A single ordered track from zero to gallery-grade. The wiki has a lot of pages; this is the recommended reading order through them. Start at the top, work down, and check things off as you go.
How the path works
Every page on this track has a collapsible 📚 Learning Path bar pinned at the very top. Open it to see which stage you are in and jump to the previous or next step, so you never lose your place. This page is always one click away as the Path Overview.
Not a beginner?
Jump straight to the stage that matches you. Each stage lists what you should already be comfortable with and what you will be able to build by the end.
Stage 1 - Foundations
Goal: read a network, move around the canvas, and edit parameters without getting lost. No prior experience needed.
- (y-) What is TouchDesigner
- (y-) Interface Overview
- (y-) Network Editor
- (y-) Connecting Nodes
- (y-) Parameters
- (y-) Expressions and Parameters
- (y-) Viewer Active Mode
- (y-) Common Shortcuts
✅ You can now: navigate the network editor, wire operators, and switch a parameter between constant, expression, and export modes.
Stage 2 - Your First Visuals
Goal: build something that moves and reacts in your first hour. Hands-on, minimal theory.
- (y-) Basic VJ Mixer - the single most important skill: Binding.
- (y-) Audio Reactive Geometry - sound into numbers into 3D.
- (y-) Waveform Oscilloscope - a glowing 3D waveform in ten minutes.
- (y-) Chromatic Aberration Feedback - your first feedback post-effect.
- (y-) Particle System with POPs - first taste of GPU particles.
✅ You can now: drive visuals from audio, use feedback for motion, and make a basic particle system.
Stage 3 - The Operator Families
Goal: learn the vocabulary. What each of the seven families is for and when to reach for it. Refer back here constantly.
- (y-) TOPs - Texture Operators - 2D images and video (GPU).
- (y-) CHOPs - Channel Operators - signals, audio, control data.
- (y-) SOPs - Surface Operators - 3D geometry (CPU).
- (y-) COMPs - Components - containers, 3D objects, UI panels.
- (y-) DATs - Data Operators - text, tables, scripts.
- (y-) MATs - Material Operators - shaders and materials.
- (y-) POPs - Point Operators - GPU point clouds and particles.
Optional CHOP deep-dives
When you want detail on individual nodes: (y-) Constant, (y-) LFO, (y-) Math, (y-) Noise, (y-) Select, (y-) Timer.
✅ You can now: look at any node and know which family it belongs to and how to bridge between them.
Stage 4 - Rendering & 3D
Goal: turn a 3D scene into pixels and composite them. Requires Stage 3.
- (y-) Rendering Basics - the Render TOP pipeline.
- (y-) Cameras and Lights - setting up a scene.
- (y-) Instancing - thousands of objects efficiently.
- (y-) Feedback Loops - trails, blur, and accumulation.
✅ You can now: light and render a 3D scene and instance geometry from CHOP/SOP/POP data.
Stage 5 - Intermediate Recipes
Goal: combine what you know into richer pieces. Requires Stages 2-4.
- (y-) Real-time Audio Visualizer - FFT frequency analysis.
- (y-) GLSL Feedback Effect - your first shader.
- (y-) Instanced 3D Models with PBR - high-quality materials at scale.
- (y-) MediaPipe Face Tracking - your first camera interaction.
More intermediate recipes
The full set lives in (y-2) Intermediate (Audio Terrain, Slit-Scan, Pixel Sorting, Organic Amoeba, Body Segmentation, and more).
✅ You can now: write a basic GLSL shader, analyze audio frequency, and react to a face on camera.
Stage 6 - Scripting & Architecture
Goal: make projects that scale and stay maintainable. Requires comfort with parameters and expressions.
- (y-) Python in TD - scripting inside TouchDesigner.
- (y-) The op and me objects - navigating the network in code.
- (y-) Custom Parameters - building your own controls.
- (y-) Cooking - how TD decides what to compute.
- (y-) Modular Design and Toxes - reusable .tox components.
- (y-) Performance Monitoring - finding and fixing slowdowns.
✅ You can now: script with the op/me model, build reusable components, and diagnose performance.
Stage 7 - Connectivity & Shaders
Goal: get data in and out, and go deeper on the GPU. Requires Stage 6 for the scripting-heavy parts.
- (y-) OSC and MIDI - control messages in and out.
- (y-) Audio Reactivity - driving visuals from sound, properly.
- (y-) Introduction to GLSL - writing custom shaders.
- (y-) NDI and Syphon - sharing video between apps.
- (y-) DMX and Art-Net - lighting control.
✅ You can now: wire external hardware and software, and author shaders from scratch.
Stage 8 - Advanced Projects
Goal: build the hard, impressive stuff. Requires most of the above.
- (y-) Complete Hand Tracking Walkthrough - the full MediaPipe rig.
- (y-) GPU Fluid Simulation - stable fluids on the GPU.
- (y-) Reaction-Diffusion - organic patterns from two parameters.
- (y-) Vector Field Instancing - millions of points on vortex paths.
- (y-) Hand-Tracked Chaotic Attractor - Script CHOP + Lorenz attractor.
More advanced recipes
The full set lives in (y-3) Advanced.
✅ You can now: build simulation-driven and gesture-driven installation pieces.
Stage 9 - Gallery-Grade & Trending
Goal: finished, installation-quality work. The capstone.
Head to (y8) Trending 2026, which has its own suggested build order for the ten gallery pieces (real-time AI, Gaussian splats, holistic mirror) plus five viral reels to recreate.
✅ You can now: ship a piece that looks finished on a big screen.
Keep these open while you work
- (y) Glossary - every term in one place.
- (y-) Common Shortcuts - the hotkeys.
- (y) Tutorials & Links - the best external channels and resources.