My conference project was a multi-network project composed of different TouchDesigner techniques. The primary focus of the project was finding ways for the audience to interact with the TouchDeisgner present mode. There are a total of 11 projects in this final project and an additional project that was made for Open Studio that used skills I learned from working on this final project. 3 of the 11 projects did not work properly. The three projects that did not work were on On-Stage-Controllers through a mobile device, Elgato Touchpad, and Cellular Automata. I had struggled for hours on each project to attempt to make them work, but have placed them on the back-burner to re-attempt and fix these problems at a later time. However, for the other projects that do work, I was able to apply audio, mouse, keyboard, and button interactions. The final form of my projects was a few projects that included about 3 to 4 networks inside of bases to allow switching between bases to present. As for my Open Studio project, I was able to apply the concepts I learned for my final project and create a different network on aspects of my life. The Open Studio project included family and pets that would give someone perspective into my life.
This project, similar to the last post, was a project to test what components of TouchDesigner I could learn individually and what I could apply from the class. I learned so much from this project and in general, from this class. I enjoyed audio reactivity and how as users, individuals can interact with the TouchDesigner interface. This led me to formulate this interactive project. I loved the idea of a simulation installation and wanted to create a project that would fit an installation for this intention. Although an installation was not made for this project, there will be an installation for this project in the spring semester through Drawing Machines. The plan is to make this installation a two-person interactive experience, where one individual experiences the outcome of someone interacting with the TouchDesigner interface. I want this installation to be closed off for the person experiencing the outcomes of the interactions as it will allow the individual to be immersed. Another motivation for this project was because of the students I know in my mother’s cluster class back home. The students are easily immersed in visuals and simple audio, I want to ultimately make a soothing environment with the developed skills I obtained this semester.
The process was trial and error. I had to get a lot of things wrong to get things right. I started with learning about recursive displacement, instancing, and DATs. Furthering this, I developed a better understanding of image instancing, particle tracking, and UI basics. Furthering this curiosity, I dove deeper into DATs to learn more about shaders and translating ShaderToys into GLSL for TouchDesigner. I also learned how to make the keyboard interactive and attempted at adding external ways to interact with TouchDesigner. I struggled with some aspects more than others, but the learning process helped me understand how TouchDesigner functioned more than I would have if I just stayed complacent with what I learned in class.
This project means a lot to me as I intended this project to test my learning abilities and application skills. I wanted to push myself to learn as much as I could in one semester about TouchDesigner and attempt to become proficient in its interface. I feel like I got close to this, but definitely think there is an infinite amount of knowledge I can still learn about usage and creating my own effects. I plan to keep up with using TouchDesigner over winter break and attempt new projects.
