Sophie Stott

I'm trying to wire up a PS3 remote to Logic, via Max. I've managed to set it up so that the PS3 buttons are mapped to Max and are outputting signal. Hurray!

I'm trying to get it so that when one of the controlls (the joystick) emits numbers 0-127, it sends the numbers to one midi channel and when it's emitting 127-255 it sends those numbers to a different midi channel (scaled to 0-127), so that centre-left joystck is controlling one thing and centre-right another. I think I can do this with an if expression, but can't work it out!

Hello,
I'm trying to wire up a PS3 remote to Logic, via Max. I've managed to set it up so that the PS3 buttons are mapped to Max and are out

if-statement--splitting-a-signal

This u ses split to split values 0-127 out one outlet and 127-255 out another. You can do what you want before and after this process to control your input/output.

If statement / splitting a signal

Edmond Cheung

I'm a beginner at Max and am trying to create a simple piano app that saves an image captured from the webcam everytime the piano key is pressed. I currently have it so that a MIDI piano with 26 keys is mapped to the keyboard letters A-Z. Here is a screenshot of what I currently have:

Screen Shot 2017-04-14 at 1.20.13 AM.png

I can't seem to get the filename argument for the exportimage message working, everytime I click the exportimage message a windows pops up prompting me to enter a file name and save.

How can I make it so that it automatically saves the picture as a png with a ordered filename like: 1.png, 2.png

I'm a beginner at Max and am trying to create a simple piano app that saves an image captured from the webcam everytime the piano key is pressed. I currently have it so that a MIDI piano with 26 keys is mapped to the keyboard letters A-Z. Here is a screenshot of what I currently have: 

Hi all,
I'm a beginner at Max and am trying to create a simple piano app that saves an image captured from the webcam everytime the piano ke

how-to-export-images-with-ordered-files-names-jit·qt·grab

hi, please make sure you use  "Copy Compressed" before pasting patches into the forum.

to automatically name your files with an incrementing counter, simply use the counter object and the sprintf object to generate a filename:

How to export images with ordered files names jit.qt.grab

Pis Pas

Can we use the "wasd" camera functionallity without having to click in the render window?

Can we use the "wasd" camera functionallity without having to click in the render window?
Thanks

use-anim-ui-listen-without-clicking-window

sure, just use key and keyup with the anim.drive "move" message to trigger the animations: 

use anim ui listen without clicking window

Alby

Hello, I'm having problems synchronizing a transport bar with some metro's to execute some tasks at specific times. I've simplified the problem in the attached patch; It is supposed to generate bangs at the same time, and then just play a note simultaneously.

When the patch is first opened, it works correctly, everything seems synchronized. However, If I change, for instance the first [metro 2n @active 1] object with [metro 4n @active 1] and then I activate the toggle, it will start to behave differently.

Moreover, if I change again it to [metro 2n @active 1] (so apparently it is the same than when I opened the patch), it is completely out of time.

I'm not sure what's going on here, I'm not able to find anywhere if it is needed or how to "reset" the metro objects or something like that. I think that the metros are attached to the same master tempo, and they should bang at the same exact time, but they are very delayed.

unsync.maxpat

Hello, I'm having problems synchronizing a transport bar with some metro's to execute some tasks at specific times. I've simplified the problem in the attached patch;  It is supposed to generate bangs at the same time, and then just play a note simultaneously. 

When the patch is first opened, it works correctly, everything seems synchronized. However, If I change, for instance the first [metro 2n @active 1] object with [metro 4n @active 1] and then I activate the toggle, it will start to behave differently. 

Moreover, if I change again it to [metro 2n @active 1] (so apparently it is the same than when I opened the patch), it is completely out of time. 

Hello, I'm having problems synchronizing a transport bar with some metro's to execute some tasks at specific times. I've simplified the prob

unsynchronized-transport-with-tempo

Thanks Benjamin (I didn't thought that quantize attribute was in charge of that!), but unfortunately it doesn't works from the beginning; it seems to work... but after the second or third bang. I mean, I added to the four metro's in my example the attribute [metro 2n @active 1 @quantize 2n], then, again, I changed one of them with [metro 1n @active 1 @quantize 1n], and then back to [metro 2n @active 1 @quantize 2n]. When I activate  the transport, the first one or two bangs that the metro generates, are out of sync.

