Hi, I'm having a minor issue that I'd like to fix regarding start-up time for Houdini Indie.

On each new build, when I first launch Houdini, the start-up time is normal. (around 4 seconds)

Afterwards, When I launch Houdini for the first time, (ie.next day) the start-up is around 1min 40sec (yeh, I timed it). However, if I close and relaunch it's back to 4 seconds.

One of the things I like about Houdini is the fast start-up but every day, the first launch is much longer than I expect it to be.

Does anyone else have this issue and know of a fix? I would accept it as normal behavior if Houdini didn't start-up in 4 seconds on each new build. (making me think it's been fixed and then disappointing me the next day)

However, I have a feeling it could be my setup as I'm also having issues with “Error running Python code to access the help manager”. I'm wondering if the two are related and if I can fix one of the issues, the other might be fixed too.

Both issues started around the more recent H14 builds and persist with H15.

Rob

It sounds like your OS is caching some of the files to free memory (a lot of OSes do this). If you have a hybrid SSD/HD, it also may be caching the files to the SSD area from the HD.

Thanks for your reply.

I do have a hybrid setup so that does make sense and I've experienced the same in other software too.

Three things confused me enough to ask the initial question…

1. The quick start-up when launching new builds. Next time I update to a new build, I'll make sure to restart pc before I launch to confirm.

2. I was positive the start-up time for early H14 builds was very quick. (or much quicker than 1min 45)

3. I remember seeing a bug fix in the Journal for slow start-up time and wondered if the bug had resurfaced.

I could be wrong on all the above as I'm relying on my memory, which is not so reliable.

I know the answer to the next question will vary a lot depending on system setup but what is the expected start-up time for Houdini on a HDD? There's quite a big gap between 4 sec and 1min 45 so if I know a ballpark figure of where it's supposed to be, I can either stop worrying or dive deeper.

I've also found that when I try clearing the cache in Houdini, it doesn't release the RAM so I need to restart Houdini. Restarting Houdini when this happens also causes the long start-up. (the cache is overwritten?) Is there is a way for me to control how Houdini uses memory for sims so it doesn't overwrite the cache used for the “quick launch”.

Rob

UPDATE: Confirmed odd behaviour. Installed new build, first launch of the day, 5 sec start-up. Restarted PC, launch Houdini, 1min 50 start-up. Only difference between the two is installing license on new build.

UPDATE v2: Now using a new Win10 system with SSD drives, the start-up time is consistently fast.