Hi
I'm a maya user and i'm thinking to choose houdini as 2º tool thinking in a future job in vfx; my other option was modo but i prefer maya for modeling

The problem is that actually i'm studying nuke to; and i feel a bit confuse with the node graph of houdini and the node graph of nuke when i have to use both, move in nuke with ALT key, and in houdini with SPACEBAR but obviously this is not the biggest problem, the selection and connect nodes are a bit different to.. etc etc…

My question is if its possible to use maya and houdini both; i love maya and i'm trying to love houdini to but when i use maya and nuke i dont have any problems, but with houdini is different

Any experience with that? Is a good choice learn houdini thinking in the future of my job? I love the texturing, ilumination, render, compositing, fx; but i dont like so much the areas of modeling (specially organic) animation and rigging

Sorry for my bad english, i'm studying that to

Thanks!

The good news is many people do already, Maya & Houdini are complementary softwares.

You can also use the Alt key in Houdini, there is a preference to turn it on, Preferences/3D Viewports

The documentation has a section called Maya to Houdini transitions too.
http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini13.0/start/maya_transition [sidefx.com]

Also there is a current project thread going on modelling improvements, some forward thinking going on there:

project “Houdini, a great modeler”
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&t=31040 [sidefx.com]

The rigging appears to be quite good from the Maya/SoftImage users perspective.

animation and rigging
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&t=31026 [sidefx.com]


Hope that can be of some help.

MartybNz
The good news is many people do already, Maya & Houdini are complementary softwares.

You can also use the Alt key in Houdini, there is a preference to turn it on, Preferences/3D Viewports

The documentation has a section called Maya to Houdini transitions too.
http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini13.0/start/maya_transition [sidefx.com]

Also there is a current project thread going on modelling improvements, some forward thinking going on there:

project “Houdini, a great modeler”
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&t=31040 [sidefx.com]

The rigging appears to be quite good from the Maya/SoftImage users perspective.

animation and rigging
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&t=31026 [sidefx.com]


Hope that can be of some help.

very thanks for the links

I forgot other question, and it is that now maya have the engine of houdini with a plugin; this is not a problem for houdini in the future? If i have this option why i have to learn houdini if i have the engine in maya?

Obviously its a question, i'm very interested in this software but is a important decision for me because i want to spend a lot of time with that

I'm no expert on the Houdini Engine, I believe you create the asset in Houdini to use in Maya.

Someone else would know better though.

Yes ,working with both Maya & Houdini is Great and you can solve any VFX challeng with their powerfull tools !

I am exactly like you my friend , I Working with Maya (about 10 years) and Houdini (about 5 years) and Nuke for compositing (about 5 years ).

In my oponion , Houdini is the best , but maybe we can do some special things in the Maya easier than Houdini (like Some special Non-Procedural Modeling ).

so sometimes I use Maya too.
I read this in the cgsociety site before :
When Maya users swich to the Houdini , they never back to the Maya again !
I smiled to this at the first , But for now ,… !


Don,t worry about some problem with Houdini Interface , it will solve after some many times after working with the Houdini !

Also just take a look around VFX jobs on the Net and you should usually see this :

experiences : Working with Maya (and Houdini is Plus ) !

Of course I Love Maya forever , but I be come lazy for now , because i make some projects , specially about VFX and Particles in the Houdini with fewer steps !!!

Another important note about Houdini against another softwares is :
you usually don,t need to use additional softwares or plug-ins to do some VFX shots in the Houdini , Like liquid simulations or pyro simulations like fire , smoke , explosion ,but in the others , maybe you should use Realflow , Naiad , Fume Fx and etc 8)

Yes ,working with both Maya & Houdini is Great and you can solve any VFX challeng with their powerfull tools !

I am exactly like you my friend , I Working with Maya (about 10 years) and Houdini (about 5 years) and Nuke for compositing (about 5 years ).