Even if I don't rename one of the metro's, if I activate/deactivate the transport a couple of times, the first bangs are out of sync, they run faster or slower. I attach the patch with the @quantize modification.

Hum.. Ok, if I also add the quantize attribute to the metro that is sending bangs to the transport then it seems to work :) 

Unsynchronized transport with tempo

Matt Lane

Anyone interested in making this available? 

smyth-realiser

Smyth Realiser

Dominic Muir

I am selecting a random 'buffer~' from a 'polybuffer~' object. To do this, I insert the dumpout value of the polybuffer~ into the right inlet of a' random' object to set the range. The output of the 'random' object allows me to then 'play~' the corresponding buffer using a 'set' message. 

How can I prevent the same buffer from playing back twice in a row, or in simple terms,

 how can I prevent the same random value from being output twice in a row. 

I thought of using an 'if' statement to compare the last random number with the new one but I am not sure that this is the most efficient method.

I am selecting a random 'buffer~' from a 'polybuffer~' object.  To do this, I insert the dumpout value  of the polybuffer~ into the right inlet of a' random' object to set the range.  The output of the 'random' object allows me to then 'play~' the corresponding buffer using a 'set' message. 

How can I prevent the same buffer from playing back twice in a row, or in simple terms, how can I prevent the same random value from being output twice in a row.  I thought of using an 'if' statement to compare the last random number with the new one but I am not sure that this is the most efficient method.

Hi there,
I am selecting a random 'buffer~' from a 'polybuffer~' object.  To do this, I insert the dumpout value  of the polybuffer~ into th

prevent-the-same-random-number-from-being-output-twice-in-a-row·

depending on your desired output, you can use either [urn] or [zl change] (see patch below):

Thanks very much! 

zl change is just what I was looking for.



The 'if' method is fine, provided you have a minimum of 2 possible random choices (ensure that the range of the 'random' or 'urn' object is at least 2). The urn object produces random choices that never repeat, but when you reset it there's of course the possibility that the first new choice could be the same as the last choice prior to the reset, so if you absolutely want no repeats, you still need to test the output and choose again if there's a repeat.

BTW, a little nerdy detail, with the method shown on the left, using the random object, each number always has an equal likelihood of being chosen each time except for the previous number which has no likelihood of being chosen, whereas with the urn object shown on the right each number that has been chosen since the last reset has a zero likelihood of being chosen, and the remaining unchosen numbers naturally have an increased likelihood of being chosen.

Thanks for the tip Christopher, I have actually implemented a 'zl change' object as suggested earlier by LSKA.  

I still have a problem though - my random generator is inside a poly~ object.  This means that if I generate 2 random values, the second instance of the poly doesn'trefer to the first poly's 'zl' object.  This means that there is still a chance for repetition. 

Is there any way around this?

Should I use the second input of the 'zl change' somehow? 

If you will have multiple random selection objects that need to be aware of each other's most recent output, you'll need to store the most recently chosen output (from any and all of them) in a global variable using 'send' and 'receive', or 'value'. Here's an example.

Thanks Christopher.  

This was what I was trying to originally but I wasn't aware of the 'value' object to set a global variable.  

Thanks for your advice everyone!

Prevent the same random number from being output twice in a row.

Cristian

is there a way to send signals through the network (using something like a tilde version of udpsend) ?

Specifically i have a numberbox that goes into a line~ and i need to udpsend the output from line~ and receive it as a number in my standalone application.

Hi,
is there a way to send signals through the network (using something like a tilde version of udpsend) ?
Specifically i have a numberbox t

send-signals-through-the-network

can't you convert from signal BEFORE sending ? that would be way easier

if i re-convert from signal to number i miss the  line~ intervention.

i dont know, i mean line~is outputing an audio signal, which means data at audio rate, which is difficult to transmit over a network, and if you are not using this signal as a sound, maybe you can use a lower rate that audio rate ? Most of the time, for other than audio needs, audio signal are faster than what the receiving client can understand. But it depends what you are doing of course, but if you are just using the line~ for interpolation, you can downsample the output of that line~ to a control rate and you still have the smoothing action of line~. There would be other solutions without using audio signal at all and still having an interpolation at control rate.

that said if you really really need audio (but from what you describe it's unlikely) you can try something with jit.catch~, jit.release~, jit.net.send and jit.net.recv. 

 "i need to udpsend the output from line~ and receive it as a number"

if you need numbers, send numbers. if you need to receive a signal, send a signal.

and if you need to receive a signal derived from line~ ... i would still send a number and have the line~ doing its job in the host computer.

yes, udp does not really care about your scheduler settings. :) but it is fast. and when you send signals over a network, you also need to implement delay buffers and stuff in order to sychronize, (which is still more work than adding a timestamp to udpsent max message)

send signals through the network

If i use a "float number box" to multiply a signal (for example a cycle~) from 0 to 1 (through a midi controller) i hear glitches.

If i use a "number~" those glitches disappear.

Which is the difference between these two objects ?

I' m coding a C software that generates audio signals and i' m having the same problem when multiplying a signal for a float value ramp or from 0 to 1 through a controller.

If i use a "float number box" to multiply a signal (for example a cycle~) from 0 to 1 (through a midi controller) i hear glitches.
If i use a "number~" those glitches disappear.
Is it normal ?
Which is the difference between these two objects ?

I' m coding  a C software that generates audio signals and i' m having the same problem when multiplying a signal for a float value ramp or from 0 to 1 through a controller.
Could someone please help ?

number-box-glitch

With any audio signal, you get a click (what you call glitches) when you jump suddenly from a value to another that's "too far".
This click is the sound you hear when you want to move suddenly the speaker's membrane from one point to one that's "too far" in "too short" a time.
That's why when you cut a sound file (say, with Audacity), you want to add some fade in/out at the point where you cut.
A standard practice with Max is to use a [line~] object before your multiplication.
It turns out that [number~] embed a line, i.e. ramp function. The default value for this ramp is 0 ms, which suggest that you should hear as many glitches as when using a float, or, for that matter [sig~].
Well, your question is very interesting: I just tried to compare [number~] with the default ramp time of 0, and [sig~]. It looks like the slope of change with [number~] is not as steep as with [sig~]: looks like this minimum ramp is not completely 0.
So, long story short, you taught me something today: number~ has a built-in ramp, and it looks and sounds like the ramp time is not completely 0.

That said, for complex patches, you often want to save unnecessary processing like the one necessary to poll the number~ value and to display it. That's why you should probably use something like a [line~]. It's also closer to what you'll do if you program something like this in C.
Best.


Hi and many thanks for your detailed answer,
- you get a click (what you call glitches) when you jump suddenly from a value to another that’s "too far" .
you're absolutely right, in fact if i move slowly my controller all clicks disappear...but when i change the number box value fast with the mouse all clicks disappear too. I can' t understand why.
- jump suddenly from a value to another that’s "too far".
I'm using a 16 bit DAQ through UDP to control the number box with a slider.
I have an integer output range from 0 to 65535 which divides the range from 0 to 1...is one range value too far from the next/previous also with such a resolution ?
-A standard practice with Max is to use a [line~] object before your multiplication
I tried but the situation is the same.


You shouldn't hear any clicks with this setup..


Now it works.
Thank you very much LSK A.


is there a way to do the same but without tilde objects ?

Cristian, As Luca and Jean-François have advised, interpolating between two values sample-by-sample, as with line~, is the way to go when the change risks causing discontinuities in the audio signal. See MSP Basics Tutorial 2: Adjustable Oscillator for an explanation. And Jean-François is also correct that the number~ object has a built-in ramping function and always takes a minimum of one signal vector's worth of samples to get to its new value in response to new numbers, even when its internal ramp time is set to 0 ms. Depending on the simplicity/complexity of your audio signal, you can sometimes get away with instantaneous amplitude changes if the changes are small enough that you don't perceive the discontinuity, but you might as well just insert a brief interpolation with line~ or number~.

