A novel approach to visual design in TouchDesigner has been born. Let’s see how to shift from SOP to POP operators in few simple steps. Let’s start patching.
The experimental release of POP operators marked a revolution in TouchDesigner. Now we can work on points geometries thus speeding up the overall workflow. There are several guides and tutorials out there explaining the features of POPs. So, in this article I want to focus on how to shift from SOPs to POPs.
While all of us still love SOP operators, POPs are slowly taking our heart, or at least mine. But do not waste time and let’s start patching!
A giant point cloud with just 4 operators
One of the great advantages of POP operators is that we can achieve impressive results in just few steps. Look at the first example:
In this patch we start with a Pattern POP that, as the name suggests, creates functions on the X, Y and Z axis. In our case we need only a random points pattern. So, we select the number of points – 1,500 in our case – select Point Prims as connectivity type and select Random as the parameter for the three axes.
Next, we connect the Pattern POP to a Projection operator, to apply projection setup to our patch. Then we create a Random POP, select the type Inside Sphere and apply a LFO CHOP to the amplitude parameter to get some nice movement. We connect the Random operator to a Null and then to the Geometry COMP, where we instance the translate, rotate and color parameters. Et voilà, a giant point cloud with hundreds of thousands points fully running at 60 FPS.
A complex network of point clouds and connecting lines
POP operators are the future of working with visuals in TouchDesigner. Let’s look at the second example:
We start with a Point Generator POP that creates 300 points on a circular shape. Next, we connect it to an Attribute operator, where we set the color parameter and a custom parameter for scaling the points when instancing in the Geometry COMP.
Then it’s time to apply some random logic with two dedicated operators and then we create another custom attribute – in a dedicated Attribute POP – to apply some direction logic. Next, we apply some animated noise before entering in the Geometry COMP. Here we will translate, rotate and scale our geometry.
But since we want to get the most from our new POP friends, let’s add some connecting lines between the points. How? Well, it’s very simple. We just need to create a Proximity operator, that draws line between near points. We can adjust and refine the parameters, merge with points geometry and that’s it, a complex network in just few steps!
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SOPs to POPs: and the winner is…
POP operators introduce a completely innovative approach to generate and manipulate visuals in TouchDesigner. In this perspective, we can create a benchmark patch with SOP operators to fully understand the strengths and advantages of the new operator family.
Let’s create a simple example. We want to create a geometry of interconnected points and lines. A simple visual asset that can be further manipulated to get interesting results.
To accomplish this result with POPs, we can start with a Point Generator, connect it to a Null, create another node where we insert the Proximity POP (see above), merge the two paths and then straight to the Geometry COMP. Here we can instance the X, Y and Z position of the points without the need for CHOPs or DATs. Isn’t it lovely?
Let’s do the same patch with SOPs. We start with a Sphere operator, connect it to a Null and then straight to the Geometry COMP. Since we cannot directly access the P values – as it happens with the POP operators – we need some data for instancing the spheres. So, create three Noise CHOPS and merge them to be used for instancing.
How can we create the connecting lines? Well, we create a Line SOP and connect it to an Add SOP, that will reference a CHOP To DAT connected to the Merge CHOP. Lines will be rendered together with points and that’s it.
As we know, there are several ways we can instance. This is just one example, so feel free to experiment. While using SOPs can be simple and creative, I think that shifting to POPs will surely provide us with tons of ideas and more control over speed and efficiency.
Wrap Up
I must admit that, at first glance, POPs can be quite intimidating. Somehow, we have to completely rethink the way we design our visuals in TouchDesigner. But, as we have seen in the three simple examples above, the results are simply great: more control, more efficiency, less math and logic calculations. While still in its experimental phase, POP operators need to be mastered to further advance our visual strategy. As usual, the sky is the limit.
