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To use Houdini Engine for Unreal, you need to create a Houdini Engine session. This loads the Houdini libraries, plugins, and sets up Houdini Engine to your preferences and environment variables.
You can create a session using two methods:
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a local session
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a remote session which allows you to use your local machine or another machine.
Remote Session ¶
Remote sessions allow you to separate the Houdini Engine process from Unreal. When you use TCP Socket or Named Pipe or Domain Socket, you can create a session on a local machine or host it on another machine.
To access the remote session settings:
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In Unreal’s main toolbar, click Houdini Engine then PluginSettings.
Note
You must restart Unreal Engine when you change the sesssion type or its configurations.
Setting |
Description |
|---|---|
Session Type |
Selects the session type from the options the following options:
|
Server Host |
For TCP Sockets session types. Enter the IP address or host name |
Server Port |
For TCP Sockets session types. Enter the server port |
Server Pipe Name |
For Named pipe or domain socket session types. Enter the server pipe name |
Start Automatic Server |
When on, the Houdini Engine server is automatically started when the plugin tries to open a session |
Automatic Server Timeout |
Enter the value in milliseconds before the server connection times out |
TCP Socket ¶
TCP Socket sessions allows Houdini Engine to process separately outside of the Unreal process.
You can auto-start the Houdini Engine server when using TCP Socket sessions, the server will use the value entered in Server Host and Server Port. When manually starting the Houdini Engine server (HARS), ensure that the Server Host and Server Port information matches what’s been used to start the server.
Named Pipe or Domain Socket ¶
Named Pipe or Domain Socket allows Houdini Engine to process separately outside of the Unreal process.
This setting is recommended if you use the same local machine as the host server.
You can auto-start the Houdini Engine server with Named Pipe or Domain Socket sessions. When manually starting the Houdini Engine server (HARS), ensure that the Server Pipe Name information matches what’s been used to start the server.
None ¶
The None setting prevents the plugin from creating a Houdini Engine session.
This can be useful to prevent a user from creating or modying Houdini Assets which requires a Houdini Engine license.
Create a local session ¶
You can create a local Houdini Engine session in the main Houdini Engine menu.
To create a local session:
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In Unreal’s main toolbar, select Houdini Engine then Create a session.
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A Houdini Engine session connected pop-up appears in the bottom right of Unreal.
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Create Session
Starts a new Houdini Engine session.
Connect Session
Connects to an existing Houdini Engine session.
Stop Session
Stops the current session.
Restart Session
Stops current session and starts a new one.