Hi Christopher and many thanks for your advises. If i understood line~ interpolates numbers, not signals...but it outputs a signal. Why ? And what about using line instead ? It interpolates number as well.

line~ outputs a signal and interpolates sample-by-sample from wherever it currently is to wherever you tell it to go, in the amount of time you specify. So if it is currently sending out a signal value of 0.5 and you tell it to go to 0.8 in 10 ms, it will start going to 0.8 and get there in 441 samples (assuming a sample rate of 44,100), sending out signal values like 0.50068, 0.50136, etc. till it arrives at 0.8, then it will stay there till it gets a new message.

line outputs individual control messages (not a signal) and gets to its destination in the specified time, sending out intermediate values along the way at whatever time interval you specify. So if you tell it to go from 0.5 to 0.8 in 1000 ms at intervals ("grain") of a message every 50 ms, it will output intermediate messages such as 0.515, 0.53, etc. till it arrives at 0.8, then stop.

For smooth audio-rate control, use a signal. For discrete individual events, use messages.

it is interesting to learn that the signal numberbox has built-in interpolation, but we couldnt care less, because we are no supposed to use graphic objects (or anything else which we dont know what it is doing exactly) anyway when performing actual signal processing.

...what a great idea to put the "trash" button where the "edit" button has been before :) :(

number box glitch

hollyhook

If you need to analyse matrix data (e.g. point clouds) and [plane -1] is just not enough, this might be something.... a javascript to configure jit.cellblock for optimized display of matrix data.

vr_03.png

Download at https://www.patreon.com/posts/analyse-jitter-8841637

If you need to analyse matrix data (e.g. point clouds) and [plane -1] is just not enough, this might be something.... a javascript to config

sharing-analyse-jitter-matrix-data-with-jit·cellblock

#sharing Analyse Jitter Matrix data with jit.cellblock 

kcoul

This is an idea I've wanted to try for a long time and now want to try and tackle.

- You have two laptops each running a copy of Ableton

- You have a single controller like an Akai APC40 that is connected to one laptop, but the two laptops are connected by ethernet and you can relay half the control surface to the laptop that isn't connected to it by USB (half the faders, half the knobs, half the buttons, etc)

- The audio output of one laptop feeds into the input of the other laptop, and both are summed together before leaving the output of the other laptop and on to the sound system

- The cross fader can fade between the audio outputs of the two laptops

*** Most importantly, You have a custom M4L switch that's really big and let's you toggle the PLAY button to whichever laptop you wish. When you press the PLAY button, the laptop that it's directed to will start it's transport and fall immediately into sync with the other laptop, but non-linearly.

In other words, if the laptop that was playing its Ableton track currently was coming up to say, measure 129, the laptop you were cuing would start at measure 1 exactly as the currently playing laptop arrived at measure 129, no sooner, no later.

Is something like this technically possible? I'd like to build my live PA in a way that lets me DJ my own tracks, I have all tracks on both laptops so I can pick any one at any time and mix it into the track that's playing.

This would be a dream come true to achieve and I am willing to go as deep as necessary, remap the APC controls and force Ableton's transport to behave the way I want to accomplish this.

Any tips towards feasibility analysis and if it's a green light, how I might get started would be much appreciated!

Of course, if I can do this, I will share it as a module in some upcoming open source software I have been working on for quite a few years now. (I'll explain more about that software in a future post).

This is an idea I've wanted to try for a long time and now want to try and tackle. 

It works like this:
- You have two laptops each running a copy of Ableton
- You have a single controller like an Akai APC40 that is connected to one laptop, but the two laptops are connected by ethernet and you can relay half the control surface to the laptop that isn't connected to it by USB (half the faders, half the knobs, half the buttons, etc)
- The audio output of one laptop feeds into the input of the other laptop, and both are summed together before leaving the output of the other laptop and on to the sound system
- The cross fader can fade between the audio outputs of the two laptops

*** Most importantly, You have a custom M4L switch that's really big and let's you toggle the PLAY button to whichever laptop you wish. When you press the PLAY button, the laptop that it's directed to will start it's transport and fall immediately into sync with the other laptop, but non-linearly. 

