At the Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim earlier this month, Cycling ’74 announced the release of OS X versions of its popular interactive graphical programming environment Max; the MSP collection of audio signal processing objects for Max; and the Jitter extensions for video, 3d graphics, and matrix-based data processing.
Also at NAMM, Cycling ’74 demonstrated Windows versions of Max, MSP and Jitter for the first time.
The Max program family has been the premiere environment for the development of interactive media and live performance applications for over a decade. Until now, though, it has only available on the Macintosh platform.
The new versions of MAX/MSP take advantage of Mac OS X’s Core Audio and Core MIDI, which make the use of multiple I/O audio interfaces straightforward and renders OMS and ASIO unnecessary.
“We are excited about having MAX/MSP and Jitter leverage the advanced technologies within Apple’s super-modern operating system, Mac OS X,” commented Cycling ’74 CEO, David Zicarelli.
“Mac OS X features Core Audio, Audio Units, Quartz, Java, QuickTime 6, symmetric multiprocessing, and hardware support that provides opportunities for further evolution of MAX/MSP and Jitter that was not possible in OS 9.”
Building applications with Max is fun and interactive. It lets you work at a level of detail that is unmatched by other software synthesis or video/3D graphics manipulation applications. You build programs (called “patches”) by connecting graphical objects together. Some objects perform calculations and others make up the user interface of your program. The moment you connect two objects, the program is working. If it doesn’t work the way you want, just try something else.
MSP adds a large set of objects that you connect together to make audio patches where signals flow from one object to the next, and the Jitter collection of objects lets you create video or 3D graphics patches or work with any matrix-based data.
The main goals of Max are to let you control anything with anything and to explore cross-media applications by prototyping and constructing custom interactive media applications and interfaces. It lets you schedule events with millisecond accuracy, create complex mappings for incoming data, and run a large number of operations in parallel.
The Windows versions of the software will allow for cross-platform development of applications. Max/MSP/Jitter patches developed on one platform will open seamlessly on the other, and use consistent abstractions for all types of media protocols and interfaces, including MIDI, digital audio soundfiles and interfaces, digital video, and 3D graphics.
The Windows version supports PCs running Windows XP with audio devices supported by WAV, DirectSound, or ASIO. Max/MSP hosts ReWire devices and VST plug-ins and supports all major audio file formats. Features are essentially identical between the Windows XP version and Mac OS X versions.
Users will be able to develop their own Max, MSP, or Jitter external objects written in C, and distribute their work to others using the free MaxMSP runtime application. Support for developing VST plug-ins on Windows will be available shortly after the initial Windows release.
Pricing and Availability
New versions of Max, MSP, and Jitter for Mac OS X will be available by the end of January. Max has a suggested retail price of $295 (US), Max/MSP has a suggested retail price of $495 (US), and Max/MSP/Jitter has a suggested retail prices of $850 (US). OS X versions of all three software packages are available to users of Max/MSP 4.0 and Jitter 1.0 and higher as free updates.
The Windows versions of Max, MSP and Jitter will be available in the second quarter of 2003, pricing identical to the Mac versions. Low-cost upgrades (cross-grades) will be available for Mac users.
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