Hi,

I've searched the forum but didn't find an answer.

Here are the steps :
1) import OBJ that came from Modo
2) saved the Houdini HD file (*.hipnc)
3) alt+n for new scene
4) open saved Houdini file —> there's no geometry ? Only the geometry node that has been ‘crosshatched’ with red stripes.

I have been experimenting with a ‘File’-node, but with no success.

Please tell me what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks…

If you middle click on the “red” node, what does it say?

Hi silvina, it says :
Geometry not cooked
Time dependent : no
Error : unable to read file …….obj

Something strange seems to be happening here with Houdini.
Sometimes it all seems to work and sometimes not.

I've just read somewhere that Houdini doesn't like empty spaces in file paths so I've started to test with file paths without empty spaces (I had been using My Documents folder which has an empty space) and the first test seemed to work.
Will try a couple imports more to be sure though as I guess it already did work once or twice from the My Documents folder.

Weird …

I guess the empty spaces in the file path name are the problem.
When working with an OBJ that is placed on the ‘My Documents’ folder then it doesn't work.

When working with an OBJ that is placed in a folder on the C-drive and with no empty spaces in the file path it does work.

Wow, just spend 4 hours trying to figure that one out …

I just tried couldn't reproduce this problem on Windows XP x64. The only reason I can think of is that you're using some really old version of Houdini.

Here's the full path to the file I have:
C:\Documents and Settings\edward\My Documents\foo.obj

I start up Houdini 10.0.528 from the Start Menu. Then from the main menu, choose File > Import > Geometry…. This brings up a file chooser. I click on “C” on the left hand side and then proceed to navigate down until find foo.obj and click on it, followed by Accept. This loads in fine as you can see in the screenshots.

Hi edward,

I'm also on XP 64.
Houdini Master (Apprentice HD Non-Commercial) version 10.0.554.
NVidia GeForce 9600 GT/PCI/SSE2
OpenGL Version : 2.1.2
OpenGL Extensions : GL_ARB_color_buffer_float GL_ARB_depth_texture

Importing OBJs from My Documents folder worked, but when I saved the Houdini file (*.hipnc), and reloaded the *.hipnc, it didn't bring back the geometry from the OBJ.
And it still doesn't from a folder in My Documents.
Well, if I remember correctly : sometimes it does, but mostly it doesn't.

It does do the job though when I have the OBJ in a folder that has no spaces in its name, so now I have my OBJs (and the hipnc-files) in a folder on the C-drive and everything works as expected.

I'm glad I've read somewhere about the problems Houdini has with spaces in the file path or otherwise I think I wouldn't have found the answer to my problem.

Thanks … Dominiek.

I think your problem then is because you saved it with $HIP in the filename when you actually want it expanded.

I think your problem then is because you saved it with $HIP in the filename when you actually want it expanded.

Haha, I have no clue what you mean.
Total newbie I am.
What do you mean by “expanded” ?

EDIT : I'm doing a Digital Tutors tutorial right now and without such tuts Houdini would be impossible for peeps like me.
I guess when stuff like “expanded” isn't mentioned somewhere then it stays in the dark for me, haha …

EDIT 2 : I'm going to have to break for tonight (it's 22.31 hours already) so subsequent post will be for tomorrow.
Thanks for helping a poor noob … Dominiek.

Refer to the path in my objImport2.png screenshot. For you, does it read $HIP/… instead of CDocuments and Settings/… ?

Hi edward, …, I'm back.

Yes, it seems you're right : when the path reads $HIP/… it doesn't work, and when it reads $HOME/… or CDocuments and Settings/… it does work OK.

No I know why it always worked once I had placed all files on the C-drive, because after having done so I navigated to them via the C …

I guess I'll have to learn about that in the docs (if it is mentioned there), because I think it's important to know about this if you want to move files around after they have been created.

Thank you for helping me , greetings, Dominiek.


EDIT : Yesterday when I was doing a tut from Digital Tutors, I wanted to create a working copy of one of the project files I had downloaded.
Those project files are commercial *.hip-files and when I saved it with Apprentice HD and reopened the *.hipnc-file then there was no geometry.
Now I know that in the “Geometry Node” I have to check the path from the “Geometry File” : when it says $HIP/ there's no geo and when I change the path to C… then the geo is loaded.
So it's not because of the non commercial aspect of Apprentice as I first suspected.

Anyway, I got it working now … :wink:

$HIP is referencing the location of your saved hip file, or in your case .hipnc.

It is meant to simplify referencing assets within a .hipnc file.
So, if you have your hipnc file saved in a project directory, and you have your assets stored in sub-directories within the project directory, such as a “geo” or “image” sub-directory, the when you open a hipnc file that has references to geometry files saved in /geo, then your directory path can look like this: $HIP/geo/some_geometry.bgeo; rather than, on Windows,
“CDocument and Settings/My Documents/some directory in there/project directory/geo”.

One of the big advantages of using $HIP is that if you have everything in sub-directories below it then the whole project directory is portable and all your pathways will remain valid no matter where you move the project directory.

Thanks probbins, I'll definately look into that.

There's so much to absorb …