Of course, if I can do this, I will share it as a module in some upcoming open source software I have been working on for quite a few years now. (I'll explain more about that software in a future post).


non-linear-ableton-sync-djing-your-live-tracks

I don't see why it wouldn't be possible, as long as your latency abides.  Off the top of my head though, I would think that you would want to make exceptions in the patch for the common ways people like to mix in songs(e.g. scratching or cueing in, tempo changes).  It would be nice if it was a safety net able to work with a turntable rather than being restricted to auto-jogging on the controller.  (I say that simply to relieve the contention that I expect would arise).  I play midi-guitar a bunch though, and that might let me get tricky with footswitches. I might not mind diving into the ableton api to figure that one out


It's definitely possible. It's a huge project, but that's your perogative - it's max, yay!
I'd start by looking here:
http://showsync.info/index.php/tools/livesync/


For sure the easiest way to do it would be within a single Live session. I am not the big Live user, but what I have seen, this is what Live is about in general. Arm the clips in sync, the clips you armed will start on the next bar. You can have two areas for filling the clips and assign them to different mixer channels/outputs - all is prepared for cross fades...

To do the same with two laptops should be possible as well, just send osc messages to start and stop the Live instances. Could even be triggered by the crossfader (you wouldn't even need big cue buttons...;-)

I once had a Max/MSP project I had to split to two computers because back then (ten years ago) the processing power of one computer was not sufficient (for DJ-ing I can't imagine to hit that limit even with such old hardware...;-).
This was very hard to tackle, I would always try to do it within one machine. Much less to carry, less cabling, less hassle...

Reading this I had the same thought as Stefan. But perhaps Kcoul means mixing 2 Live sets (sequence of clips, automation, etc), not rendered stereo audio tracks?


Restricted to cueing, tempo, and one computer, It would be so much easier to make.  But were I to go through the trouble of synchronizing every ableton parameter over two computers, I would have selective exposure for what I might want to mix


That Livesync link looks relevant, thanks Wetterberg. For some, I might need to clarify. I can now illustrate thanks to info I had but was not released until this past week: 

https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6516883/native-instruments-stems-new-audio-format-djs?mobile_redirection=false

http://createdigitalmusic.com/2015/04/stems-djs-heres-new-format-will-work/

What I'm looking to do is very similar to this but without Traktor. I submix my tracks on an 8-bus console and wind up with 4 stereo channels per track, just like Stems. I'm not interested in buying into their format until it takes off. In the meantime, I'd like to "DJ" my own music without necessarily having to plan out a set list ahead of time. I really want to be able to try and react to what the crowd wants. I have at least 3 different sub-genres in each of the projects I'm doing so I don't want to be locked into one track ordering.

But at the same time, I want to have the kind of control Stems would give you, and even more. It's hard to describe all of what I'm doing in one post. I'll try to get to the point:

In Ableton if you are digging through your sample library and you cue a clip, if you have it set right it doesn't just start as soon as you click. It waits and starts with not only the downbeats aligned, but the major downbeats aligned. I want to get the same effect when DJing two instances of Ableton.

So suppose I have a matching library of Ableton projects on each computer, and they always have exactly 4 audio tracks that are from the bus mixes I made, (plus a bunch of graphics/lighting control tracks but that's besides the point), then using the bridging tool I make with Max, I can load up any project on the computer that's not playing currently, hit start and that project will defer playback until the computer that's playing arrives at a major downbeat, at which point the two tracks will start playing perfectly synchronized.

I think I could do this all with my APC40 and a fully separated Max transmitter app that sits on one computer independently of Ableton. The other computer has a Max receiver app that relays the portion of the APC faders/knobs/transport messages that get relayed to it on to the instance of Ableton on that computer.

Funny, after fully talking my way through this I think I see how I can build this. 

What I will do is share the transmitter/receiver Max apps when they are completed. 

The downside of trying to do it all on one machine is mainly that my laptops are a bit out of date (2010/2011 models) and also I'd like to have the symmetry of having one laptop on each side and the APC in between, so it feels as much like DJing as possible.

This will be a node in a larger program I'm working on called GestureLab that I'll be making a new thread about when I'm ready to release the open source software :) I'm working with dancers using Playstation Move controllers to modify sound and graphics in realtime, it's an exciting project.

Thanks for all the advice and the Livesync link!


