Houdini’s interface is divided into rectangles, or Panes, with each pane containing at least one editor or view tab. You can add more tabs, just like browser tabs, where each tab contains a different pane type, or similar pane types viewing different data.
Pane paths, Pinning and Pane linking
Viewer panes and the network editor show the nodes at a certain network level, designated by a path shown in the path gadget.
Click any of the components of the path to jump to that network level. Right click the path for a menu of options. Click the menu button at the right end, or click the arrows at the left end to navigate through the history of locations.
 | Drag the sync icon to another pane to match that pane’s path to this one. |
| Ctrl + L | Lets you type a path to go to. This lets you instantly jump to another network if you know its path. |
Pin icon
Clicking the pin icons toggles whether the pane follows the selection or stays on the currently displayed information.
 | Normally the panes follow the selection. |
 | Click the pin icon to push it in. This “pins” the pane to the current place, so it won’t change as you select different objects/nodes. |
It can be very useful to have multiple network editors and/or parameter editors open in separate tabs, with one unpinned and the rest pinned to important locations in the scene hierarchy.
Pane linking
Users of versions of Houdini prior to 9.0 may find pane linking natural or essential to their established workflows. New users will probably find that pane linking is more complex than simply using normal pinning and unpinning.
Right-click the
Pin icon shows a list of numbers.
Choose a number from the menu. This links the pane to all other panes sharing that number. All linked panes update to follow the same path.
“No link” is equivalent to the
pinned icon: the pane is pinned to its current location. “Last selected node” is equivalent to the icon: the pane follows the selection.
If you have a layout with four panes, with two panes assigned to 1 and two panes assigned to 2, when you change the path in one of the 2 panes, the other 2 pane will change to the same path.
Tabs
To create a new tab, click the 
new tab icon and choose the pane type to put in the tab (see below). Right click an existing tab to change its pane type.
| Ctrl + Tab | Next tab. |
| Ctrl + PgDn | |
| Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + Tab | Previous tab. |
| Ctrl + PgUp |
(These keys only work for the pane the mouse pointer is over)
Resizing, hiding and maximizing panes
Drag the divider line between panes to resize them.
The arrow controls at the center of the divider let you quickly maximize the pane on one side of the divider and hide the other. This is useful when you have a pane you need to refer to or work in at some times (such as the channel editor in the layout above) but can be put away at other times when you're working purely in the viewer.
Click the arrows to move the divider all the way up/left or down/right. This maximizes the pane on one side of the divider and hides the other.
Click the grip at the center of the divider to swap the contents of the panes on either side of the divider (as opposed to dragging to resize).
Alt-click the grip to switch the divider between vertical and horizontal orientation.
Pane menu
Click the 
pane menu icon in the top right corner of a pane to open a menu of pane management items.
| Set pane tab type | Choose a pane type for the current tab. You can also right click a tab to set the pane type for the tab. See the list of pane types below. | ||||||||||||
| Previous/Next pane tab | Switch to the previous/next pane tab. Use the keyboard shortcuts to move between tabs. | ||||||||||||
| Tear off pane tab/Tear off pane tab copy | Move or copy the contents of the current tab into a floating window. | ||||||||||||
| Close pane tab | Delete the current tab. | ||||||||||||
| Undo close tab | Restores the tab that was most recently closed in Houdini. Only the most recent tab is saved for restoring. | ||||||||||||
| Maximize pane | Make this pane take up the entire window. This is
the same as clicking the
| ||||||||||||
| Close pane (all tabs) | Removes the entire pane, and all its tabs, from the pane layout. | ||||||||||||
| Split pane left/right, Split pane top/bottom | Split the current pane into two side-by-side panes. This lets you add new panes to the pane layout. | ||||||||||||
| Pane Interface | Tip When you choose a Move X here_ item (for example, __Move main menu here), the item changes to Reset X to top/bottom (e.g. Reset menu menu to top). Choosing the item again resets the user interface element back to its default place in the main Houdini window.
|
maximize icon.
Use desktops to organize pane configurations
When you create a useful new pane/tab configuration, you can save the configuration to a desktop. Desktops persist between Houdini sessions. Houdini comes with some pre-configured desktops customized for different tasks, such as modeling and animating.
