Help Navigating Large Patches

umfufu's icon

Two issues bug me while working with really large patches and presentation mode.

1) I wish that if I selected an object in presentation mode than this object would be centered on the screen when I exit presentation mode and enter edit mode. My current patch is so large that I generally search for an object by name in edit mode which feels indirect and leads me to #2

2) The outline when finding objects by name is incredibly subtle. It takes me a while to find the object that Max has selected. I wish it was way more obvious.

Before I ask for these feature requests, are there other tips or tricks that I'm missing?

Thanks.
Ben

Jean-Francois Charles's icon

What I do is that I select the object in Presentation Mode, switch to Patching Mode, then move the object back and forth by just pressing two arrow keys (say, right then left). When you move the object, the focus move so that your window includes the object.

AudioMatt's icon

cmd-d -> delete

Also, Umfufu, don't be afraid of making your patch gigantic. Give yourself plenty of elbow room, use the zoom (cmd-/+) feature and gigantic comments

umfufu's icon

pressing two arrow keys (say, right then left)

Ahhh, this is great thank you!
I still wish Max would be consistent about where on the screen it places the object, as I still need to search for it sometimes, but this is a big help.

umfufu's icon

cmd-d -> delete

Hmmm, not sure what you mean by this one. Does this make the object appear on screen @audiomatt ?

AudioMatt's icon

@umfufu

No it's a take on the wiggle right/left that Jean suggested. Duplicated said object then delete it. (instead of moving it one pixel back and forth).

umfufu's icon

Ah, I see now thanks.

Roman Thilenius's icon


this doenst solve the concrete problem, but of course there are ways how to avoid the problem in the future.

for example when my screen is full that is the moment where i start to create subpatchers and abstractions.

it is a bit more work in the beginning to design your patches like that, but it pays out later when you want to reuse parts of a program in your next project.

-110

Roman Thilenius's icon


"I still wish Max would be consistent about where on the screen it places the object, as I still need to search for it sometimes"

in my opinion it should go to where the mouse is, i know a bunch of programs where it works like that.

but you can avoid it by using drag and drop or typing "button", if you know what i mean. you have to do that for most objects anyway, isnt it?

plus, when it comes to numberboxes for example, one might prefer to load prototypes over pressing "f" (and then doing a dozen of settings), anyway.

AudioMatt's icon

@umfufu Another thing to note is using View->New View. You can edit in and out of Presentation simultaneously.

@Roman, I could be wrong but I think umfufu's referring to the experience of switching out of presentation mode and having your selected object fly out of view completely.

umfufu's icon

Thanks all.

Yeah, the Views are really helpful but I tend to only use them when doing large amounts of work on the GUI. For quick things I generally don't, as they do slow down the graphics of my patch.