My JDRenderEngine is now in V3.
I came to Touchdesigner from timeline-based video editing in programs like iMovie, Adobe Premiere and Davinci Resolve. For a few years I also built patches in Magic Music Visualizer. I was always frustrated by the UI of iMovie and similar programs. I never found their UX very good coming from the audio world. I also disliked how they managed project data, creating a whole new project with every iteration of a piece.
I liked the scene creation features of Magic Music Visualizer, though these too were quirky. As primarily an audio artist, I wanted a quick way to render content I was creating in Touchdesigner. Out of the box, Touchdesigner didn't have anything that checked the boxes for me, so I decided to build something.
As I dove deeper into Touchdesigner during a 6-month intensive study under lockdown, I realized that I could mostly replace iMovie or similar tools. I probably wouldn't go back to Magic (though I still think it's a brilliant program, and I still liked the scene creation/logic features.
Of course, all of these tools could still be used in various combinations depending on the creative need, but I was looking for a “one stop shop”.
Thus my work began, in January 2021, on what I would call the “Render Engine”, specifically to solve certain problems I was encountering for content development. By March 2021 I had a working proof of concept, and opened up testing with a fellow audio artist (Breakfast). By working on visual content for him, I was able to refine the tool further.
Since then, the tool has gone through further development. In July I released V2, and in August I wrapped up V3 but am just getting that out now. A stripped back version is also in the works that offers somewhat different capabilities. More on that later!
If you like this tool, then buy me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jeremydeprisco
