Houdini 22.0 Reference Windows

Color Editor

The color editor is an expanded interface for picking colors.

On this page

Overview

Houdini provides a color editor for editing colors on any color parameter or ramp, along with a mono color editor for grayscale values.

To...Do this

Open the color editor for a color ramp

In the parameter editor, double-click a point’s arrow-shaped point handle on the bottom of the ramp.

Open the color editor for a color parameter

In the parameter editor, click the color swatch to the right of a color parameter.

Color wheel

to pick a color from the wheel. Click or drag in the hue ring around the color wheel to change only the hue. The hue ring uses OkHSL for better perceptual uniformity when changing hues.

Sliders

The color sliders let you edit the Current color using different sliders, arranged in two tab groups.

Alpha

A slider for editing the color’s alpha value. This parameter appears only when the color parameter has an alpha component.

Palettes

A list of available color palettes.

Image

Shows the image color picker.

Settings

Rotate with Hue

Sets whether the hue square should rotate to line up with the hue ring.

Slider Gradients

Off displays sliders with no color gradients. Fixed adds static color gradients to the sliders. Dynamic shows gradients derived from the Current color, so they change as you edit the color.

OCIO Options

Sets the current OCIO color profile in use. See OpenColorIO for more detail.

Current/Memory/Original

When you open the color editor, the Original swatch is set to the initial color being edited. Click the Original swatch to set it as the Current color. Click the swap button to swap Current and Original.

The Memory swatch holds a color across all uses of the color editor. Drag a color into the swatch to store it, and click on the swatch to set it as the Current color.

Pick color from screen

Click the eyedropper button to pick a color from anywhere on the screen.

Hex

An editable field displaying the hex value of the Current color.

History

A list of previously selected colors.

Slider modules

RGB

Red, green, and blue.

OkHSL

Hue, saturation, and lightness. This uses the Ok color space for more perceptually uniform behavior compared to HSL.

HSL

Hue, saturation, and lightness.

HSV

Hue, saturation, and value.

TMI

Temperature, magenta, and intensity.

TMI can be a convenient model for certain cinematic/photographic color operations. For example, in RGB you might increase red and decrease blue to warm the color, or increase blue and decrease red to cool it. In the TMI model, this is one slider, temperature. Intensity is also useful because it “brightens” or “dulls” a color while still retaining the color’s “character”.

Color temperature

Sets the color from a blackbody temperature in degrees Kelvin.

Shades

Two ranges of colors derived from the Current color, computed in OkLCH. Shades vary the lightness and Tints vary the chroma. Click a swatch to set it as the Current color.

Harmony

A set of complementary or analogous colors derived from the Current color. Use the controls to adjust the number of harmonious colors, as well as their spread. The colors also appear on the hue ring while this tab is open.

Blend

Blends between two colors in OkLCH, letting you pick any intermediate color along the gradient. Drag colors from elsewhere in the editor onto the two end swatches to change the blend. Alternatively, click one of the end swatches to cause it to start matching the Current color.

Palettes

Color palettes contain a list of color swatches. Click a swatch to set it as the Current color.

To...Do this

Change how the current palette is displayed

Adjust the size of the color swatches using the slider ( - ).

For some palettes, you can display the swatches with () or without () color names.

Edit the current palette

  • Drag swatches to reorder them.

  • Add new swatches by dragging them from a different part of the editor.

  • swatches to delete or rename them.

  • The Save button commits changes made to the palette and the Revert button restores the palette back to the last save.

Note

There are some color palettes you can’t edit. These are indicated with the icon in the Palettes tab.

Set a palette as the current palette

Choose a color palette from the dropdown menu in the Sliders tab.

or

In the Palettes tab, click Open beside the palette that you want to use. You can now configure this palette in the Sliders tab.

Search for a palette

Type in the search bar at the top of the Palettes tab to filter the list by name.

Create a blank color palette

  1. In the Palettes tab, click beside the search bar.

  2. Enter a Label (display name) and Name (internal name) and click OK.

  3. Click Open beside the new palette so it appears in the Sliders tab. You can now edit the new color palette.

Duplicate an existing color palette

  1. In the Palettes tab, click the Duplicate button next to a palette.

  2. Enter a new Label and Name and click OK.

Delete a color palette

In the Palettes tab, click the Delete button next to a palette and click OK.

Picking colors from an image

Click the Image button to open the tab for picking colors from an image.

Add

Choose the image file or URL to display. The uploaded images appear in the dropdown menu beside this parameter.

Plane

Selects which plane of the image to view and pick from.

Pick a color from the image.

Pan around the image.

or

Zoom in/out on the image.

Mono color editor

The mono color editor is similar to the above color editor, but only works on grayscale values. You can access this editor through floating point ramps and float mono parameters.

To...Do this

Open the mono color editor for a floating point ramp

  1. In the parameter editor, turn on the Grayscale View button to the right of a floating point ramp.

  2. Double-click the arrow-shaped color swatch under one of the ramp’s points.

Open the mono color editor for a float mono parameter

In the parameter editor, click the color swatch to the right of a float mono parameter.

Windows