A generative art loop Intermediate

Objective — build a self-evolving visual that has no input and never repeats, so you can leave it running full-screen on a screen or in a gallery.

What you'll see — an organic, breathing pattern that keeps growing, splitting and shifting colour on its own. It looks alive and never freezes on a single frame.

The Gray-Scott reaction-diffusion loop growing and splitting on its own, never settling on one frame.

Before you start

• tdmcp installed and connected to your AI assistant.
• TouchDesigner open, with bridge running in the Textport.
• No mic or webcam needed — this visual makes itself.

Steps

Type each prompt to your AI assistant, one at a time. Wait for each step to finish before sending the next.

1. Ask for the base system:

   Apply the reaction_diffusion recipe and show me a preview.

   The AI builds a Gray-Scott reaction-diffusion network — a GLSL simulation that feeds its last frame back into itself every frame. You'll see the nodes appear, wired and arranged, plus a thumbnail of the first frames.

2. Make it evolve slowly so it never settles:

   Slow the simulation down so the pattern keeps evolving and never fully settles.

   The AI nudges the feed and kill rates so the pattern keeps spreading and splitting instead of locking into a still image.

3. Add colour movement:

   Add slow colour cycling over the pattern so the palette drifts over time.

   A colour lookup is applied on top of the simulation and animated, so the whole piece slowly shifts hue as it runs.

4. Expose controls you can tweak live:

   Expose a Speed control and a Palette control I can adjust while it runs.

   The AI adds two live controls: Speed (how fast the pattern evolves) and Palette (which colours it cycles through). You can move them any time.

5. Make it loop cleanly and preview:

   Make it loop smoothly with no visible jump, then show me a preview.

   Because a reaction-diffusion loop evolves continuously, there is no hard seam — the AI confirms the output is stable and returns a fresh preview.

6. Get it running on a screen:

   How do I leave this running full-screen on a second display?

   The AI explains how to open a Perform window and send it to your second monitor so the loop fills the screen with no interface visible.

Expected result

A small network centred on a feedback loop with a GLSL simulation TOP, topped with an animated colour lookup and a null output. In the preview, the pattern keeps moving — growing, dividing, drifting in colour — and never stops on one frame. Your Speed and Palette controls change the look instantly. Sent to a second display in Perform mode, it fills the screen and can run unattended.

If it goes wrong

• The pattern dies out or freezes on a flat frame — the feed and kill rates drifted too far. Ask: "The reaction-diffusion pattern stopped evolving — nudge the parameters back so it keeps growing."
• It runs slow or stutters on a low-end GPU — lower the resolution. Ask: "Lower the simulation resolution so it runs smoothly on my GPU." See Troubleshooting for more on performance.
• No preview appears — the bridge may have dropped. Confirm bridge running in the Textport, then check Troubleshooting and the FAQ.