SS24 – TD 13 – From Point Clouds to Particle Systems: Working with 3D Scans in TouchDesigner
July 31st 2024, 6 – 9 PM (UTC+2)
In English Language / Online via Zoom
Recordings are available and accessible for one year after purchase.
Photogrammetry and reality capture technology has taken off recently, with AI-powered tools like Luma AI and Polycam enabling artists of all types to generate high-fidelity point clouds of their environments at the click of a button. These point clouds can create some stunning visuals and used to great interactive effect, but they can be tricky to work with in real-time engines like TouchDesigner.
This course will teach you everything you need to know to create your own living, breathing environment for viewers to explore, using virtually any 3D scan. We will also dive deep into the ParticlesGPU component in TouchDesigner’s palette and build a robust understanding of its inner workings, so that you can customise it for virtually any use case you might come across.
Course Overview:
– Import different types of reality capture / 3D scan assets to TouchDesigner
– Use ParticlesGPU for point cloud rendering and manipulation
– Create custom GLSL particle system for complete point cloud animation and control
– Physically based rendering pipeline for reality capture particle systems
– What is a Gaussian Splat, anyway?
– Adapting custom particle system for Gaussian Splat manipulation using new TD Gaussian Splat rendering pipeline from Tim Gerritsen
Requirements
If you are new to shaders, we recommend taking this introduction module by VanTa first.
- A recent PC or MAC Computer (discrete GPU recommended) with stable internet connection
- The most recent production build of TouchDesigner 2022 (2022.35320, for backward compatibility) installed
- 3-Button Mouse recommended
About the Instructor
Lake Heckaman is a Brooklyn-based new media artist with a background in theoretical mathematics and data science. His experiential works combine custom GPU-accelerated simulations with real-time viewer interactions to explore connections between observation, perception, and consciousness. Lake’s artworks have been exhibited internationally, and he has worked as a freelancer on various permanent installations around the world.
Pricing
Student – One Session at 50 EUR = 50 EUR
Professional – One Session at 100 EUR = 100 EUR
Company – One Session at 200 EUR = 200 EUR
