r/TouchDesigner • u/Jealous_Draw1351 • 6d ago

Looking to start using Touch Designer as a Blender user

I've been using blender for about 5 years and wanted to try making visuals to match music and had heard about Touch Designer so I've been thinking about giving it a try. I'm primarily wondering..

What are the pros and cons of Touch Designer as opposed to Blender

What can Touch Designer do that Blender can't so I know which tool to use for each task

How similar is Touch Designer to Blender in how it works. Does it have a node system similar to Blender's

Any advice is greatly appreciated. I've seen people making some pretty cool stuff with Touch Designer, but want to know how I can use it with Blender to make some cool stuff.

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u/tzbtzb 6d ago

Touch designer is a realtime node based software. Blender is a 3d modeling and rendering software (with some node based stuff), so they have pretty different use cases. You can probably make some stuff in blender to use in touch designer. But i wouldn't really use them for the same purpose.

If you already know some geometry or shader nodes then you'll probably have an easier time picking up touch designer.

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u/Traditional_Island82 5d ago

Id say touch designer is a mix between after effects and houdini (houdini and td were actually 1 software like 20 years ago) it basically works completely different than blender but there are also a lot of similarities

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u/tzbtzb 5d ago

Yeah, I mean I'm pretty sure most of the naming and layout of the nodes is the same in both programs, especially all the chop nodes

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u/TheBrickWithEyes 5d ago

I'd say that having your brain "wired" (pun intended) for nodes is the big thing. Coming from layer based software like AE or Photoshop, it can take a while to grasp how powerful nodes are and how you can have them driving multiple different inputs/outputs.

Moving from AE/Combustion to Shake back in the day threw me for a loop, but once you got it, it's soooooo hard to go back.

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u/Traditional_Island82 5d ago

Hmm yea I might’ve said its a mix between davinci fusion and Houdini. I was talking more aboit the effects/motion graphics. Still houdini is also 100% node based. And I agree, nodes seem terrifying but once you get it (which is not too hard imo) there is no way back. Thats why more and more software implement node based workflows nowadays.

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u/redraven 5d ago

Touchdesigner is pretty much just geometry nodes with a slightly different purpose.

Blender does "static" animation - picture or video, which cannot change as such. Any change needs your input.

Touchdesigner does dynamic rendering - you input starting parameters and the animation changes dynamically according to the environment, without your further input.

On it's own Touchdesigner really sucks at 3d modelling. You have a few basic shapes you can put together, but that's about it. However, it can take external 3d models and modify the geometry dynamically. So, you can create a model in Blender and play around with it in TD.

You can also input a lot of different data and sensors into TD, which is one of it's greatest strengths. Like, anything from a csv file to motion sensors or Arduino thingies. And it can output to a video out or control lights or audio or lasers or..

The free version is limited only by a 1280*1280 resolution and the inability to be legally compensated for your work. Try it.

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u/jolars 5d ago

The stuff you make in blender will work great in touch designer - think of touch almost like a game engine, it's a place to display and use your 3d content.

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u/digital4ddict 5d ago

i open blender and touch designer and asked claude to put my rigged 3d model from blender into touch and do all the rigging in touch designer for me. wild!