hi all
apoogize for my poor english.

I was a sesi user since PRISMS ~ Houdini 4? or 5?
Unfortunetely, my company where i worked decided to use maya as standard CGI software, i left from Houdini and became Autodesk user.

Time passed, i became freelancer and want to go back to Houdini, but before that, i need to know clearly about 3 things. maybe those are FAQ but i could not find any infomation.

1 How many rendering node can i use with ONE Houdini FX License ?
For example, mentalray for maya can use 5 render node without additional license.

2 Is there any feature like “Reference” on maya?
I want to separate scene file into category of task, like as modeling, rigging, animation…. i don't want to work without this kind of feature.

3 Is there any support for 3DConnextion's input device?
I'm using also Vue and 3D-Coat, always confuse view navigation with keyboard. So i always want to put my left hand on the device.

Please let me know about those and push my back to Houdini world

jimmyhen
1 How many rendering node can i use with ONE Houdini FX License ?
For example, mentalray for maya can use 5 render node without additional license.

Unlimited mantra render nodes I read -

http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=385&Itemid=190 [sidefx.com]

================================================

*** About your second question :

You know that Houdini is realy full procedural and node base software.
I think you can do it in the Houdini with standard “File SOP” and “ROP Output driver SOP” and “Object Merge SOP” !
Because it's node base system , you can simply manage your scene and imported objects !



I worked with Maya's reference and I thinks Houdini dosen,t has exactly same tool (Maybe I do wrong). :?

But What is reference and why we should use it in Maya :?:

1. We use reference in Maya because sometimes we have big scene with too many objects like : Animated characters , Environment Models , Animated Cars , Trees , Building and etc

In this case if we import all of them in just 1 file ,so the file's size will become very large.


2. too many persons can be work on 1 scene with refrence technique at the same time !

for example some body work on the character and some other work on cars and finally all of them can be refrence in 1 scene.

3. If we refrence some objects in the Maya that's mean this object just use in this project but all of the data of this object saved in another file .It's good for file's size ,Loading scene time and memory usage.(We can just use and add require refrences)






+++ If we use “file SOP” in the Houdini so :

1. If you import some object in the Houdini with “file SOP” ,Just this object use in the current hip file and it's data saved in the another file on the HDD. (It's good for file's size like Maya refrence)



2. If we make some changes or edit on the original object's file , the edited object can be reloading in the base hip file automatically ( Exactly like Maya refrence to working too many persons on 1 scene at the same time)


In the attached file ,I made a simple example of this subject .

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*** About your third question :

Check this link :

http://forums.odforce.net/index.php?/topic/8888-hou-navigator-0-1/ [forums.odforce.net]


:wink:

jimmyhen
1 How many rendering node can i use with ONE Houdini FX License ?
For example, mentalray for maya can use 5 render node without additional license.

Houdini basically comes with a free unlimited mantra licenses, but hbatches has to be pursched (or rent acctualy) separetly. This makes it more expensive considering Houdini/Maya, but comparable if you want to enhence Maya with external renderer.

2 Is there any feature like “Reference” on maya?
I want to separate scene file into category of task, like as modeling, rigging, animation…. i don't want to work without this kind of feature.

Read about Digital Assets in Houdini. Like References + Scene Assembly but on steroids.

I downloaded apprentice version and try finding answer for my question..
But Houdini have problem with my Radeon card (Of cource i know this is “my own risk”, i'm just a freelancer, not company man, so i need to use cheaper graphics card. Do you know AMD's FirePro V7900 costs about $1430 in japan, even US amazon sell it for $628).

Anyway, thanks guys for replay.

MartybNz
Unlimited mantra render nodes I read

That's great even i have only 3 node for rendering (^^;;

Joker386
You know that Houdini is realy full procedural and node base software.
I think you can do it in the Houdini with standard “File SOP” and “ROP Output driver SOP” and “Object Merge SOP” !
Because it's node base system , you can simply manage your scene and imported objects !

Thanks for creating example scene.
I also thought that because Houdini have such great architecture, it is easy to implement “reference” feature, just bring the node network in the hip file to another as “refreshable”…
Your way is great but still tricky for me. It will go well in “simple” scene having few object in there. If there are so many objects in scene, I need create same network every obj? hmm It's too boring task…

MartybNz
Check this link :
http://forums.odforce.net/index.php?/topic/8888-hou-navigator-0-1/ [forums.odforce.net]

Ok, I will try it on apprentice version.

SYmek
Read about Digital Assets in Houdini. Like References + Scene Assembly but on steroids.

I found this while i read online documentation. but is this “refreshable”? I mean, editing original scene reflect “automatically” to one reading digital asset without any care, without destroy any editing on the reading scene?

# I changed thread title appropriate for my question.

No ,You can import all of the Obj's in the just one network :?

jimmyhen

SYmek
Read about Digital Assets in Houdini. Like References + Scene Assembly but on steroids.

I found this while i read online documentation. but is this “refreshable”? I mean, editing original scene reflect “automatically” to one reading digital asset without any care, without destroy any editing on the reading.

Indead, they are refreshable and non-destructive to the extend of what you do with that after import. Assets can hold and do anything you want, and so how they behave in a scene is up to you (they're not sandboxed).

Anyways lots of a pipelines are based on HDA, albeit some consideration must be taken, because HDA is more generic concept than a scene elements' referencing, so a couple of its intrinsics can be a trap.