TouchDesigner evaluation for WonderDome
The following rubric allows for 25 points, based on my needs of the WonderDome
Ease of 3D environment manipulation and navigation
1: worst thing ever, controls are complete poo
2: controls are annoying/frustrating, but I can get by if need be
3: Controls are a bit clunky, but definitely useable
4: Pretty easy to use, even if there are a few quirks I dislike
5: Dang, I could do this all day
Can you build in this program?
4: The controls will take some getting use to, but over all they are fairly simple and intuitive. In terms of modeling with cameras and light, it is incredibly customizable, if a bit overly so. You can build and edit within Touch, or import from any CAD program.
Neigh impossible, I can’t do what I need to do
This really isn’t meant to do what I need, but I can get by
Moderate programming challenges, and controls might be a little clunky but it works
Moderate to easy programming, almost complete control/control of lights isn’t super frustrating or slow
I have complete control, and it’s easy to program
3.5: Complete control over the programming, to the point where I’d essentially have to write moving light profiles from the ground up for my instruments, as well build my own instrument models (possibly? I might be able to just download the CAD versions form manufacturer websites and “animate” them accordingly). That said, given the flexibility of Touch designer, I can definitely program whatever parameters I need to.
UPDATE: After working in TouchDesigner for a while, I can confidently say that making Profiles for moving lights is super easy! There is a learning curve to learning TouchDesigner, for sure, and I have a very long way to go to be able to make my own control program on this platform, but it is certainly possible
Communication w/other programs
Does not communicate across all desired protocols
Communicates, but is a royal pain to setup/communication drops out
Communicates with other programs well, no real issues
Communicates perfectly and has all sorts of nifty auto features that make it all a cinch
4: input/outputs in DMX, MIDI, OSC, etc. I do not know how well the communication flow works. Given how customizable TD is, the communication will probably take a bit of forethought, but will be very doable
UPDATE: The communication between TD and other programs, or even other computers also running TD (same or different editions) often requires a little playing around to make it work properly, but works quite well
Not even a free trial version unless you have a super special dongle
Expensive, but there is a limited used trial version (trial version may or may not be useful)
Decent price point, trial versions for testing
Cheap and/or almost unlimited access trial version
Free or free version that will work wonders for this project
3: I should be able to accomplish everything I need to in the free FTE/non commercial environment. The one exception to this is that TouchDesigner 088 non-commercial and TouchDesigner 077 Free Thinking Environment only allow for 32 DMX channels of output. This is a problem. Most of the lighting fixtures I will be using have at least 10 channels of DMX needed to be able to control them. In short, I will quickly run out of DMX channels for my lights. The commercial, professional and educational environments unlock the full 512 range for DMX, but do have a licensing fee. Educational license: $300 Commercial license: $599 Pro license: $2,200.
1: building everything from the ground up, and it’s going to be onerous and difficult
2: Have to build everything (or almost everything), but once it should be really stable and fairly straight forward once I get a hang of the programming
5: profiles are already made, I don’t have to do jack, AND there is an easy out for a “control” desk
3: I do have to build everything from the ground up, but it is fairly easy, I'm getting some training from a professional, and it should all be pretty solid when the whole thing is done. Getting it all done before March, however, that will be the true challenge.
Total for now: 17.5/25 (70%)
TouchDesigner is incredibly powerful and flexible, but I’ll be building from the ground up, more or less. I’ll have to design and build a profile for every single light, and some sort of control desk/playback system to be able to program and run the show. Of the moving lights I’m looking at right now, some have as many as 47 channels of DMX to be used to operate them, which means I would have to program each DMX input/output individually in TD. That said, there will only be two or three different lighting fixtures and one lighting control system, and then I can just copy and paste the rest and re-patch as necessary. As mentioned previously, the limitation of 32 DMX channels in the non-commercial versions would severely limit the amount/type of lighting fixtures I could use, so I will eventually have to upgrade to a commercial or educational license for this project
So, TD would take a long time to program, but thanks to the fairly simple/logical interface, with a solid design plan and a little training to learn the program, TD is a viable option. A much more viable option if, say, I have more time (a full year?) or more time to dedicate to creating the interfaces, but an option none the less.
As of right now, TouchDesigner will be used for a large chunk, if not all of the programming for Lighting in the Wonder Dome project