Common Operations Cheat Sheet

Calls for Global Variables

Time	Domain	Expression
Seconds	bound to Time Line	time.seconds
Seconds	absolute time - constantly incrementing	absTime.seconds
Frames	bound to Time Line	time.frame
Frames	absolute time - constantly incrementing	absTime.frame

Scripts

Parameter Referencing in a Container (Using a parent to set resolution)

• Width - me.parent().par.w
• Height - me.parent().par.h

Using Storage to hold information

Syntax
component_for_strorage.store( "key" , value or object )

Example

me.parent().store( 'width' , 1920 )

Using Storage to retrieve information

Syntax
component_containing_strorage.fetch( "key" )

Example

#Example 1
me.fetch( 'width' )

#Example 1
op('project1').fetch( 'width' )

Using digits to retrieve the integer value of an operator

Syntax
operatorname.digits

Example

#Example 1
op( 'moviefilein1' ).digits

#Example 2
me.parent().digits

Run a Text DAT

Syntax
textDAT.run()

Example 1
Here we assume that there is an existing text DAT that contains a script that you would like to run.

runMe = op( 'textDATyouWantToRun' )
runMe.run()

Example 2

a = "print( 'Hello World' )"
run(a)

Example 3

a = '''
b = 10

for i in range( b ):
 print( i )
'''

run(a)

Simple if else statement

Syntax

if condition a ==  a testable value:
     do this operation
else:
     do a different operation

Example

test = op['chop2']( 'chan1' )
movie = op( 'moviefilein1' )
if test == 0:
      movie.par.file = 'flower1.jpg'
 else:
      movie.par.file = 'leaves.jpg'

Open the viewer of an operator

Method 1 Syntax
operatorname.openViewer()

Example 1

op( 'container1' ).openViewer()

Method 2
Syntax variable_name = operatorNameAndPath variable_name.openViewer()

Example 2

ctrl = op( '../container1' )
ctrl.openViewer()

Copy Contents of One DAT to Another

Syntax
op( 'targetDAT' ).copy( op( 'sourceDAT' ) )

Example 1

op( 'to' ).copy( op( 'from' ) )

Example 2

to = op( 'to' )
from = op( 'from' )

to.copy( from )

Run a .bat file from Python in TouchDesigner

Syntax
from subprocess import Popen

Popen( [ filePathHere ] )

Example 1

from subprocess import Popen

file = "E:\\GitHub\\Beneath\\tools\\robo_copy\\batTest.bat"

Popen( [ file ] )

Execute a String

Syntax
exec( "op( 'targetOp' ).par.parameter = value" )

Example 1

target_par = 'invert'
target_op = 'level1'
val = 0

# build your script as a string

command = "op( '" + target_op + "' ).par." + target_par + " = " + str( val )

# print to debug and make sure it's what you want to be

print( command )

# execute the command

exec( command )

TouchDesigner User Interface Scripts

Open an Explorer Window

Syntax
ui.chooseFile()

Example 1 Here we assume that there is another text DAT (text1) that we want to populate with the path to a file.

op('text1').text = ui.chooseFile(
    fileTypes = tdu.fileTypes[ 'image' ],
    title = 'Select an image' )

Example 2 Here we assume that there is another DAT (text1) that we want to populate with a path to a file – we further want to limit the kind of file that we're selecting to an image file, and we want to give the explorer window the title "Select an Image."

op('text1').text = ui.chooseFile(
    fileTypes=tdu.fileTypes['image'], 
    title = 'Select an image' )

Change the Background Color

Syntax
ui.colors['worksheet.bg'] = ( r , g , b )

Example
We can make our background bright green.

ui.colors[ 'worksheet.bg' ] = ( 0.0 , 1.0 , 0.0 )

Format a Group of Ops

Example
Lets imagine that we want to format a lot ops in one go.

# create an empty list for all ops

null_ops = []

# create a list of names

null_types = [
    null_tops,
    null_sops,
    null_dats,
    null_mats,
    null_chops
]

# create lists of all op types

null_tops = parent().findChildren( type = nullTOP )
null_sops = parent().findChildren( type = nullSOP )
null_dats = parent().findChildren( type = nullDAT )
null_mats = parent().findChildren( type = nullMAT )
null_chops = parent().findChildren( type = nullCHOP )

# extened empty list with the contents of all op types

for type in null_types:
    null_ops.extend( type )

# turn off the display of all ops, set them to black

for item in null_ops:
    op( item ).viewer = False
    op( item ).color = 0 , 0 , 0

# debugging line - check the contents of the null_ops list

# print( null_ops )

Set the Color of an Operator

Syntax
op( 'nameOfOperator' ).color = ( r , g , b )

Example
We can make any operator any color we like.

op( 'text1' ).color = 1 , 0 , 0

Learn more about the UI Class

Using the Interface

Display the Normals on a SOP

CHOPs

The Math CHOP

In the Math CHOP the From Range is based on the incoming values, and the To Range is the outgoing values. This is a scaling operation. If we were going to write this as a sentence we might think of it by saying "I would like numbers From 0 to 1, To be scaled to numbers between 20 and 40. In the picture below we can see values From 0 – 1, now scaled To 0 – 100.

System Variables

Display Console Window at Touch Start Up

Create a new Windows Environment Variable and use the following settings:

Variable Name: TOUCH_TEXT_CONSOLE
Variable Value: 1

Conceptual Frames

Ins and Outs

Encapsulating a process in TouchDesigner is a wonderful way to make re-usable custom components. When we make something modular, however, we often need a way to pass information into or out of our module. How can we do that? TOPs,CHOPs, SOPs, and DATs all have In and Out operators for just this purpose. An In TOPCHOP/SOP/DAT creates an inlet on a container or base, and an Out TOPCHOP/SOP/DAT creates an outlet. In the image below we can see a split network view where we're looking at a base from the outside (left), and at the inside of the base (right). We can see that there are inlets that correspond to our Ins that are located on the left side of the base.

In this second image we can see a split network view where we're looking at a base from the outside (left), and at the inside of the base (right). We can see that there are outlets that correspond to our Outs that are located on the right side of the base. In this example we can see errors in our network because Out Operators expect to have a source connected to them.

In this third image we can see a split network view where we're looking at a base from the outside (left), and at the inside of the base (right). We can see that there are inlets and outlets that correspond to our Ins and Outs that are located on the left and right side of the base.

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