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Houdini Lounge » ! Yay for H9 :D (post h9 praise here) !
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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Well well, I was doubtful when I saw the alpha version, but wow, sesi, you guys did a really great job with h9. Pat yourself on the back, I like it a lot
Houdini Lounge » Apprentice Versioon
- ReggieFourmyle
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Sidefx doesn't expect you to choose houdini over a car, the price of the software is intended for companies who use houdini to profit from it. That's the point of the apprentice version, learn it at home, then you can be useful to a company that actually owns the software. The price of houdini master is nothing compared to what companies pay for employees, hardware and other software needed to get your average job done.
Houdini Lounge » Spiderman 3
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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jestaThat doesn't mean the methods used weren't done 6 months ago.
Interesting, considering they were probably working on it until 2 weeks ago.
Anyhow, there are 3 articles on vfxworld.com that focus on the effects in spider-man. Naturally, nothing's too specific, but I liked it:
Spider-Man 3: Creating a Bigger Arsenal at Sony Pictures Imageworks [vfxworld.com]
Spider-Man 3: Breaking Down Sandman [vfxworld.com]
Spider-Man 3: Going Deeper into Goo/Venom [vfxworld.com]
Technical Discussion » test - please ignore
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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Houdini Lounge » HELP!!! Maya user switching to Houdini
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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chrisw: The two programs are very similar, but definitely not the same. If you're making the switch at a place where you work, ask the people working there for guidance. Explain the way these features work and ask how you would do something in houdini. If you're making the switch at home in your spare time, then relax and just try to learn houdini for what it is.
Technical Discussion » Just-in-time fracturing
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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Houdini Lounge » New Free Vex Tutorial At Cmivfx
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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Technical Discussion » Will Windows XP + Apple Intel Macs = Houdini on a Mac?
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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graphos1I had to do a job once on 8 intel macpros with nvidia quadros running osx or windows with maya and we had all sorts of issues, it was _extremely_ unstable. Apple wouldn't help us at all and every single macpro had the exact same problems. Stable hardware platform? HA! Put a PC together yourself and you'll never have an issue under windows or linux.
The stable hardware platform available in a Mac should prove to be a major asset.
Houdini Lounge » Feature Requests: 1) Bookmarks on help 2) Address bar...
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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djorzgulWow, that looks just like what I was thinking, thanks for the link. Lemme post the two points off that site that relate to the feature I was requesting so that everyone doesn't have to go digging:
there is something like that (well exactly like that) in Reflex animation software made by http://www.digitalfish.com/… [digitalfish.com] unfortunately it is used just on calArts for now…
but it sounds like dream-tool for char animation…
See Your Arcs with Motion Paths:
One of the most important aspects of good character animation is the Arc of motion through space for a given part of the character. Reflex allows you to see your Arcs with Motion Paths. Just click on any part of your character and Reflex instantly draws a path showing you how that part moves through space.
Adjust the Spacing Visually:
Another powerful aspect of Motion Paths is the ability to see and change the Spacing. Typically slow ins and outs need to be adjusted using a curve editor, but with Reflex you just select a path “bead” and group the spacing near a knot. Gaps in the spacing that would cause a glitch in the animation are easy to spot and fix.
Houdini Lounge » Feature Requests: 1) Bookmarks on help 2) Address bar...
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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SimonWow, I didn't know that, that's sweet. I still like the address idea a bit more for two reasons, 1) an address bar is much more familar, especially to houdini/unix people. 2) navigating with this drop down menu is still a little bit impractical in comparison, for example, let's say I'm in POPs and I wanna go to my source geometry, I would have to click the POPs menu to switch to obj, then click/find my obj and dive into it to get to my source geometry. Navigating with an address bar would only require that I type /obj/model/sphere.
