Services

Real-Time Visual Systems

TouchDesigner systems that replace render queues with visuals you can adjust in the room.

Most immersive productions die in the render queue. A change costs hours, so iteration stops, and the piece ships as whatever was affordable to re-render rather than what the room needed.

A real-time system changes that economics. On 5 Movements at Hall des Lumières in New York, the wider production ran in After Effects; this section moved into TouchDesigner as a custom real-time 3D environment with GLSL shaders, so the team could watch adjustments live instead of waiting on renders. The venue's topology, pixel density, and wall-to-floor geometry had to be solved first — otherwise the slit-scan language broke the moment it left a single screen.

That is the work: building a system that stays adjustable under production pressure and still runs reliably in front of an audience, night after night.

What you get

  • Custom TouchDesigner system built around your production, not a template
  • Real-time 3D environments and GLSL shader work
  • Generative visual systems driven by audio, data, or performer input
  • Multi-surface output mapped to the venue's real geometry
  • Performance budgeting — GPU and CPU headroom verified before effects pile up
  • Operator-facing controls so non-technical staff can run the show
  • Failover and long-runtime stability for continuous public presentation
  • Commented project files and a handover session

How it runs

  1. 01

    Venue and pipeline audit

    Resolution, pixel density, surface geometry, hardware, and what your existing pipeline already produces. Real-time only pays off if the output topology is solved first.

  2. 02

    Visual system prototype

    The core visual language running live, at representative resolution, so art direction decisions are made against the real thing rather than a still frame.

  3. 03

    Production build

    The full system: scenes, transitions, parameter control, input routing, and the structure that lets someone else change a value without breaking the patch.

  4. 04

    Optimization and hardening

    Frame rate stability under worst case, memory behavior over long runs, and recovery paths when something upstream fails.

  5. 05

    Handover

    Documented project files, operator controls, and a working session with whoever inherits the system.

Good fit for

  • Immersive rooms and large-format projection with multiple surfaces
  • Productions where the visual language has to be tuned on site
  • Live shows, concerts, and performances needing audio- or performer-reactive visuals
  • Teams with a strong After Effects or Cinema 4D pipeline that need a real-time layer on top

Not a good fit for

  • Game development or Unity/Unreal gameplay engineering
  • Building a conventional website or app interface — as opposed to a real-time or interactive web experience, which is very much in scope

Ways to work together

Where this has been done

Public projects that show this work in practice, with credits and venues.

5 Movements

Ten-minute immersive installation at Hall des Lumières NYC: real-time TouchDesigner visuals traced from movement, rendered across walls, floor, and ceiling.

View case study →

Ugly

Immersive theatre at Hope Alkazar combining live performance with anamorphic projection and real-time TouchDesigner visuals across an 80-minute run.

View case study →

Common questions

Do I need a real-time system, or is pre-rendered fine?

Pre-rendered is fine when the content is locked, the surface is simple, and nothing needs to respond. Real-time earns its cost when the piece has to be tuned in the venue, react to input, run continuously without a timeline, or survive late creative changes. I will tell you honestly which one your project actually needs — talking someone into an unnecessary real-time build helps neither of us.

Can you take over a TouchDesigner project someone else built?

Yes. Inherited patches are common and usually the problem is structure rather than logic. Expect an audit first: I need to understand what is load-bearing before changing anything, and that audit is often worth doing even if the rebuild never happens.

What about Resolume, Notch, or other playback tools?

I work with them where they fit. On Ugly, rehearsals ran real-time in TouchDesigner while shows played through Resolume partitions and loops timed to the actors, and moving the venue mapping into Resolume without a full remapping pass saved production budget. The playback tool is a decision about who operates the show, not a matter of preference.

Will my team be able to maintain it after you leave?

That is a design requirement, not an afterthought. Systems get built with an operator layer separating the controls people need from the internals they should not touch, plus commented files and a handover session. If your team has no TouchDesigner experience at all, say so early — it changes how much gets exposed as a simple control versus a patch parameter.

Have something like this coming up?

Send the rough scope, the venue, and the dates. If it is not a good fit I will say so, and where I can I will point you to someone better placed.

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