Re: [microsound] Max/MSP for Windows

[Joe Erickson <joe@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Couldn=B9t help but weigh in on this one.  I got a Mac for a few reasons, but
mostly for the slickness of the powerbook, osX, and max/msp/Jitter.  Mostly
jitter.  I used or learned on PD for a year or so a year ago, and it was
ultimately frustrating comparatively to my experience with Mac OSX and
Max/MSP/Jitter.  The PD community is definitely helpful and welcoming to
newbies and curious experimenters.  However, when I used it, and I would
assume it hasn=B9t changed much,  PD's documentation just cannot compare to
that of max.  max provides reference pdfs, tutorial pdfs, help files for
every object by option clicking, list of valid inputs by option control
clicking inlets, plus the faqs, mailing list, and support.
  PD has much of this, and its improving, but its not as robust as max.

The Tcl/TK front end is definitely a turn off to me.  Ugly and not as
efficient as it could be.

On 8/22/03 3:43 PM, "Michal Seta" <mis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>> 3. jitter - although video is the natural application, matrix-based
>> processing is useful in all sorts of audio contexts
>=20
> gridflow http://artengine.ca/jmax/ (yes, it does run in PD as well):
>=20
> "a multi-dimensional dataflow processing library for Ruby and jMax,
> specialized in pictures and video."
> And it's free.

Gridflow v.0.7.1 vs. jitter v.1.1.1

Last time I used PD, a year ago, gridflow was like .5 or .6, and unusable o=
n
my box for some obscure reason.  Jitter is well well documented for a
project of its size,  and any bug or undocumented thing you find or need,
you can ask to the list/ developers and you will get some sort of help if
not a fixed bug or a link to someone who already solved the problem with a
new object.

Framestien and Gem, Gemplus, etc.  are similar but worse.  Framestien does
some cool compositing and nato type processing, but require you to run a
separate executable video server, that talks to PD via 127.0.0.1 tcp shit.
Messy.  It also doesn=B9t do open gl.. Which Gem is actually decent at.. But
these 3 PD video solutions don't talk with each other, at least not simply.

Whereas, Jitter provides a standard set of objects that allow you to
interface with quicktime APIs, essentially able to load any file quicktime
could, objects that interface with / utilize opengl, and objects that do
compositing and effects math on a pixel or source basis.

Also, the standalone feature of Max/MSP/Jitter is sweet.  I just hope I can
build standalone .exe's when Jitter is ported to PC, and Max 4.3 is golden.

PD is great if you're broke, curious, a programmer, or die hard
open-sourcer, or a little of all.. But it takes a bit more patience.

peace

joee

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