Previous versions of Max had two different document formats: binary and text.
This was originally a reflection of the need to save space; roughly, the binary
format was the text format with a cheap form of data compression applied to it.
In Max 5 there is a single, entirely new format based on the JSON specification.
JSON is a way to specify data similar to XML, but far more readable since it
resembles Javascript source code. In addition, Max 5 documents have entered the
modern world: they are encoded with Unicode (UTF-8) and can be given long filenames.
While both the old and new documents specify a patcher in terms of objects
and connections, the details of how this is accomplished in each format are
very different. In addition, far more data at higher resolutions is saved
in a Max 5 document, so Max 5 does not provide a way to "export" patches
you create to the older format. Max 5 can, however, import patches, either
text or binary, from older versions of Max. Below we describe some of the
problems you may encounter when importing older documents.
If you have an existing Max 4 folder and you just try to open one of your patches
in Max 5, you may encounter a lot of missing files or objects, because you haven't
set up your
search path
so that Max 5 can see the files needed by the patch. For more information on moving
your Max 4 search path to Max 5, read
Using Old and New Versions of Max on the Same Machine.
Some third-party objects that work in Max 4 will not work in Max 5. For the most part,
you will see errors in the Max window saying the objects have failed to load,
but in rare cases, incompatible objects may crash Max 5. Cycling '74 is working
with developers of third-party objects to help implement any changes that need
to be made.
Max 4 documents use legacy Mac-specific text encodings (even on Windows) that needs
to be converted to Unicode. In some cases when using non-Roman characters, conversion
may not happen perfectly because the actual encoding in the document being imported
cannot be identified.
Max 5 uses anti-aliased fonts that may be difficult to read when displayed at
small sizes. The same patcher may be more readable in Max 4. You cannot switch
off the anti-aliasing, but you have several options for making text larger:
-
You can select all the objects you want to make larger, then open the
Fonts Window
by choosing Show Fonts from the Object menu. Use the font panel's
size control to increase the point size of the text objects.
-
You can use the Scaling Bar to increase the size of the selected objects in a patch.
-
You can zoom into the patch temporarily. Choose Zoom In from the
View menu, or choose Navigate Zoom to use the
interactive zoom tool.
Some Max objects no longer support certain messages or features. For a complete list, review
Object-Specific Changes.