ShelLuser

First things first: this isn't my discovery, I'm just the messenger. u/El_Vikingo_ on Reddit noticed something weird with Max for Live and Looper. He 

 which I noticed and I can reproduce his issue. Better yet: I think I found a possible cause as well.

, and because of that we should have access to specific properties such as 

 (which is what Vikingo was after). The only problem: these properties aren't accessible.

I checked out the Looper device using my ancient LOM.Navigator device when I noticed something peculiar: if I check the classname of the device on a track then Looper comes back as Looper, nothing weird here. But if I check the canonical parent of a device parameter then it tells me that Looper is designated as Device, but that should have been LooperDevice. When I check the compressor for example then this "inner classname" does come back as CompressorDevice.

live_set tracks 1 devices 0 => classname is Looper.

live_set tracks 1 devices 0 parameters 0 canonical_parent => classname is Device, should be LooperDevice.

As mentioned, if I try this with a compressor or shifter, even a Max for Live device, then they all behave in the right manner. As such I suspect a bug here.

Here's my patch showing proof of concept...  just dump a couple of devices onto a track (make sure to include Looper ;)), add a M4l audio effect and use this code. Then just click the button and watch the output.

I'm using Live 12 suite, with the latest Max 8.6.2.

Thanks for reading, hope you guys can give some feedback.

Hi gang!

First things first: this isn't my discovery, I'm just the messenger. u/El_Vikingo_ on Reddit noticed something weird with Max for...

lives-looper-device-uses-the-wrong-class-designation

Live's Looper device uses the wrong class designation

Sam M

Hi all, I dug around the forums looking for a solution to this problem and nothing I tried seemed to work, so I figured I'd start a thread. Apologies for anything that's unclear or messy, I just started learning Max a couple days ago.

Essentially I built a sequencer that uses a multislider for note selection. It works great with the cycle~ device I have running, so the problem doesn't lie there. The issue arises when I try to output the current note value to midiout/noteout in order to capture the notes in Ableton's midi editor. I'm not sure if this is because I'm running plugout~ simultaneously.

I've tried outputting to midiout, noteout, and ctrlout trying to find something that would work, passing values either through the port symbol or integers, but nothing outputs properly to Ableton in either the Max1 or Max2 inputs. I've also tried passing the note number value to midiformat which didn't help. Ableton's Midi Track In indicator doesn't blink at all, leading me to believe there could be something wrong with the midi setup/ports.

One thing is that I can't double click the devices to set the ports like the reference book tells me I should be able to. Instead of pulling up the menu, it just edits the object name. I suspect this is a M4L thing?

Not sure if anyone has run into this issue before, but I would appreciate any help. I can provide more screenshots/patch info if needed.

Hi all, I dug around the forums looking for a solution to this problem and nothing I tried seemed to work, so I figured I'd start a thread....

m4l-and-midi-output-issue

M4L and midi output issue

Loukas Perreault

Currently, I'm sorting all my samples into two categories: those with a duration of 3 seconds or less, and those with a duration greater than 3 seconds, using the sfinfo object.

In my "master folder," which includes subfolders, I have approximately 16,000 samples. To gather their filenames, I employ a recursive search using JavaScript, resulting in an array of filenames. Subsequently, I feed this array into the sfinfo object to retrieve the length of each sample.

The process of obtaining the array of filenames takes around 3-4 seconds, which is efficient. However, the subsequent step, where sfinfo analyzes the files, is notably slow, taking approximately 3-4 minutes. During this time, Max appears unresponsive, with the spinning wheel suggesting a potential crash.

My query is whether there's a method to execute this task in the background or optimize the process for speed. Essentially, I'm looking for a way to offload this heavy-duty analysis to another thread or improve its efficiency to eliminate the unresponsive behavior.

optimizing-large-soundbank-parsing

Optimizing Large "Soundbank" Parsing

lapid arbel

i just started with max4live and i made a pop up window for the envelope follower so i can see it while mapping parameters on different channels. 

what i did was basically just add a button to the original envelope follower so a pop up window will open. 

the problem is that now my pop up window is a device by its own, its not connected to the original envelope follower. 

so if i map or change parameters in the pop up window it will automatically do the same changes in the device thats sits in the effects area?? 

Sync my Pop up window to my actual device 

sync-my-pop-up-window-to-my-actual-device

LDMdesign

I am using fixed colors in my device, and yet when I change the Live theme, it changes the fixed colors. Light theme is forces light grey elements to black. 

I would expect dynamic colors to change, but not fixed colors.

Also, when I shared my device with a friend (both using Live 11), the off-white elements turned to black when he is using a dark theme, thus making it unreadable.

I am using fixed colors in my device, and yet when I change the Live theme, it changes the fixed colors. Light theme is forces light grey...

theme-changing-fixed-colors

Theme changing fixed colors

Asher Bay

I'm trying to send notes to a vst instrument in Live via midiout. When I click to bang the kslider, the note triggers properly. However when I send bangs to the kslider via metro, no notes are played in Live. 

