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Using the Extras Menu

Using the Extras Menu

The Extras menu is a place to put handy utility patches you use on a regular basis. Just choose the patch you want to open from the menu, and it will appear. If it's already open, use the Extras menu to bring it to the front (patches launched from the Extras menu won't appear in the Window menu).

Adding Extras

To add your own extras to the Extras menu, add the patch to the 'extras' folder to the Max application install location ("/Applications/Max.app/Contents/Resources/C74/extras" on Mac or "C:/Program Files/ Cycling '74/Max 7/ resources/extras" on Windows), and restart Max.

A better alternative might be to make your own Package and add an 'extras' folder to it. You can also create subfolders inside the extras folder. When you do this, the folder name will be the title of a hierarchical menu that lists the patchers contained inside the folder.

Included Extras

Max comes with a few Extras we think are pretty useful. They're described below. It could be argued that extras that are included are not actually extras, are they?

  • Audiotester measures input and output levels for your audio setup, and can be used to test your audio hardware and sound system.
  • DSP CPU Monitor shows the current approximate audio CPU utilization.
  • ExamplesOverview lets you browse and launch examples included with Max.
  • GlobalTransport lets you you start, stop, and display the passage of time for objects that use Max Time formats.
  • Human Interface Driver Tester lets you set up and test any object that support the hi object.
  • JitterTester tests video input devices.
  • KeyMidi lets you use your computer keyboard as a MIDI keyboard.
  • Meterin and Meterout provide 24 channels of meters for audio input and output.
  • MIDI Tester will display all MIDI input and output devices and lets you test your connections.
  • Mousemeter tracks the mouse.
  • ObjectHelpLauncher is a fast way to open a help file.
  • Quickrecord makes it easy to record the audio you are producing.
  • UDP Tester lets you test the sending of Max messages over a network using UDP.

A menu seperator is displayed, followed by any menu entries provided by Packages, shown in alphabetical order.