Yusuf's Thoughts

POP - Point Operators

2 min read

POP - Point Operators (GPU Points)

POPs are used for high-performance GPU-based point cloud processing and particle systems. Introduced in TouchDesigner 2023+, they represent a major shift from CPU-bound SOPs to massive GPU-driven point manipulation.

Key POPs

  • Point: Create and manipulate point attributes.
  • Merge: Combine multiple point streams.
  • Force: Apply physics-like forces (gravity, turbulence).
  • Attribute: Modify point properties (color, size, custom).
  • Render: Convert point data into a format for TOP rendering.
  • Convert: Transfer data between SOPs/CHOPs and POPs.

Data Structure

Unlike SOPs, which store geometry (points, vertices, primitives) on the CPU, POPs store attributes in a GPU-optimized buffer. This allows for millions of points to be processed in real-time.

  • Attributes: Each point can carry various data (Position, Color, Velocity, Normal, Mass).
  • Massive Parallelism: Operations on points are executed simultaneously on the GPU.

Why use POPs?

  1. Performance: Handle millions of points where SOPs would struggle with thousands.
  2. Particle Systems: Built-in tools for simulation and life-cycle management.
  3. Interoperability: Easily convert point data to and from TOPs (textures) or CHOPs (signals).

How to Use POPs

POPs are the modern, high-performance way to handle particle systems and massive point clouds on the GPU.

  1. Adding a POP: Open the OP Create Dialog (Tab) and select the POP family (dark gray/blue tint).
  2. Getting Points In:
    • You typically start by converting existing data. Use a SOP to POP to convert 3D geometry points, or a TOP to POP to convert texture pixels into points (where RGB becomes XYZ position).
  3. Processing Actions:
    • Pass your POP sequence through modifier nodes like Point POP (to math on point positions) or Force POP (to add noise, wind, or gravity).
    • Unlike SOPs, operations on millions of points happen almost instantly because they run on the GPU.
  4. Rendering:
    • You can’t render POPs directly with a standard Geometry COMP.
    • Use a Render POP or convert the POP data back into a texture (POP to TOP) or geometry (POP to SOP) depending on how you wish to visualize the point cloud. Rendering as a texture (TOP) and using instancing is usually the most performant workflow.
  5. System Requirements: Note that POPs require a modern GPU and TouchDesigner 2023.11290 or later.

(y-) Next Chapter: SOPs

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