(Original problem was fortunately solved, leaving just a last question. Can Houdini be integrated into UE4 using free license options?)

Hello hello. I've hit a bit of a strange problem with Houdini. I was using a non-commercial Apprentice version for a while for a school project. Once I had created a Digital Asset, I tried to import it into UE4. It told me an Indie license was required, and that I could get one free from the website. So I did, and installed said license into the license manager. Sadly, UE4 continued to note that I had a non-commercial version.

I downloaded the latest installer from the website, and during installation, uninstalled my old version. When I tried booting up the new version which I had installed using the commercial license option, but it couldn't connect to the license server. I've checked, and sesinetd.exe is missing. Both the HoudiniLicenseServer and HoudiniServer services state that their respective .exe files are missing (sesinetd.exe and hserver.exe), even though hserver.exe is present in CWindows/system32 (and the path is correct in the service).

Does anyone know what I can do? I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling, rebooting between installs, and just about everything under the sun for the last four hours. Houdini's help files aren't very helpful, as they don't tell me what to do in case something is missing. It just tells me to ‘verify the files are present’.

What version of Houdini are you trying to install? I just tried with Houdini 16.5.268, and it correctly installs both hserver and sesinetd. It's possible that the installer you have is corrupted. Try downloading a new installer and see if it has the same problem.

Thanks for your reply, Christopherw. I installed Houdini 16.5.268 to my laptop, then copied the hserver and sesinetd from its system32 folder to my desktop computer. Despite that, both the HoudiniServer and HoudiniLicenseServer refused to recognize the executables were present. I ended up completely reinstalling my OS to a new drive, which was something I've been wanting to do for a while, as I started to get the feeling system entropy was leading to other issues as well.

I have just now installed 16.5.268 after downloading a new installer, and the problem persists. The HoudiniLicenseServer and HoudiniServer services refuse to start, both stating they cannot find their respective executables in system32. I've checked, and both are present.

I have no idea what's going on anymore.

EDIT:

I've just rebooted, and now the license server starts up! I'm not sure why it suddenly works, but it seems like I somehow managed. Now I did sadly discover that since I couldn't start the license administrator last time, I couldn't return my license, so I'll have to request a third (one for my old OS install, one for my laptop, and now the third for my new OS installation). I hope I can make a manual return request somewhere for the old installation which won't be used any longer.

EDIT 2:

Now there's another strange issue. I've redeemed a new Indie license, and installed it via the License Administrator. However, when I start up the Indie version of Houdini, it starts Houdini Apprentice Non-Commercial instead, and it gives me no option to run Indie.

EDIT 3:

I found a post on the forums regarding a similar problem, and I've discovered that Houdini Indie and Houdini Engine are two separate entities, which explains why I cannot start Houdini Indie, as I don't have a license for it. I have to admit, all these separate versions are really confusing, but I think I'm understanding it now. Time to see if I can import my digital asset into UE4.

EDIT 4:

UE4 generates the following error when trying to drag a Houdini digital asset into the scene:
Houdini License issue - (HoudiniAssetActor_4) : (Finished Instantiation with Errors: HAPI Error: Non-commercial (Apprentice) assets not allowed with limited commercial (Indie) licenses.).

Is it possible to use Houdini in combination with UE4 without a Houdini Indie license? I can't afford it, sadly. If it isn't possible, at least I'll know.

If you're having problems installing Houdini or its licenses, you should contact SideFX support (https://www.sidefx.com/support-programs/).

Okay so to get totally clear of this. I've run into similar problems using the free Indi engine license. This is very confusing. Maybe I've done something wrong but the licence administrator includes a valid license for the Houdini engine Indie 16.5.

UE4 Editor Error:
“Hapi error: non-commercial (apprentice) assets not allowed with limited commercial indie licenses”

Does this mean, even I get the free Indi license, I cant cook assets generated with “Houdini Indie 16.5.323” in UE4?