Setting up the mouse
Choose
> System Preferences, then click Keyboard & Mouse.
Click Mouse.
Set the left click to Primary Button.
Set the right click to Secondary Button (by default it is also set to Primary Button).
Set the middle button/wheel to Button 3.
Hardware requirements
Houdini for OS X will only run on 64bit Intel macs running OS X 10.5.
Menu bar
The menu bar on OS X isn’t part of the main Houdini window. It is integrated into the desktop title bar like other Mac applications.
Install location
By default, Houdini installs in a Houdini folder inside the Applications folder. You can launch the applications from within the Houdini folder or you can drag the icons into the OS X Dock for easy access.
Application directory:
/Applications/Houdini major.minor.build$HFS/bin directory:
/Library/Frameworks/Houdini.framework/Versions/X.X.X/Resources/bin
Keyboard and hotkeys
The ⌘ key is used the same way the Ctrl key on a standard PC keyboard. Additionally, the two delete keys on the Mac keyboard are mapped to the same functionality as the Backspace and Del keys on a standard PC keyboard. Specifically, the large delete key (where backspace is on a PC) deletes the object rather than pulling up the Tab menu.
All existing Ctrl hotkeys have been remapped to the ⌘ key.
MPlay file browser
The functionality is the same but the menu options for opening single frames or multiple frames are slightly modified from the Windows/Linux versions. They open a more standard OS X file browser.
Houdini file browser
When you open the file browser on the Mac it brings up a Mac window. To switch to the Houdini window use the environment variable: HOUDINI_USE_NATIVE_FILE_CHOOSER.
Note
You should put this in ~/Library/Preferences/houdini/X.X/houdini.env so it is picked up when you run from the Dock.
Spaces
Houdini opens the default browser (e.g. Safari) to display online help. If you have Houdini and the browser assigned to two different spaces, you will be switched to the browser’s space whenever you access the help. If you're accessing the help in Houdini frequently, you may want to assign Houdini and the browser to the same “space”.
Limitations
There is currently no GLSL support.
There is currently no embedded help pane.