Houdini 20.5 Unreal

Install Houdini Engine for Unreal

How to install Houdini Engine for Unreal

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The Houdini Engine is officially supported on Windows and macOS. You can unoficially use the Houdini Engine for Plugin on Linux but will need to compile the plugin from source.

You can find current/older versions for Windows, macOS, and Apple Silicon on the Houdini Engine for Unreal Github repository.

The source code for the plugin is included with the binaries that come with the installer/launcher.

The plugin’s source code is compatible with all UE5.X version, and is not specific to a given version of UE5.

Installing Houdini Engine

Windows

  1. Install the launcher if not already installed.

  2. Open the launcher.

  3. Click Houdini ▸ Install. If you are not already logged in the web browser will pop open asking you to login to your SideFX account. The launcher will move to the front once the login process has completed.

  4. In the Choose a Version to Install select either Production Build or Daily Build depending on your desired build version. If you need to select a specific version then select Choose Another Version and install the version desired.

  5. In the Preferences pop-up window, turn on Unreal Plug-in and click install.

  6. Locate the Houdini Engine directory. The default location is \Side Effects Software\Houdini Engine\Unreal\X.Y.Z.

    • X.Y.Z means your Houdini Version.

  7. Copy the Houdini Engine folder to the Plugins folder of your Unreal directory. You can either copy it to Unreal’s engine/Plugins directory or your Unreal project’s Plugin directory.

    • Unreal’s directory location is \Epic Games\UE5.X\Engine\Plugins\Runtime\HoudiniEngine and the project directory is \Unreal Project\Plugins\Runtime\HoudiniEngine.

Note

For Unreal Engine 5.0 and 5.1, you must use Unreal’s project directory.

Mac

  1. Download the HoudiniEngine-vX.X.X-Y.Y.Y-UEZ.Z-MacOS.zip from the Houdini Engine for Unreal Github repository where X.X.X is the Houdini Engine plugin version, Y.Y.Y is the Houdini version and Z.Z is the Unreal Engine version.

    For macOS Apple Silicon, download HoudiniEngine-vX.X.X-Y.Y.Y-UEZ.Z-MacOS-arm64.zip instead.

  2. Unpack the downloaded .zip package. This will extract a HoudiniEngine folder.

  3. Copy the extracted HoudiniEngine folder to the Plugins/Runtime folder of your Unreal directory. You can either copy the directory to the Unreal Engine installation (/Users/Shared/Epic Games/UE_Z.Z/Engine/Plugins/Runtime) or to your Unreal project directory (~/Documents/Unreal Projects/<MyProject>/Plugins/Runtime).

Note

For Unreal Engine 5.0 and 5.1, you must use Unreal’s project directory.

Linux

Houdini Engine is not officially supported on Linux. However, you can follow the Install plug-in from source instructions and use the source code to build the plugin. Your houdini install will have the unreal plugin source code in the engine\unreal subdirectory.

Install plug-in from source

  1. Follow the instructions for downloading Unreal Engine source code

    • Make sure to complete all the steps so you have Unreal project files.

  2. Download the Source Code.zip from the Houdini Engine for Unreal Github repository.

  3. Create a folder named HoudiniEngine in Unreal’s Plugins\Runtime directory in either the engine or project directory.

    • Unreal’s engine directory location is \Epic Games\UE5.0\Engine\Plugins\Runtime\HoudiniEngine and the project directory is \Unreal Project\Plugins\Runtime\HoudiniEngine.

  4. Extract the Source Code.zip content into the Houdini Engine folder.

Note

For Unreal Engine 5.0 or 5.1, you must use Unreal’s project directory.

Verify plug-in in Unreal

Once you install the Houdini Engine, verify the plug-in is loaded properly.

  1. Open a new or existing Unreal project.

  2. In the main menu, you can see Houdini Engine as a new item.

  3. In the Houdini Engine menu, click Start Session.

  4. A Houdini Engine session connected confirmation appears on the bottom right.

Troubleshooting

If you get a failed to start session or errors of Houdini Engine not connecting, your Houdini version may be incorrect (the plugin’s version doesn’t match your installed Houdini version).

  1. In the Houdini Engine menu, click on Installation Info.

  2. Check if the 'built with' X.Y.Z version number matches the running with Houdini version.

To change the running with Houdini version:

  1. In the main menu, select Houdini Engine then PluginSettings.

  2. In Houdini Location, select the checkbox next to Use Custom Houdini location.

  3. In Custom Houdini location, click the three dots and select the path to your Houdini version’s bin folder. The default location is \Side Effects Software\Houdini X.Y.Z\bin.

  4. In Houdini Executable, select your Houdini License type.

  5. Restart Unreal Engine.

Unreal

Getting started

Basics

Using Houdini Engine

Scripting

Reference