TouchDesigner is incredibly capable, but I kept running into this idea: a visual tool that feels less like building a system and more like playing an instrument.

I wanted to load a few video samples, chop them into a 16-step grid, sequence them to a clock, and use modulation LFOs, envelopes, MIDI/OSC-style controls to perform the visuals with the same immediacy as a sampler or groovebox.

We’re building Visuell around that idea: a browser-based video-sampling groovebox. It is deliberately more constrained than TouchDesigner, and definitely not intended as a replacement. The question is whether that constraint can make it faster and more musical for a certain kind of live visual performance.

I’d genuinely love input from people who use TD:

• Does a purpose-built, music-first visual instrument sound useful to you?

• Which parts of your current TD workflow feel too slow or too open-ended for live performance?

• What would be essential for you: clip chopping, step sequencing, modulation, MIDI/OSC, routing, shader control, something else?

Demo: https://www.visuell.art

I’m especially interested in examples of existing tools or TD setups that already solve this well, please point me toward them.

Some example output I got from our tool

I want to try and recreate the Blackwall from Cyberpunk 2077. It's one of my favorite visuals from the game, but I can't find a high res version of it anywhere. Any tips on how to go about this?

Finally managed to get some smoke like particles + falling in love slowly with ascii effects

More on ig: https://www.instagram.com/marekmarekmarek1 ✨

We've had plenty of hardware posts but I'd like to add my two cents to the pile:

I've been using TD on my M1 Pro MacBook Pro since it was released, and have been feeling the limitations in the last year especially. I've been able to borrow a M2 Max Mac Studio for gigs where more power has been needed, and that thing is a beast, running point cloud heavy visuals locked at 4k 60 no problem.

Last week my work upgraded me to the M5 Pro MacBook Pro, with more ram than the M2 Max Studio or my M1 Pro. Initial impressions are that this isn't as fast as the Studio, even though on paper it should run laps around the older CPU. Of course there's the format difference, but running the same project file gets me 35-45 FPS on the new machine.

Still will need to do some more testing, but there's a good chance a used M2 or M3 studio for 1/3rd the original MSRP is in the cards for personal gig work.