You know if you click and hold on a word in the path it brings up all the other available nodes at the same level and you can jump straight to them.
pbowmarSorry, I edited it and added a third point . I was gonna hold back on that one because it's a big suggestion and I haven't 100% planned it out yet, but maybe I'll come up with some ideas for it soon and post em. Thanks for the compliments though, much appreciated.
I'd agree, these are both great requests!
Houdini Lounge » Feature Requests: 1) Bookmarks on help 2) Address bar...
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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Just wanted to get these suggestions in before h9 is released. This is in response to This thread [sidefx.com] that I started. With the warm welcome (ha!) of my last feature request, I figured I'd just keep on truckin and post some more:
2) An Address bar that you can type into: The “clickable” address bar is cool, but it's not very useful for navigation. Just about everyone using houdini would be able to use a simple address bar input like any old web browser. This would work wonders with an auto-complete feature, for example, if I type:
/obj —————– These options would be listed in a drop down as I'm typing:
/obj/ambient1
/obj/cam1
/obj/light1
/obj/light2
/obj/light3
/obj/model
Notice the ordering I put here is alphabetic, I think it may be possible to have ordering based on the order of nodes in a chain, but that may cause too much confusion, because what happens in the case of multiple chains, or two objects on the same level in one chain. Alphabetic would be simple, like the operator tree view (hotkey w).
3) A 3D animation curve editor: This is a feature I've wanted in a 3D program for ages, and I don't know how I would implement it in houdini specifically and unlike the other two, this would actually be a big feature. Now that houdini is entering the character animation world, I think it should be the first 3D program to implement a way to edit translate keyframes (just translate keyframes) in a perspective view. Why? Because virtually all animated translate curves are difficult to visualize and edit when looking at 3 separate curves.
I haven't thought through the interface 100%, but here are some suggestions on how this could work, and work well: It'd be best if you could edit the 3D curve and the 2D curves at the same time, so essentially the 3D interface would just be another way of editing the 2D channels. The color of the animated curve itself could be based on frames for example, maybe +10 frames would be red, current frame would be green and -10 frames would be blue or something of that sort. Opacity could also fall off near +10 and -10 frames perhaps, to make the animated curves simpler. There could also be a tick mark (imagine a particle) on the animated curve to indicate every frame, or maybe every 5 frames or something. I would imagine the “visual” settings for these curves would be in the display options. The interface for editing the curves, I haven't yet decided on, but this is a start. If anyone from sesi wants me to make an image about what I'm describing, just ask, I don't wanna make if it's not gonna get looked at :p. And no, this is not a path, not at all.
Anywho, thanks for reading, sorry for the long ass post, but I didn't wanna make 3 threads one after another.
mtucker1) Bookmarks on help browser: This is fairly straight forward, a bookmark menu item on the help browser would be nice because many times someone opens the help to go to the same place over and over. This is true for both seasoned veterans and beginners.
Just because we don't currently have a dedicated area for suggestions, don't let that discourage you. Feel free to post suggestions anywhere on here.
2) An Address bar that you can type into: The “clickable” address bar is cool, but it's not very useful for navigation. Just about everyone using houdini would be able to use a simple address bar input like any old web browser. This would work wonders with an auto-complete feature, for example, if I type:
/obj —————– These options would be listed in a drop down as I'm typing:
/obj/ambient1
/obj/cam1
/obj/light1
/obj/light2
/obj/light3
/obj/model
Notice the ordering I put here is alphabetic, I think it may be possible to have ordering based on the order of nodes in a chain, but that may cause too much confusion, because what happens in the case of multiple chains, or two objects on the same level in one chain. Alphabetic would be simple, like the operator tree view (hotkey w).
3) A 3D animation curve editor: This is a feature I've wanted in a 3D program for ages, and I don't know how I would implement it in houdini specifically and unlike the other two, this would actually be a big feature. Now that houdini is entering the character animation world, I think it should be the first 3D program to implement a way to edit translate keyframes (just translate keyframes) in a perspective view. Why? Because virtually all animated translate curves are difficult to visualize and edit when looking at 3 separate curves.
I haven't thought through the interface 100%, but here are some suggestions on how this could work, and work well: It'd be best if you could edit the 3D curve and the 2D curves at the same time, so essentially the 3D interface would just be another way of editing the 2D channels. The color of the animated curve itself could be based on frames for example, maybe +10 frames would be red, current frame would be green and -10 frames would be blue or something of that sort. Opacity could also fall off near +10 and -10 frames perhaps, to make the animated curves simpler. There could also be a tick mark (imagine a particle) on the animated curve to indicate every frame, or maybe every 5 frames or something. I would imagine the “visual” settings for these curves would be in the display options. The interface for editing the curves, I haven't yet decided on, but this is a start. If anyone from sesi wants me to make an image about what I'm describing, just ask, I don't wanna make if it's not gonna get looked at :p. And no, this is not a path, not at all.
Anywho, thanks for reading, sorry for the long ass post, but I didn't wanna make 3 threads one after another.
Edited by - May 14, 2007 04:08:01
Houdini Lounge » Need suggestions: Learning Houdini Apprentice 8.x
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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These videos are a great place to start I think:
http://odforce.net/downloads/videos/v6/ [odforce.net]
http://odforce.net/downloads/videos/v6/ [odforce.net]
Technical Discussion » Cloth Solver
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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Yes, the houdini cloth solver is impractically slow hehe. Basically it's just cool that it's there, but I don't see it ever getting used as a character cloth solver atleast.
Houdini Lounge » Training Courses
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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rmagee
Let us know which of the classes you are most looking forward to and we'll either encourage the instructor to work with Gnomon to get a DVD cut or use this wishlist to help plan out the H9 tutorial videos.
A good thorough h9 video tutorial set would probably please everyone, much like the houdini 6 video tutorial set (which I think were awesome btw, got me hooked). It may not be what a single person says, but the sum of 4-5 responses will most likely show that all areas of houdini are a hard topic to grasp on your own. Especially when you consider all those lone souls (who aren't on this forum) using “lesser” 3D programs that would gladly convert if they only knew how.
I would hope that a good set of video tutorials for h9 is a high priority topic for sesi given the growth rate of the “younger” houdini user base due to the release of the apprentice. And also, the little houdini training and information that is out there is generally _not_ geared towards beginners, so houdini still has a very intimidating presence to new users and even veterans of other cg packages.
At the very least though, if you want my wish list item, make some good video tutorials (perhaps even flashy ) for the new features in v9. It's _very_ hard to convince a vfx supervisor to buy your program all by meself . Help us maya/xsi/max/lightwave users out by having atleast a slight sense of salesmanship :p
Houdini Lounge » Training Courses
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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just fyi, I was recently at the HDK training course on April 26th and it was being recorded so maybe your prayers have been answered
Technical Discussion » shapes shapes shapes
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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Zopiac
i need tutorials mainly, on how to work the poly mechanisms. I need to make things like creatures…Games are mainly reason. Goblins, humans, even background graphics/practice items like rabbits and such.
dude, houdini isn't the program you should be using as your first 3d program if you want to get into modeling. I would suggest trying a free 3d modeling program like wings3d or trying maya's personal learning edition, it's free as well.
Technical Discussion » Smoke For A Train (Need Help)
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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There's a tutorial on the sidefx site:
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=486&Itemid=132 [sidefx.com]
And there's a smoke tutorial/example scene here:
http://odforce.net/tips/smoke.htm [odforce.net]
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=486&Itemid=132 [sidefx.com]
And there's a smoke tutorial/example scene here:
http://odforce.net/tips/smoke.htm [odforce.net]
Houdini Lounge » Release date for Houdini 9.0?
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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bah, I'm not upset, I'm just saying, houdini's price is definitely not over-priced. It's actually quite a bit under-priced compared to others, especially considering how many mtor, mayaman, maxman and xsiman licenses there are out there when the price of one of those is equal to the price of all of houdini.
