Kick 2 Preset Location

Thanks Razzia. What I do is create a folder with Shortcuts for all proprietary locations of my presets for plugins that have strict save locations.

Hello, i installed the software on my Mac just like the manual said but once its completed theres no program to run, its so weird, I’ve installed the program like 10 times already with no success, I can’t find the app after it says its already installed S.O.S

Hey @dromo1901

What do you mean when writing [quote=“dromo1901, post:6, topic:33155”]
I can’t find the app after it says its already installed S.O.S
[/quote]

KICK 2 is not a standalone App, it’s a VST based plugin that you’ll have to run via your DAW like Logic, Live, Cubase, Studio-One
etc

Hi there. Is there a way to have Kick 2 save its presets to the My Documents folder? I use synchronization software to backup my life’s work bu I have to create a extra synchronization task just for the Sonic Academy User subfolder. It really kind of complicates the synchronization process.

If there isn’t a way to do this then I am adding the suggestion to have that option available. I love the plugin. Absolute time saver but the odd placement of the User presets subfolder on my system drive makes it easier to lose all the hard earned presets in case of a system failure. Granted
I probably won’t run into that issue using file sync’ing software but for the masses, it would be a convenient feature and it would make more sense to have that in the MyDocuments folder
like other software developer do, or at least have the option to specify the default location.

I apologize if this can be done and if it can be done, well, it wasn’t obvious to me.

Thanks so much!

Hey @Mathematics

Sorry for the late reply. I’m not aware of a way to achieve this, since there’s no option to change/choose the path for saving Kick 2 Presets.

On macOS, one could achieve what you’re telling about using symbolic links ( aka simlinks ) but I assume that you’re on Windows since you’re writing “my Documents” & not “Documents” :slight_smile:

Basically the use of symbolic links would consist of moving your original kick 2 presets folder to your “my documents” folder and to create a symbolic link from there that you should move back into your original kick 2 folder and giving to it the same name as the original ‘presets’ taking care to remove any symlink extension into the folder name.

You get the idea, for the application it’s then transparent because there’s still a presets folder where it’s expected to be but in fact thanks to symlink, your presets will be saved under your linked folder in “my documents”.

So this is working fine under MacOS, I know that the principle of symbolics links also exist under windows, here is a link about symlink on mac and on that page you’ll also find a link to explain to you how it should work under Windows.

But that is just a possible hack and workaround, I can’t tell you more and this should be better answered by S.A. Dev team I think.

Hope that could help meanwhile :wink:

1 Like

Awesome @Tekalight ! :thumbsup:
That was absolutely brilliant! There is a Windows version of Symlinks. What one has to do is create a “Junction” based “Hard Link” to the Target folder (Documents) and “Hard Link” the source folder “Presets”.

There are two ways to do it. Either by the command interpreter, which uses the command line. It’s actually easy, or there is a graphical tool called “Link Shell Extension”.

Here is a detailed link on how to do it on a PC:

Thank you so much. I learned something new today.

I came up with a two other ways of achieving similar results after I posted the question. FreeFileSync has a function called RealTimeSync which creates a duplicate of the contents of a source folder to a target folder, dynamically; meaning, if a file changes, is created, or deleted in the source
it updates the target in real time. You can choose to delay the updating in increments of seconds.

The second method is by all means identical as FreeFileSync but with a much more powerful, far easier, and intuitive setup. That program is called ViceVersaPro. Actually, that is what I use to synchronize files. I just didn’t think of synchronizing contents in real time (or time delay the sync) because I don’t want to use clock cycles to do anything but run my DAW. That makes sense, right? I think the Junction is probably a better solution as it doesn’t require clock cycles to determine changes in the source folder.

EDIT:
After creating a “Junction” I found a limitation. I hope this next bit of information will avoid some inherent confusion because the documentation only explains use of this feature as a data access convenience but not as a solution for backing up data. You see, when you create a Junction, you’re actually creating what appears to be a “type” of Shortcut Link in the destination directory. So, my destination directory would be the MyDocuments folder. In there I would see a “Shortcut Link” to the Sonic User Presets folder, but it’s actually NOT a Shortcut link. Here’s where the problem lies.

