Cycling 74 » Topic: Brand new rewiring option in max: can it be turned off?

Brand new rewiring option in max: can it be turned off?

jvkr — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:52:03 +0000

I am not even sure with what update the blue balls have been introduced, but suddenly they were there. A nice toy, fun to play with for a couple of minutes. For me, working with a wacom tablet is part of being able to program at all without developing RSI, but I notice the combination of blue balls and wacom is very dangerous. A little too much pressure during a quick mouse move may divert a connection (it really happened a couple of times now) without me being aware of it. It hasn’t caused any accidents yet, but at this point I want to ask: is this a switchable option, or if not, could it please become one.

Re: Brand new rewiring option in max: can it be turned off?

Floating Point — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 22:23:26 +0000

Very dense patches (ie ones built before the presentation-mode feature) are particularly susceptible to this, when you want to choose an object and mistakenly select a patch cord that is crossing over it instead, move it and the cord connection automatically changes– before I knew what this feature was doing I had inadvertently vandalized an old patch. If this feature could be turned off in prefs that would help.
T

Re: Brand new rewiring option in max: can it be turned off?

kp* — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:17:24 +0000

What is the point of the blue circles in the first place? 5.1 is the first i have seen of them.

(i managed to ask that w/o saying blue balls *doh*)

Re: Brand new rewiring option in max: can it be turned off?

jvkr — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:37:56 +0000

(i managed to ask that w/o saying blue balls *doh*)

Wikipedia:
Blue balls is the slang term for a congested prostate or vasocongestion, the condition of temporary fluid congestion in the testicles and prostate region…

There’s something to learn everyday.

Greetingzs frrom Holland

Re: Brand new rewiring option in max: can it be turned off?

BenCello — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:49:39 +0000

Hi !

I’m not an insider at Cycling74 but I’m pretty sure the “blue balls” were introduced in 5.1. And their purpose, as mentionned above is to repatch cords without suppressing and recreate the cord. Just drag one extremity or the other and drop it on another object inlet/outlet and you’re done. I find it quite handy but I can easily understand that it can provoke some unwanted repatching…

Just to mention another trick which appeared in 5.1 and few people may have noticed: you can now patch “backward” ie. create patch cord from the inlet of an object to the outlet of another one. Just ctrl+click (or right click) on the inlet and there you get a cord. In previous versions you could only create a cord from an outlet to an inlet.
I find that also very usefull and can’t think of any drawbacks right now.

Cheers

Re: Brand new rewiring option in max: can it be turned off?

Jean-Francois Charles — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:16:35 +0000

Patching “backwards” is most useful when you need to connect several objects’ outputs to a unique input. Use Ctrl-click + SHIFT.

Re: Brand new rewiring option in max: can it be turned off?

bkshepard — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:52:14 +0000

I find the new patching capabilities of 5.1 to be a welcome addition, but I can see–and have experienced myself–the issue when a patcher gets crowded. It would be nice to have the ability to turn the re-patch option off, or to have it tied to a modifier so that if you Control-click or right-click or something like that you get the re-patch option.