhone's camera.

At that point I opened a support ticket and have been trying to resolve the problem with help from Angus. The steps suggested thus far are to run the install again but first allowing full disk access to Spitfire App and Logic. This did not change anything. I have subsequently tried this a total 4x now with no change. I have the latest version of the Spitfire App, Native Access and free Kontakt Player all installed. My external SSD had more than ample free space, over 600 GB available.

I'm reaching out to the collective in hopes of finding a solution. I have my first major project since Covid began commencing this week and I must get this resolved. I thank everyone in advance for any help.

Ron Perrillo

Steve Shaw

Hi Ron

I'm no expert but I had an issue with the Brass Pro. The strings was fine!

This may help or identify what, if anything, is missing in the strings library.

https://spitfireaudio.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000306054-How-do-I-Fix-Missing-Samples-or-Slow-Loading-Times-in-a-Kontakt-Patch-

If you try it, it does take a while to complete!

Regards

Steve

RPerrillo

Thank you kindly for the reply, Steve. Before contacting support I did come across the batch-resave issue and resolution. I even watched several videos explaining how it is done. I am afraid to try this as the appearance of the contents in my Studio Strings Pro folder leads me to believe something more is wrong. I'll attach a couple of screen shots to explain. Below is what my Herrman Toolkit folder looks when I open it. Below that is the Studio Strings Pro Folder except what you don't see is, 3506 more .Im files! The size of the Studio Strings Folder is correct at 210 GB so everything must be there.

I'm at a loss at this point. Thanks again for your help.

Ron Perrillo

Steve Shaw

Hi Ron

I've just checked my SS Pro folder. There are just the 3 folders, Documentation, Instruments and Samples and the nicnt file.

Is there anything in your Samples folder?

Mine has 2 files for each patch, an NKC (small) and NKX (large). These seem to be related to your large and small .lm files.

Sorry, not sure what else to suggest.

Regards

Steve

RPerrillo

Thank you very much, Steve. This confirms what I suspected those .Im files are. I'll attach some pics. First one is all that is in the Samples folder, nothing more.

Opening the Instruments folder, here is what I have. Clearly, the size of these files is much too small.

Opening Stereo Mixes, much the same situation, even smaller file sizes.

I will tell Angus on my ticket to look here. I hope it can be resolved very soon and praying that I don't have to do a complete re-downloading of the library.

Steve Shaw

Hi Ron

Actually, after looking again at my installation, I think that those files in the Instruments folder are the correct size! They match mine.

What you are missing is all of the actual samples which should reside in the Samples folder along with that StudioStrings_2018_07_09.nkr file.

(Strangely, that .nkr file was a similar file which was missing in my Studio Brass Pro. It loads the "interface" panel in Kontakt Player).

It was easy for support to send me the file. I did a batch resave and all was then OK.

I fear it won't be as easy for you. I don't think that the files have unpacked properly. I have just checked the .lm file extension. It is a Windows System file.

If it's any consolation it took 44 hours for my download of the strings library so 15 hours ain't that bad 😉

Good luck

Steve

RPerrillo

Hi Steve,

Oh my! The plot thickens. Wouldn't life be grand if it was as simple as dragging those 3511 .Im files into the samples folder, clicking install yet again and voila!

Hopefully Angus will see all this, as I've messaged him the link to this conversation. If it's a matter of re-downloading the entire library then I need to get started right away. Again, thanks for sticking with me on your end. Your input has been most helpful.

Fingers-crossed,

Ron

RPerrillo

With no response from support for several days and desperate to get this running, I dragged the Studio Strings Pro folder to the trash and re-downloaded the entire thing. Took only 12 hours this time.

Install was unsuccessful with exactly the same results. No need to rehash them again. Everything is the same as before.

What are my options? As a performing jazz musician who has been out of work since the pandemic began, I simply cannot walk away from losing this much money not to mention time. Albion V, purchased a few months ago, Bernard Herrman, Intimate Strings, Epic Strings, Felt Piano, many LABS and the free BBC Orchestra. All installed seamlessly and function perfectly.

I'm at a loss.

Steve Shaw

Hi Ron

Sorry to hear that. I'm sure that support will sort it out eventually. Maybe it's something to do with your OS....but hey I'm only guessing! Those .lm files seem odd to me if you are on a Mac! As I said before though, I'm no expert.

I'm only in this as a hobby, but I think that you will feel your purchase was worth it when you get things sorted out.

Regards

Steve

gregoryd

I wish I could help, but I installed the studio strings pro (also took half a dozen hours) without any problems. Is resetting to the latest update an option?

RPerrillo

Thanks Gregory - only half a dozen hours? Must be nice. There is no way to reset/repair. The cogwheel is grayed out. The library appears uninstalled in the SA app even though it has been installed several times now.

RPerrillo

Before I celebrate; Studio Strings Pro seems to finally be installed. Had to drag the folder that wasn't unpacking correctly, the one with the 3000+ .lm files, to a separate external SSD which I repurposed from my wife : ) Clicked install in the SA app and it worked! Additionally, the SA app no longer shows the "install" button and the cogwheel is no longer grayed out. The app sees the library as installed - finally!

