Touch Out CHOP
Summary[edit]
The Touch Out CHOP can be used to create high speed connection between two TouchDesigner processes. Data is sent over TCP/IP. The Touch Out CHOP (server) sends it's data to a Touch In CHOP (client). The Touch Out CHOP is similar to a Pipe Out CHOP but highly optimized for TouchDesigner-to-TouchDesigner communication. For interfacing with other software or devices, see the Pipe Out CHOP.
To receive network data from another "server" computer (e.g. from a TouchDesigner Touch Out CHOP running remotely), a connection must be established between the server and the Touch In CHOP before data is sent. You must supply the Server Address and Port from which to receive incoming data to a channel. The server should be listening for connections on the port that this CHOP is using. Multiple Touch In CHOPs (clients) can receive data from a single Touch Out CHOP (server).
NOTE for Windows OS - If experiencing connection issues make sure Windows Firewall is disabled.
Parameters - Touch Out Page
Protocol protocol - ⊞ - Selects which network protocol to use to transfer data. Different protocol's have methods of connecting and using the address parameter. For more information refer to the Network Protocols article.
- Streaming (TCP/IP)
streaming-
- Messaging (UDP)
msging-
- Multi-Cast Messaging (UDP)
multicastmsging-
-
_separator_-
- Fast Streaming (UDT Library)
faststreaming-
- Reliable Messaging (UDT Library)
reliablemsging-
Address address - The address to use, not all protocls require an address to be specified on the sending side.
Network Port port - The network port to use.
Active active - When Off, data is not sent.
Max Queue Size maxsize - Limits the number of events waiting to be sent. This prevents overflows if the connection is too slow.
Max Queue Size Unit maxsizeunit - Choose between using Samples, Frames, or Seconds as the units for the Max Queue Size parameter.
Cook Every Frame cookalways - Specifies that this CHOP should be cooked every frame regardless of CHOPs below it are cooking.
Resend Names resendnames - Resends all the channel names. Generally you don't need to use this parameter, but it is provided just in-case.
Use Synced Ports syncports - ⊞ - This parameter lets you send the the data in a single global pipe if required. This can be important if various data streams must be sent in frame sync.
- Off
off- Uses separate ports for each port number assigned.
- On
on- Uses a single global pipe for all Touch Out CHOPs using this Transfer Port Type. The global pipe uses port 10500 internally to send all the global port type data together at once. The Network Port parameter is still used to determine which Touch In CHOP gets the data on the receiving side. Note that since a single port is used (10500), only one process on a machine can be serving Synced Port data.
Parameters - Common Page
Time Slice timeslice - Turning this on forces the channels to be "Time Sliced". A Time Slice is the time between the last cook frame and the current cook frame.
Scope scope - To determine which channels get affected, some CHOPs use a Scope string on the Common page.
Sample Rate Match srselect - ⊞ - Handle cases where multiple input CHOPs' sample rates are different. When Resampling occurs, the curves are interpolated according to the Interpolation Method Option, or "Linear" if the Interpolate Options are not available.
- Resample At First Input's Rate
first- Use rate of first input to resample others.
- Resample At Maximum Rate
max- Resample to the highest sample rate.
- Resample At Minimum Rate
min- Resample to the lowest sample rate.
- Error If Rates Differ
err- Doesn't accept conflicting sample rates.
Export Method exportmethod - ⊞ - This will determine how to connect the CHOP channel to the parameter. Refer to the Export article for more information.
- DAT Table by Index
datindex- Uses the docked DAT table and references the channel via the index of the channel in the CHOP.
- DAT Table by Name
datname- Uses the docked DAT table and references the channel via the name of the channel in the CHOP.
- Channel Name is Path:Parameter
autoname- The channel is the full destination of where to export to, such hasgeo1/transform1:tx.
Export Root autoexportroot - This path points to the root node where all of the paths that exporting by Channel Name is Path:Parameter are relative to.
Export Table exporttable - The DAT used to hold the export information when using the DAT Table Export Methods (See above).
Operator Inputs
- Input 0 -
TouchDesigner Build:
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An Operator Family which operate on Channels (a series of numbers) which are used for animation, audio, mathematics, simulation, logic, UI construction, and many other applications.
To re-compute the output data of the Operators. An operator cooks when (1) its inputs change, (2) its Parameters change, (3) when the timeline moves forward in some cases, or (4) Scripting commands are run on the node. When the operator is a Gadget, it also cooks when a user interacts with it. When an operator cooks, it usually causes operators connected to its output to re-cook. When TouchDesigner draws the screen, it re-cooks all the necessary operators in all Networks, contributing to a frame's total "cook time".
The term "Frame" is used (1) in the Timeline, (2) as a time-unit in CHOPs, (3) as a time-unit in TOPs, and (4) with movies images which are read and created with TOPs.
A Time Slice is the time from the last cook frame to the current cook frame. In CHOPs it is the set of short channels that only contain the CHOP channels' samples between the last and the current cook frame.
A parameter in most CHOPs that restricts which channels of that CHOP will be affected. Normally all channels of a CHOP are affected by the operator.
samples-per-second of a CHOP. Each CHOP in your network has a sample rate, whether it is used or not. The overall timeline has a "frame rate", which is the number of animation frames per second, generally your monitor display frequency.
Exporting is the connection of CHOP channels to parameters of operators. The output of each exporting CHOP is one or more channels, active only while the CHOP Viewer is on. The current value of a channel can be exported to a parameter of any operator, overriding that parameter's value. See Parameter.
An Operator Family that manipulates text strings: multi-line text or tables. Multi-line text is often a command Script, but can be any multi-line text. Tables are rows and columns of cells, each containing a text string.
Parameters in TouchDesigner are an operator's settings (numbers, menus, flags, strings, paths) which the user can alter. Parameters for any operator can be opened by right-clicking on the operator and selecting "Parameters..." A currently selected operator's parameters can be viewed in a Network Editor by pressing the keyboard shortcut 'p'.
TouchDesigner is a hierarchy of components. "root" is the top-most network in the hierarchy. The Path is simply /. A typical path is /project1/moviein1.
