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All software has a learning curve usually proportional to its capabilities and unique features. Pointing with a mouse is in no way easier than tapping a key.
I think you may be missing the entire point of this app. It is simply a fun little tool for twiddling knobs and drawing fun mathematical shapes in realtime. It is not meant to be file format interchange / transcoding tool.
It already supports streaming to ILDA v4 files. From there you can use a plethora of other apps to convert to other formats if desired. I am sure supporting multichannel wave files would be easy, I just don't really see the point.
I agree that you should keep it as a real time 'instrument' rather than something that can provide ILDA frames for later use. The MIDI implementation is great, this is going to be a lot of fun!!!
This really fills a niche and I hope you keep it on track with the way YOU want to do it, amazing job so far!
Good news (and not an April fools joke - though diving into the world of Windows DLL development hell almost turned me into a fool)...
I am looking for a few brave souls to seriously help beta test a Windows version of Maxwell. There is a catch... at the moment, it is only available as a 64bit application - i.e., it will not work on any 32 bit versions of Windows. Will this change in the future? Not quite sure. I currently don'y have an 32 bit versions of Windows, and I would need a 32 bit computer to compile a 32 bit version of Maxwell - because that is how it works with Max.
I would love feedback on how many of you Windows users out there are still running 32 bit versions of Windows and why have you not upgraded to a 64 bit version yet?
For the brave few who would like to help beta test this brand new version of Maxwell for Windows, please send me a PM with your email contact info.
p.s. This version includes native support for the Ether Dream DAC. Support for other DACs is dependent on 64 bit driver support for those DACs.
Last edited by BlueFang; 04-02-2015 at 20:50.
Beta 3 (April version) is here!
Beta 3 Release Notes / Bug Fixes:
- Intensity slider now actually controls intensity of both OpenGL output and laser output
- Mixer cross-fader bug fixed - now accurately crossfades between WaveGen 1 & WaveGen 2
- OpenGL output has been improved (antialiased and brightened)
- Sensitivity of knobs has been adjusted
- Output to ILDA file & Ether Dream has been extended for another month
- Mac OS version should now default to 64 bit app
And a special note in case anyone missed it... Windows x64 beta testing has begun. Please PM me for details.
At the moment, access to 32 bit DLLs is not an issue as the only DAC that is currently supported is the Ether Dream DAC and Maxwell comes with its own 64 bit version of the EtherDream library.
However, as you mentioned if in the future I start supporting other DACs whose manufacturer decides for some reason to only support legacy 32 bit DLLs then it looks like you do have to write/use a surrogate COM wrapper.
I still believe the benefits of the 64 bit platform far outweigh the inconveniences. I have been on 64 bit Windows for 5 years now.
As far as I understand, when running native 32bit apps, they run in an emulation/compatibility mode - so I guess technically, even 32 bit native apps aren't really running "natively" on a 64 bit OS. Also, as I understand, only 2GB is addressable to user processes.
One thing I have noticed, is that music production apps - things like DAWs (Logic Pro, Ableton Live) and audio plugins are really making the push to native 64 bit apps.
I am using Max/MSP as my development platform - which sorta falls into the category of music production apps, and likewise has made a large push to get people to move to native 64 bit. The way it works when creating a Max/MSP app is that you have to use the version of Max which you have installed to export an App. You can't cross compile or cross export to other systems. So when I export for Mac OS, I have to do that on Mac OS. When I export for Windows x64, I have to do that on Win x64. I could conceivably export to Win 32, I would just have to also install the 32 bit version of Max, and at the moment I am not sure if having both 32 bit and 64 bit installed simultaneously is possible. So, in short, I can technically create a 32 bit version, it is just too much of a hassle at the moment, as the only dependency I have not controlled by Max is the EtherDream library, and I am compiling that myself.
With Max, I am using the Max environment to basically create all of the UI, MIDI management, OpenGL vertex rendering, as well as the waveform generators. All of the vertex array stuff is done using Max's own Graphics/Video processing part which they call "Jitter". It is basically just a really powerful set of matrix processing modules. Some of the vertex processing stuff is done in Max's own matrix processing language called "Gen" - which is a C like language.
For output to Ether Dream and ILDA files, I have created a native plugin for Max - they call these "externals". This part is written in C and relies on a really nice cross-platform API/Library written specifically for Max - for handling things like threads, files, and date/time using a cross-platform API. I am also compiling my own versions of the Ether Dream library for both Mac OS and Windows - and the EtherDream library is also written in C.
I live in Raleigh as well - north Raleigh - out near the falls dam.
Last edited by BlueFang; 04-05-2015 at 16:50.
Oh yea! Sorry, I didn't put two and two together. We spoke in PMs awhile back about RC copters but I had forgotten your username.
The Max/MSP stuff sounds foreign to me but really interesting. If you have the time I wouldn't mind seeing how this stuff works. I'd also be interested in talking to you about the Etherdream. I work only a few miles from the Falls Dam so it shouldn't be too hard to get together if you are up for it.
Oh yeah... the rc heli stuff.. I forgot about that... speaking of which, I need to start getting some simulator time in as the warm weather approaches - the cob-webs are thick - I haven't flown in a long time and without regular practice, you lose your hand-eye coordination pretty quick. I didn't get out flying much last year, but I hope to change that this year.
I didn't have much Max/MSP experience before starting this little project - but it seemed like a perfect development environment for what I was trying to accomplish. It certainly would not be the ideal environment for a full-fledged desktop app - but I am not trying to make that - I am simply trying to make something equivalent to software synth / abstract generator.
Coming from a traditional programming background as well, it is kinda hard to get use to "thinking" in modular nodes and matrix processing, but it can greatly speed up certain aspects of development - lets say you have an array (matrix) of rgba values - and you want to adjust the "intensity" of the colors - you simply take the output of the rgba matrix object, connect it to the input of an rgb2hsl object - then multiply the L part of the vector with the output of a UI slider object, and then run that output back into an hsl2rgb object. Boom, adjustable intensity with a slider - and absolutely no code written and no having to try and remember or lookup the constants for the relationship between rgb values and intensity. Pretty cool and powerful.
Yeah, we should - I am heading out of town for work this week, but should have a fairly open schedule when I get back next week.