HOW TO ENTER

To enter the contest:

1 ) Prepare your lessons using the guidelines provided.

2 ) Publish your lesson to your profile on the SideFX website

3) Once your entry is online, fill out the Submission Form

Lessons that focus on Houdini 21 and are published between October 1 and January 16th, 2026 will be eligible.

RULES & GUIDELINES | TERMS OF CONDITIONS

ELIGIBILITY

• This contest is open to 3D artists anywhere in the world.
  
• Employees of SideFX or any of their agents may participate in the contest but are not eligible to win.
  
• This contest is void where prohibited

• All submissions must be received on or before January 16th, 2026 at Midnight EDT.
• Lessons must be uploaded to the entrant's profile on the SideFX website. 
  
• Lessons must be original content recorded in Houdini 21. 
• Submissions can be video based or text based.
  
• Any videos that accompany the lesson should be published to YouTube then linked to the tutorial page on SideFX.com. Your videos should be set to public with a #HowtoHoudini21 tag. 
  
• Videos should be recorded at 16:9 ratio - For example 1920x1080, 2560x1440 or 3840x2160. Please scale the UI up or down to make it readable on your chosen resolution.
• Videos should be at a minimum 10 minutes long to be eligible. 
• If your lesson is a bit longer, be sure to break it into smaller 10-20 minute videos and publish it as a multi-video tutorial. Refer to the Tutorial Guidelines for instructions on how to set up your lesson.
  
• If you make a multi-video tutorial then some lessons such as an introduction might be less than 10 minutes but the total of all videos should be more than 10 minutes.
• All content must be the property of the submitter. If you are running Houdini on an employer or school computer make sure that this does not compromise your ownership rights
  

• The title of the lesson must start with "How to..." and should not mention Houdini. The title should focus on the workflow or node you are teaching. (eg. How to Bake Texture Maps)
• The lesson must teach a workflow and demonstrate the steps. Clicking through an already built node network will not be eligible to win prizes.
• Your lesson can have existing content in a "start file" that you use to begin the lesson. For instance, you might have some campfire geometry prepared that you will then light on fire in the lesson.
• All lessons should lead to and show how to create a completed result such as a beauty shot render, high quality flipbook, turntable, or a real time capture.
• Links to YouTube videos are expected but links to offsite text-based tutorials will not be eligible to win prizes.
• Tutorials can use Third party asset libraries such as Kitbash, Polyhaven or Miximo but you can only use FREE assets that students have access to. You will not be able to distribute these assets as part of your project files therefore you must point students to the location where they can access these files.
• You can enter once in each Lesson Type, but you can only win one prize.
  
• If you have an old lesson you want to enter, you can only do this if it is re-recorded in Houdini 21 and includes updated tools and workflows.
  
• Entries that clearly infringe on the copyrights of another company will be disqualified.
  

• The judges' decision is final
  
• SideFX is not responsible for submissions that arrive late, or are lost or damaged during submission
  
• If the prize cannot be awarded due to unforeseen circumstances, no cash alternatives are available
  

• The Entrant retains ownership of all intellectual and industrial property rights (including moral rights) in and to the lesson. As a condition of entry, the Entrant grants SideFX a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, transferable, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, adapt, modify, publish, distribute, publicly perform, create a derivative work from, and publicly display the asset for any purpose, including distribution on the SideFX website, without any attribution or compensation to Entrant. 
  
• In respect of the Lesson, the Entrant grants to Houdini Community Members a non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide right and license to use, adapt, create derivative works, create imagery, create content for video games, publicly display, publicly perform, digitally perform, or advertise. The Entrant also grants to Houdini Community Members to use any trademarks, service marks or trade names incorporated in the Lesson. 
• Houdini Community Members [other than the Entrant] may not re-distribute, sell, publish, or otherwise make the Lesson or substantially similar adaptations available to any third party.
  

LESSON TYPES

Each entry should fit into one of these four lesson types. This ensures that you know the level of instruction necessary for the intended audience. In your lesson description, include the line "this is a beginner lesson" or "this is a production workflow lesson." 

JUDGING CRITERIA

The following criteria will be used by the judges to determine which lessons are the best. Please take these into consideration when you create your lesson.