News

Terms of Service Updated The maxforlive.com Terms of Service was recently updated to reflect the site policy on posting devices that are not free, and html comments.

Full details and discussion can be found on my blog: http://www.synnack.com/blog/post/49/maxforlive.com-terms-of-service-updated

Report Comment Abuse Several users have notified me that spammers have hit maxforlive.com

I usually keep pretty good tabs on new comments and monitor them for appropriate content but the heads up is much appreciated. When you see a comment that appears to be spam, definitely continue reporting it via the "report comment" link for each one.

When I find these, I delete that account, and blacklist the IP they last logged in from, blacklist the email address they registered with, and delete the comment.

This is of course no real way to stop a determined asshole in that they could just use a different internet connection and create a new email address to register again but hey it is something.

New functionality was added tonight to log abuse and facilitate that policy so if you experience problems creating new accounts or posting comments please let me know. I tested creating new accounts and commenting but I could have missed something.

Thanks for the support to keep maxforlive.com spam free.

Max 6 now available Cycling74 has now announced general availability of Max 6. According to Ableton, Max 6 should work with Max for Live.
However, it is highly recommend using Max 5 at this point with M4L. You can install Max 6 in parallel along side Max 5 and associate Max for Live with the version 5 instance in Ableton Live. A Max 6-compatible version of Max for Live will be available in the future.

The Max 6 functionality has not been thoroughly tested in M4L. Therefor, if you DO buy Max 6 standalone now, and do not keep M4L associated with version 5, yet share your devices create with version 6, there may be compatibility issues for other users who have not upgraded.

(view thread on forum)

Please continue to note which version of Max you have installed when you post your device so that users know that they might have issues if they have not also upgraded.

Device Comment Notification Added One of the most requested new features to Maxforlive.com has finally been added.

There are two options in a new "Settings" page accessible across the top. (Note: you must be logged in to use this page).

Check the box as appropriate to either:

(*) Get notified when someone comments on a device YOU have posted

(*) Get notified when someone replies on any device you have also commented on

For much more info on this, and to give me your feedback on this feature, please see the official announcement on the synnack blog found here: http://www.synnack.com/blog/post/44/maxforlive.com-comment-notification

Terms of Service Update I made a small update to the terms of service today. I have found several broken links to devices in the library and felt it was important to establish an expectation on these. In a nutshell, I plan to delete device references with broken links 1 week after I notify you of the issue if they are still not updated.

From http://www.maxforlive.com/terms.php:

"Users who post "references" in the library are responsible for updating the device links whenever they change. In an effort to keep the library free from a bunch of broken devices, when users report a broken link I will notify you. If within 1 week of the notification you do not update your link I will delete your device entry from the library. Please make every effort to update your reference whenever you change the URL on your own site."

New RSS Feed for Comments I added another RSS feed today. This one shows you all comments for all devices (starting with the last 100).

This is what I use to follow comments since there is (yet) no email notification system when someone posts a new comment to your device or replies to something you have commented on.

Not ideal but better than nothing. To follow all comments on maxforlive.com subscribe here: http://feeds.feedburner.com/maxforlive/comments

MFL developer wanted I was contacted by a user looking to hire a max for live developer to finish a project asap.

See below and send an email to hungaristani@gmail.com if you are interested.


> I am looking for an experienced MFL developer to finish a performance
> tool I specified earlier. The development got stuck because the
> developer who worked on the project is not available any more and I
> need the plugin ASAP.

> The work should not take more than a couple of days. Its a plugin
> that manipulates the start marker of clips launched by remote notes
> and relaunches them at a specified moment.

> Since maxforlive.com doesnt allow its users to contact other users
> directly, I kindly ask for your help to pass this info on to some
> developers who could possibly be interested, so that I could send
> them the full specs.

> Thanks in advance.

