Getting Started with TouchDesigner
Hi! My name’s Imoni. I’m an artist based in ATL @imonitroni, and I’ve been creating a lot of TouchDesigner based work recently.
Fundamentals
First things first you’ll want to download TouchDesigner - derivative.ca/download. A Nvidia GPU is not required to use TouchDesigner.
A great aspect about TouchDesigner is that there is a lot of free information online. If you’re looking for somewhere to begin, TouchDesigner offers a fundamentals course here: learn.derivative.ca/courses/100-fundamentals/lessons/101-navigating-the-environment/
You don’t have to finish it all in order to get into things like projection mapping. However the first section of the TouchDesigner fundamentals course, navigating the environment, may be useful if this is new to you. I definitely encourage playing around with it!
Another good resource is The Interactive and Immersive HQ. They have a video on projection mapping here: youtube.com/watch?v=mTH7ZB4x47Q. Feel free to try it out if you have access to a projector or if you just want to see how easy set-up can be.
TouchDesigner is really great for live visuals and connecting various components like lights, music, Arduinos (microcontrollers) etc. This person worked on a live interactive music experience for Toro y Moi. They detail their process here: youtube.com/watch?v=8zHPGbraW4Q
These links are just the tip of the iceberg. It’s really powerful and offers deep programming capabilities if you’re interested in that.
Additional Resources
PPPANIK youtube.com/@pppanik007/videos Great tutorials showcasing TouchDesigner’s visual capabilities
Projector and Display specific
github.com/laserpilot/Guide_To_Projectors_For_Interactive_Installations
poniesandlight.co.uk/reflect/how_far_push_screen/
Online communities
TouchDesigner Discord - td-discord.com
TouchDesigner Facebook - facebook.com/groups/touchdesignerhelp/
TouchDesigner forums - forum.derivative.ca/
