Custom Tools for TouchDesigner
Build your own tools — and stop rebuilding the same thing twice.
Tuesday, 6th October 2026 (9am PDT / 12pm EDT / 5pm UK / 6pm CEST)
Featuring: Bileam Tschepe (elekktronaut), Dan Molnar (Function Store), Malena Goya (VirDev) and Darien Brito
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The October TouchDesigner Meetup, Custom Tools for TouchDesigner, is about the moment a patch stops being a one-off and becomes something you reach for again and again. Custom components, reusable modules, and personal toolkits are what turn TouchDesigner from a sketchpad into a production environment — and building them well is a craft in its own right.
Four toolmakers present their work. Host Bileam Tschepe shows AVY, his web-based framework for audiovisual live performance, Dan Molnar of Function Store shows FNSTools, the next generation of FunctionStore_tools, Malena Goya (VirDev) shows UI Engine, her system for building modular interfaces inside a patch, and Darien Brito shows Aether and EssentiaTD, which bring live DAW audio and music information retrieval into TouchDesigner. All four talks cover the same ground from different angles: what problem the tool solves, how it is put together, and what it takes to make something reliable enough to depend on in live work.
The format follows our regular meetup structure: short presentations, technical walkthroughs, and open Q&A with the community. TouchDesigner meetups are a friendly affair, so you're welcome to stick around afterwards to hang out, check out other people's projects, and even give a little showcase of your own.
As ever, TouchDesigner Meetups are created in collaboration with Derivative, creators of TouchDesigner. Meetups are curated by Berlin artist and educator Bileam Tschepe, an inspiring creator of audio-reactive, interactive and organic digital artworks, and installations.
Don't forget, TouchDesigner is free for non-commercial use, so grab your copy now.
Presentations
AVY — a modular system for live performances in TouchDesigner
Bileam shares his new tool for audiovisual live performances in TouchDesigner, called AVY — a lightweight, web-based framework that makes it easy to run patches, add FX, control your system with MIDI, bring in audio and other signals, work with presets, and much more.
- A brief background on why he's building this, and the tool's history
- UI and feature overview
- A quick look at how it was made
- Release and future outlook
TD Enhancement for Everyone
FNSTools, the new version of FunctionStore_tools, aims to enhance, modularise and democratise TouchDesigner's UI/UX hacks with core components that anyone can adopt, even in their everyday projects. Want a new button in the toolbar or menubar? Just drag and drop.
The release comes with a plethora of new free tools as well as a new launcher that lets you view your projects in a gallery — and even drag and drop files directly from Patreon into your project file.
- FNSTools — the TD enhancement suite
- A plethora of old and new free UX and workflow improvement tools
- A much improved TD Launcher that now lives in your app tray
- A quick command palette for uninterrupted workflows
- Patreon browser and drag-and-drop downloads
- Even more exclusive tools
UI Engine: build custom layouts to easily display data in TD
UI Engine is VirDev's tool for creating modular UI layouts in TouchDesigner — a system for building visual interfaces that let you show data, text and info inside your projects, through custom parameters and a catalogue of clickable elements.
The talk covers the background behind the tool and how it connects to her research, followed by a walkthrough of how it is structured, how to use it, and examples of the layouts and customisations you can build with it.
Real-time DAW Audio and Music Information Retrieval in TouchDesigner
Getting audio out of a DAW and into TouchDesigner usually means a loopback device, a virtual cable, or giving up and playing a rendered file. Once it is in, you have a wall of samples that says nothing about the note, the loudness or the beat. TouchDesigner gets you part of the way with a spectrum, levels and a palette component that finds a kick, but not key, not chroma, and not a tempo worked out from the audio itself.
This talk follows one signal through both problems. First, moving audio from a DAW track into TouchDesigner over shared memory with Aether, a new VST3 and AU plugin. Then turning those samples into something musical with EssentiaTD, five native C++ CHOPs built around Essentia, the music information retrieval library from UPF Barcelona: spectrum, spectral shape, tonal, rhythm and loudness.
Along the way he covers the theory each one rests on and the trade-offs behind FFT size, window shape and hop, so you leave knowing how to tune them rather than just where they are. Real operators on real audio throughout, and a live session to close. EssentiaTD is free and open source, Aether is a paid plugin with a free demo build, and both run on Windows and macOS.
About the speakers
Bileam Tschepe
Bileam Tschepe, aka elekktronaut, is a Berlin-based artist and educator who creates audio-reactive, interactive and organic digital artworks, systems and installations in TouchDesigner, collaborating with and teaching people worldwide. He curates the Music Hackspace TouchDesigner meetup series.
Links:
Dan Molnar (Function Store)
Dan Molnar (Function Store) is a Berlin-based artist working with sound, light, and real-time technology to craft immersive installations and live visuals. His work ranges from small experimental spaces and audiovisual performances to arena productions, blending technical precision with both musical and visual intuition. He is a co-founder of DEREAL Studio and an active educator who develops and shares tools for the creative-tech community.
Links:
Malena Goya (VirDev)
Malena Goya (VirDev) is a Spain-based artist and PhD researcher. She works with TouchDesigner to explore how white-box, user-shapeable tools can resist opaque technology, foster hybrid relationships between human and machine, and turn artistic creation into a space for understanding the frictions of a new paradigm. She develops her own tools and workflows, approaching software as a material to be shaped rather than just used.
Links:
Darien Brito
Darien Brito (Quito, Ecuador, 1987) is an audiovisual artist and creative coder based in the Netherlands. He holds a BA in Composition from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague and an MA from the Institute of Sonology. Coming from a musical background, he developed a strong interest in computer graphics, generative art and complex systems, and is largely self-taught in programming.
His practice spans music for solo instruments, orchestra, electronics, theatre, film, opera and dance, as well as visual effects, interactive installations, live audiovisual performances and digital art. Alongside that he works as a programmer and consultant for artists, studios and companies.
Links:
TouchDesigner
TouchDesigner is a software product from Derivative (Toronto and Los Angeles) which is used to build interactive 3D and 2D applications. It is procedural, node-based, real-time, and considered a visual programming language.
TouchDesigner is free to use for non-commercial purposes