Max for Live FAQs

1.	What is Max for Live? What can I do with it?
2.	I already own Max/MSP. Do I get any discount on Max for Live?
3.	Is there an educational price for Max for Live?
4.	What products do I need in order to use Max for Live?
5.	How do I buy Max for Live?
6.	How do I install Max for Live?
7.	What do I specifically get when I buy Max for Live?
8.	Why should I care about Max for Live? I just want to make music; I don't want to build anything.
9.	I've heard Max is hard to learn. How can I get started?
10.	Can I process video with Jitter in Max for Live?
11.	I have patches that I've made in the standalone version of Max. Can I use them in Max for Live?
12.	Can I use Max for Live devices when Live is running as ReWire slave?

1.	What is Max for Live? What can I do with it? Max for Live is a visual programming environment that allows users to build instruments and effects for use within Ableton Live. To learn more, see our dedicated page about Max for Live.
2.	I already own Max/MSP. Do I get any discount on Max for Live? If you already own Max 5, Max for Live is available for a discounted price of USD 99/EUR 79.
3.	Is there an educational price for Max for Live? There is no single-license educational discount on Max for Live. Educational institutions interested in purchasing site licenses of Max for Live may be eligible for discounts. Please contact edu@ableton.com for more information.
4.	What products do I need in order to use Max for Live? You need the full version of Ableton Live 8 or Ableton Suite 8. If you already own a Max/MSP 5 license, Max for Live is available for a discounted price of USD 99/EUR 79.
5.	How do I buy Max for Live? Max for Live is available from the Ableton web shop. It costs USD 299/EUR 249. If you already own Max 5, the discounted price is USD 99/EUR 79. For more pricing information, see this page.
6.	How do I install Max for Live? After purchasing Max for Live, download, install and launch Live 8.1 (or newer) — this is important as Max for Live won't work with earlier versions of Live. Re-authorize Live. This will also activate Max for Live. Open Live's Device Browser and double-click on Max Instrument, Max Audio Effect or Max MIDI Effect: Download Max from the link shown in the device and install it. Re-launch Live. (Don't launch Max. Live and Max communicate internally and you will never need to launch the Max application manually when using Max for Live.)
7.	What do I specifically get when I buy Max for Live? You basically get full Max/MSP/Jitter functionality inside Ableton Live. Audio and MIDI I/O is handled exclusively by Ableton Live. Stand-alone use of Max for Live components is not possible.
8.	Why should I care about Max for Live? I just want to make music; I don't want to build anything. Max for Live comes with a collection of premium instruments and effects, pre-made and ready to use in your Live Sets alongside Live's native devices. In addition to what Ableton and Cycling '74 have already provided, Max for Live programmers are building new devices for the platform every day.
9.	I've heard Max is hard to learn. How can I get started? Max for Live comes with a number of Lessons that can get you going with everything from using the factory content to building your own devices. These Lessons appear in Live's Help View, alongside the normal Live Lessons. In addition, Max comes with a comprehensive documentation system including a number of step-by-step tutorials and basic example devices that can be launched from almost anywhere in the Max environment.
10.	Can I process video with Jitter in Max for Live? Yes, video synthesis and animation via Jitter objects is supported. If you do not own the full version of Max and Jitter, the visual display of the jit.window and jit.pwindow objects are crippled when editing in Max. This limitation only exists when editing. It does not exist when using the patch in Live or if you own the full version of Max and Jitter.
11.	I have patches that I've made in the standalone version of Max. Can I use them in Max for Live? Yes, but they will need to be copied into Max for Live manually. To do this: open the original patch in the standalone version of Max copy the entire contents of the patch open Live load an empty Max Instrument, Max MIDI Effect or Max Audio Effect, depending on the type of device you're trying to make click the empty device's Edit Button to open the Max patcher paste the contents of the original patch into the patcher You may need to modify the new device to take into consideration the pre-made input and output objects.
12.	Can I use Max for Live devices when Live is running as ReWire slave? You can use Max for Live devices only while running Live as ReWire master or as a stand-alone application.