Metropolis Ark 2 - GUIDE

Installation Guide

Metropolis Metrop olis Ark 2

 www.orchestraltoo  www.orchestra ltools.com ls.com

Installation Guide

CONTENT I Introduction

2

II Download

3

III Extracting

4

IV Data Folder Installation

5

 V Add Library

6

 VI Loading Instruments

7 

 VII Getting Help

8

© 2016 Orchestral Tools | Schwarzer & Mantik Gmb H 

Installation Guide

I

Introduction Dear Customer, thank you very much for purchasing an Orchestral Tools collection! This document contains information about the installation and activation process for your purchase. Please read this document carefully. If you experience problems, you might find solutions in the FAQ sections of our Helpdesk. The following table lists the collection names this Installation Guide applies to with the minimum required version of Kontakt. There you can also see whether you need the full version of Kontakt or if the Player is sufficient. You can learn more about Kontakt Player vs. Kontakt Full on our Helpdesk. Please note that Kontakt Player collections will also work fine in the full version, of course. They need to be activated using your serial number.

Collection Name MA2 | Metropolis Ark 2

Kontakt   Player 5.5.1+

Important  This Installation Guide does not cover the general usage and features of Orchestral Tools collections. These topics are explained step by step in the respective User Guide, which you can find in your collection's Documentation folder. You can also find it in our Hel pdesk.

Installation Guide

II

Download We use the Continuata Connect system to download and extract all collections. All downloads are hosted on Amazon S3 servers which will give you great speed wherever you are on the globe.

1. Go to Continuata Connect to download the newest Continuata downloader. If you have previously installed the downloader, please update it to the newest version for the best download performance. 2. Put the serial number into the downloader software. Make sure to include the dashes on numerical serials! Choose a download folder on your computer by creating a new folder (for example with the name of the collection) and pointing Connect towards it. This folder will be used to first download all the files; after download all files will be extracted into this folder, too. Makes sure there is enough space in this folder for both download and extraction. You need roughly twice the collection size of free space. Please use an internal drive, as the downloader sometimes has issues downloading to external (USB/Firewire, Thunderbolt) drives. The downloader will automatically start the download. If you need to pause or temporarily stop the download, you can continue it anytime later. You can safely close the Connect application; upon reopening simply click "Download" again and it will pick up where it left. Depending on your connection the download can take a while. Should the connection break, the download will automatically retry, so you can leave it running overnight.

If you do not want to use the Continuata downloader or have issues with corrupted files, go to the Manual Links page, where you will be asked to enter your download code. You will then be sent an email with manual links where you can download the individual rar packages. These links are valid for 24 hours for security reasons. If you run out of time, simply request the Manual Links again. You will then receive a new email with links that are again valid for 24 hours. Select a download folder and download all the individual rar/zip packages. Usually this will be several .rar files with numbers, a zip file with all the instruments and (for Capsule Collections) the capsule_container.rar. After that, you can extract the files, either with Connect, or manually.

© 2016 Orchestral Tools | Schwarzer & Mantik Gmb H 

Installation Guide

III

Extracting If you are using Connect, after the download is finished, the downloader will automatically unpack the rar and zip files into the folder you defined. There is no manual extraction necessary and after extraction is complete, you should back up the downloaded files somewhere safe for future use.

You may want to extract files that you already have, for example from a previous download or from a Backup SSD/HD. If you already have all downloaded files from a Backup (SSD or HD) start Connect as normal and enter  your code. When it asks for a location just point Continuata towards the folder where the .rar files are and it will begin extracting without re-downloading everything. If any files have been updated on the server, it will also download these files.

If for some reason you do not want to use Connect, you can extract the compressed files manually. If you want to make sure that you have all files, please refer to the File Listings in our Helpdesk. Make sure all files are in the same folder, ideally this folder has the name of the collection. After that, unpack the first package of every multi-part archive into a folder of your choice; all the other packages will then be unpacked automatically. In most collections you need to unpack the first samples package (collectionName_samples.part01.rar, which will unpack all others), the instruments file (usually a .zip file, collectionName_instruments.zip) and the capsule_container .rar (only for Capsule-powered Collections). Make sure to unpack all files directly into the same folder of your choice, preserving the structure inside the files. Do not extract them into subfolders with the name of the compressed files! For Windows we recommend WinRar to extract, on OSX we recommend UnRarX.

To make sure everything has extracted correctly, you can refer to the Folder Structures in our Helpdesk.

