Teaching Yourself Max

Max 8 is a complex program with many ways of manipulating audio and visuals. As a result of its complexity, it can be challenging to get into the more code-oriented side. The code writing side of Max allows for more control but requires more knowledge of the commands available. There are videos and books explaining how to do specific things that may or may not relate to what your end goals are. I found that dissection of other's patchers really immersed me in Max and propelled my learning and desire to learn. I will cover some options, based on my experiences in self-teaching.

This is what a patcher could look like, without using the built-in Vizzie or BEAP. This affects video with an audio input.

De-Encapsulate

If you click on a Vizzie or BEAP module you can expand it into it's (semi) original code using Ctrl+Shift+D

This is the expanded code for the Oscillator. These expansions generally expand top to bottom (I compressed this to look better). You can analyze each step along the way by creating a new object (n or Double Click), writing the command in it, and reading it's description.

I use De-Encapsulation mostly when I want to pull specific elements out of the modules. This helps processing power and eliminates extra unneeded parts. However, I did not use this to teach myself for long because I felt it was too slow/difficult.

New from Clipboard

Save files can be outputted as text files. This allows for easy transferring of files.

This is excellent for searching for specific patcher ideas on the forums. Others may have developed code that you can gather skills from to re-purpose for your own projects. However, they can be more difficult to interpret than De-Encapsulated Modules. I tended to have good luck understanding other's patchers as they more related to what I was looking for. This form quickly introduced me to the more sophisticated strengths of Max.

Search Bar

This feature is taken for granted in many programs. Max 8 introduced a fully functioning search bar. This lets you search for objects that may share a keyword with your search. More importantly, it searches for documentation (has reference patchers) and example patchers. Above the other two sets, it searches videos and forum posts posted by the community (a great way to pull patchers through your clipboard). This search is an excellent addition to Max and has accelerated my progress building patchers and streamlining previous projects.

As you can see these methods bounce off of each other quite well. Use them to learn and create new patchers.