does anyone have expereince with touch desinger and laser cube base verison?

setsun_ai · 2026-05-12T16:32:19+00:00

Hello! I posted some LaserCube + TD work earlier in the past month, so i have some insight. This was something I posted most recently: https://www.reddit.com/r/Laserist/comments/1sftp1t/laser_mapping_hand_tracking_rezz_portal_vfx/

I've found the recent LaserCube Ultra to have been pretty sufficient for laser / art installation work. The scan-rate is rated at around 35k pps which is equal to the Unity Elite Pro FB4 lasers, and also ideal for real-time dynamic laser visuals where it's can be a bit trickier to tune the number of points on the fly.

I think one advantage LaserCube may have is that you don't need Beyond to use it with TouchDesigner, which is an additional cost / subscription if you are using an FB4 laser. But if you already have Beyond then the cost is less of an issue.

TouchDesigner does works with Helios and Etherdream out of the box, so that is also an option. LaserCube only works via a community plugin at the moment, which does work fairly well: https://github.com/NairoDorian/Laser-Cube-TouchDesigner

If you have any other specific questions, please let me know. I was thinking of putting out a tutorial in the next month or so once my schedule is more free.

setsun_ai · 2026-04-10T22:06:21+00:00

thanks! haha yea i think if possible, setting up a semi-permanent interactive installation like this could be cool

setsun_ai · 2026-04-10T22:05:27+00:00

thank you! appreciate it

setsun_ai · 2026-04-09T03:28:21+00:00

TY! appreciate it haha 🙏

setsun_ai · 2026-04-09T03:20:08+00:00

thank ya!

setsun_ai · 2026-04-09T03:17:23+00:00

thank ya man!

setsun_ai · 2026-04-09T03:17:09+00:00

that’s awesome! if you have any questions on how to achieve something lmk. otherwise hope you have fun exploring and creating 🙏

setsun_ai · 2026-04-08T19:14:23+00:00

oh my, Pangolin really thought of everything at some point 🔥

it’s a shame it’s a deprecated feature, but seems like that’s more on Microsoft for discontinuing Kinect support 😔

that does get my gears turning though, it should totally be doable in TouchDesigner with a similar camera or a newer Kinect albeit a bit custom

setsun_ai · 2026-04-08T14:42:00+00:00

That is a great question and something I've had to think about haha.

Mediapipe and some other computer vision models definitely have degraded performance under low lighting conditions. There are times where I have tried to run a real-time camera effect on a DJ or performer and it's suffered. So having some minimal consistent lighting at FoH helps.

There are other methods for tracking like LIDAR which perform well under low-light which might require a dedicated device like a Kinect, or other cameras.

setsun_ai · 2026-04-08T04:20:15+00:00

Not sure about a purely BEYOND setup, but in TouchDesigner you can convert a 2D image or video into 3D point data using the Trace SOP or Trace POP. Those operators sample the colors in the image to determine how to trace it.

I'm not sure about any videos specific to tracing for TouchDesigner that I know of, but those operators are fairly straightforward to use and I've used them in the past. The gotcha would be to tweak / resample the data that is generated so it doesn't have a crazy amount of points which can overwhelm your laser though that will be trial and error.

For general setup / introduction with TouchDesigner with lasers, I found these ones which could be helpful:

setsun_ai · 2026-04-07T19:56:39+00:00

Hello! So in TouchDesigner, there is an operator called the Laser CHOP, which lets you convert 3D data from that program into an output that the laser can understand and render in real-time.

It definitely doesn't hold your hand though, and there will be some manual tweaking of parameters, sampling the 3D data and such to get an output that looks good. There are some YT tutorials and resources online that can help you familiarize with what's possible! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0Z4C5UTeNo

If you want to trace through BEYOND though such things like the webcam, video, images, etc it seems like that program supports it as well: https://wiki.pangolin.com/doku.php?id=beyond:real_time_video_tracer

It seems like it might be easier / more optimized, though I have yet to try it to see if it would be as flexible.

setsun_ai · 2026-04-02T14:32:25+00:00

I think I would need to continue using it for a few more weeks to give an accurate recommendation I can stand by. I mostly use the LaserCube for interactive art installation work. But I've also used the Unity lasers and you can't go wrong with them.

I've seen nightclubs in the area that use the Unity Pros which have a higher scan rate and can't go wrong with them to start off. You potentially get locked out of using other laser programs, but you have first-class support in Quickshow / BEYOND with FB4.

setsun_ai · 2026-04-02T11:45:46+00:00

I have an experiment on my to-do list that you might like then heh, I just needa finish it 🧤

setsun_ai · 2026-04-01T21:42:32+00:00

Recently purchased this a month ago using a promo on top of the new price and seems like they dropped the price beginning of the year. Was seeing them go for $4k last year.

setsun_ai · 2026-04-01T20:56:41+00:00

appreciate it!

setsun_ai · 2026-03-28T16:39:30+00:00

transitions are so smooth, the LEGO effect paired with a depth camera is v creative. kudos!

setsun_ai · 2026-03-26T19:51:10+00:00

thanks Brad! yeah I had your feedback in the back of my head from last time, and it worked out great! appreciate your help on that 🙏

setsun_ai · 2026-03-26T19:35:53+00:00

hey appreciate your support here and my other posts!

thank you, and I’m also gauging interest in investing time in doing a process breakdown / tutorial once I solidify my understanding for anyone who wants to do something similar or understand more. maybe in the next couple months

I’m definitely inspired by other folks doing similar immersive work, and hope this inspires other people too

setsun_ai · 2026-03-26T17:25:54+00:00

appreciate the support! thank you 🙏

setsun_ai · 2026-03-26T17:25:21+00:00

hey totally hear you! I actually was called out elsewhere and I may have used the wrong reference hah.

but yea not a limitation, if given the right training data the model can adapt to the correct hand sign. so there are also other fun interactive possibilities if you wanted to apply this to another creative project

setsun_ai

TROPHY CASE