Note
In addition to saving pane configuration, desktops also save the state of the shelf. So you can have different shelf tabs available in different desktops.
| To... | Do this |
|---|---|
| Save the current pane configuration as a new desktop | Choose Window > Desktop > Save current desktop as. |
| Save any changes you've made to the current desktop | Choose Window > Desktop > Save current desktop. |
| Use a saved desktop | Choose Window > Desktop > name (at the top of the desktop menu). |
| Revert to the last saved version of the current desktop | Choose Window > Desktop > Reload current desktop. |
| Delete, rename, and manage saved desktops | Choose Windows > Desktop > Desktop manager to open the desktop manager window. |
| Create a new set of panes in a floating window | See how to use floating panels below. Tip Any floating panels that are open when you save the desktop are “attached” to the desktop, so they are only visible when that desktop is active. |
| Start with a completely blank configuration | Choose Window > Desktop > New desktop. Note that the new desktop starts with a blank shelf. You will have to re-add the shelf tabs you want to be available in the new desktop. See how to use the shelf. |
Use floating panels to extend your desktop
A floating panel is a window that holds additional tabbed panes. You can divide the panes in the floating panel window, resize them, link them, and add tabs to them, just as in the main Houdini window. You can also use the items in the floating panel menu to move the shelf, main menu, playbar, and/or status bar into the panel window.
Floating panel windows are especially useful for multi-monitor setups (see the Fullscreen panel menu option below), and also for creating minimize-able sets of panes for infrequent tasks.
Tip
You can drag and drop pane tabs between panels and between a panel and the main Houdini window.
| To... | Do this |
|---|---|
| Create a new panel window | Choose Window > New floating panel. |
| Set up a panel to appear only when a certain desktop is active | Open the Tip Any floating panels that are open when you save the desktop are “attached” to the desktop, so they are only visible when that desktop is active. |
Floating panel menu
All panes in a panel have an extra Floating Panel submenu in the pane menu, containing the following items:
Tip
When you choose a Move X to this panel item (for example, Move main menu to this panel), the item changes to Reset X to desktop (e.g. Reset menu menu to desktop). Choosing the item again resets the user interface element back to its default place in the main Houdini window.
| Attach this Panel to Desktop | When this option is on, the panel only appears when the current desktop (pane configuration) is open. See how to use desktops above. |
| Fullscreen Panel | When this option is on, the panel fills the screen without any window border. This is useful for a floating panel on a secondary monitor in a multi-monitor setup. |
| Move Main Menu to this Panel | Moves the main menu from the main Houdini window to the top of this panel. This item is only available on Windows and Linux. See also |
| Move Shelf to this Panel | Moves the shelf from the main Houdini window to the top of this panel. After you use this command to move the shelf, it changes to Reset shelf to desktop. Choose this item to return the main menu to its default position in the main Houdini window. |
| Move playbar to this Panel | Moves the playbar to the bottom of this panel instead of along the bottom of the entire main window. |
| Move Status Bar to this Panel | Moves the status bar to the bottom of this panel instead of along the bottom of the entire main window. Only available on Windows and Linux. |
Pane Types
At the far left of each Pane menu is the Pane type icon that indicates what kind of content the Pane is working with.
| Scene view | A 3D viewer showing the objects in your scene. |
| Particle view | A 3D viewer for viewing particle simulations independent of the scene. |
| Network | Shows the networks of nodes that create the scene. |
| Parameters | Lets you edit parameters of the selected node, and set keyframes on specific parameters. |
| Tree View | A hierarchical list of all nodes in the scene. This view does not show you how nodes are connected like the network editor, but it gives you quick access to them by path. |
| Take list | A hierarchical list of takes. This pane gives lets you edit the list of takes. It can also be easier to select takes from the list in this pane than from the takes menu in the top right. |
| Textport | A command-line console that lets you enter HScript commands and see the results. |
| Python Shell | An interactive shell that lets you type python expressions and commands and see the results. |
| Channel Editor | Lets you view and manipulate channels using animation curves, dope sheet, or table views. |
| Channel List | Lists all “scoped” parameters for the selected objects. Lets you quickly edit animated parameters. |
| Motion View | A viewer for channel operator data. |
| Render Scheduler | A pane that shows all active renders, and allows you to pause or kill them. |
| Composite View | A viewer for 2D compositing. |
| Material Palette | Lets you assign materials to objects and primitives interactively. |
| Shader View | Allows you to view and rotate the selected shader ball. |
| Render View | A viewer for interactive rendering. |
| Light Linker | Lets you link objects to lights as well as do other types of linking. See lighting. |
| Bundle List | Lets you create and edit the contents of bundles. Bundles are collections of objects, such as lights, that let you assign them as a group in various places, such as in the light linker. |
| Details view | Shows a list of geometry points belonging to the selected modeling node. |
| Handle List | The list of persistent handles (handles you have specified should stay visible even when the handle’s node is not selected) and HUD sliders (parameter controls you have dragged into the viewer). |
| Parameter Spreadsheet | A table view of nodes and their parameters, letting you view, compare, and edit the settings for multiple nodes at once. |
| Context View | Displays a specific context view depending on the selected node. |
| Help Browser | Displays the online help. The help browser is also a completely functional embedded Web browser you can use to view your own Web pages. |