In my oponion , Houdini is the best , but maybe we can do some special things in the Maya easier than Houdini (like Some special Non-Procedural Modeling ).

so sometimes I use Maya too.
I read this in the cgsociety site before :
When Maya users swich to the Houdini , they never back to the Maya again !
I smiled to this at the first , But for now ,… !


Don,t worry about some problem with Houdini Interface , it will solve after some many times after working with the Houdini !

Also just take a look around VFX jobs on the Net and you should usually see this :

experiences : Working with Maya (and Houdini is Plus ) !

Of course I Love Maya forever , but I be come lazy for now , because i make some projects , specially about VFX and Particles in the Houdini with fewer steps !!!

Another important note about Houdini against another softwares is :
you usually don,t need to use additional softwares or plug-ins to do some VFX shots in the Houdini , Like liquid simulations or pyro simulations like fire , smoke , explosion ,but in the others , maybe you should use Realflow , Naiad , Fume Fx and etc 8)

MartybNz
I'm no expert on the Houdini Engine, I believe you create the asset in Houdini to use in Maya.

Someone else would know better though.

Yes , Houdini Engine is great and we can use both Maya an Houdini in our VFX pipline very easily , e.g create simulations and dynamics in the Houdini , and move them to the Maya for Rendering ,Also we can create some procedural tools in the Houdini and use them in the Maya .

Another interesting feature is :
we can use some Orbolt library Assets in the Maya

Just Houdini engine is slower than Houdini and I sure this will solve later :wink:

Very thanks joker

But your situation is not the same that mine, i use maya for 5 months ago ops: so i'm a “noob” (like videogames ) but i have a “big experience” in the video editing with avid, premirere, fcp… now i choose the vfx because i love it.

So now my situation is that i'm very interested on this software; so i try to learn it both with maya, i have a lot of time so its not a problem for me; and if i dont need to use plugins knowing houdini obviously its a big plus for study

I have an other question and its about the scripting. I want to study python for the future because i use mari to; so this obviously is a plus if i want to work with nuke and mari; but now i see that houdini use python so obviously this is my 100% choose

Its complicated the scripting part of houdini? Its like in mari and nuke?

Thanks for your attention and again, sorry for my horrible english :roll:

Hello Doxxina!

In the hurry of reading this thread, I noticed that:
1) You are fairly new to 3D
2) Mention learning both Maya and Houdini… (and Nuke?)
3) Mention doing some Mari (for future.. jobs)
4) Mention big experience with Avid and “editing” tools.

I dont know how old you are, nor how much free time you've got. Nor what do you do for living. But if you decide to go really for a job in VFX, you should FIRST master for sure 1 (one) Software package. And that software package must be appropriate for the position you apply to! ( for example I dont recommend mastering first Maya if you want to do fire/destruction, or Houdini if you want to do character high poly…) After you get some good understanding of how the software works, what can u do with it, what limitations are there… then you can look around and learn everything your heart desires. Still, you cant learn it all. You simply must chose, would you go into 3D, would you go into post…or would you become an “almost know it all around” freelancer/ generalist.

I hope you dont get me wrong, my message is: Figure out what exactly do u like doing FIRST (talk to people, attend conferences, online forums..) and then learn HOW to do it. Unless you want to spend the next 5-10 years just in learning software, which is inappropriate for what your wishes are…

Just my 2cents,
Best of luck

Houdini , Maya and Nuke are a great package in the VFX Jobs ,They are Best and you can solve any VFX Challenges with they , But as xukca said ,You should will be Master in one software at the First and Maya is good choice ,Because you should know some basic about VFX pipeline first ,I think learning and working with Maya is simpler than Houdini for beginners !

About Python Yes ,I think this is important for VFX guys to know it ,Python can be useful in the too many VFX software like Maya , Houdini , Nuke and …

And this is my vision in my Life :

Don't fear about learning too many knowledge ,Just you should have perfect Goal ,Time Management ,Perseverance and move forward step by step :wink: