Custom Visual Instruments with TouchDesigner – Workshop m4music Festival – Luis Sanz

Instructors: Niculin Barandun, Luis Sanz
Dates: March 14 – 16, 2019
Location: Schiffbau 10, 8005 Zürich
Experience level: Beginner
Cost: CHF  200.00

Focus: This workshop will kickstart your journey into the new media world. With the use of TouchDesigner, you will be able to start generative multimedia art projects. TouchDesigner is an application by Derivative, where no programming skills are required to build your own custom systems. You will get an introduction to the software, learn how to generate and render 3D-scenes, how build your own custom visual instrument and how to interface with it.

Requirements: Laptop or desktop computer with successfully installed TouchDesigner 099 and a mouse (three button mouse, if possible). Download TouchDesigner and install it on your computer. If you can run it after installation your computer is good enough for the workshop. If available, bring a display adapter to HDMI/DVI or VGA. You are also welcome to bring your own input devices such as midi controllers, leap motion or game.

Application: Participants limited. Send your application to workshop@nicul.in until February 20. Your participation is secured, once the workshop fee is paid.

Open Doors: After the workshop, the results will be accessible to the public. Meeting point on March 16 at 6pm is at Schiffbau 10 (entry from Turbinenplatz), 8005 Zürich.

Thursday, March 14, 6 – 9pm

  • Interface overview
  • Operator overview
  • Introduction to 3D
  • Camera and light composition
  • Rendering & Materials
  • Palette and operator snippets

Friday, March 15, 6 – 9pm

  • Generative textures
  • Introduction to noise (2D and 3D)
  • Device inputs and interactivity
  • UI building and performance
  • Further resources

Saturday, March 16, 10 – 12am, 1 – 7pm

  • Practical day, each participant develops their own visual instrument
  • The results will be open to the public after the workshop
  • Interested participants can showcase their visual instruments live after the workshop.

Workshop instructors

Luis Sanz (Ilo, PE) is an installation artist and musician living in Switzerland. Sanz’s installation and performance works combine vocal techniques, body language, audio visual instruments, feedback systems and free improvisation. By playing with the limits of these tools, Sanz aims to commit acts of violence against passivity and therefore to confront domesticated signals in the everyday life. Sanz’s works seek to open a dimension where to generate a new sensorial space in the register of acoustic, visual and tactile perceptions in order to break the boundaries of accepted reality. More about Luis Sanz on luissanz.ch.

Niculin Barandun (CH) is a media artist, based in Basel, Switzerland. Using self-developed software-instruments, Niculin Barandun creates processes at the intersection of art, science, technology and design. More about Niculin Barandun on nicul.in.

Generative sketches, Luis Sanz

STM~ Duality, 2018, Luis Sanz & Niculin Barandun, Volumens Festival, Valencia

Undiscovered, Niculin Barandun, 2018, New Media Art Exhibition, Guangzhou

 

The software

TouchDesigner is a visual development platform that equips you with the tools you need to create stunning real time projects and rich user experiences. It’s used by artists such as Carsten Nicolai (Alva Noto) and Robert Henke and by companies such as Moment Factory, Sila Sveta and Xite Labs. Whether you’re creating interactive media systems, architectural projections, live music visuals, or simply rapid-prototyping your latest creative impulse, TouchDesigner is the platform that can do it all.

More about TouchDesigner on the website of Derivative: www.derivative.ca

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