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I found it interesting to discover that an Ableton Live project file is a gzipped xml file as well, so you can get at the xml by gunzipping it. I've played aro

I found it interesting to discover that an Ableton Live project file is a gzipped xml file as well, so you can get at the xml by gunzipping it. I've played around with trying to generate a schema file from a project file with mixed results. I very much wish Ableton would support this format or at least publish their schema somewhere so translation could be done.

r9295 3y ago
This. I've been trying to write a VCS for Ableton projects but their schema is way too complex to try to make sense of it. Ableton is incredibly hostile to third party devs building upon their work. Eg: There is no official documentation for any of their Python APIs.
- thomashop 3y ago
  Although the python API could be documented, it was not meant to be a public API. And it seems the open source community managed to generate the documentation. I don't know any other DAW that allows as deep integration for third party devs through their Max for Live API.
  - r9295 3y ago
    If it was not meant to be public, then why do vendors who partner with Ableton and build hardware for Live complain about the lack of documentation? The documentation generated by the community is severely lacking and it enables only elementary usage of the API
  - boffinAudio 3y ago
    >I don't know any other DAW that allows as deep integration for third party devs through their Max for Live API. REAPER?
    - thomashop 3y ago
      Ah makes sense. I was just thinking of the "big name" ones. I need to look into Reaper again.
  - gavinray 3y ago
    REAPER has unsurpassed scripting and extension, every other DAW looks like a joke in comparison.
    - stevehiehn 3y ago
      Ya, Reaper is the only DAW (I know of) that allows me to import midi, apply fx, and render tracks via scripts.
    - Cloudef 3y ago
      Not really DAW but bipscript is interesting for this use case
  - mrMagick 3y ago
    FL Studio has a well documented python API to allows 3rd party scripts!
  - ano-ther 3y ago
    > it seems the open source community managed to generate the documentation That would be terrific. Do you have more? A while ago, I tried to cutomize a Novation Launchpad but couldn’t find coherent docs or an intro. Some people have mastered it, as witnessed by this great extension [1]. But that’s example code, not a documentation. [1] https://github.com/hdavid/Launchpad95 https://github.com/hdavid/Launchpad95

r9295 3y ago

This. I've been trying to write a VCS for Ableton projects but their schema is way too complex to try to make sense of it. Ableton is incredibly hostile to third party devs building upon their work. Eg: There is no official documentation for any of their Python APIs.

thomashop 3y ago
Although the python API could be documented, it was not meant to be a public API. And it seems the open source community managed to generate the documentation. I don't know any other DAW that allows as deep integration for third party devs through their Max for Live API.
- r9295 3y ago
  If it was not meant to be public, then why do vendors who partner with Ableton and build hardware for Live complain about the lack of documentation? The documentation generated by the community is severely lacking and it enables only elementary usage of the API
- boffinAudio 3y ago
  >I don't know any other DAW that allows as deep integration for third party devs through their Max for Live API. REAPER?
  - thomashop 3y ago
    Ah makes sense. I was just thinking of the "big name" ones. I need to look into Reaper again.
- gavinray 3y ago
  REAPER has unsurpassed scripting and extension, every other DAW looks like a joke in comparison.
  - stevehiehn 3y ago
    Ya, Reaper is the only DAW (I know of) that allows me to import midi, apply fx, and render tracks via scripts.
  - Cloudef 3y ago
    Not really DAW but bipscript is interesting for this use case
- mrMagick 3y ago
  FL Studio has a well documented python API to allows 3rd party scripts!
- ano-ther 3y ago
  > it seems the open source community managed to generate the documentation That would be terrific. Do you have more? A while ago, I tried to cutomize a Novation Launchpad but couldn’t find coherent docs or an intro. Some people have mastered it, as witnessed by this great extension [1]. But that’s example code, not a documentation. [1] https://github.com/hdavid/Launchpad95 https://github.com/hdavid/Launchpad95