Not sure if you ever figured this out, but I have done something similar with one computer, one ableton. 

There is a set of patches from Isotonik - Launch Sync 2 - which will allow you to define a specific list of tracks to launch (rather than the entire row) when you press the full row launch button on a controller. 

I use one launchpad and one push. Once the patch is configured correctly on each control surface, I can use the full row play buttons to play only half of the tracks when pressed on one of the surfaces. So, if you have all of your songs organized into 8-track stems, you would have 16 tracks total. Then you would list all of your songs vertically in the first 8 tracks, and again vertically in the second 8 tracks. So you now have two identical columns of songs. 

Then, if you route group 1 to a stereo pair, and group 2 to a stereo pair - you can use the ableton crossfader on those pairs to send what you want to the master out. 

Alternatively, the two stereo pairs can be routed out of separate external outs (ie 1-2 & 3-4) and then you can play out of a standard DJ mixer with DAC (like a Pioneer 900) which will allow you to have analog mixing and FX. - 

Further, if you are working with surround sound - like i am - you could send each individual track out of it's own audio out to your 360 panner. The fader will transition between each of the 8 pairs from song to song. 

Thanks Cameron. Ableton's Link keeps falling out of sync for me even in the absolute best conditions (ad hoc wired network on CAT6 cable) so I will give your approach a try. I am adding surround audio layers in some cases and also live visuals so I really want to move on frofrom this issue! 

Non-linear Ableton sync (DJing your Live tracks)

Ben Bracken

. The Runner provides plug and play access to a 

 from the Max application, using using OSCQuery for communication with the running code.

This update features a new web-based interface with routing capabilities, expanded hardware support, along with many other improvements and bug fixes. Improvements include:

We've also rolled in direct support for the 

 add-on package, and have included a number of other improvements and bug fixes. Check out the release notes 

We are happy to announce the release of RNBO 1.3.0, available now for download via the Max Package Manager.

With this update, we are...

rnbo-130-released

RNBO 1.3.0 Released

We are excited to announce the availability of our 

 as a public beta. We’ve worked closely with 

. The Eventide H9000 is a rack-sized multi-effects unit with powerful DSP processing capabilities and numerous high quality built-in effects. We’re excited to enable RNBO export for this and open the door to unique custom studio effects and instruments without the strict limitations of other hardware platforms.

RNBO support is similar to the existing Gen support, but more streamlined, and uses the built-in 

, rather than a watcher patcher, to manage the export process. Eventually, all of these changes will be rolled into the standard release versions of RNBO and this package.

Get the preview version of the RNBO package (v1.2.7-eventide.0):

Get the preview version of the "Eventide H9000" package (v1.0.4-beta.3):

We’d love to hear any experiences and feedback from RNBO users with access to an H9000. To join the discussion, use the 

We are excited to announce the availability of our Eventide package for RNBO as a public beta. We’ve worked closely with Eventide to bring...

Cycling '74 Forums

We are happy to announce the release of RNBO 1.3.0, available now for download via the Max Package Manager. With this update, we are...

We are excited to announce the availability of our Eventide package for RNBO as a public beta. We’ve worked closely with Eventide to...

This u ses split to split values 0-127 out one outlet and 127-255 out another. You can do what you want before and after this process to...

hi, please make sure you use "Copy Compressed" before pasting patches into the forum. to automatically name your files with an...

sure, just use key and keyup with the anim.drive "move" message to trigger the animations:

Hum.. Ok, if I also add the quantize attribute to the metro that is sending bangs to the transport then it seems to work :)

Anyone interested in making this available?

Thanks Christopher. This was what I was trying to originally but I wasn't aware of the 'value' object to set a global variable. Thanks...

"i need to udpsend the output from line~ and receive it as a number" if you need numbers, send numbers. if you need to receive a signal,...

it is interesting to learn that the signal numberbox has built-in interpolation, but we couldnt care less, because we are no supposed to...

If you need to analyse matrix data (e.g. point clouds) and [plane -1] is just not enough, this might be something.... a javascript to config

Thanks Cameron. Ableton's Link keeps falling out of sync for me even in the absolute best conditions (ad hoc wired network on CAT6 cable)...