If you create a Junction, the MyDocuments folder will now contain a Symbolic Link (Shortcut-looking icon). If you click on the Symbolic Link, it will take you to the user presets folder. Ok
so what? How about copying the MyDocuments directory by direct copy or File Sync. Well, that where the confusion begins. You see, if you copy or backup the MyDocuments folder, it will also make a backup copy of only the folder that is Symbolically Linked. So, if your Symbolic Link was called User Presets, it would look like a regular shortcut when it’s in the MyDocuments folder, but when you copy the parent directory, in this case the MyDocuments folder, you will see that you backedup MyDocuments as well as a folder called User Presets, but that folder will be empty. If there was anything in that folder, including subdirectories, they would not copy over.

So, the correct way to actually backup the contents, is to NOT copy the parent directory containing the SymbLink, but instead, actually copy the SymbLink to the destination for backup and Windows will treat that link as if IT WERE the actual folder called User Presets.

You can’t get the same results using a normal Shortcut
I tried. If you do try to treat the Shortcut as if it were the directory it’s pointing to, all you do is copy/duplicate the shortcut and if you use Synchronization software, it will give you an error. But if you use the SymbLink as a reference; meaning, you tell the sync software to sync the contents of the SymbLink, IT WILL actually WORK and copy/backup the contents as if you had chosen the folder you created a symbolic link to.

So, the take from all this. Use the Junction command. Copy and treat the Symbolic Link as if it was the actual folder you were trying to backup because it represents the folder you linked. That’s what this feature does. It makes a virtual clone of the folder you want to copy as a Link that you can treat as the original folder you want to reference.

: END EDIT

Again, thank you for this quite useful bit of information. SonicAcademy
please update Kick2 so that the User Preset folder can be targeted to avoid having to create Junctions in the Windows file structure.

2 Likes

Hey @Mathematics

Good news if the symlink feature actually did the trick :slight_smile: !

I was assuming it should work on Windows too when pointing you to that solution but I have to say that the implementation is much more easier on macOS where in fact you just have to install symlink as a service and it will be accessible with a simple right click on the folder, choosing the services option and then selecting “Make Symbolic Link”.

You can then move your new “linked” directory to the desired place & remove the ’ symlink’ ( space + symlink ) information in the name ( it’s not an extension as I previously wrote BTW ) and you are done.

I’m a Windows user too, so I kind of knew that this was possible to achieve but probably more tediously.

Therefore your exhaustive description and detailed feedback about how one could achieve this is very valuable here on the forums for other users. So thanks a lot for this, very much appreciated ! :slight_smile:

S.A team & devs are monitoring the forums too, so they will see your suggestion as well :wink:

Glad that this workaround was helpful & thanks again for your feedback !

Wishing you a nice end of the week end !

One-Click Solution to create a Junction-based Symbolic Link for Windows Users:

I found a nifty free program that does all you described, essentially, in just one click (with some typing and confirmations). It’s called JunctionMaster by a developer called Bitsum.
Here’s a link to the program: https://bitsum.com/portfolio/junctionmaster/

To be honest, looking at what I wrote still serves purpose because my method doesn’t require initially moving anything after the program is installed and if one was using synchronization software, making a symbolic link the source for a back up WILL indeed backup those files. Personally, I don’t like moving files but JunctionMaster does integrally do that, which is exactly what you described, but in one click
sort of. Crazy, right?

I’m so done with this. Lol.

2 Likes

Nice found and very interesting solution indeed :wink:

Thank you for sharing, I’m sure that will be useful for many Windows users :slight_smile:


& yep, looks like you’re an expert in Symlink(s) now 
 One done !! → until next issue & next topic :slight_smile:

That’s the way to learn & little things often make big differences


Cheers !

I have the same problem than Dromo1901
 and I’m on Logic how can I do please ?..

That was my reply to Dromo 1901
 and I never had feedback afterwards. I am sure that we are miss-using terms here, Kick 2 is not a standalone app, the installation process is quite transparent on macOS, after you ran the PKG file, you should open Logic and check your Plugin Manager to see if you have any Sonic Academy plugin entries in there and to verify that it was authorised correctly. Since latest version of Logic & macOS High-Sierra, a reboot of your machine is sometime mandatory for some new plugins to show up within Logic.

To check if Kick 2 1.05 (latest) was correctly installed on your Mac, you should verify that you have the following directories and files created :

yourmacOSHDD /Library/ Application Support /Sonic Academy/Kick 2/( then the subfolders )

This is your main macOS Library, not the user one.

