4. Practical examples: Pure Data and TouchOSC
Pure Data (or just Pd) is an open-source visual programming language for multimedia available for free at http://puredata.info/ and, given its flexibility, it is a very useful tool for integration/interfacing needs as well as a diagnostic tool. Thanks to its built-in graphic libraries it is possible to create simple GUIs for controlling external software and its extensibility through libraries (“externals”) allows Pd to communicate with different sensors, software, protocols, etc., accumulate the received data, and produce visible results in MXW. TouchOSC is a modular control surface toolkit for designing and constructing custom controllers that can be used on a multitude of operating systems and devices. It is especially useful to turn any kind of touchscreen device into a graphic user interface thanks to an easy-to-use editor. Supports MIDI, Virtual MIDI, and OSC.
4.1 Install Pure Data
Requirements:
- Microsoft Windows, Max OS X or Linux Distribution
- Circa 100MB of free space
- Internet Connection
Download Pure Data from the official website ( http://puredata.info/ ) and proceed by installing the software. Finally, setup Pure Data in this order:
1. When the installation is completed, open Pure Data, in the Menu Bar click on “Help” and then “Find Externals”.
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2. Press on “Preferences” at the bottom right. (A)
3. In the “Deken Preferences” Window, in the “Installation options”, activate the checkbox “Should newly installed libraries be added to Pd’s search path?” if not already. (B)
4. Press OK (C)
5. In the search bar type “mrpeach” (D)
6. Click and Install the latest version of the external in the list
7. Close the “Find Externals” Window
4.2 MXW Pd Patch
Download the "Pd for MXW" package from the Products → Download section of the MXW website. https://www.mxwendler.net/products/downloads.html
Unpack the zip files. In the folder, there will be a simple patch available offering an example of the possible commands that OSC can send to MXW.
Open the wished patch with a double click and follow the instruction inside the patch.
4.3 OSC for portable Devices: TouchOSC and Protokoll
For the complete guide on how to use TouchOSC follow this link for the corresponding Wiki page:
[Controlling MXWendler via TouchOSC]
Prokotol is a cross platform utility app by Hexler, and a lightweight console app for monitoring and logging control protocols and as a diagnostic tool. It supports MIDI, Open Sound Control, and Gamepad inputs. For more information visit the official page at: