I am sure this is something that someone has thought of before but I thought I would ask… Wouldn't a mobile (thinking iPad, android tablet, etc) version of Houdini be awesome? The reason why I think ts is:

1- Houdini node/parameter based workflow would make manipulation on tablets MUCH easier, than say a program like Maya, which relies more on user selecting and moving components

2- I feel Houdini is incredibly scalable since meshes are procedurally generated (the complexity is based off what the digital asset parameters do)

3- most tablets now support 3d quite well (see some of square Enix games in the app store). The are even apps to visualize/store objs, plys, etc

4- most of the time I work in Houdini, I do not use modifier keys to navigate (I.e.spacebar) since I am modifying nodes. This means that if navigation in the tablet is only possible via selecting the navigation tool, it would not be as bad as in other programs

5- because DAs are simple node network data, imagine being able to import DAs created on your mobile device into your desktop versio nof Houdini (or viceversa). That would be so awesome . You could be working on your DAs in your tablet while taking the bus to work!

One thing that I noticed Houdini does suffer of (to my never-ending frustration ) is that is not as well known as other programs. It is often compared to Maya and XSI when I feel it is a very unique application on itself with unique abilities that distinguishes it from other software. Since the mobile platform does not have as many 3d apps (none?), this may be a great way for people to experience the node network workflow, and understand the true potential

I would imagine certain things may have to be stripped (mantra?), and I wonder what the price point may have to be, but many times I find myself grabbing my iPad and wishing I could be working on my DAs I am currently developing

Any who, though I would share!

I think it would not be beneficial to have mobile version, more OS to develop for more space for bugs, less focus for developers on important things
and mobile platform is not for serious work right now
you need powerful hardware, fast processor, memory, fast large disks for all caches and many more

if you want to use Houdini on your mobile device you can use screen sharing app like Teamviewer to connect to your workstation through net or lan

Right now there is nothing to do with houdini on mobile devices. But, i think, it can change with Windows 8 tablests, witch should hit the market in late 2012. Just my thought. 8)

Actually there is a “Tablet Mac” around from axiotron called the “modbook”. Have a look. Still it is no iPad..

I think it's a brilliant idea worth serious considering. Why professional applications always have to be limited to costly workstation? That is a nonsense. I impatiently wait for iPhone's app, since I use my iphone a lot.

I already see those headlines: “First 3d app. on Linux, again first… now on IPod (with Android port coming soon).” Catchy.

skk.

/Monday Grumpies ON


I think the concept is flawed. Tablets have a long, *long* way to go before they hit the realm of (say) a power graphics laptop. Just brushing it off as ‘well it’s just a matter of time' doesn't apply here. What are tablets for? Mostly games and internet. They are convenient information and entertainment machines. For the hardware to escalate to doing sims on it, you need the market to drive the hardware development in that direction. I don't think that's going to happen, who out there wants a tablet on par with a workstation with all the inevitable heat and (primarily) battery issues? Sure as hell not the masses. What's happening out there is workstations are being marginalized. They won't die, there will still be people that need to do real work on workstations, but it will be nothing like the huge volume that the tablet market will generate. And the way things in mass computing are going now is ‘good enough’. People aren't buying Bluray's, they're subscribing to Netflix. Landfill media is dying, people want a small convenient and powerful information machine(tablet), *maybe* a workstation(altho fewer and fewer), and people who need to write a lot for a living will stick with laptops. TVs are getting smarter. The people buying all these things are driving the market, and they aren't willing to pay for the R&D to build a practical workstation in a tablet.

More than anything, battery technology needs to take a profound step forward for even the current projections to work. The Chinese government is dumping huge amounts of yuan into battery tech R&D, and that's smart. That's going to drive what happens next.

This isn't even discussing the fact you can't practically use Houdini without a keyboard.

For the record, I have a Xoom, and I love it. This isn't about tablet hate. I use it every day, a whole lot. I just don't think this is an accurate perception of where the market is going.

I'll pop back in a few years and read this post and wince, betcha.

Cheers,

J.C.

i agree with the good arguments against the idea, but i still find myself wishing i had vops on my iphone ~4x per week…

Great conversation guys! Thank you all for your replies

it looks to me that the limitations still remains in regards to usability without having a keyboard, as well as the tablets having enough horsepower to support node networks (at least for the time being, would love to be pleasantly surprised in the future). My hope is that the rabid competition between tablet developers helps drive that

It will be interesting to see in the future once (and if) cloud computing becomes more mainstream, where that may be a viable solution to the processing and memory limitations of tablets

I do like the idea of at least testing out the usability using a screen sharing app, or on one of the PC or Mac tablets. I may try that out next. On a slightly related note, I been using the ArtStudio app for doing illustration, and it is impressive how much of photoshop they were able to squeeze in an app (the navigation is surprisingly intuitive. They use a pinch/pan combo for zooming and panning, and a 3 finger tap to pop up floating menus)

Just a quick update on this. I was able to test Splashtop Streamer (remote desktop app) on the ipad with houdini and it was actually running quite nice it even allowed me to run some simple glsl shaders.

Biggest disadvantage is that the finger gestures are not customizable… for example, the program uses two finger tap for mouse roll over and two finger drag for mouse wheel. Ideally, if these two could be configured somehow to middle and right button, it would be pretty seamless.

For now, you can get by testing digital assets and simply using the frame commands for navigation (if your objects are small enough, you can also navigate by creating a camera). Luckily the middle mouse wheel works good for zooming the network view

for the present I don't think this is a useful idea…

what might be a cool and useful idea is a shader builder on something like an iPad…
a menu for nodes, drag them around and link them, then a preview of your shader…on a grid, sphere etc…

it is actually not too terrible if you are doing a quick test for a digital asset (i.e. you cannot get to your computer, but had that great idea for a digital asset that does x thing ).

I simply loaded a complex asset in my geometry sop (i.e. a head) and tested out some operations. The key here is that most of the interactivity I need is localized to the SOPs parameter window.

However, yeah, there will definitly be a few situations where this is not ideal. But even for your example, you can actually software render via remote, which means you could be testing out mantra shaders

arctor
for the present I don't think this is a useful idea…

what might be a cool and useful idea is a shader builder on something like an iPad…
a menu for nodes, drag them around and link them, then a preview of your shader…on a grid, sphere etc…

That's just what I was thinking as I read this thread. I think it's more of a legitimate direction….“helper apps” where you concentrate on a narrow area that makes sense for a mobile application. Exportation being a must or at least a copy paste to email of work done.

The odds of such an app being made increasing if it could be used for various main applications. A Renderman compliant shader builder being the only one I can think of at this time that could be used for Houdini and other main applications.

I want prisms on my nook. now.

:twisted: