Table of Contents

About

This is a page for the usage of the climate closet video player application. This application is built in TouchDesigner.

Installation

  1. Install TouchDesigner from this link here
    1. The current version of the climate closet software uses Touchdesigner version 2023.11600. Versions newer than this version should work without any errors.
    2. You will need at least an Educational License to run the project at full resolution. Learn about Touchdesigner licensing here.
  2. Download the most recent version of the Climate Closet UI app from the releases page on Github here
  3. Extract the .zip downloaded from Github into an organized folder.

Usage Instructions

Opening the project

  1. When the project is properly extracted, open the project from the file ClimateCloset_UI.toe in the main folder

    1. An alias/shortcut will be placed on the GUI’s desktop as well.

  2. You should see this:

    Screenshot 2025-07-08 at 3.09.27 PM.png

  3. Press the “F5” key to start the program

    1. you might have to hold the fn key to press “F5” on your keyboard

  4. The UI Should then pop up:

    ClimateClosetUI_070825 copy.jpg

    1. Blackout Button: Blacks out all content being sent to the video output
    2. Open Video Folder: Opens the video folder in either explorer or finder (depending on the system)
    3. Using RFID Tags/Override with Keyboard Keys: Toggles between using RFID readers or using the Keyboard keys to select the videos.
      1. When overriding with keyboard keys:
        1. SHIFT+[Any Number] selects Video A
        2. CTRL+[Any Number] selects Video B
    4. Operator Start Button: Starts the sequence. Use in case the start button is not working on the user side
    5. Reset: While the sequence is running, reset the sequence to the beginning Title Loop
    6. Virtual Screen Visualizer: Shows a virtual version of what the screens will be displaying. It is intended to make sure that the sequence is programmatically working.
      1. Caution: Does not sync with weather the system is being displayed or not. Always check weather video output is working.
    7. Sequence Information: Information ****showing current fps, what state the sequence is in, title of current state in the sequence, and percentage of completion of current state.
    8. Video Controls: Sliders that control video and audio settings.
    9. Transition Slide Controls: Allows the operator to change the transition slide video/image
    10. Token IDs: Refresh the “../ClimateCloset_UI/config/RFID_Tag_IDs.tsv” file. Useful if more RFID tags are added to the system
    11. Info: Quick links to the Github and Wiki for this project.
    12. ESP32 Serial Controls: Show several controls for the ESP32’s
      1. Active let’s you toggle the ESP32 connection. Can help with some errors
      2. Port tells which USB serial port the computer should be listening to for that device. Test out which one the computer is listening to for each one and make sure Video A is on the left box and Video B is on the center box. The right box selects the start button device.
        1. Use the GREY ARROW BUTTON on the right side of each box to select which port you are using. Good to see what is plugged in. On MacOS, an ESP32 device should show up something like /dev/cu.usbserial-#
    13. RFID Information: Shows information relating to which video is selected and what the id of the tag is that was read.
    14. RFID Check: Shows if the RFID can read information that is sent to it. Only changes to Green with a ‘O’ if there is a value change on the RFID reader.
      1. The system will still work if this is a red X. This only shows if the sensor has detected changes which can indicate that the system is FOR SURE working.

  5. Once the User interface is open, test weather the token ID’s are working and run a test sequence

Updating the project

Should the project be updated. Go to the github link and download the newest release of the project. Replace the old project and update any video/token dependencies should you need to.

I would recommend copying config files like the RFID_Tag_ID’s.tsv into the new project so your RFID tokens keep working.

Changing Videos