My plan going forward is to return it to the original SSD. I've asked Angus for confirmation of how to go about this exactly, but I'm too excited to get started, so hopefully can find the answers here on the forum. These are my planned steps.

1. Drag the original download folder to the trash and empty the trash.
2. Drag the new and correctly unpacked folder back to the original SSD.
3. Open the SA app and I should see a red exclamation mark with the library.
4. Click the cogwheel and select "locate." Browse to the correct folder and select it. Then click the "locate" button.
5. The library was already successfully registered in Native Access, and since the filepath will now be the same as when it was registered, I should not have to change anything in Native Access or Kontakt Free Player?

Does this sound Kosher? Have I missed anything? Would anyone be willing to speculate as to why this would not unpack properly on the same drive that is was downloaded to? The SSD in question had 600GB of free space and every other Spitfire Library and LABS have never given the slightest issue. Thanks in advance!

Ron

Steve Shaw

Hi Ron

Glad you have finally got it sorted!

It seems odd that it unpacked properly on your "wife's" ssd but not yours. Are they both formatted the same way?

That's my only thought.

Cheers

Steve

RPerrillo

Hi Steve,

It does seem odd. I have no explanation. They are both formatted the same. I'm still waiting for someone to confirm my final steps as correct, but thanks for sticking around with the positive vibes.

Ron

RPerrillo

Well, just as I was ready to celebrate... Moved the successfully unpacked folder back to it's original drive. Was very surprised that the SA app did not have a red exclamation mark on the Studio Strings Pro library indicating the library needed to be located. The cogwheel only had "reset" as a choice so I left it alone. I opened an empty project in Logic and proceeded to load my first patch and it worked, no warning dialogue from Kontakt player etc. I was really happy at that point, but it was short lived. The All-in-ones and the Stereo Mixes are the only folders where everything is intact. Extended techniques, Legato patches and Other patches are all missing many articulations. Far too many to list. Kontakt gives no missing content warning dialogue when I load the patches with the missing articulations. The patch loads, but many of the articulations are grayed out with a faint quarter rest symbol in the box. Clicking on them does display their title in the left sidebar, but they are simply not there. Additionally, the Kontakt keyboard is also not displaying the range for these missing articulations. I'll post some screenshots. Again, I am at a loss.

Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 6.30.47 PM.png

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Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 11.19.18 AM.png

RPerrillo

Also performed a batch-resave in Kontakt. Kontakt found no missing samples which shocked me.

Steve Shaw

Hi Ron!

I have got exactly the same as you. I'm sure that's how it is supposed to be. The greyed out areas are like that because there is nothing there by design.

The "all in one's" have most articulations that you need. The decorative and core etc have just a few!

I'm sure that if you go through each folder, Advanced, Extended, Other etc you will find every articulation in the library list.

Regards

Steve

RPerrillo

Steve -

Whaaaat! I'm on the verge of feeling really stupid. Not a first for me. My samples folder shows a total of 4122 items. Does that correspond with what yours has? I thought something must be missing because of the presence of the blank "placeholders" for other articulations. I mean, I can click on them and their names appear in the left sidebar so I thought they must be missing. I found it surprising that for example, a-Violins 1 (16) - Core Techniques only contains, Long, c.sord, flautando, Spiccato and Pizzicato. And the Decorative patch only contains tremolo. Yet the b-Violins (8) -Core and Decorative contain so much more. There must be something conceptually I'm failing to grasp if this is indeed correct. In any case, I am so thrilled to get started using this. Again, you've been so helpful and I thank you.

Cheers,

Ron

Steve Shaw

Hi Ron

Now you've got me thinking too!

I have the same as you, 4122 items and can confirm that clicking on a "blank" placeholder does indeed show an articulation in the sidebar. I hadn't tried that before!

However, if you look at the full articulation list for the library, the 8,6,6,6,4 sections have everything. The divisi sections and the 16 and 12 sections have a limited articulation list. E.g. Violins 1 (16) has long, Cs, flautando, spiccato, pizzicato and tremelo. Exactly what you have found.

I think that names appearing for blank placeholders is just a glitch in the software. There are no samples for those articulations by design.

That's how I see it but like I've said before, I may be wrong!

Regards

Steve

RPerrillo

Hi Steve,

It would seem almost impossible that if there were things missing from either of ours, that we would have the exact same amount present. I don't know much about the technology involved with this, but I suppose it's possible if there is a "bad" version of the library on the server, we both happened to download the same version. I can't imagine that going undetected by SA however. My support ticket with Angus is still open so I will point him here. Maybe he can straighten it out.

Cheers,

Ron

RPerrillo

From Angus - "These blank articulations are placeholders which allow the patches to share a script and have consistent layout, key switches and mappings between different instruments and sections. Looking at your screenshots none of the included articulations are missing from the library, it appears correctly installed."

So happy I can now present the project I'm working on in a good light.

Thanks for coming along for the ride, Steve!

Cheers,

Ron

Steve Shaw

Hi Ron

Glad I could be of help 😀

Regards

Steve

mofaha

Hello, just wanted to say thank you for posting this. It didn’t directly fix my issue but it pointed me in the right direction. Thanks for sharing :)