After receiving the scanned files from the LiDAR, we attempted to import them into TouchDesigner for processing. Initially, we followed video tutorial from Heckmann (2019), which used a CSV file. As mentioned by Yuxuan, this method was not suitable for us because the numbers in our CSV file were very messy. Therefore, we decided to follow the B2BK (2023) tutorial and import PLY files into TouchDesigner instead (the specific import process can be found in the blog https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/dmsp-place23/2023/04/26/designing-interactions-with-touchdesigner-1-importing-point-cloud-files/ ).
Rendering Material – Volumetric Point Cloud
As shown in Figure 1, we added materials to the point cloud to make it visible in the geometry node. However, as shown in Figure 2, the particles displayed in this way are flat. We found a way to solidify the particles in another video by Heckmann (2019), as shown in Figure 3, adding a box SOP node to turn each particle into a cube, and then adding materials to these cubes to obtain the effect shown in Figure 4.
Figure 1 Figure 2, flat point clouds
Figure 3, add box sop Figure 4, cube point clouds
If you’re reading this in order, please proceed to the next post: ‘Touchdesigner visual part2 – Noise node’.
Yijun Zhou&Yuxuan Guo
References
B2BK (2023). Touchdesigner Tutorial – Advanced Pointclouds Manipulation. [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF0sj_R7DJY&t=153s [Accessed 26 Apr. 2023].
Heckmann, M. (2019). Point Clouds in TouchDesigner099 Part2 – Using a Point Cloud File (Star Database). [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAmflEv0LJA&t=1221s [Accessed 26 Apr. 2023].
Heckmann, M. (2019). Point Clouds in TouchDesigner099 Part1 – Instancing. [online] www.youtube.com. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbnaW3gMmMs&t=7s [Accessed 26 Apr. 2023].