After the collection has been successfully extracted, the compressed files do not need to remain in the collection folder.   Note that we can not guarantee re-downloads of purchased collections indefinitely.

Installation Guide

IV

Data Folder Installation   Metropolis Ark 2 needs certain files in your Appdata/App Support folder to properly initialize. Please note that only Kontakt Player-compatible collections require this step - all Berlin Series Expansion Collections etc. do not. Orchestral String Runs and Symphonic Sphere also do not. Depending on your platform start one of the two provided installers in the collection directory.

 Windows Start METROPOLIS ARK 2 Win Installer.exe. The installer will auto-install and close. Note that the installer will always open on your main screen. On some system Windows will display a “Was the installation successful?” message. You can safely ignore this message.

Start METROPOLIS ARK 2 Mac Installer.app and follow the instructions.

If for some reason the installation fails or you want to install manually, copy the Data folder into:

 \AppData\Local\Metropolis Ark 2

:Library:Application Support:Metropolis Ark 2

© 2016 Orchestral Tools | Schwarzer & Mantik Gmb H 

Installation Guide

 V

Add Library  Kontakt Player collections need to be added to the Kontakt Libraries tab and registered before they can be used. This step is only necessary for Player collections. If your download code (which in this case also doubles as your serial number) contains only numbers, you need to add the collection to the Libraries tab and register it. Please open the latest version of Kontakt 5 or Kontakt 5 Player to add the library. It is not possible to add non-Player libraries to Kontakt. 1. Make sure the Browser is active by pressing F1 or calling it up from the Panels menu. 2. Click on “Libraries“ on the left side 3. Press “Add Library“ and click on the folder in which you unpacked the collection. Choose the folder that contains the Instruments and Samples folder. 4. Click on “activate“ in the right corner of the Collection entry. Put the serial number you received via email in the Native Instruments Service Center (the serial number is identical to your download code) and activate your product. 5. Load an instrument to verify everything is working.

Installation Guide

 VI

Loading Instruments After your collection is successfully installed and authorized, you can load patches a number of ways: - On Kontakt Player collections, all patches are accessible through the collection's entry in the Library Tab - You can load patches by navigating to their folder in Kontakt's Files Tab. - It is also possible to drag and drop patches from File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (OSX) into the Kontakt window.

When you load a patch from any Capsule-powered collection for the first time, the instrument will ask you to perform a Batch Resave. Batch Resaving vastly accelerates loading times and also makes sure that everything is installed correctly. To perform a Batch Resave, click File - Batch Resave (the Floppy Disk icon calls up the menu) in an empty standalone Kontakt (do not do it inside your sequencer!) and confirm the dialog. Then point Kontakt towards the folder where your collection is installed. The patches will then be resaved. If a "Missing Samples" dialog pops up, show Kontakt the collection folder again. You should perform a Batch Resave on every collection install and also after every collection update.

© 2016 Orchestral Tools | Schwarzer & Mantik Gmb H 

Installation Guide

 VII

Getting Help We hope this Guide showed you how to unleash the potential of all collections. If you have any additional questions or need help installing collections, we have a number of options for  you to get help as fast as possible.

Before sending us an email, please first refer to the OT Helpdesk at helpdesk.orchestraltools.com, which has answers to the most common user questions. There you will also find detailed Folder Listings to verify that all your collections are correctly installed. The Helpdesk covers a lot of topics and chances are high you will an answer there in a fraction of the time it would take you to contact us. Here are a few important topics: Downloading the newest Installation Guide and User Guide Everything about download and installation Folder Structure listings of all Orchestral Tools collections

If your question is not answered on the Helpdesk, you can reach OT Support by email to support(at) orchestraltools(dot)com For direct help with download issues using Continuata Connect, please contact support(at)continuata(dot)com  Just send us an email, describe your issue and we will get back to you usually the same working day. OT Support is staffed every working day 09:00 to 16:00. Orchestral Tools is based in Germany, so if we do not reply soon, it is most likely night over here! No have no impersonal ticket IDs, no registration for an account, nothing. Just help when you need it. Please include as much information as possible, especially your system specs, sequencer version and Kontakt version. Screenshots also help tremendously.

If your issue can't be resolved speedily via email or if you are completely stuck with something, send us an email and we will be happy to assist you via remote support. This is done with a small and secure application that lets us see what you see on your screen and has proven to be a cure for even the nastiest tech issues.