I saw when installing the additional Volumes of Presets for Kick 2 available from Sonic Academy, that they get installed in:

HD > Library > Application Support > Sonic Academy > Kick 2 > Presets > DLC

So I keep those volumes there, and when creating user presets I keep them in:

HD > Library > Application Support > Sonic Academy > Kick 2 > Presets > User > User Presets

(On a Mac) . Love the Kick 2 Presets, well worth getting!

1 Like

Excuse moi razzia mais je ne comprend pas ce que tu veut dire par programdata ou trouve tu ça ? Car je l’ai acheter hier mais impossible d’avoir le contrĂŽle sur les prĂ©sets et les bouton juste en dessous “help” et 3 autres

Salut @Masurel_Simon

Le répertoire ProgramData est caché par défaut sous Windows, voici un lien pour savoir comment le rendre visible : Afficher les fichiers cachés - Support Microsoft

En revanche cela permet juste de vérifier si les presets on été correctement installés, rien de plus.


English Translation :

The ProgramData directory is hidden by default on Windows, here is a link for how to make it visible : Afficher les fichiers cachés - Support Microsoft

On the other hand, it just allows you to check if the presets have been correctly installed, nothing more.

Salut merci de l’info pour le data
Mais par contre j’ai acheter kick 2 et non ana mais ce qui est bizarre c’est qu’il ne m’ont pas demander de clĂ© de licence du coup toutea partir preset et save save as settings et help ne sont pas accessibles

1 Like

Ah oui KICK 2 désolé :blush:

Il n’ y a pas de clĂ© de licence pour Kick 2, il faut autoriser en entrant son nom d’utilisateur et mot de passe Ă  partir du plugin. VĂ©rifie si tu vois ton nom Ă  cĂŽtĂ© de l’autorisation : soit en bas du plugin a droite, ou si non Ă  partir du Menu en choisissant " About/Credits" pour voir les infos du plugin.

EDIT : Ferme ton DAW ( STAN ) et dans Windows, toujours avec les fichiers cachés visibles ( comme expliqué auparavant ) va dans ce répertoire et supprime le fichier Kick 2.settings et aussi Kick2.keyfile si présent.

C:/Utilisateurs/ton Nom d’Utilisateur/AppData/Roaming/Sonic Academy/Kick 2

RedĂ©marre ton DAW et ouvre une nouvelle instance de KICK 2, il devrait te redemander d’autoriser.


English Translation :

There is no license key for Kick 2, you must authorize by entering your username and password from the plugin. Check if you see your name next to the authorization: either at the bottom of the plugin on the right, or from the Menu by choosing “About / Credits” to see the info for the plugin.

EDIT : Close your DAW (STAN) and in Windows, always with the visible hidden files (as explained before) goes to this directory and deletes the file Kick 2.settings and also Kick2.keyfile if present.

C:/Users/Your User Name/AppData/Roaming/Sonic Academy/Kick 2

Restart your DAW and open a new instance of KICK 2, it should ask you again to authorize.

Je vient d’essayer et malheureusement ça n’a pas marchĂ© c’est toujours sans demande et sous licence de la team

SĂ»rement un problĂšme d’installation alors, je te conseil de faire une dĂ©sinstallation manuelle suivit d’une nouvelle installation en suivant ce guide, utilise Google Translate si souci avec l’Anglais.


English Translation :

Might be an installation problem then, I advise you to do a manual uninstall followed by a new installation following this guide, use Google Translate if concern with English.

Par Contre je ne comprend pas l’étape c:/ users/nom d’utilisateur
Je ne vois pas quoi faire je suis pas hyper caler en ordi

OK, c’est juste un rĂ©pertoire Ă  accĂ©der, en fait si traduit en Français c’est Utilisateurs et pas users, donc le chemin du rĂ©pertoire complet c’est ton disque pricnipal Windows ( normalement C:/ )

Donc : C:/Utilisateurs/ “ton nom d’utilisateur sur ton PC”/AppData/Roaming/Sonic Academy/Kick 2


English Translation :

OK, it’s just a directory to access, in fact if translated into French it is “utilisateurs” and not “users”, so the path of the complete directory is your main Windows disk (usually C: )