Pressure Project #6 – Cosmic Slop
Posted: October 2, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2026 Leave a comment »I had nothing in mind going into this project, and wanted to use the 5 hours I had to experiment with as many things as I could. I have worked with feedback loops in the past, but never in TouchDesigner, so it took some time to get used to. Still, I brought with me my knowledge of video synthesis to help guide me through.
My patch has three different components, which are all manipulated by respective sets of LFOs. Everything is then composited together using blend modes. I began my 5 hour time period by experimenting with a variety of feedback methods until I found something that was cool. I ended up with a circle pattern, which is composited over a rotating square feedback loop. To add some unpredictability, the LFO that controls the feedback rotation is turned off every second, creating subtle movement changes. Once I had this base, I experimented further by masking the circle with another shape: a circle TOP that changes its amount of sides through an LFO. I tiled this pattern in a 2×2 grid, and added a secondary feedback loop, which I incorporated using a “difference” blending mode.
This formed my base, however, I wanted to add some additional layering on top to make the pattern more unpredictable. I made two basic feedback loops using shapes, making sure their movement was offset using LFOs. These loops were a lot simpler than the base loop, providing for an interesting contrast. Both are incorporated using comp nodes. For final processing, I keyed out all the black areas, replacing them with the radial ramp node from earlier. I liked the pixelated nature of the shapes, so I grabbed a pixelate effect from the palette to make it more defined.
I approached this project like I do with a lot of my video work, working simple to complex. It was helpful to make standalone systems before adding them together as it gave me a modular patch that allowed for interesting possibilities. I’m aware of the power of LFOs from eurorack video synthesis, and this was a fun project to test those possibilities without needing an expensive rig. This project opened my eyes to the complex possibilities of TouchDesigner, and I am excited to learn more and explore.
The final video can be seen below, with a documentation video outlining each component of my final loop.