Hallo mighty pders!

As I've announced lately I'm working on the patch for simple and intuitive sample composing in pd. The concept of canvases representing samples seems quite vital, so I'm wondering if anyone would be interested to join the project. There should be a lot of work done to make VisualTracker nice and usable and It would be great to talk some concepts through in a team

I'm also sure many things could be done better and I don't want to reinvent the wheel completely....

Please check the screenshot attached and download the patch in pre-alpha version here:

http://code.google.com/p/visualtracker/

Any suggestions/comments/ideas appreciated. Participants are welcome at contactcaucasian//gmail.com

Looking forward to hear from you
c.

http://www.pdpatchrepo.info/hurleur/VisualTracker-screenshot.jpg

Here is some more info:

This is development info of VisualTracker for pd (pre alpha 100404)

What is it:

VisualTracker is sample sequencer – it triggers loaded samples in times defined in time line in editor window. Samples can be played in their default speed / length or can be fitted in tempo. In “fit mode” you can define number of bars to fit in and also multiplication of file. All changes have visual interpretation in sample canvases.

VisualTracker for pd (pre alpha 100404) was developed in Pd version 0.41.4-extended, on Windows XP

How to make it work:

1. Open VisualTracker_(pre_alpha_100404).pd in pd.
2. Editor and Samples window are automatically opened.
3. Preset currentstate.vtp is automatically loaded – this preset is saved before closing the patch.
4. After first run there are 3 empty sample boxes in samples window and 3 corresponding sample canvases in editor window.
5. Load any wav (44100 Hz) by pressing „load“ in selected sample box. No space characters in path or filename are allowed. Loading of these files is aborted and error message appears for several seconds. Name of the successfully loaded sample including full path appears in sample box and also sample canvas in editor window. Size of sample canvas is changed according to the sample length. Try to change global BPM – size of sample canvas is recalculated.
6. Check „fit“ to fit sample in current BPM. Set length of sample in bars and multiplication.
7. Add another sample by creating object [sample] or just copy existing sample box in samples window.
8. Switch to editor window, press CTRL+E to switch to pd edit mode and drag and drop sample canvases to desired position on time line. Sample canvases are automatically snapping to bar columns and rows.
9. Switch back to normal mode by CTRL+E
10. Press PLAY to replay your sample composition. Samples are played only if corresponding sample canvas is placed in track 1-6. If sample canvas is above the tracks sound is muted.
11. Press „save“ in main VisualTracker window to save current preset to a text file. Any name and extension with no spaces is allowed.
12. Before closing VisualTracker press „save state & close“. It saves current state to preset named currentstate.vtp and delete all sample boxes from samples window and all sample canvases from editor window. Now you can turn off and eventually save VisualTracker patch. This is important to avoid double appearance of sample canvases because information about samples and composition is stored independently from pd patch and should not be saved inside patch. If there are still some „orphaned“ sample canvases hanging delete them manually.

Components:

1. Sample window: place for unlimited amount of [sample] abstractions. Once abstraction is created (by copying or creating the object) corresponding sample canvas is created in editor window. [sample] abstraction is sending data to sample canvas (name, color, size, snapping) and receiving back position. Triggering of sample playback is based on position of sample canvas.
2. Editor window: place for sample canvases composition on the top of timeline grid. Sample canvases can be moved by mouse in pd edit mode (CTRL+E). Timeline grid will be extended and improved in next versions.
3. Preset save/load: saves and loads presets to/from a text file using [coll] object. Preset contains global values (number of samples in composition, bpm) and local values for each sample box (filename, position, track, multiplication, number of bars, fit switch, color and two unused values).
4. Sequencer: located in program subpatch. Very simple - functionality will be extended and improved in next versions
5. Other: located in program subpatch. Contains some other patches as colortable, BPM manager, output etc.

Hey Caucasian,

I haven't had time to delve too deeply into this, but it looks cool so far. I just thought I'd mention that you might want to look into the [gcanvas] object as a way to work with the samples on the timeline without leaving edit mode. It's basically a gui area that tracks the mouse position when you click on it. It also allows you to draw shapes on it and move them with messages. It might be a little tricky, but it should be possible to make so that if you click within a shape's area, you could drag the shape based on changes in the mouse position. If I get a moment, I'll try to whip up an example, if you like.

Hi Maelstorm,

thanx for advice. [gcanvas] looks good, but I will probably miss possibility to put labels to the canvases and it's also a pity there is no distinction for mouseup and mousedown ... but it could be nicely used for drawing the timetable grid or even for some mouse based actions. I will probably use object as background of the timetable.

But your hint led me further to the "data structures". I made a quick research in help browser and it looks like this is the right way to build GUIs in pd. What do you think?

all he best
c.

Hmm, I didn't think about the labels. Still, you could probably use [gcanvas] behind the [cnv] objects and uses the mouse position to move them. Also, there is [MouseState] from cyclone (and that is case-sensitive). You can use it to get mouse-up and mouse-down (left-click only), as well as the coordinates.

I have limited experience using data structures myself, and I've only really used them for displays rather than interaction. But you can make some cool guis with them. Look around for Chris McCormick's s-abstractions to see some nice examples. I have played with some examples, though, that send Pd a dirty flag, which means that the patch will ask you to save it when you close it, even if you didn't change anything in edit mode. But I couldn't tell you what you have to avoid to keep it from doing that.