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endstation visuals
CONTEXT
Personal
Audiodreactive Visuals
Built with Touchdesigner + Streamdiffusion
TEAM
Joschua Rothenbacher
DATE
05/2025
Description
This project actually came about quite spontaneously. Through my connection to the lighting and tech team of the event committee at hfg Schwäbisch Gmünd, I was asked if I’d like to create visuals for the Freshers’ Party, which takes place every semester. I decided to take on the challenge and develop audio-reactive visuals, paired with live image Generation utilizing Touch Designer and StableDiffusion.
Endstation Visuals - Project Video
Execution: TouchDesigner, StreamDiffusion, and a Lot of Curiosity
For this project, I worked with TouchDesigner for the very first time. It was all about learning by doing, a handful of YouTube tutorials, and plenty of messing around with settings and watching the change. My first "Heureka" moment happened, when I saw the generated version of myself moving around and about in my TouchDesigner Preview window.
At this point, a big shoutout to DotSimulate, who developed the StreamDiffusion integration for TouchDesigner. Without his fantastic work, the project wouldn’t have been possible in this form (or would have taken a lot longer to develop).
My first step was to make the generated Grafitti react to elements within the Music. Every snare hit in the beat distorted shapes and generated new graphic elements. Every Kick slightly shifted the colors within the visualization and changed the amount of AI-Influence. With StreamDiffusion and my own prompts, I could further transform these shapes, making them always surprising and authentic.
A particular highlight was making the DJs themselves part of the visualization. A camera in front of the DJ booth captured them, and StreamDiffusion transformed them live into stylized characters (and sometimes even shapes). Depending on the intensity of the current track, the visuals became more abstract or stayed closer to the original. The perspective was especially important to me. The DJ should be at the center, almost like a doubling of the real person on stage. Finding the right settings was a real experiment for me, how much transformation is exciting, when does it become too abstract or too close to the original? The only way was to try things out and adjust as needed.
Feedback and Outlook
The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Everyone loved the visuals. In the future, I’d like to make the visuals even more responsive to the music, change up the settings or use them in a completetly different context. It would also be exciting to dynamically adapt the prompts to the mood or content of the songs. This project was a premiere for me in many ways. It was my first deep dive into TouchDesigner, my first collaboration with generative AI for live visuals, and the first time I could directly combine my passion for technology and DJing. The result was a fascinating mix of audio-reactive graffiti visuals and a exciting new way to show the DJ. I’m genuinely proud of the outcome and excited to see what else will be possible with these tools and this approach in the future. For me, this journey has only just begun! :-)
