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Learning TouchDesigner

Creative Realtime Media

TouchDesigner is a visual development platform that equips you with the tools you need to create omnimedial realtime projects and novel user experiences. Whether you’re creating interactive media systems, architectural projections, live music visuals, or simply rapid-prototyping your latest creative impulse, TouchDesigner is a great platform to do all of the above and more.

TouchDesigner is an almost limitless tool for real-time creativity built for artists, performers and researchers. It allows them to work with generative and recorded media in a very free and easy way. Programs and shows are being built by connecting visual building blocks to networks. Everything you do in TouchDesigner happens in realtime while you experience the result you are working on it. 

TouchDesigner visualizes data flow through each step of the process. Experimentation and iteration are at the core of TouchDesigner’s design philosophy, making it one of the fastest and most flexible tools for rapid-prototyping. TouchDesigner works well with the world around it. Whether it is other software, protocols, hardware devices, or the web, extensive options for interoperability let you integrate TouchDesigner into any environment.

Learn more about TouchDesigner from Derivative

TouchDesigner Summer 26

Foundation Classes

Both classes are led by Nima Gazestani. The Beginner Class provides a solid foundation through playful exercises, teaching core concepts and workflows to confidently start creating projects.

The Intermediate Class shifts focus to more complex systems, combining multiple approaches and structured workflows to support systematic, professional-level projects.

For these sessions, Nima is joined by Function Store and Vanta for introductions to Python and GLSL. Both classes emphasize hands-on learning, experimentation, and practical insight, helping participants progress smoothly from beginner to intermediate proficiency.

TouchDesigner Beginner Class Summer 26

Always Tuesdays from 6 – 9 pm, Berlin Time
12 Live lessons from April 7 to June 23, 2026
Recordings will become available the day after the live lesson.

In this 12-session course, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of visual programming in TouchDesigner. Each module focuses on building small, playful interactive projects that help you explore the software’s powerful creative capabilities step by step.

The class is led and constantly improved by interaction designer and visual artist Nima Gazestani, former Course Leader of the MA in Interaction Design at Domus Academy, and features guest sessions by VanTa and Dan Molnar (Function Store) introducing the scripting languages Python and GLSL in a very beginner friendly way.

DISCOVER THE CURRICULUM

TouchDesigner Intermediate Class Summer 26

Always Tuesdays from 6 – 9 pm, Berlin Time
8 Live lessons from July 7 to August 25, 2026
Recordings will become available the day after the live lesson.

In this 8-session intermediate course, you will deepen your TouchDesigner skills and move beyond the basics of visual programming. Designed for students and professionals with prior experience, each module focuses on building more ambitious interactive systems and real-world workflows.

Topics include optimization, working with external devices and data, generative strategies, and preparing projects for performance and installation. The course is led by interaction designer and visual artist Nima Gazestani, joined by guest lecturers sharing professional insights and advanced techniques.

EXPLORE INTERMEDIATE CLASS

Professional Modules

This Summer Season, we offer two advanced learning paths for creative coders, artists, and media technicians who want to elevate their TouchDesigner practice. The TD PRO modules are not suited for beginners and assume participants are fully capable in TouchDesigner. If in doubt, please visit our Beginner Class first, which provides a solid foundation.

Learn from experienced artists and developers who have honed their skills over years of real-world practice. In carefully curated lessons, they share insights, ready-to-use components, and practical techniques that can save you days of trial and error. Across 11 live sessions from April 29 to the end of July 2026, all recordings will be available the day after each lesson, giving you flexibility to follow at your own pace.

Choose the bundle that fits your focus, or combine both for a complete view of POPs, procedural workflows, advanced techniques, and production-ready system design.

POPs, POPs, POPs
Basics, Advanced Workflows
& Case Studies

POPs have turned the TouchDesigner world upside down. Techniques that once seemed impossible in real time are now within reach, and a rapidly expanding ecosystem of tools marks the beginning of a new era.

The bundle consists of a foundation course that builds a solid understanding of POPs and core workflows, followed by an advanced techniques course. Three case studies then show how these methods apply in real-world projects, bridging the gap between experimentation and production-ready design.

Led by artists deeply engaged in this evolving field, the bundle combines months of research with practical insight, helping you move from playful exploration to controlled, high-level procedural systems ready for performance and installation.

LEARN ALL ABOUT POPs

System Builder
Architecture, Performance
& Scalability

Every TouchDesigner user must eventually move beyond “noodle-salad” networks and last-minute fixes. This bundle introduces robust, future-proof system design.

The bundle consists of a foundation course covering modular architectures, data flow, and maintainable project structures, followed by a course on versioned, collaborative workflows for larger productions, enabling distributed teams to work efficiently while maintaining clarity and control.

