Collaborative VFX with TouchDesigner: Behind the Visual Effects of Grey Matter
Dear reader, I'd like to share with you, from the perspective of an audiovisual composer working with TouchDesigner, the experience of using the software collaboratively as a visual composition tool for an experimental dance film called GREY MATTER, directed by Richard Crouchley.
During our first conversations, as I worked to understand the film's visual expectations and conceptual direction, the initial inspiration came from a series of studies I had previously published under the title BioCloud, a hybrid technique combining instancing with a fluid navigation between 3D and 2D spaces.
The challenge was to take that initial inspiration and shape it into a visual composition that carried poetic and narrative meaning within Grey Matter. The entire composition process was carried out remotely (Brazil – New Zealand). Through an ongoing exchange of emails between Richard and me, we gradually arrived at a visual language that felt right for the film.
In total, the process generated around 402 files, organized across 66 folders, occupying roughly 40 GB of storage. In other words, countless iterations and tests were developed throughout the planning period leading up to the final delivery.
As demanding as it was, I have to say this was one of the most rewarding projects I've ever worked on. Richard's creative generosity and openness gave me the freedom to fully engage with my role in the visual effects collaboration. Add to that TouchDesigner's visual capabilities and the fluid way it adapts to the poetics of a visual composer, it makes for a continuous, intuitive workflow.
Returning to the visual effects: a second collaborative stage involved the use of point clouds and .ply files. Once again, hybrid techniques of three-dimensional interpretation were employed to achieve a specific visual result. There are many ways to capture and interpret spatial data; LiDAR, photogrammetry, instancing-based simulation, Gaussian splats, mesh files (.obj, .fbx, .ply), but in any project, the real question isn't so much which technique you use, but rather: what is the poetic and aesthetic need that a given visual is meant to serve?
To close, I'll be leaving below a link to the complete film, where you can see the TouchDesigner visual effects working in dialogue with the contributions of other audiovisual collaborators.
- Thank you for reading this far.
