01 MON | Introduction

01 MON | Introduction

Introduction to the Audiovisual Studio Workshop #

What is this workshop about? What are we going to do? What am I expecting you to do?

The Timeline of AV Art #

I have been slowly compiling a timeline of Audiovisual Art here on this site. During this workshop, we are going to go through a selection of some key moments from this timeline. Today, we are going to focus on the time between 1600-1900. Time when magic lantern shows and phantasmagorias were the places where artists were experimenting with projected light.

Richard Balzer #

Erkki Huhtamo #

Introduction to TouchDesigner #

Learning outcomes #

After this session, you should be able to:

  • navigate the TouchDesigner network interface.
  • identify the key capabilities of each of the operator families in TouchDesigner (CHOP, TOP, SOP, DAT, COMP)
  • create, connect, and modify operators.
  • use texture operators (TOPs) to modify images.
  • use channel operators (CHOPS) to control elements of a TouchDesigner network.

If you missed something in class or just need to recap on these basic topics, go through the tutorials from Derivative, the company that makes TouchDesigner.

We are going to need one specific image file today. Download it here (right-click and save as).

1st Project: Chromatrope #

We are going to build a project that simulates the operation of a magic lantern Chromatrope slide.

Download the files we need.

Learning outcomes #

After this session, you should be able to:

  • load and use images and videos in your project
  • combine multiple compositing steps for more complex image processing
  • create simple interactions with keyboard input
  • use simple audio-reactivity to drive animations

Video tutorials #

If you missed something during the class, you can check out this series of videos I recorded that go through building the entire process.

Download files #