Code & Canvas:

Unlock the fusion of art and technology with Code & Canvas: Art and Design with TouchDesigner—a comprehensive four-session workshop hosted by Video Pool Media Arts Centre and led by instructor JJ (Jia Jia). Designed for artists, designers, and creative technologists, this course offers hands-on experience in creating real-time generative visuals and interactive media using TouchDesigner.

By the end of this workshop, participants will have a solid foundation in TouchDesigner, enabling them to create captivating generative visuals, develop audio-reactive animations, and design interactive media.

Join us for Code & Canvas and embark on a journey where coding meets creativity, and technology becomes your artistic tool.

Please click to register for online or in-person instruction.

$200 for members, $250 for nonmembers.

*To receive the members discount promotion code and/or information on how to become a member, please email: education@videopool.org with your full name and whether interested in registering online or in-person.

Course Details

Participants will begin by learning the fundamentals of TouchDesigner’s interface and its core Operator types—TOPs, SOPs, and CHOPs—while exploring techniques like feedback, noise, and instancing to create evolving generative visuals. The workshop also covers how to link audio inputs to visual elements, enabling students to build responsive animations and custom music visualizers that react dynamically to sound.

As the course progresses, students will explore interactivity through input devices like the mouse and keyboard, using cursor movement and key presses to control visual parameters, trigger effects, and create dynamic user-driven experiences. Additional tools such as sliders and buttons can be introduced to build custom user interfaces for interactive control.

The course concludes with an introduction to spatial media, incorporating video input from webcams to enable motion or brightness-based interaction. Participants will learn how to extract usable data from video feeds and apply it to influence visual or audio elements in their projects. The final class will feature a demonstration of how such systems can be experienced immersively through virtual reality, led by the instructor. Students will also have the opportunity to share and discuss their own projects in a short participant showcase.

By the end of the course, students will have developed their own interactive and generative media pieces while gaining a strong foundation in TouchDesigner’s creative workflow.

Course Requirements

• A laptop with TouchDesigner installed (the free version is available at derivative.ca)

• While not mandatory, basic familiarity with digital art or creative software (such as Photoshop, Ableton, or similar tools) will be helpful

• A webcam is recommended for the final class to explore video input and motion-based interaction.