Create POP field (GPU points)
create_pop_fieldBuild a GPU point field in TouchDesigner: choose noise, grid, or sphere layout, animate spin, set point size, and get a null TOP render output with adjustable controls.
Instructions
Build a GPU point field using TouchDesigner's POP (Point OPerator) family — a generator POP (chosen by pattern: 'noise' scatters count points and displaces them with a Noise POP for a moving cloud, 'grid' a flat lattice, 'sphere' a shell), a Transform POP that spins the whole field over time, then a render path (POP to SOP → Geometry COMP → Render TOP) output as a Null TOP. Creates a new baseCOMP under parent_path holding all of these and exposes PointSize and Spin knobs. NOTE: POPs are flagged Experimental in this TD build and the POP render path is uncertain, so this tool is built fail-forward and probe-first — the POP chain and render wiring are best-effort (failures become warnings) while the output Null is always created, and the result's extra.unverified lists every POP op type and the render path attempted so you can live-validate. Returns a summary plus a JSON block with the container path, created node paths, generator/transform/render/output paths, exposed controls, node errors, warnings, the unverified probe record, and an inline preview image.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| name | No | Name for the self-contained POP-field container created under parent_path. | pop_field |
| spin | No | Degrees/sec rotation of the whole field around Y (a Transform POP animates it over time), exposed as the live Spin knob. | |
| count | No | Approximate point count. Used directly for the 'noise' pattern; 'grid'/'sphere' approximate it via a rows×cols layout near this total. | |
| pattern | No | Point layout/source. 'noise' (default) = a Point Generator POP scatters `count` points which a Noise POP displaces into a moving cloud. 'grid' = a flat Grid POP lattice. 'sphere' = points on a Sphere POP shell. | noise |
| point_size | No | Rendered point size (Render TOP point size), exposed as the live PointSize knob. | |
| resolution | No | Render resolution [width, height] of the Render TOP and the output Null TOP. | |
| parent_path | No | Parent COMP path the POP-field container is created inside (default '/project1'). | /project1 |