Using the Curriculum
The TouchDesigner Curriculum was built to help instructors and educators have a structured approach to teaching TouchDesigner. As a software, TouchDesigner is incredibly flexible and extensible and we built the Curriculum with that in mind. The TouchDesigner Curriculum is a modular resource that spans everything from entire courses to individual lessons and topics.
Before we look at some suggestions for working with the TouchDesigner Curriculum, take a moment to catch up on our terminology.
TouchDesigner Professional Alliance Amsterdam 2020
Using a Whole Course
The TouchDesigner Curriculum features a complete course called the 100 Series: TouchDesigner Fundamentals that covers core concepts for getting started with the software. The 100 Series course is broken down into 8 lessons:
- 101 – Navigating the Environment
- 102 – TOPS: Working with Images
- 103 – CHOPS: Working With Signals
- 104 – SOPS: Rendering 3D Scenes
- 105 – COMPs: Organization & Outputs
- 106 – Comps: Interface Building and Controls
- 107 – DATs: Scripting & Python
- 108 – Resources, Tips & Tricks
The entire course is approximately 8-10 hours of material. This could be used across a two-day intensive workshop, or spaced across several weeks of a quarter or semester system.
Sample Course
We recommend that you take a look at the 100s Series: TouchDesigner Fundamentals to get started with the Curriculum:
Using a Lesson
We consider lessons to be groupings of topics or skills that share common concepts. Generally, lessons are approximately an hour in length, consist of multiple videos, and can be completed in a single sitting. A lesson is a great way to focus-in on and reinforce learning on a specific concept.
Using a Single Topic
Topics are the smallest unit of material for the TouchDesigner Curriculum — they are individual videos that are focused on a specific skill or concept. These standalone videos are meant to be remixed depending on the needs of a specific lesson or course. For example, a topic like “Working with Images: TOPS” could be in a lesson that’s focused on Operator families, or a lesson that’s more specifically looking at rendering and post-processing effects for images.
Using these Materials
Feel free to mix and match materials from the Curriculum to best fit your needs. These topics or lessons could be pulled into an existing LMS like Canvas, so that they fit within a University’s paradigm, or students could be directed to materials or entire courses on the Curriculum website.