Creating your Pak.zip file

You can use your preferred Zip file utility to create your Pak. The KEY thing to remember is that you MUST get the path information correct for your Pak to load. Some Zip file utilities make it easy to include the right path information, some don't. Some you will need to use a Command line option to do this, especially if you create your Paks in a different folder to the one required for a Pak to load.

For a real example, see one of the Audio Loop Collection 1 add-on Tiklpaks.

• It is essential that the following path (off your hard disk root, e.g. C:) is used and included in the Zip file for all your content in the Pak: e.g. intermorphic\mixtikl\paks\MyName_MyPak\
• If you are making a Separates Pak you can included the Pak in a sub-folder under the paks directory, e.g. intermorphic\mixtikl\paks\MySamples\MyName_MyPak\
• The path(s) above MUST NOT include any other path information before "intermorphic" or the Pak simply will not work.
• TIP: More experienced Pak creators may wish to create a "dev" folder under the "paks" folder, and then put all Pak content development in a folder "intermorphic/mixtikl/paks/" under this. You then create your zips, using batch files, from these folders and never inadvertently overwrite or alter your master content.
• Once zipped, copy (or move) the Pak zip file (e.g. MyPak.zip) you have just made to the folder:
  • Macs :
    

    <drive>:~/Library/Mixtikl/intermorphic/mixtikl/paks/

  • Windows XP:
    

    <drive>:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\intermorphic\mixtikl\paks\

  • Windows 7
    

    <drive>:\ProgramData\intermorphic\mixtikl\paks\
    

• Relaunch Mixtikl, and you should be able to use your new Pak!

Windows Users - Tips for Zipping Paks

There are a number of zip tools you can use on Windows, including 7Zip and WinZip etc.

1. Approach 1 - Using Latest version of WinZip (e.g. > 12.x ...)
   • Imagine you have the content for pak you're creating in c:\this\that\intermorphic\mixtikl\paks\*
   • Add the folder(s) you want from Windows Explorer to a zip - you should include full path info
   • To fix the path info in the zip file, to be relative... i.e. to remove the unwanted c:\this\that path information then, in WinZip, select the "Folders" view.
   • In the left hand pane, move to the folder above which you wish to preserve the relative path (i.e. to c:\this\that in this case).
   • Drag the intermorphic folder from the right pane, to the top/root of the zip file structure in the left pane.
   • Your file/folder paths are now fixed!

Mac Users - Tips for Zipping Paks

There are a number of zip tools you can use on Mac, including StuffIt and BetterZip

1. Approach 1 - Using Terminal to zip up your Pak
   • Launch Terminal (from Finder, under Applications > Utilities), and type the following, where MyName_MyPak is the name of your Pak folder:

     
     cd Documents
     zip -r MyName_MyPak.zip intermorphic/mixtikl/paks/MyName_MyPak/*

     
     Note that if you have moved your Documents folder somewhere else, you will have to move there instead with something like this:

     
     cd /Volumes/Drive/Documents
     zip -r MyName_MyPak.zip intermorphic/mixtikl/paks/MyName_MyPak/*

   • Reload Mixtikl and check your Pak is OK (we suggest you temporarily move your Pak folder so that ONLY the Pak zip gets picked up (for testing) and not your unzipped Pak folder)!
   
   
2. Approach 2 - Using a .sh (batch) file to zip up your Pak
   • Creating Pakzips with a batch file(s) is best if you are creating a lot of Paks, or just doing it again and again and don't want to type in the commands above every time. We don't want to go into another tutorial on how to use .sh (batch files), but you need to create a text file, and then rename it to something.sh and then set up the file association so that it can run as a batch file (none of this is straightforward it seems!). Suffice to say, we do not recommend creating / using batch files unless you know what you are doing!
   • If you use a rm command (remove), be very careful.
   • What follows is a batch file that checks if a zip file is there, removes it, changes to a master Pak directory, and zips up a particular pak and puts it in a separate zips folder (e.g. IMZips) where you can then later copy your Pak from to the correct intermorphic/mixtikl/paks/ directory for use in Mixtikl.

   • #!/bin/bash
     cd ~/Documents
     touch ~/IMZips/TiklPaks/genmix1_dmaj_im_tp.zip
     rm ~/IMZips/TiklPaks/genmix1_dmaj_im_tp.zip
     cd ~/Documents/intermorphic/_TIKLPAK_DEV_MASTERS/
     zip ~/IMZips/TiklPaks/genmix1_dmaj_im_tp.zip intermorphic/mixtikl/paks/IM_GenMix1_DMaj/*.* 
               

   • You can also append the zip line with arguments that prevent some files getting added, e.g.

     -x \*__MACOSX -x \*\.DS_Store -x \*Thumbs.db