Hello,everyone! Since I started to learn Houdini not long ago, here i have some simple questions. ops:

1 - As Maya has the function of setting driven keys, i wonder whether Houdini has a similar approach. Also one can adjust the relevant driven value by adjusting the animation curve in Maya. So can we do it in Houdini in the similar way or it only can be relized by using scripts?

2 - How to snap the object onto the bone in Houdini?

3 - I find that we can modify the values of translate, rotate and scale in the parameters pane, and also can use handles to have that done. But can we use handles to modify other values, such as the position of the pivot? Or other values only can be modified in the parameters pane?

Williamkailun
1 - As Maya has the function of setting driven keys, i wonder whether Houdini has a similar approach. Also one can adjust the relevant driven value by adjusting the animation curve in Maya. So can we do it in Houdini in the similar way or it only can be relized by using scripts?

See the following posts to the various forums on Houdini:
http://forums.odforce.net/index.php?showtopic=613&hl=set+driven+key [forums.odforce.net]
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&t=4512&highlight=set+driven+key [sidefx.com]
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&t=2544&highlight=set+driven+key [sidefx.com]
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&t=1571&highlight=set+driven+key [sidefx.com]
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&t=1403&highlight=set+driven+key [sidefx.com]

There are many different ways to set up dynamic relationships in Houdini.

Williamkailun
2 - How to snap the object onto the bone in Houdini?

Houdini uses bones whereas maya uses joints. Houdini uses parenting to constrain objects to bones. Maya uses a series of constraints.
You need to parent your objects to the bones.

Note that you can toggle “Keep position when parenting” on all object nodes wether you want the geometry to move to the bone or keep it's position and parent.

A quick shortcut I use all the time to reparent an object is to select your object then hit the ` backquote key, select your new parent object. Only works when parenting a single object to a parent.

There is also the parent tool. With the cursor in the viewport, hit the Tab key to get the tab menu and either start typing parent or find the parent tool. This allows you to parent multiple obects to a parent.

Williamkailun
3 - I find that we can modify the values of translate, rotate and scale in the parameters pane, and also can use handles to have that done. But can we use handles to modify other values, such as the position of the pivot? Or other values only can be modified in the parameters pane?

To move the actual object's pivot, use the “insert” key, same as maya.
To see all the options available with the handle, simply RMB (RightMouseButton) on the handle. It shows the options plus the hotkey shortcuts.

I also like to set “color by axis” for my handles. See the main Settings > Main Preferences dialog for all the available options. Go to the Handles folder.

Thank you very much! It is really helpful.