Operator Cookbook for TouchDesigner

An unofficial cookbook for TouchDesigner

Recipes that cook every frame.

Thirteen effects, each broken down into the operators it needs, the parameters that matter and the method in order. All thirteen run live in your browser, some on video and music generated with fal.ai, so you can try them before you build them.

Start with the Feedback Tunnel Browse all recipes
Recipes
13
Operators wired
170
Installs needed
0
null1· feedback tunnel —
Move your pointer. The ring follows.

The recipes

Every preview is live. Hover a card to play with it, then open it for the full method, the network and the parameters.

The recipes load with JavaScript and WebGL. If this message stays, reload the page or try a current desktop browser.

Reading the colours

TouchDesigner colour-codes its operators by family, and so does this cookbook. Pick a family to see every recipe that uses it.

House rules

  • End every chain on a Null.

    Point exports and references at a null1, never at a working operator. You can rewire everything upstream without breaking what depends on it. Feedback targets are the exception: aim at the null1 when the loop ends the chain, but at the GLSL TOP or Composite where the loop closes when that sits mid-chain.

  • Feedback wants floats.

    Any loop that decays slowly will band at 8-bit. On the Common page set Pixel Format to 16-bit float on the Feedback TOP and on each TOP where a fresh image joins the loop, usually a Composite (single-input TOPs in between follow on Use Input), and to 32-bit float when a texture holds positions or chemistry.

  • Resolution is seasoning.

    Filter TOPs inherit resolution from their input; multi-input TOPs pick which one (Composite by its Fixed Layer, Displace by its Resolution Source). Set it once on the generator at the top of the chain and everything below follows, which makes it the cheapest performance dial you have. The free Non-Commercial licence caps TOPs at 1280×1280, so build at 1280×720.

  • Lag the outside world.

    Mouse, audio and MIDI arrive jittery. Put a Lag or Filter CHOP between any input device and any visual so motion eases in instead of snapping.