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TouchDesigner User Guide[edit]

What's New[edit]

To find out what's new in the latest 2022 Official builds, read our 2022 Official Announcement, and here is 2021.

Release Notes[edit]

We've had approximately monthly updates to Official 2022 since its release in May this year. Head to the Release Notes for a full changelog and details on the currently-posted build.

For the latest in the Experimental builds, see Experimental Release Notes. Currently there are no experimental builds following the 2022 Official builds.

Downloads[edit]

Download Official Builds - A complete list of current and past official builds.

Download Experimental Builds - An archive of all experimental builds.

Licensing[edit]

Non-Commercial licenses are available at no charge for personal, educational, or evaluation purposes. If you or your organization are compensated for your work with TouchDesigner, you must have a Commercial or Pro license. For a comparison of licenses see Licensing.

Updating to the most recent build requires a key whose 'Update Date' is after the build's compile date. Check your license's 'Update Date' in the MY LICENSES section of your MY ACCOUNT page at derivative.ca. If your license 'Update Date' expired before the compile date of the build you want to use, purchase '1 Year of Updates' from the store to get another year of the latest builds.

Forum and Support[edit]

Report your problems or ask questions in our Support Forum.

Getting Started[edit]

The Getting Started Tips will help you install TouchDesigner and get it keyed and running.
Go through First Things to Know about TouchDesigner to get an introductory overview.
Follow along in this Introduction to TouchDesigner workshop. More workshop videos and tutorials can be found on the TouchDesigner Official Youtube page.

Tutorials and Workshop Videos[edit]

Introductions - Introduction to TouchDesigner workshop and the First Things to Know about TouchDesigner series.

TouchDesigner Official Youtube - A growing collection of Derivative tutorials and workshop recordings, as well as videos from previous TouchDesigner Summits. Also check out the Community Playlists section for great tutorials shared by the community.

TouchDesigner Beginner Crash Course from Interactive Immersive HQ a great way to get going with Elburz Sorkhabi's 17+ concise videos.

TouchDesigner Community Tutorials - The tutorials section of our new community feed, an amazing resource growing everyday.

AllTD.org - An excellent resource that compiles learning materials in multi-languages from the broad TouchDesigner community, thanks to Jan Gryczan in Berlin.

Tutorials Page - A full list of tutorials available. Including user-contributed and older 088 legacy sections.

TouchDesigner How-To Tips - A collection of Beginner, Intermediate and Pro how-to techniques showing you how to accomplish numerous tasks.

Documentation[edit]

Search documentation using the wiki advanced search page.
The TouchDesigner Glossary is the gateway to the concepts and architecture of TouchDesigner.
Browse the Categories found in the navigation bar on the left.
On the splash page when starting TouchDesigner, press TOUCHTIPS to get various usage tips while-u-wait.
Operator Help pages - All the node types of TouchDesigner. And check out OP Snippets below.
Python page is the main jumping off point for all things Python in TouchDesigner. Python Reference is an alphabetical index of all Python pages in the wiki. Python Classes and Modules is grouped by subject. Also see the Introduction to Python Tutorial to learn the basics of Python scripting in TouchDesigner.
Help -> Python Examples in the TouchDesigner UI takes you to a PythonExamples.toe file with 100+ examples.
Offline Help - Access the wiki when you are not connected to the internet by pre-downloading the offline documentation package.

Sample Components, Tools and Examples[edit]

OP Snippets - Over 1000 examples found via (1) the Help -> Operator Snippets menu, or (2) right-click on any operator in any network, or (3) right-click on any operator in the OP Create menu. When you get there, browse the various OP types, or try pressing Rand or Newest.
Palette Browser - In the menu Dialogs -> Palette Library, or the left-pane of the default TouchDesigner. For a list of all Palette component help pages, see Category:Palette.
Community Assets - User-contributed components and assets for TouchDesigner.
Olib from alphamoonbase - A highly-recommended growing and active resource of free TouchDesigner Components.
Also from alphamoonbase, an extensive set of intermediate instructional videos: alphamoonbase YouTube videos

Derivative Forum[edit]

General forums - Ask any questions, share techniques, or leave comments and requests. TouchDesigner support for Non-Commercial, Educational, and Commercial should be posted here in the forum. Pro license holders can contact us directly through Pro Support.

White Papers and Topics[edit]

Online Courses (paid)[edit]

Interactive Immersive HQ - the extensive full professional training program for TouchDesigner.
TouchDesigner Workshops by Lich Pfad Studio & Stanislav Glazov - Excellent resource for GLSL, Geometry Shaders in particular and general introduction as well as intermediate material.
Learning TouchDesigner by Scott Pagano on Lynda.com - A 4h fundamentals course on TouchDesigner.

Other Resources[edit]

Facebook - Join us on Facebook and keep up to date with the latest TouchDesigner projects.
TouchDesigner Help on Facebook- Massively helpful Facebook Help Group for TouchDesigner run by users.

Vimeo - Videos posted by the TouchDesigner community on Vimeo.
Twitter - Follow us on Twitter @1null1
Books - Books to help you learn TouchDesigner. and write GLSL Shaders
Frequently Asked Questions - Frequently asked questions about TouchDesigner.
CHOPCHOPCHOP - A marketplace for TouchDesigner Components.
GitHub projects - Browse GitHub for a wide range of user submitted projects.
Resources - Textures, devices, animations, movies, audio and more.