Is anyone else having a problem where houdini 16 (CentOS 6.8, houdini 16.0.504.7.7) seems to forget where its saving scene files?

If I do a ‘save as’ if defaults to my user directory and I have to navigate to where I'm working on the network, clicking $HIP takes me back to my user directory too.

Not a show stopper but pretty frustrating!

Yep, on Windows I get the same thing from time to time. Where I thought I saved in one folder yet the HIP ends up in another. I guess it is operator error but it sure would be nice if there were some smart code in Houdini that remembered recent paths like the Adobe products have.

But it never did that under houdini 14/15/15.5. If I open a hip file in our usual houdini dir on the network, then do a save as it'll be trying to save it in my user folder.

@Hezza : If you use the “Set Project..” option in the file menu, Houdini will set the $HIP variable and it should work as expected.

And in the file dialog, on the left pane there is a small + and x sign : these let you add and remove locations to the panel for easy navigation.

Matt.

I thought when you Set Project you were setting the $JOB variable, not the $HIP varible. The $HIP is simply the folder where the .hip file is currently located. If you follow up the Set Project with a Save As to that same folder then the $HIP and $JOB would be matched.

Yeah we don't really use the $JOB variable at our studio, renders/caching is all taken care off on farm submit. $HIP is just useful for knowing where the currect file is saved.

I'll get the latest version installed and if its still happening open a ticket.

Yep. I have been using Houdini for 2 years. And L'o and behold. This is upsetting. I am getting the same thing. I used to be able to set the project by simply clicking on the project director, and voila. The project was set. Now, in Houdini 16, it does not do that. Is Side Effects working on this?

Yes, this happens quite regularly here too.

$HIP is always the directory the hip file was last loaded from or saved to.

At least that's what it should be.
Mine regulary dumps me back to my user folder when I invoke a save as.

jsmack
$HIP is always the directory the hip file was last loaded from or saved to.

I know this is a super old topic, but I'm having this issue from time-to-time on Windows in Houdini 18 still.

When saving a new .hip, the save dialog starts in “Windows/System32” folder. After saving the .hip somewhere, $HIP becomes where the file is saved. I believe this is as expected. My problem is that when I render something in Mplay, the $HIP location remains “Windows/System32”. I have to navigate back to expected $HIP location each time. Is this expected behavior?

Does anybody have any workarounds or fixes for this? I'm thinking it might have something to do with my Houdini not being installed in the Program Files directory or something.

Thanks.

sokay
I know this is a super old topic, but I'm having this issue from time-to-time on Windows in Houdini 18 still.

When saving a new .hip, the save dialog starts in “Windows/System32” folder. After saving the .hip somewhere, $HIP becomes where the file is saved. I believe this is as expected. My problem is that when I render something in Mplay, the $HIP location remains “Windows/System32”. I have to navigate back to expected $HIP location each time. Is this expected behavior?

Does anybody have any workarounds or fixes for this? I'm thinking it might have something to do with my Houdini not being installed in the Program Files directory or something.

Thanks.

How are you starting Houdini? The shortcut normally has the ‘start in’ folder set to the home directory. Alternatively, you can launch houdini from the houdini command line tools and the working directory will be the directory from which the command was executed. Starting in windows/system32 indicates that maybe you are starting houdini as administrator.

jsmack
How are you starting Houdini? The shortcut normally has the ‘start in’ folder set to the home directory. Alternatively, you can launch houdini from the houdini command line tools and the working directory will be the directory from which the command was executed. Starting in windows/system32 indicates that maybe you are starting houdini as administrator.

Thank you jsmack! I was using a “Pin to Start Menu” shortcut and the “start in” folder was empty. I changed it to my Houdini project folder and it works better for me now. The shortcut didn't seem to be running as administrator but this works for me.

Thanks again!