PD
stands for "pure data". Pd is a real-time software system
for live musical and multimedia (video) performances. It is in
active development by Miller Puckette, and perhaps others. The
system is unfinished, but quite useable for sophisticated
projects.The best documentation can only be viewed by running
Pd. Click on the "Pure Documentation" menu item on the "Help"
menu when you run Pd.
There is official documentation as well as useful links for pd under
the software guides section of the CCRMA home web page at
pd guide@ccrma
To run Pd just type,
or just,
This will start Pd and a new Pd “GTK” box will appear. You can test
you audio settings, MIDI settings and see if your audio system is
running properly. DIO Digital input output errors might appear while
you are running Pd, please pay attention to them since normally these
mean audio input and output synchronization errors.
You can try various Pd switch options in order to tune and optimize
your setup. Here are the most common flags which you can see with the
command:
|
list audio and MIDI devices |
|
suppress audio input |
|
suppress audio output |
|
audio in devices |
|
specify input and output together |
|
specify size of audio buffer in msec |
|
specify audio I/O block size in sample frames |
|
midi in device list |
|
suppress MIDI input |
|
suppress MIDI input and output |
|
use OSS audio API |
|
use ALSA audio API |
|
use JACK audio API (default for Linux) |
Pd also works with video signals provided your workstation has a
video capture board. You can combine MIDI, audio, signal processing
and also video by using an extra library called GEM.
To run Pd with GEM just type,
pd -lib /usr/lib/pd/externs/Gem
|
|
(Thanks to Bill Verplank who first tested this command at CCRMA).
GEM is the Graphics Environment for Multimedia. It was written by
Mark Danks to generate real-time computer graphics, especially for
audio-visual compositions. Because GEM is a visual programming
environment, users do not need any experience in traditional
computer languages.
GEM is a collection of externals which allow the user to create
OpenGL graphics within Pd, a program for real-time audio processing
by Miller Puckette (of Max fame).
GEM currently has many different shapes and objects, including
polygonal graphics, lighting, texture mapping, image processing, and
camera motion. All of this is possible in real-time without any
previous programming experience. Because GEM is an add-on library
for Pd, users can combine audio and graphics, controlling one medium
from another.
more information can be found at:
GEM SITE