Hello everyone! I am a newbie to Houdini and try to teach it myself; I hope that this is the right place for this question. Also please excuse my English as I it is my second language.
I saw Edge of Tomorrow and was amazed how dynamic and alien the “Mimic” creatures looked. I tried to recreate the effect, but I get stuck on how to approach the “secondary tentacles” (the smaller tentacles following the main rigged curve) and the “growing” effect.
You can watch the effect I try to recreate in the video.
https://youtu.be/iiKeTPL6HPk?t=1m19s [youtu.be]
First (hip file)I tried to use the main curve to scatter points, get the Transform and Rotation Matrix and move them away from the curve(also tried to randomize the displacement distance or use a noise to get a little bit more “natural” behavior). However this doesnt give me the organic movement and growing behavior that I am trying to achieve.
Next I tried to work with particles and somehow move them using a curve force, but first of all I couldn't get them to follow the curve properly and they also don't interact with each other.
It is probably a fairly easy problem but I cant wrap my head around how to even start. I would be very thankful if you could help me; I don't need a full walkthrough but kind of a concept or a rough idea how you would approach such a project.
Also if anyone is interested I will share my HIP File if I have a breakthrough.
Thank you very very much for reading and have a nice day.
Hans

I don't know if this tutorial might help, but at the very least it might give you some general tips on how to approach this type of effect: