Hi all.

I`m understand, this is very old and pain question. But i have fighting with my boss about this question. We really planned buy H9 (i have this plan and talk with my boss every day), but i must totally resolve all problems with import-export most data from Maya to Houdini and back.

We have the Maya pipeline. In our studio all people work on Maya and think* with Maya and as Maya. My part of job - particles, fluids, explosions, dust and debris and i can`t work in maya with it anymore (of course, i can and i work, but we all good know the M problems with sprites and instances and fluids and caches and learn and make tests in Houdini.)

I have some questions.
1. How i can export DOP data from H9 to Maya? For example - I create nice dynamics with custom shatter in houdini. I happy with render, but my boss is not. He want other color, lighting. I must put this animation in maya scene for lighting artists. They can work in Maya only.

How i can export this? Ok. I export resulting geometry as “obj” , how i can export animation channels for all geometry parts? It`s hard? Someone have pipeline scheme for this? I can export “obj” sequence. Now, with 200 anmated parts of geometry, i can do, but if Houdini scene contain 1500 or 5000 poly-s in DOP, the “obj” sequense is really huge. Every frame is large for loading.
Can someone give example of this part of workflow?
I can import collada-exported scene from Maya. I can import from maya *.chan files and geomtry. How i can export* to maya the large* amount of Houdini animation data?
= = = =
My boss ask me, i don`t have any answers
Really big thanks for any solves of this part of workflow..

Now Maya is the most animation software. Many studios and many artist know maya only. I have troubles now, with inserting (for probe for testing) Houdini in our pipeline. This not Houdini trouble, this my competence trouble.
Need advise.

live_fx
This not Houdini trouble, this my competence trouble.
Need advise.

There might be many ways, now that Python is available. I'm sure more competent people will jump in and help. I'd however like to clarify that this is not your “competence problem” but exactly Houdini's problem. SESI implemented the collada workflow only half way, that is you can import scenes and that's it, no export available. I can't imagine how they could think this is useful enough for production and for Houdini integration in the pipeline.

Dragos

digitallysane, thanks for answer

>> “There might be many ways, now that Python is available.”

I understand. But i don`t have the time for learning Python now. I really* like scripting, but for inserting Houdini in pipeline i need large amount of time. My part is dynamics part. I happy with DOP-s features, but when i show H9 interface to our lighting artists he tell me “we sure, it nice, all ok, but we now work in Maya and we happy. Give please the Maya scene. Sorry. ” On this step of tests, this is normal. But i must show to my boss not only good images, i must show fast workflow. Of course, Houdini have exellent tools for lighting, rendering, batch render, shading and other, but i have more then 50 Maya mens around me and i must do fast job in this pipeline. Without stupid questions and excuses. Just fast work.

Of course. I really* can sit and i write all this tools for myself, but i don`t have time for this. I have experience in scripting and some experience in C++ programming, but i FX artist now.

Thanks again, and very need advise. May be some books? Or links on sites?

i am not sure if it will help you but,may be it works. you can export your stuff as a mov. file with the aid of chops. all those specified channels can be bring in maya with this(i am not sure if an user created attribute can be handled with chops,nor can be read by maya_i just haven't tried it yet). and the lighting and shading issue can be handled that way.

or,obj writing and using them as blendshapes can be another option.

but the workflow for particles should be handled with inhosue solutions i beleive.

ps: i just want to learn: your problems with sprites, are shadow reletad?

bandit
ps: i just want to learn: your problems with sprites, are shadow reletad?

Thanks, but problems with export large animation data from Houdini DOP-s.
Example. I create in Houdini some dynamics with many objects. I want show to my boss the some Houdini features. All look great. But he say “ok. now i want, for example, relight this scene. Can you export all data from Houdini to Maya for our lighting artists?”. Now i can only export “obj” sequence. But this is really slow for manipulation in Maya. What if i export 1000 or 3000 DOP-animated objects?

1. Export particles, i think, can be maded with realflow plugins
2. export sprites can`t be maded, because Maya can`t make enough lighting and shading for sprites. Sprites can be rendered with masks and composed in post.
3. Fluids - put on post.

