Cycling 74 » Topic: segmented patch cord neatness and ambiguity

segmented patch cord neatness and ambiguity

Dan Nigrin — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 15:58:53 +0000

Lot’s of discussion recently on ways of working in Max, efficiently
coding, etc.. So, a question and feature request for segmented patch
cords:

1) Question – I notice in many Max help files and in other people’s
patches that when segmented patch cords are used, people manage to
line up the segments from multiple connections very neatly, so they
all line up, like this example from page 85 of the Max Tutorials
documentation:

Is there any easy way to get the patch cords to “line up”? Ideally,
I’d like to be able to “Align” the patch cords like one can do now
with objects (command Y). I find myself often trying, and missing by
a pixel or two, and things look ugly (I know, I’m type A), like this:

2) Feature request – notice in the first example above that there is
ambiguity introduced; one can’t tell where the number boxes in the
top row are connected to by just looking. This is the main reason
that I often *don’t* use segmented patch cords, even though I’d like
to from a neatness perspective. I wonder if there isn’t some smart
UI change that could be implemented to more clearly illustrate what
is connected to what in these types of cases?

Thanks,
Dan
–
Dan Nigrin
Defective Records
202 Hack / PC-1600 User / VSTi Host / OMS Convert / Jack OS X
http://www.defectiverecords.com

http://www.jackosx.com

Re: segmented patch cord neatness and ambiguity

Peter McCulloch — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 16:23:28 +0000

Re: segmented patch cord neatness and ambiguity

Dan Nigrin — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 16:48:19 +0000

At 11:23 AM -0500 3/27/06, Peter McCulloch wrote:
>>Is there any easy way to get the patch cords to “line up”?
>>Ideally, I’d like to be able to “Align” the patch cords like one
>>can do now with objects (command Y). I find myself often trying,
>>and missing by a pixel or two, and things look ugly (I know, I’m
>>type A), like this:
>>
>If you align the objects first (in your example, highlight the
>number boxes, then align them), then select the patch cords (using
>option-drag) and do align (to make the segmented patch cords) then
>they should segment at the same y position. If you segment, then
>align, you’ll probably have to do the hand-tweaking.

Holy smokes — I never knew that Align worked like that with patch
cords – thanks! Now I feel silly…

>>2) Feature request – notice in the first example above that there
>>is ambiguity introduced; one can’t tell where the number boxes in
>>the top row are connected to by just looking. This is the main
>>reason that I often *don’t* use segmented patch cords, even though
>>I’d like to from a neatness perspective. I wonder if there isn’t
>>some smart UI change that could be implemented to more clearly
>>illustrate what is connected to what in these types of cases?
>>
>
>Generally speaking, colored patch cords take care of most of these
>issues. Also, if you wanted to keep the two different paths from
>having the same segment position, move one group up a couple of
>spaces, then segment, then move back down. The Duplicate trick is
>also useful for making separated patch cords: Duplicate, move it
>into the x position desired (using the arrow keys), then move it up
>several spaces (4 works well) and keep duplicating. Segment, then
>align, and you’ll have patch cords with a small space in between
>each cord.

Thanks Peter, I’ll give it a shot.

Dan
–
Dan Nigrin
Defective Records
202 Hack / PC-1600 User / VSTi Host / OMS Convert / Jack OS X
http://www.defectiverecords.com

http://www.jackosx.com

Re: segmented patch cord neatness and ambiguity

Peter McCulloch — Mon, 27 Mar 2006 17:06:07 +0000

Also, be sure to check out “Extras” > “Tips” for a slew of other very
useful Max shortcuts.

Peter McCulloch