Coolest TouchDesigner Tools from 2024

Greetings TouchDesigner Developers! In today’s post, we’re diving into a fun topic: some of the coolest tools that emerged from the TouchDesigner community in 2024.

This year, we’ve come across some handy tools and clever add-ons that stood out for their creativity and utility. From streamlining workflows to sparking new ideas, these tools are definitely worth a closer look. Let’s jump in!

Unwrapper3 and GeometryTOOLs

Published by Unveil_studio, these tools enable artists to transform geometry into textures, capturing essential data for GPU processes. They also introduce spring-like deformations, adding elastic interactive behaviors to geometry. For a comprehensive understanding and access to these tools here’s a detailed walkthrough providing insights into their application and capabilities.

TouchPy

Developed by Keith Lostracco and Idzard Kwadijk, this is a powerful tool that bridges TouchDesigner with Python frameworks like PyTorch and Nvidia Warp. What makes it stand out is its ability to transfer data directly between the GPU and TouchDesigner without extra processing, thanks to Vulkan and CUDA integration.This means smoother interactions between Python applications and TouchDesigner, perfect for integrating AI workflows or handling intensive computational tasks.

Here’s the repo for documentation:

https://github.com/IntentDev/touchpy

And here is a full workshop at Spatial Media Lab:

POPs Operator Family

This year, Derivative introduced the Point Operators (POPs), a new operator family built for GPU-accelerated manipulation of 3D data like points, polygons, particles, and line strips. This marks the first major addition to operator families since DATs in 2005, bringing a fresh set of tools to the TouchDesigner ecosystem.

POPs combine elements from SOPs, CHOPs, and TOPs to provide a flexible and powerful toolset for handling complex procedural computations directly on the GPU. They’re faster and more memory-efficient, removing the need for custom compute shaders in many cases.

Here’s the community post from Derivative:

https://derivative.ca/community-post/pops-new-operator-family-touchdesigner/69468

And here is Jack DiLaura’s introduction to the new operator family:

Shader Park Plugin for TouchDesigner

Developed by Torin Blankensmith and Peter Whidden, Shader Park is an open-source JavaScript library that simplifies the creation of interactive, procedural 2D and 3D shaders. In 2024, a new plugin was introduced, allowing artists to seamlessly integrate Shader Park creations into TouchDesigner projects. This integration enables the incorporation of raymarched shaders, facilitating features like audio reactivity and high-quality video rendering. The plugin also supports T3D operators, enhancing its versatility.

Here is the repo:

https://github.com/shader-park/shader-park-touchdesigner

And here is a tutorial by Torin:

Terrain Tools for TouchDesigner

Developed by CraftKontrol, this suite brings game engine techniques into TouchDesigner, enabling real-time creation of detailed environments. By utilizing height maps and splat maps, users can blend textures seamlessly and instance elements like trees and grass across terrains. The inclusion of a Level of Detail (LOD) system optimizes rendering efficiency, ensuring smooth performance even in complex scenes. Additional features such as volumetric fog, lens flare effects, and an animated boids system for simulating flocks of birds or schools of fish further enhance the realism and dynamism of virtual landscapes.

Visit the repo here:

https://github.com/CraftKontrol/Terrain-Tools-for-Touchdesigner

Wrap Up

These five tools are just a glimpse of the incredible innovations coming out of the TouchDesigner community this year. There’s so much more to discover, and we hope this post helps make your creative process a little more informed and equipped with the right tools.

Keep exploring, keep experimenting, and as always, happy creating! Until next time!