Led by two veterans of making large-scale installations work, the bundle combines years of real-world experience with practical insight, giving you the tools and workflows to confidently deliver complex projects ready for performance and installation.

TWO MODULES COMING SOON

Creative Masterclasses

Our Creative Masterclasses are structured in two progressive chapters designed to combine accessible learning, artistic development, and real-world presentation.

Chapter 1 — Foundations
The first chapter introduces the theoretical background, tools, and core techniques of the topic. Through lectures and demonstrations, participants gain a solid understanding of the concepts and workflows involved. This part is open to a larger audience and can be taken as a standalone course.

Chapter 2 A — Artistic Development
In the second chapter, a smaller group of selected participants develops their own projects based on the knowledge from Chapter 1. Through mentorship sessions and feedback rounds, participants refine their ideas and translate them into working pieces. While this part is still happening online, the last part is happening in person.

Chapter 2 B — Presentation & Refinement
The final chapter takes place in an intensive on-site setting where participants test and improve their work in the actual presentation environment. The program includes critique sessions, studio work, and a final presentation or performance.

This modular structure allows broad access to foundational knowledge while enabling deeper artistic exploration for a smaller cohort of participants.

In Summer of 26, we offer three courses, each lead by an experienced educator with their own artistic practice known as steady contributors to the creative coding community. Each Masterclass is made possible by the generous support and estimated partnership with three laboratories in european cultural cities.

Immersive Room

Stefan Kraus &
Kunstkraftwerk
Leipzig

May 11 – Jul 8, 2026
Online + In Person in Berlin & Leipzig

This two-part masterclass with Stefan Kraus (aka MXZEHN) invites artists, designers, digital scenographers, and media architects to explore the creation of immersive experiences using TouchDesigner.

While the course will introduce interactive concepts,
the final result is a pre-rendered audio-visual journey,
executed on five walls and on six speakers at
KunstKraftWerk Leipzig.

Create immersion

Creative Robotics

Amir Bastan &
Kunstuni
Linz

June 2 + 9 + 16 – TBC, 2026
Online + In Person in Linz

Robotics in the Arts explores how robots can become creative partners in artistic practice. Led by Amir Bastan, the course combines conceptual frameworks with hands-on experiments, including controlling a virtual KUKA arm and interacting with Spot.

It also opens the door to a project-based follow-up course for selected participants at the Creative Robotics Lab of Kunstuni Linz.

CO_CREATION COMING SOON

TouchDesigner Retreat
September 17 – 27, 2026

In person in Piemont, Italy

How about learning TouchDesigner for interactive media art in a quiet, beautiful setting in Italy?

Bathed in sun and surrounded by outstanding food and a community of like-minded creatives, you’ll be guided by experienced, passionate educators into the world of TouchDesigner. Starting from scratch, you’ll explore real-time generative media through hands-on exercises—culminating in a public exhibition. Along the way, you’ll learn how to combine visual programming with state-of-the-art tracking technologies to create immersive, interactive installations.

Ten days. Max. 16 participants.

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TouchDesigner History

The company behind TouchDesigner, Derivative was founded in 2000 by Greg Hermanovic, Rob Bairos and Jarrett Smith in Canada. TouchDesigner’s deep roots are in the PRISMS software product developed at Omnibus Computer Graphics in Toronto, Los Angeles and New York in 1984 to 1987. When Omnibus collapsed due to higher than anticipated costs of purchasing and maintaining its competitors, coupled with an even higher level of expectations instilled in its shareholders, PRISMS was purchased from the Omnibus liquidators by Kim Davidson and Greg Hermanovic, forming the inception of Side Effects Software.

Side Effects developed and licensed PRISMS to end-users for 11 years until 1998, and PRISMS was used in over 200 feature films, culminating in its first Academy Award in 1998. Meanwhile Houdini emerged in 1995 as Side Effects Software’s next-generation product, serving the visual effects market to this day. In 2002, Side Effects Software received its second Academy Award for the innovations within Houdini, with another 300+ features films made with Houdini to date.

Greg Hermanovic spun-off Derivative in 2000, starting from the then-current Houdini 4.1. Derivative embarked on a mission to make a real-time 2D and 3D interactive animation product, suitable for authoring any form of interactive art/media/visualization.

Derivative’s first generation of its product TouchDesigner spanned from TouchDesigner 007 to 017 during 2002 to 2007. In 2008 Derivative released its next-gen TouchDesigner 077 in beta form, which was a rewrite of its previous incarnations, incorporating fully procedural OpenGL compositing and rendering system using the GPU, a new user interface and more. Today’s TouchDesigner 099 is the latest evolution of that next-gen platform.

Watch an interview with Derivative founder Greg Hermanovic