TouchDesigner’s window is built from panes: work areas that can be split, layered, and swapped between viewer types. The pane you’ll spend the most time in is the Network Editor, but the same window also hosts the parameter dialog, the Palette browser, the timeline, and the Textport.
The Five Areas You’ll Use Daily
- Menu bar (top): File, Edit, Window, Dialogs, Help. Most of what’s here also has a keyboard shortcut.
- The active pane: typically a Network Editor showing one COMP’s network, but it can be any pane type (see below).
- Pane bar (top of each pane): shows the network path of what the pane is looking at. Click a
/segment to jump up the hierarchy, or click empty space to type a path directly. - Parameter dialog: a floating panel showing the selected operator’s parameters. Toggle with
p. See Parameters. - Palette browser (left dock): drag-and-drop library of pre-built components. Toggle with
l.
Pane Types
The same pane slot can host any of these views. Switch via the icon in the pane bar:
| Pane | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Network Editor | The default: operators wired into a network |
| Geometry Viewer | A live 3D view of any SOP/Geo COMP |
| TOP Viewer | A full-pane view of any TOP’s output |
| CHOP Viewer | Channel data plotted over time |
| Parameters | Floating parameter dialog as a docked pane |
| Animation Editor | Keyframe editor for the Animation COMP |
| Textport and DATs | Python REPL plus DAT inspector |
| Panel | A live preview of a custom UI Panel COMP |
| Browser | An embedded web browser |
Splitting and Linking Panes
The TouchDesigner window can be split into 2 or more panes. Use the Pane Layout bar at the top of the window to pick a multi-pane layout (vertical split, horizontal split, quad), then drag the divider to resize. Each pane is independent. You can have one Network Editor showing /project1 while another shows /project1/geo1, and a third TOP-viewing your final composite.
The pane bar also has icons to:
- Link panes, so navigating one pane causes the linked pane to follow
- Go fullscreen on this pane
- Jump back/forward through pane history (like a browser)
Network Path
The path bar shows where you are: /project1/geo1/transform1. Three ways to move around:
- Click a
/segment in the path bar to jump up - Press
ito enter the selected COMP - Press
uto go up one level
Dialogs Worth Knowing
Triggered from the Dialogs menu. Bind these to muscle memory:
| Dialog | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Performance Monitor | Alt+Y | Per-frame cook times and bottlenecks. See Performance Monitoring |
| Textport | Alt+T | Python REPL plus log output |
| Component Editor | RMB → Customize Component | Add custom parameters. See Custom Parameters |
| Errors | Alt+E | List of all errors / warnings across the project |
On macOS,
Altis the Option key. TouchDesigner intentionally usesCtrl(notCmd) on macOS, which differs from most Mac apps. See Common Shortcuts.
What’s Next
- The Network Editor: deeper dive into the main pane
- Common Shortcuts: the muscle-memory list
📚 Learning Path · Stage 1 - Foundations · step 2 of 44
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