Instancing with TOPs in TouchDesigner

This TouchDesigner tutorial covers instancing with TOPs through the creation of a “particle donut.” It’s at a beginner to intermediate level, with a more advanced section at the end touching on GLSL.

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Please note this tutorial uses TouchDesigner Version 2023.11600. If you’re using an older or newer version there may be features that don’t work in exactly the same way.

Additional GLSL resources mentioned in the video:
https://thebookofshaders.com/
https://docs.derivative.ca/Write_a_GLSL_TOP

Video Navigation / Topics:
0:00 – Intro
02:35 – Instancing Operator Families
10:29 – Instancing Setup
17:51 – Noise Coordinate Map
25:11 – Instance Rotation
27:32 – Looping to the Timeline
31:28 – Camera Motion
35:28 – Lighting
40:00 – SSAO
42:45 – Bloom
46:36 – 2D Attractor Reference
49:53 – Attractor Path
52:21 – Attractor using Math in TOPs
1:05:14 – Scaling Instances by Attractor
1:07:34 – Rotating Instances to Attractor
1:12:09 – Attractor using GLSL
1:26:07 – Project File Overview