Intro to Touchdesigner

About the software

Touchdesigner is a programming software popular amongst all kinds of creatives. Within the Creative Technology Lab we aim to support students in developing interactive projects, often combined with physical computing and projection mapping.

Touchdesigner is a node-based software, a type of visual programming language. This means that for the most part we won't be dealing with tradition coding, instead we will be using nodes called OperatorsOperators.; These are ready-made "blocks of code", each performing different functions. Linking nodes together allows us to manipulate data toand program our network. JustA bit like using layers in westernPhotoshop, reading,every datanew node you add alters the previous one, however in Touchdesigner data flows left to right. Another way to understand networks is comparing them to layers in Photoshop: every new node added to your network will alter the previous node.

      

^{Layers in Photoshop.                                          Nodes linked to create a network in Touchdesigner.} 

Operators

A library of all Operators is available by double-clicking anywhere on the background of Touchdesigner. Operators are grouped into families, each marked with a different heading and color.

TOPS

Texture Operators, also known as TOPs, are all about handling images and videos. They help you modify, combine, and create graphics in real-time.

CHOPS

Channel Operators, also known as CHOPs, work with one or more channels of data. Informations from signals, motion, audio, etc. can be altered and used to control other operators, often TOPs, to perform various animation techniques. 

DAT

Data Operators, or DATs, help manage scripts and data tables for communication between different devices or systems. They're really handy for connecting Touchdesigner with external devices like Arduino.

Components