Instancing in TouchDesigner 2/3: Making TOPs Pop in 3D!

What is instancing, and how can we use it? Instancing allows us to draw a single shape, or SOP, many times, more efficiently than if we were to copy it over and over. The Geo comp allows us to define how each instance of the SOP is drawn, using several different control fields which can take instructional data from almost any source, provided we format the data correctly.

In this video, we discuss how to map the pixels of an image onto instanced boxes in a grid formation. When we use the r channel to displace the boxes in the z plane, we see an example of a way to add depth to a 2D texture. This technique can be used on live RGB or depth camera feeds for a simple way to enable interaction with geometry.

GitHub Repo: https://github.com/reynbows/Intro2Instancing
IG: @rey.nbows
Website: reyjarrell.com