An Introduction to TouchDesigner
Friday 29 August 2025
11:00am - 17:00pm
This one-day intensive workshop offers a comprehensive introduction to TouchDesigner, the powerful node-based platform for real-time interactive media. Designed for artists, designers, creative coders, and technologists with some creative tech or media experience, the session will demystify TouchDesigner’s core interface, explain how data flows through operators (TOPs, CHOPs, SOPs, DATs), and develop practical fluency with live visual inputs.
Through three structured hands-on examples, participants will learn how to work with live video feeds, depth sensors (such as the Kinect), and webcam data, exploring techniques for building reactive, real-time visuals. From simple motion tracking to more advanced depth-based interactions, this workshop will show how to bring raw input into expressive, dynamic visual outputs.
Participants will develop a working knowledge of:
How TouchDesigner’s environment works
Connecting and manipulating visual input streams
Building reusable visual systems that respond to the world in real-time
By the end of the day, each attendee will have been shown how to build three mini-projects that showcase different ways to use live visual input in TouchDesigner, opening a pathway to installation art, VJ performance, motion-reactive environments, and more.
This workshop is free to attend for DAS & XR Lab members.
For details on how to participate, please email richard@digitalartsstudios.com.
Workshop Overview:
Introduction & Setup
Overview of TouchDesigner, UI walkthrough
Foundations
Operators (TOPs, CHOPs, DATs, SOPs), basic networks, UI logic
Working Example 1: Webcam Input
Live camera input, color tracking, basic effects
Working Example 2: Kinect Input
Depth camera, point clouds, silhouette extraction
Working Example 3: Combining Inputs
Layering video + depth data, interactive composition
Workflow: Exporting, optimization, preparing for install/performance
Open Q&A, Recap, and Sharing Session
Facilitator Bio:
Tadhg Charles is a designer, educator, and PhD researcher at Northumbria University, exploring how digital tools can make architecture more accessible. Passionate about blending physical and digital design, he teaches courses across Europe on cutting-edge fabrication and emerging tech. His work helps creators seamlessly bring ideas to life whether on-screen or in real life bridging the gap between imagination and reality. At the centre of all his undertakings is a fundamental interest in sharing, agency and storytelling. Tadhg has exhibited work at the Röhsska Museum,Gothenburg and Space gallery, London.