Interactive Projections

Tracking the position of people and objects can be useful to create interactive projection mapping projects. In TouchDesigner, there are various methods to achieve this; This tutorial will introduce you to some common techniques to determine the position of an object. Let's dive in!

To begin, open the VideoDeviceIn TOP and select your DEVICE in the parameters window - you can read more about operators and the parameters window here. Connect this operator to a Null TOP and activate the Display option by clicking on the blue dot in your node, this will allow you to easily monitor any alterations to your original source. 

Object Isolation 

The first method focuses on isolating your object by combining various TOPs to eliminate its background. It's important to note that this process begins outside of TouchDesigner, during scene setup in real life; Ensure your background has a solid, contrasting colour to your object.

In Touchdesigner, right-click on the connection line to INSERT a node to your network, here select the Level TOP. This operator is useful to adjust the brightness and contrast of your image. Use the sliders available to create a strong contrast between your object and background. Next add a Threshold TOP and change the COMPARATOR to Greater, then alter the THRESHOLD value to adjust the intensity of this effect. At this point your object should be highlighted in white, while the rest of your image should be transparent. 

*** The rest of this tutorial is a work in progress ***

AI

Blob Track

Colour 

For this we'll be looking into x and y co-ordinates.

While our source of input for these different methods will always be a camera, the same workflow will help you work around any sensor using x and y co-ordinates to determine position.