We had already thought that Touchdesigner would probably provide us with the best way to make what we needed. We also knew that you can input data from MAX into Touchdesigner which would work to make it a reactive visual. I started the process by looking for tutorials for what we needed specifically because neither of us have much experience using Touchdesigner (especially me). So it was going to be a real learning experience.
I looked extensively for the right tutorials, starting with just beginner Touchdesigner ones (which soon we realised we did not have enough time to start at the basics) and then trying to find specific ones. It became clear quite quickly that what we were attempting to make was not something commonly done, so I found just one tutorial that could maybe work. It used multiple attractors that attracted particles around a spherical base object.
I started following the tutorial and it was definitely a long, hard process. It created some really interesting visuals in the process that looked quite like the one we were thinking of. The problem was trying to figure out where we would be able to input our own data as the locational information for the attractors. The tutorial has randomly generated coordinates for the attractors, which are constantly changing as well.
Yanis had used Touchdesigner a little before, so he started by trying to make something himself first, and then proceeded to use some tutorials that showed how to make wavey/sea like visuals.
Yanis’ Touchdesigner trials:
