Sialk Operator and TouchDesigner

A visual on a wall tonight, with the room's audio already inside it. That is what Sialk Operator does, with a visual you picked or the JavaScript or GLSL you have already written. TouchDesigner is the deepest generative environment in this field, and it cannot do that one thing without a bridge you build yourself.

What Sialk Operator gives you that TouchDesigner does not

• Your existing code runs as it is. A folder with a sketch.glsl or a sketch.js is a layer. No rebuild as a node network. No port.
• The audio is already in your sketch. sialk.audio.bass is there the moment it starts, under names that never change. In TouchDesigner the Web Render TOP only sends data out of the page, audio into it means a WebSocket bridge, a message format, a reconnect path, all yours to write and keep alive.
• One screen, one drop. Drag the folder on the window and it plays. Stack it, mix it by hand, put it on the projector.
• £199 once, or free. Not $600.

function draw() {
  const r = 100 + sialk.audio.bass * 300;
  circle(width / 2, height / 2, r);
}

What TouchDesigner gives you that Sialk Operator does not

• A node-based environment for building real-time work from primitives. Sialk Operator plays code you wrote. It is not less coding.
• Particle systems, a 3D toolkit, instancing, DMX, and twenty years of tutorials. Sialk Operator plays two kinds of sketch and video clips today, with more on the way.
• Windows. Sialk Operator's beta is macOS.

Which one

Both together works: Sialk Operator's output is a screen, and TouchDesigner takes a screen.

Prices (checked August 2026)

TouchDesigner: free non-commercial with a 1280×1280 cap, $300 edu, $600 commercial, $2,200 Pro, perpetual. Sialk Operator: £199 once (£99 at v1), every update included, with a free non-commercial tier and no cap on layers. The beta is free, uncapped and unwatermarked.

• Download the beta - free, macOS
• What Sialk Operator plays
• Writing a sketch with AI - the brief to paste into an assistant