Beginner teething troubles: questions about patcher

#1

Hi

I'm on the latest version 1.0.12 on macOS

Slider/knobs:
On the mac (at least) they seem to be super sensitive when adjusted by the mouse or trackpad. When I set the Dial mouse behaviour to angular, that seems to help, but it's still an odd interaction to do. Vertical is more intuitive, but due the the sensitivity, very difficult to control. Sidenote - the pref to dial mouse behaviour doesn't seem to save between sessions.

The sliders on the sel fb objects is unusable for me - it becomes sensible only when shift+ctrl are used in conjunction with the mouse, but on the Mac the ctrl key is used for contextual menu (i.e. right click)

I realise that I can type the values, or use the arrow keys, but sometimes the mouse is quicker.

File browser:
it would be great if there was a favourites list of recent places. When I add a sample to each of the wave/play fn objects in the sample drum machine example, the file browser always reverts to my home folder, and I have to drill down to where my samples are located. Is it possible to point to other location shortcuts (other sample folders for example)?

All said, I love what is going on here and the possibilities to where the tool is going :slight_smile: I just need a few little hints to help boost my experience working with the environment.

Cheers

#2

As you mention, you can always just click the slider and type in the value you want manually. Personally I don't use those objects too much for the same reason. If you know a little bit of coding, you can always just make an object with an array and type int the values straight into the array. You save some s-ram that way, since you don't use 16 sliders.... I think...... :wink:

I think for using samples it is preferred to save your samples to the sd-card and play them from there. That way file location is always correct and you don't have to set them up so often. For example you can make a folder with 100 files called Audio001 to Audio100 and then use string/index to load them into a table, dynamically. That's what I prefer to do. I don't use the fn objects a lot, only sometimes when testing a new sample before adding it to the sd-card. Axoloti is also more "self contained" when adding the files to sd card rather than loading them from the computer.

For making many sequential files on Osx you can use the app called Namechanger. It's free. Use sequence method from the middle drop down menu.

And if you use .raw files, which is recommended for Axoloti, you have to go to the "option" drop down menu at the top of the screen and select "Hide extensions". It makes sure it does not mess with the file format and keeps the same file format.

Keep in mind that if you are changing the

#3

Thanks for the insight @jaffasplaffa :slight_smile:

I guess if you're using hardware knobs to achieve the same result, then sliders are a bit redundant eh? OK I'll work with the tips you suggest.

Yes, that makes a lot of sense. I must remember that it's external to the computer and a self contained piece of hardware. Easy to forget when one is so used to Pd! There are a lot of parallels/similarities.

Do you keep the audio files in the same dir as the patch? I read that they automatically get uploaded (assuming if referenced) when starting the patch. Also, can one upload multiple files at once? I can't see a way to do that yet...

thanks again

#4

Yes I guess it will be :slight_smile:

Yeah Pure data is awesome too. I got an Organelle and A Pi3 based PD machine, so I am a bit used to using PD in "embedded" hardware style. But most of the time I just use it with in my computer too, actually :wink:

I don't like to put the audio files into patch folders. I don't use the patch folders at all and I delete them. But that's a personal preference, other people uses them. If it was possible to make a folder that the patch folder was created in I would use them, but they all show up in the root and makes the sd-card messy and slow when you put the sd-card into a computer.

I make common libraries for different things. Something like this:
root/wav/drums/drum001.raw
root/wav/drums/drum002.raw
root/wav/drums/drum003.raw
Etc.

root/wav/pads/pad001.raw
root/wav/pads/pad002.raw
root/wav/pads/pad003.raw
Etc.

root/wav/pads/voice001.raw
root/wav/pads/voice002.raw
root/wav/pads/voice003.raw
Etc.

And so on....

I think this is better than using the patch folders, cause you don't end up with like many copies of the same file on the sd-card, spread all over the sd-card..

For adding files to the sd-card I usually just put it in a card and put it in my card reader on my macbook and copy the files manually. I think there is a file uploader, but never really used it.

Axoloti can actially also act like an sd-card reader. So if your Axoloti is connected and you go to the drop down menu "board" and select "Enter card reader mode", axoloti will disconnect and it now acts like any usb storage device, you can copy/paste/delete files as you like. Keep in mind this feature can be a bit slow if you have a lot of content on your sd-card. Which is why I prefer to just put it in a card and use the card reader on my Mac.

Both ways you can upload/copy as many files as you want. Try and see what you prefer.

Keep in mind that some of this is my personal preferences. Other people might do it differently and it might work well for them. But for me this is the best way :slight_smile:

#5

Brilliant! thanks so much