It works fine when I send notes via noteout, but noteout only works for the same track that the device is on. I want to be able to send notes to any instrument track. 

I'm trying to send notes to a vst instrument in Live via midiout. When I click to bang the kslider, the note triggers properly. However...

sending-notes-via-midiout-only-works-when-i-manually-click-not-when-i-send-bangs-via-metro

Sending notes via midiout only works when I manually click, not when I send bangs via metro

11OLSEN

Please someone take a look. I never noticed this before. A very simple js to observe the "mute" button state of a track. Add device to multiple tracks, everything works as expected, mute state is printed to Max window. Now as soon as one of the devices is deleted, all other js observers stop working. I even tested it with 2 different devices observing different path and property, they break each other when one is deleted.

mute_js_fr.amxd

JS is frozen into it and looks like this:

    var obj = new LiveAPI(callback,"live_set this_device canonical_parent");

        post(obj.path, args, "\n")

The same thing with Max object works as expected. Is there something wrong with the JS? How can removing one break another one in a completely different device and js? 

Please someone take a look. I never noticed this before. A very simple js to observe the "mute" button state of a track. Add device to multiple tracks, everything works as expected, mute state is printed to Max window. Now as soon as one of the devices is deleted, all other js observers stop working. I even tested it with 2 different devices observing different path and property, they break each other when one is deleted.
Here is a device:

JS is frozen into it and looks like this:

function bang ()
{
	var obj = new LiveAPI(callback,"live_set this_device canonical_parent");
	obj.property = "mute"

	function callback(args) 
	{
  		post(obj.path, args, "\n")
	}
} 

The same thing with Max object works as expected.  Is there something wrong with the JS? How can removing one break another one in a completely different device and js? 


Please someone take a look. I never noticed this before. A very simple js to observe the "mute" button state of a track. Add device to multi

js-observers-stop-working-if-another-devicejs-with-observer-is-removed-from-the-set

I can reproduce in both Live 11 and Live 10 (using 10.1.41, with whatever Max is bundled).   I thought there might be something funny with the scoping in the callback, but then I wrote the code like this and get the same result:

function bang ()
{
	var obj = new LiveAPI(function(args) {
		post("mute2", this.path, args, "\n") 
	} ,"live_set this_device canonical_parent");
	obj.property = "mute"
}

The below works fine -- the observers are appropriately isolated in their scope.  But it does nothing to explain how the function-scoped variable initialization you use gets graduated into a global scope...

var obj = null
function bang ()
{
	obj = new LiveAPI(function(args) {
		post("mute2", this.path, args, "\n") 
	} ,"live_set this_device canonical_parent");
	obj.property = "mute"
}
This is closer to how I do my observers (though often its in an array of observers or encapsulated in some other object.)  

I guess really my intuition is that the observer initialized in your original bang() ought to cease to exist after it's function scope since it's not explicitly retained elsewhere.  Then the fact that your code worked in the first place would've been a memory bug in Live.


Interessting, I have not seen it written like that. So instead of a function name I can write the callback directly into the LiveAPI( parameters)? I followed this doc . And 

Technical note: you cannot use the LiveAPI object in JavaScript global code.

doesn't sound like I have to retain the obj in global scope. Further when you look at the example at the bottom of this page it looks like it's the recommended way to put the callback into the function scope.
btw: support just confirmed it as a bug

I really lost some hair today trying to find the mistake.
 🦲 

I always took "you cannot use the LiveAPI object in JavaScript global code" to be about the initialization and function calls where writing them directly into the global code would imply you're trying to do things before [live.thisdevice] has notified that the Live API is ready.  For instance in the example code at the end of the page I would expect that code could only be happy living inside another function call (as in your bang() ), and that's sort of backed up by them having a 'return' statement in there.

As for the inline syntax format: I don't normally do that, either, as it's hard to read.  (It also comes with an  issue where it triggers with "id nn" before you've assigned the property name you want to observe).  It was just for me to test because I thought having a functional reference to 'obj' inside the callback was maybe a little questionable as I assumed the callback() would go away outside of your bang() scope. **

And now if it's confirmed as a bug -- and I assume you mean that your initial code should work and persist observers as written -- I guess I'm also surprised the implied behavior is that once you instantiate an observer it stays alive indefinitely.  Seems like that would be bad for memory/performance.  I normally track observer lifespan and aggressively try to unassign their observed property and null them out when they are no longer needed.

** I didn't intend to confound the two differences (inline callback AND variable outside of function) in the second example.  Sorry!

Yes it makes sense to track the lifespan. I had a few situations today where it seems like callbacks were called from memory so that I had 3 messages from one api object. But that may also be caused by opening and closing the editor. Anyways I'm waiting for the fix. Thanks for looking at it Tyler!