How to build cross platform Max4Live devices that include third-party externals Check out these videos from Cycling74. Awesome tips for getting the most out of Max.

http://cycling74.com/category/articles/did-you-know/

For example: Did you know you can build Max for Live devices that will work on Mac and Windows, even with third-party externals?

See: http://cycling74.com/2011/04/12/week-11/

New Max for Live Updates Released Live 8.2.2 and Max 5.1.8 have now been released. This update includes major enhancements that many Max for Live users have been begging for. Devices inside Racks can now be accessed via the Max for Live API!!!!

Full details available from Ableton.com here: http://www.ableton.com/latest-release-notes

Some of these changes may introduce bugs with existing devices in the Library so please make sure you note in the device details which version of both Live and Max are required for your device.

From Ableton.com:

(*) Devices inside Racks can now be accessed via the Max for Live API

(*) Return tracks can now be observed via the Max for Live API

(*) Live devices and parameters can now be much more easily mapped to controls in Max devices. Devices can safely be moved within a Live Set without breaking any existing mappings. Also, devices and Sets can be saved and loaded without breaking existing mappings. The following changes make this possible:

(*) There is now a simple way to observe the selected parameter via the Max for Live API, using "live.path live_set view selected_parameter." This can be used, for example, to build a custom "map mode" to quickly map parameters in your Live Set to controls in a Max device.

(*) Live objects like tracks, clips or parameters retain their identity (id nn) during operations like move, save/restore, cut/paste, delete/undo, the identity is global and can be communicated via Maxs Send and Receive objects.

(*) live.object, live.observer and live.remote~ are now able to remember their target objects when Live sets or presets are saved and restored or when objects are moved within the Live set.

(*) Ableton protected samples can now be used in Max for Live device, via the Live.drop object fixed a bug where clip slots would lose their id on moving a clip
fixed navigating and observing control surfaces via the LiveAPI

(*) Repeatedly calling "goto control_surfaces" on a live.path object was producing a different id each time

(*) Fixed a crash that occurred when deleting a Rack containing a Max for Live device, where a Remote~ was controlling one of the Macro knobs, and then
Undoing the delete action

(*) Navigating the Live Object Model is about two times faster
Fixed a crash that occurred when moving tracks that contained automated Max for Live devices

(*) Fixed a crash that occurred when replacing one Max for Live device with another if certain modulations existed

(*) If a native Ableton device has parameters that are mapped to a Max for Live device, the mappings will be preserved after hot-swapping the Ableton device

(*) The Track/Chain Activator and Song Tempo are now accessible via the "selected_parameter" property and their path can be queried "live_app" and "live_app view" can now be persistent in the Max for Live API

(*) Mapping some mixer component on the APC40 (for example) through the Max for Live API wouldnt work without pressing the Pan or Send button on the APC40, which reset the component. This has been fixed.

(*) "goto live_set tracks 2 devices" in a set with one track produced id -1, which is wrong. Now it produces id 0.

(*) If the LOM id of the observer is persistent, the property of an observed LOM object is persistent, even if it is dynamically changed using a message.

(*) Max for Live devices that control the Application objects (e.g. live_app (live_app view)) or which get information about the Live version and document name (e.g. get_major_version (focus_view)) will work when loading the Set, without requiring user interaction.

Production Guidelines for Max for Live Devices Ableton has released a set of guidelines for Max for Live developers in order to help them build devices that are "production quality" and hence, ready to be shared with other users.

The guidelines are based, in part, on evaluations of some devices from maxforlive.com, Abletons own experiences, and talks with patch programmers.

At they plan to add practical examples to demonstrate how you may solve specific programming problems related to the guidelines. As it stands, it is a great rule of thumb for judging if your devices are "finished" or not.

Ideally, if your devices to not confirm to most of these guidelines, you should make them with the "beta/work in progress" tag now available on maxforlive.com.

Download the guidelines: http://downloads.ableton.com/misc/maxforlive_production_guidelines.pdf