Well houdini plugs into mental ray fairly well, so if they do have an expert in mental ray, that's good. lol! the thought of an expert of a “max” renderer is hillarious. I don't know if you've noticed but these max renderers are all new. If there is a supposed “expert” in say brazil, he could very easily convert to any other renderer and produce similar in a matter of months if that.
especially if they already have experts in Mental Ray or a “Max” renderer
Well houdini plugs into mental ray fairly well, so if they do have an expert in mental ray, that's good. lol! the thought of an expert of a “max” renderer is hillarious. I don't know if you've noticed but these max renderers are all new. If there is a supposed “expert” in say brazil, he could very easily convert to any other renderer and produce similar in a matter of months if that.
Houdini Lounge » WHAT KIND OF GRAPHIC CARD HOUDINI NEEDS
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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I've seen this before, I'm not sure what the solution is or if there is one for that matter. I installed houdini on a computer with a radeon 9200 once and it was unbelievably slow, but on a lesser 32 mb geforce 2 mx, it was perfectly fine (fast even). Not sure why. I would just get a new card if you need things to work correctly. Geforce 2s start at $17 on pricewatch.com.
And for the record, I'm currently on a $60 geforce 6600 and run 1800 x 1400 with any 3d program with absolutely no slow down.
And for the record, I'm currently on a $60 geforce 6600 and run 1800 x 1400 with any 3d program with absolutely no slow down.
Houdini Lounge » Release date for Houdini 9.0?
- ReggieFourmyle
- 68 posts
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andrewlowell
looks like Houdini master is around $1,000 more than Maya unlimited, and around $4,000 more than Max. Also the Max/Maya prices are for unlimited rendering, the floating for Houdini is $3,000 more than Maya unlimited
haha, it looks more like you don't know what you're talking about. Maya unlimited floating licenses are $8k, not $7k. And add a cool $1,400 activation fee per license to that (not sure what sesi charges, if anything). And fyi, a maya complete floating license is also $3k (just like houdini). But with houdini you get native renderman output which would cost another cool $2k per station whether you're using mayaman or mtor. And add to that a node based compositor, which is worth something even if it rarely gets used and on top of all that add unlimited mantra rendering, which again, may not be used but it's definitely worth something. Saying that houdini is over-priced is just wrong, it was very competitive even years ago when they first introduced houdini select, but now it's actually one of the cheaper programs and definitely one of the most solid for the money. Yes, just in case you don't know, houdini can have it both ways, they can have a procedural program that studios use as their only tool, and sesi has been striving to do just that for years.
imo there's only one really outstanding 3D program as far as price and that's lightwave. All the others are relatively the same. For $800, you get unlimited rendering with a fully production ready renderer that's integrated into the program (no maya to mr or max to vray bs) plus high quality volumetric particle rendering (almost identical to afterburn but without the cost/hassle) as well as all the standard features of a given 3d program, modeling/animation etc… for a whopping 800 dollars, wtf.
andrewlowell
and Houdini doesn't use a lot of other 3ds party renderers
What? Did you mean to say "houdini doesn't use a lot of 3rd party renderers? If you meant 3rd party renders, that's way way off. If you meant 3ds renderers, as in renderers that work as plug-ins to max, then yea, no shit, because they're plug-ins to max. No other 3d program will plug into a “3ds” renderer. But that doesn't mean a god damn thing to studios because A) Very few 3d studios use max. B) There are only two useful “3ds” renderers (vray and brazil). and C) Both vray and brazil have been out for what 5 years, maybe 6, and useful for maybe 3 of those years? Wow, what a pipeline one could have in that time. Renderman's been around for what, 22 years now? And mental ray is roughly 10x-15x more used than both vray and brazil combined. So even if you meant “houdini doesn't plug into 3ds renderers” that's still a mute point. Sesi does not need to plug into 3ds renderers.
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