Touchdesigner

• Getting & installing Touchdesigner
• Learning Touchdesigner
• Mediapipe for bodytracking in TD: No kinect needed!
• .Tox
• examples (random selection)
• Lights in Touchdesigner
• Controlling Lights from Touchdesigner
• Controlling Ledstrips with WLED (from Touchdesigner)
• Arduino & Touchdesigner
• Various tutorials connecting TD & Arduino (no firmata)
• Using Firmata

Getting & installing Touchdesigner

Download Touchdesigner here:

https://derivative.ca/download

Check the system requirements & download the right version. Install it as usual.

KEy

The NON-COMMERCIAL version is free to use, but has limitations on resolution.
Sing up (free) to get the keys for install.
Check in with the HKUBlackbox if you need to borrow an educational license to unlock certain possibilities. 
Check the 'enable dongle' or 'codemeter' box during the install for this. 

Learning Touchdesigner

You can learn Touchdesigner online! The community is 'small' and helpful, to get started check out these resources:

The derivative site: 
https://derivative.ca/learn 
https://learn.derivative.ca/ 
https://learn.derivative.ca/courses/100-fundamentals/ 

Our recommendations:
These are the TDtutorial masters, they cover a super broad spectrum and help you actually understand the basics:

Mediapipe for bodytracking in TD: No kinect needed!

Realtime Body tracking on Mac & Pc with just a webcam!

Camera's like Kinect can do body & facial tracking with infra red. You can read more about this on another one of our bookstack pages. 
But with AI, you can now also use your webcam for tracking! 

Mediapipe is Machine Learning by Google implemented through Python;
read up on the details here; https://developers.google.com/mediapipe 
And if this kind of goes above your head but you do kind of want to understand what you are doing check this out: https://www.assemblyai.com/blog/mediapipe-for-dummies/ 

You can install Mediapipe on you computer and in Touchdesigner using this step by step tutorial: http://www.magicandlove.com/blog/2021/06/02/mediapipe-in-touchdesigner-6/

But, since 2023 Torin Blankensmith has developed a plugin for TD (so no separate install of mediapipe!)
Check out the tutorial
Get the latest version of the plugin on github. 
Be aware that, although this way of using Mediapipe is much easier to setup, it is a lot heavier on your system/resources than when installing the necessary libraries yourself like described above.

.Tox

A .tox file is a TouchDesigner Component file,  used to save preset- components of yourTouchDesigner project. A .tox file contains one component which in turn can contain multiple components. The component file can then easily be loaded as needed in other projects. For example, when designing a custom user interface for a project, saving the UI elements as a separate .tox file would allow the parts of the user interface to be reused easily in future projects. To create a .tox right-click on your (base) component & hit "Save Component .tox'  Navigate to your Palette & add them there for easy acces. On this page we'll share some custom toxes made previously in Touchdesigner (by us). Beware, these are handmade, to fully understand what is happening, it is advised to re-build them yourself ;)

On Github: https://github.com/hku-ect/TouchDesignerComponents	Showcase: On the derivative site, people have profiles & sometimes share their .tox derivative: showcase especially: THETOUCHLAB	Add a sensor to callibrate it sensor_callibrate.tox	Library-platform of inspiring TD Toxes shared by creators: https://olib.amb-service.net/
Toxes for specific fixtures to control lights can be found here WLed WLED.tox	Bare_Conductive.tox to use Bare Conductive in TD  more info here	RadiusCheck.tox Creates a virtual point in 3D space and checks the relation between input XYZ. Set the radius in metres Set the XYZ location feed it a live location (XYZ) Outputs Percentage within the radius Outputs InsideBounds Outputs Distance in Metres

examples (random selection)

 

 

Lights in Touchdesigner

Controlling Lights from Touchdesigner

In Touchdesigner DMX data is sent to the daisy-chain of fixtures through USB (via an ENTTEC available at the uitleen) or ArtNet.

In Touchdesigner you can create 'presets' called Toxes. You can save these on your computer for easy acces:

DMX Config	TOX	Example fixtures
5 channels:  Intensity Red Green Blue Strobe	ETC_Colorsource_Par.tox	ETC ColorSource Spot jr (inventory Blackboxes & klein Zaal) ETC ColorSource Par (inventory Blackboxes)   ColorSource Spot Deep Blue (inventory Kleine Zaal)
6 channels: Red Green Blue White Amber Uv	6CH_Par_RGBWAU.tox   ETC_Colorsource_Junior_6ch.tox	High End PAR uitleen Theater :   type & DMX traits: Elation SIXPAR 100 >>     Mid Range PAR uitleen Theater  type & DMX traits: 5PXHEX
7 channels: Red Green Blue White Amber Uv Master Dimmer	7CH_Par_RGBWAUI.tox	High End PAR uitleen Theater :   type & DMX traits: Elation SIXPAR 100   Mid Range PAR uitleen Theater type & DMX traits: 5PXHEX  >>
14 channels (see Briteq manual)	Moving_Head_Briteq_BT_W19L10ZOOM_14ch.tox Moving_Head_Ayra_ero406.tox	.     Briteq BT-W19L10 Zoom (uitleen Oudenoord) WASH, type & DMX traits BT-W19L10 Ayra Ero406  WASH (not in HKU but cheap at BaxShop)

Easy DMX_Out for Artnet (use a merge to connect multiple fixtures, dive in & adjust de DMX out to use another interface)
dmx_out_Artnet.tox

Patch for the Blackbox @ Janskerkhof (to connect with OSC via ipad)



Check out the WLED page to connect TD to LEDstrips

Controlling Ledstrips with WLED (from Touchdesigner)

WLED is one of the most popular packages for controlling LED
strips with, or example, the WS2812B through cable & wifi.

The software also supports some other types, such as the WS2811 and WS2815, both on 12 volts. The first step is to flash the software on, for example, an ESP32.

website: https://kno.wled.ge/
community: https://wled.discourse.group/

Wled aansturenWl

Wled & Touchdesigner:

Here's a preset for Touchdesigner WLED.tox

https://github.com/fieldOfView/WLED-video : A tool to stream video to WLED matrix displays

https://github.com/BradyMeighan/WLED-Studio : A Python application to stream videos, images, and animations directly to your WLED-powered LED video wall.

Arduino & Touchdesigner

Various tutorials connecting TD & Arduino (no firmata)

Using Firmata

What is Firmata?

Firmata is a protocol for communicating with microcontrollers (like Arduino) from software on a computer, using a standardized messaging format over serial communication (usually USB). It allows you to control and read from Arduino pins in real-time, without needing to constantly upload new Arduino sketches.

• Firmata is like a translator that is programmed on the Arduino.

• You upload a Firmata sketch once to the Arduino.

• Then, you can control the Arduino live from TouchDesigner (or other software like Isadora, Max/MSP or Processing) without reprogramming it.

• Be aware that is is resource heavier the programming your Arduino with specific code for the goal you want to achieve, Nice for prototyping though!