Max

Half speed and double speed

For specifying the rate of an audio file or the rate of a video file, the number 1 is used for normal rate, and we may want to be able to increase or decrease the rate by a certain ratio. For example we may want to double or halve the rate, setting it to either 2 times normal or 1/2 of normal.

Pseudo-random numbers appear random

Programming languages all provide some means of generating random numbers. Those numbers aren’t truly random, though. They’re what’s called pseudo-random. They’re actually generated by a known, deterministic process for generating a sequence of numbers, but that process generates a long series of apparently random numbers that doesn’t repeat for a very long time.

Stack overflow

Recursion, feedback loops, and unlimited untimed (as fast as possible) loops are not feasible in Max. In effect, you’d be asking Max to do an unlimited number of things all at the same time. Its scheduler (its internal “to-do” list) would get filled and it would be unable to do anything more. In computer lingo, its “stack” (its inbox of tasks to do) would overflow.

The ‘alpha’ attribute of a picture

In digital images, each pixel contains color information (such as values describing intensity of red, green, and blue) and also contains a value for its opacity known as its ‘alpha’ value. An alpha value of 1 means totally opaque, and an alpha value of 0 means totally transparent. This value can be used for blending images, or for making all or part of an image totally transparent.