Hello to all dear 3d artists. Please correct me if i am saying something wrong, but scrolling down on the forum, i saw lots of posting regarding x,y,z questions that users have and eventually within these, asking for certain types of questions, praying that someone can explain them how they should fix that, and so on….

Now, i am not a houdini user, but from what i saw, i would extremely love to be within these couple of days.
Here is my concern. If the answering ratio to the forums everyday questions is low, to my eyes this tells me what kind of community is present. If people don't visit forum of the delicate product they use, and do daily readings on what is new, posting questions, answering some, then whats the point of forums?

Have a lovely day (for anyone that actually reads this)

I disagree, I see a lot of questions answered quite rapidly. Between here, OD-Force, and various other forums which cover Houdini for more specific issues like Redshift for instance, or VRay, I'd say the ratio of questions being answered vs. being ignored is pretty good.

The questions which do tend to get ignored typically fall into the:

1. Weirdly posted/confusing to understand what the issue is.

2. Really basic stuff that seems more lazy on the part of the person asking than a genuine need.

3. Lack of supporting materials (.hip files, jpegs illustrating the problem, etc.)

4. Quite literally stuff that keeps being asked over and over and for which the answer is sometime on the very same forum page.

5. (rarely) Something so obscure and difficult to solve that it actually stumps even pro users.

If you ask for help, you need to do your best to help helpers help you.
One common problem I often see with the requests for help is the lack of an attached .hip file.
These are the requests that most likely will be skipped.
Of course sometimes the project file is not required, because the problem is trivial or pretty common, but with an .hip file people can understand you better (see point 1) from the previous post) and can help you faster (because they can fix the problem already inside the project file instead of wording the solution on the forum).

I like to see it this way:
If an image is worth a thousand words, a .hip file is worth a thousands images, and 1 million words.

I think there should be a sticky post on with few guidelines about asking for help.

I totally agree with everything you two have said.

The sticky notes Andr mentioned would be a good one thing to have.

Been on the forums for a while and finally getting enough of a hang for Houdini to start answering as well as asking. I figure as a newer user I can help on some of the basics where experienced users may not be as interested. But I totally agree with Midphase on what questions may get no response. I try to follow the StackExchange ideology when it comes to question and answer forums, and rule one is put in some effort before asking (and show your work in the question. Also, no link only answers… but I digress.)

As far as including .hip files, I can see how that helps a specific user with a specific problem (and we do get to share in the postings) but I prefer to ask and answer questions in a way that covers the general ideas behind the issue. Sometimes, with how complicated Houdini files can get, I understand there is no other way to debug it.

All in all I think these forums are great, very helpful, and if its daunting to the lazy so be it.

The only gripe I have is the scatter shot places questions are asked… not really following the themes of Lounge, Technical, Indie…

As far as including .hip files, I can see how that helps a specific user with a specific problem (and we do get to share in the postings) but I prefer to ask and answer questions in a way that covers the general ideas behind the issue. Sometimes, with how complicated Houdini files can get, I understand there is no other way to debug it.

Since with Houdini the same end result can be done in many different ways, most of the time a hip file is very useful. While it may only help that specific user for that specific problem, the solution can be insightful for many other possible scenarios.

For any question/answer dialogue there has to be some context. If it's related as an example, to a specific node - then something like a .hip file is not necessary as the ‘context’ is understood.

In other cases a .hip file is not needed if a very experienced user reads the question and is able to answer simply because they seen similar queries before and with their own experience are able to more than likely ‘guess’ the context and provide a possible answer.

However, those who read the answers other than the op might not be able to benefit - without a .hip file.

Also, in the case of a large scene file the original poster - if they took the time and did some work in reducing the file complexity and attempting to isolate the issue; and I am only speaking from my experience - Many times that solves the problem in that you discover where and what the issue really is.

Otherwise posting that simplified .hip file has a much greater chance of getting a response.

After which, more ‘general ideas’ can be discussed and prove useful because there is a context ( .hip file )

OP… were you talking about this question? [www.sidefx.com]

BabaJ, I think my reaction to .hip file focus is the way that other Houdini forum site answers nearly every question with a .hip file and zero information. Also it takes some time to learn enough to be able to “read” a .hip file. It is just nice to be able to reference information directly via forum Q&A. At the same time I totally agree that going though the build in Houdini is very informative and can pass on a lot more than a few paragraphs can. Screen grabs of networks are nice though…

Rebus B
…answers nearly every question with a .hip file and zero information. Also it takes some time to learn enough to be able to “read” a .hip file.

hipfile is the information.

some hipfiles are messy (like needlessly jumping in & out of contexts) but reading them should still be quicker than deciphering a description written in English… more useful at least.

No

cpb

Rebus B
…answers nearly every question with a .hip file and zero information. Also it takes some time to learn enough to be able to “read” a .hip file.

hipfile is the information.

some hipfiles are messy (like needlessly jumping in & out of contexts) but reading them should still be quicker than deciphering a description written in English… more useful at least.

Not really… for complicated stuff maybe, but wouldn't it be easier to just read “Use the Add SOP to delete everything but the points, there is a check box for that.” than downloading a hip, opening it in Houdini, finding the network that applies, going though and finding the Add SOP, maybe there is a sticky note explaining how it works, find the checkbox, etc…

Sure it depends on the context but many basic questions can be answered right there in the thread with words without having to jump out to open a file in Houdini. It makes the forum a better reference source as well. Not knocking help in .hip form, it is always appreciated, just doesn't always seem necessary.

I wonder if the forum topics lend themselves to the random placing of questions. Indie\Apprentice seems right for basic questions and learning the UI etc… more complicated stuff and hardware questions go in Technical, with the Lounge for meta issues and chit chat. But I could see how the Lounge could look like its for “easier” questions while Technical is about bugs, and Indie\Appr. users could certainly come up with advanced problems.

Would question specific topics help: UI questions, Dynamics, Rigging, etc… or would that just get messy?

Can't get involved to chat recently, but im glad this topic has comments going regarding thesee thigns.