Now i solve troubles with export DOP-s animation to Maya Pipeline.

Those can be of help:
http://forums.odforce.net/index.php?showtopic=5901&st=0 [forums.odforce.net]
http://forums.odforce.net/index.php?showtopic=5817 [forums.odforce.net]
http://forums.odforce.net/index.php?showtopic=1540 [forums.odforce.net]
This seems to work but is for XSI. Study it and maybe you can convert it to a Maya solution:
http://forums.odforce.net/index.php?showtopic=5949 [forums.odforce.net]

Until (let's hope) there will be full Collada support in Houdini.

Dragos

digitallysane:
Big thanks for links

ATTENTION SIDE EFFECTS:

sorry to be in caps, but you really need to make this happen:

Find a way, any way to make houdini slip into an established pipeline at a small studio (ie no developers)

YOU WILL SELL MORE LICENSES

please realize that switching an entire studio to houdini will not happen easily, so please go where the market share is, and you yourself will gain. Especially as those artists who get a taste start new studios and have to decide which platform to go with in their new studio…

If this means paying fees to autodesk for fbx support, or dotxsi, whatever

Or make the collada work, and support it.

MD

live_fx
Hi all.

I`m understand, this is very old and pain question. But i have fighting with my boss about this question. We really planned buy H9 (i have this plan and talk with my boss every day), but i must totally resolve all problems with import-export most data from Maya to Houdini and back.

We have the Maya pipeline. In our studio all people work on Maya and think* with Maya and as Maya. My part of job - particles, fluids, explosions, dust and debris and i can`t work in maya with it anymore (of course, i can and i work, but we all good know the M problems with sprites and instances and fluids and caches and learn and make tests in Houdini.)

I have some questions.
1. How i can export DOP data from H9 to Maya? For example - I create nice dynamics with custom shatter in houdini. I happy with render, but my boss is not. He want other color, lighting. I must put this animation in maya scene for lighting artists. They can work in Maya only.

How i can export this? Ok. I export resulting geometry as “obj” , how i can export animation channels for all geometry parts? It`s hard? Someone have pipeline scheme for this? I can export “obj” sequence. Now, with 200 anmated parts of geometry, i can do, but if Houdini scene contain 1500 or 5000 poly-s in DOP, the “obj” sequense is really huge. Every frame is large for loading.
Can someone give example of this part of workflow?
I can import collada-exported scene from Maya. I can import from maya *.chan files and geomtry. How i can export* to maya the large* amount of Houdini animation data?
= = = =
My boss ask me, i don`t have any answers
Really big thanks for any solves of this part of workflow..

Now Maya is the most animation software. Many studios and many artist know maya only. I have troubles now, with inserting (for probe for testing) Houdini in our pipeline. This not Houdini trouble, this my competence trouble.
Need advise.

how i can export animation channels for all geometry parts? It`s hard?

Not hard. Use CHOPs. More specifically the Dynamics CHOP.

Since you have a path to get the default geometry to Maya (via .obj most likely) you can grab the position data (and any other bit of data on that object in the sim) with the Dynamics CHOP then save the file as “raw” and read that in to Maya. Surely Maya can read in tab-delimited data as a raw channel… Can it?

To export data out of the Dynamics CHOP, just rmb on the node icon and choose “Save Data Channels”. In the pop up window, choose to write out a .chan file. This is a simple tab delimited file.

You will want to set the Dynamics CHOP to Method “Cached” and press the Update button to bake out all the channels.

It will grab each and every bit of data on the DOP objects. You can see this by either mmb on the tile and check out the channels or RMB and choose the Extended Information option to scroll through all the data.

Open the operator help for the Dynamics CHOP and read about all the options. Check out the ExtractTransforms example file. It shows you how to extract just the transform and orientation information out of a sim.

Thank you for reinforcing the message.

Interoperability is a HIGH priority for us right now. Step by step, we'll be coming at it from all possible/reasonable angles.

jeff:
Big thanks you for really great explanation of my question. I go try all of this right now.

cb
Interoperability is a HIGH priority for us right now. Step by step, we'll be coming at it from all possible/reasonable angles.

Good news.

I second the request for interoperability between softwares.