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FAQ for Pd
View entire FAQ in full Up to Table of ContentsTips and Tricks
How do I accumulate (or sum) audio outlets of several modules without so many connections?
Use [throw~] and [catch~].
See the help patches for those objects.
How do I run Pd from the command line?
Starting Pd on the command line works differently on each platform (GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows).
- GNU/Linux
- Usually you would use just
pdon the command line. If Pd is installed in a non-standard location, like when building from source, you have to specify the full path to the binary. For example~/trunk/pd/bin/pd. Alternatively you can firstcdto Pd'sbindirectory, and then start./pd. For example,cd ~/trunk/pd/bin/ && ./pd - Mac OS X
- Since Pd on Mac OS X has a different start-up procedure than the other platforms, start the GUI process:
/Applications/Pd-0.41-4.app/Contents/MacOS/Pdor/Applications/Pd-extended.app/Contents/MacOS/Pd-extended. To run thepdprocess first, you have to have the Tcl/Tk's Wish.app installed on your computer somewhere findable, like /Applications. Then run:/Applications/Pd.app/Contents/Resources/bin/pd. - Windows
- If you are using the Windows
cmd.exeshell, use Windows paths:C:\Program Files\pd\bin\pd.com. You could also runC:\Program Files\pd\bin\pd.comfrom Start -> Run... and it will launch its owncmd.exe. - Windows/Cygwin
- When using a Cygwin shell, you need to use UNIX-style paths with Cygwin's special directories for Windows drive letters:
/cygdrive/c/Program\ Files/pd/bin/pd.com - Windows/MinGW/MSYS
- When using a MinGW MSYS shell, you need to use UNIX-style paths with MSYS's special directories for Windows drive letters:
/c/Program\ Files/pd/bin/pd.com
How do I get an acceptable performance and latency on the MS Windows platform?
I've Installed Pure Data (or Pd-extended) on Windows and I have to set the buffer (delay) to more than 100ms to avoid audio drop outs (crackling). What can I do to achieve a proper latency in Pd on Microsoft Windows?
Make sure your Windows system is set up for Audio. Make sure the overall system performance is OK, install updated ASIO drivers for your soundcard or the "ASIO4All Drivers":http://www.asio4all.com/ when no ASIO is available from the manufacturer. There is also an "ASIO driver for WDM kernel-streaming compliant soundcards":http://www.asio2ks.de/
Read Native Instrument's "Windows 7 Tuning Tips for Audio Processing":http://www.native-instruments.com/knowledge/questions/847/Windows+7+Tuning+Tips+for+Audio+Processing
Also read RME's "Tuning Tips for Low Latency Operation":http://www.rme-audio.de/english/techinfo/lola.htm ( slightly older)
USB and persitency
If you have the problem that you can only plug in your external sound card to one specific USB port you might want to make the COM port assignment of the system permanent to this device. Here is How: goto control panel -> device manager -> com ports -> properties -> port settings -> advanced -> comport number there you can permanently set the comport number for that device.
