Multimedia Programming Using Max/MSP and TouchDesigner

Patrik Lechner

Nov 2014 · Packt Publishing Ltd

About this ebook

If you want to learn how to use Max 6 and/or TouchDesigner, or work in audio-visual real-time processing, this is the book for you. It is intended for intermediate users of both programs and can be helpful for artists, designers, musicians, VJs, and researchers. A basic understanding of audio principles is advantageous.

Ratings and reviews

The book by Patrik Lechner provides a very resourceful insight on how to integrate visual and aural media in a performance situation. The way it is written encourages experimentation and self-learning as opposed to related literature where one finds himself with mere fast-cook solutions to problems without a deeper understanding of what is really going on. It is however a book that I would not recommend for absolute beginners in the subject since it can be challenging to follow the logic of the structures without a prior background on the basics of digital signals and protocols. Of particular interest is the section of good practices for OSC communication since it provides a good framework to integrate not only MaxMSP with Touch Designer but every other environment or even programming language out there. The projects and the sections explored cover most of what one would expect when building a project from the ground. Highly recommended.

About the author

Patrik Lechner started making electronic music at the age of 16, and soon discovered environments such as Pure Data and Max/MSP. From then on, he developed many tools for his own experimental music, and it wasn't long after this that he started creating generative 3D visualizations of audio material. Since then, he has devoted nearly all his life to real-time audio/video processing and generation. Patrik worked as an audio engineer for an Austrian TV station for years, and taught Max/MSP both privately and at institutions. For instance, he conducted workshops for the audio engineers of the Burgtheater Vienna, and since 2012, he has been working for the University of Applied Sciences in St. Pölten (FH St. Pölten). Patrik has worked on many multimedia projects, for example, an installation at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden for the Institut für CreativeMedia/Technologies, FH St. Pölten, and an interactive audio installation in Dubai. As an artist, he did audiovisual performances in Austria, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Canada, and Dubai, and regularly played at the Austrian Pavilion at the world exhibition in Shanghai 2010. He worked a lot with classically trained musicians, developed a real-time scoring system/piece for a string quartet that premiered in 2012, and frequently works with painters and artists from other fields.