Is there something like free(obj) in js? Setting obj.property ="" doesn't feel like obj will be garbage collected. But the global scope will help to reuse it without creating new LiveApis all the time. I can see that!

there is for... only jitter objects:
myJitterObject.freepeer();

I think I just borrowed that obj.property = "" practice from elsewhere in this forum.  For some reason in my Favorites list is now marked as spam!:


In effect what I've been doing (maybe without satisfactorily answering your question for all JS) has been:

obj.property = ""
obj = null

And it seems to work... certainly no more redundant callbacks getting fired for me?

I would love to see an official JS LiveAPI best practices guide.  There is a decent amount of not-very-intuitive stuff that goes on, IMHO.

To conclude here and for future reference: Putting the obj variable in global scope seems logical and fixes the problem of my first post. I'm no longer convinced it's a real bug, maybe just some confusing example code in the live js documentation.

var obj;
function bang ()
{
	obj = new LiveAPI(callback,"live_set this_device canonical_parent");
        obj.property = "mute";
        
 	function callback(args) 
	{
  		post(this.path, args, "\n");
	}
}

JS observers stop working if another device/js with observer is removed from the Set

argosound

the attached patch shows stange behaviour:

The aim is to be able to drag in a folder with movie files and let the patch create clips with the names of the files and attach their Id to a coll, to be able to play the movies from the clip view in Live, and with this with a controller (eg. APC40).

This does work as long as the patch is open in Max: the clips are created and named. and it is possible to play the movies by playing the named clips.

When the device is just in ableton, this does not work. the clips are created, but not named, that I don't get at all.

also they are not connected to the movies, because the coll is not filled. I have read about  coll not properly working within m4l. is there a way around this? should i get into dict? i never uses it before. 

The "bug" shows up if i use the Ableton internal or the external Max app.

If you want to look at the patch, all the stuff i mentioned happens within the "cliploader" subpatch.

any help or hint is highly appreciated. Thank you very much

P.S.: OSx10.15.7, ableton 11.3.21, max 8.5.6(internal), 8.6.2 Full App

Helllo dear all,

the attached patch shows stange behaviour:

The aim is to be able to drag in a folder with movie files and let the patch...

different-behaviour-with-coll-an-umenu-in-open-patch-and-within-live

Different behaviour with Coll and Umenu in open Patch and within Live

spin lud

Hi guys, I am trying to configure a basic patch that loads some video clips from a folder and play a random video at random position when triggered by audio signal. The problem is that when I try to open the device Max panel inside Ableton, this causes a crash. I tried both with the Max bundled version and Max standalone version (8.6.2) linked to Ableton (12.0.1).

Does anyone know why is this happening and how I can fix?

Hi guys, I am trying to configure a basic patch that loads some video clips from a folder and play a random video at random position when...

basic-patch-to-play-random-video-at-random-position-causes-max-to-crash-when-opening-device-panel-in-live

Basic patch to play random video at random position causes Max to crash when opening device panel in Live

Florent Ghys

Hello, I'm trying to understand why Max For Live is having issues with the folder object. 

I have a simple "folder" object inside a M4L instrument. 

When opened in Max, it works fine. When opened in Ableton, "folder: no such object". 

Screenshot 2022-12-26 at 1.29.12 PM.png

Is this a limitation of Max For Live or a bug? 

Hello, I'm trying to understand why Max For Live is having issues with the folder object. 
I have a simple "folder" object inside a M4L instrument. 
When opened in Max, it works fine. When opened in Ableton, "folder: no such object". 
I'm using Max 8.3.1 and Ableton 11.2.7

Is this a limitation of Max For Live or a bug? 
thanks!
Florent


m4l-folder-no-such-object

the strange thing is that is I create a new M4L device with a folder object in it, everything works fine. 

even creating a new M4L device with a folder object doesn't work

but when I put the exact same device on my desktop, it works fine.

I'm getting really confused here, any help appreciated!! 


Cycling '74 Forums

@Rivanni I can reproduce in Live 12.0.2 Suite. However, Live 12.0.5 beta returns LooperDevice. Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated....

The simplest way around this, IF you can live with the latency, is to use send and receive pairs between devices. It will add the latency...

I truuuuly don't mind, your tips are awesome!! I will implement this method right away! Thanks a lot!

Sync my Pop up window to my actual device

Alright, thanks. Sorry if this was sounding rude in some way. What about the "dynamiccolor" key in the toppatcher obex. Can I manipulate...

try to send proper note on and off, not only note on.

They don't even consider it necessary to update the code example. So there will always be people who fall into this trap.

you querry highlited_ clip slot which can be highlited in any track. then

max panel - you mean video screen ? I guess live and max open the video twice when you edit your device and can't agree about it. I...

Hello, I am still getting the error message "folder: no such object" in all my M4L devices even after updating to Max 8.6.2 and Ableton...