Book Image

Multimedia Programming Using Max/MSP and TouchDesigner

By : Patrik Lechner
Book Image

Multimedia Programming Using Max/MSP and TouchDesigner

By: Patrik Lechner

Overview of this book

Max 6 and TouchDesigner are both high-level visual programming languages based on the metaphor of connecting computational objects with patch cords. This guide will teach you how to design and build high-quality audio-visual systems in Max 6 and TouchDesigner, giving you competence in both designing and using these real-time systems. In the first few chapters, you will learn the basics of designing tools to generate audio-visual experiences through easy-to-follow instructions aimed at beginners and intermediate. Then, we combine tools such as Gen, Jitter, and TouchDesigner to work along with Max 6 to create 2D and 3D visualizations, this book provides you with tutorials based on creating generative art synchronized to audio. By the end of the book, you will be able to design and structure highly interactive, real-time systems.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Multimedia Programming Using Max/MSP and TouchDesigner
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Basic Max patching and GUI


Now, we'll finally go ahead and start patching. In this section, we'll go through the basic functionality of Max and we will talk a bit about the craft of patching. It's an easy thing, but we will try to explore a lot about shortcuts and ways to go about things faster. Additionally, we will of course get to know the GUI in more detail. Nearly all patches you see here can of course be used readily as they are from your download. On the other hand, you will learn more if you just replicate them quickly, or even better, understand them and rebuild the principle without looking at them more than once. Often, there are many ways to achieve a goal and the number of ways to achieve the goal increases with the complexity of the goal.

Objects in Max

Before we dive into patching, let's just very briefly think about the Max objects that we have been talking about. We can imagine them as small virtual machines (Cipriani and Giri 2010, 51) that fulfill different tasks for us...