I'm looking for input from experienced Houdini users, in regards to this question. Here is some background information. I work for a thermoforming company and much of our work is for food related packaging (take-out containers, prepared food containers, etc.) I, specifically, use CAD to create multiple concepts which I render (using Keyshot)to visualize what the containers will look like, to narrow down what the customer wants before we enter into any manufacturing steps. Typically, this is done with empty containers. Recently, I've been using food models in at least some of the renderings, to show a more complete picture of the concepts. With some items, this is quite easy. Large items (cupcakes or muffins, for example) is a simple process and simulations or dynamics aren't needed. Filling containers with simple objects (M&M's, Blueberries, cherry tomatoes, etc.)is also fairly easy and I've used Blender physics to do this. When it comes to complex items, like the contents of a complete salad for example, I get stuck. The combination of both soft and rigid bodies, very thin objects like lettuce leaves, the quantity and variety of objects needing to interact seems to choke anything I've tried. I've thought that Blender's physics might just not be robust enough. I've looked at other software packages, without much success. All of this has brought me to Houdini. I'm in the process of evaluating Houdini, but I thought I'd try to get some feedback from experienced users. Is something like filling a container with a salad something that is possible in Houdini? Keep in mind that 90-95% of my time is spent in CAD modeling containers and the other 5-10% is in the visualization of the models. I don't have the luxury of spending a ton of time in setting up models that are just for visualization or that require hours of computing time solve simulations. I'm willing to spend the time to learn Houdini, if this is the right software to do this type of work and if this type of thing is even a realistic goal.

I'll attach a few images as examples of what I've done with food up to this point with simple simulations, but what I need to take further. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Michael