Found 42 posts.
Search results Show results as topic list.
Technical Discussion » Win11/WSL -- Anyone able to make it work yet?
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
Also, even with GPU support in WSL, I expect OpenGL and Qt issues to surface. WSL is still not quite real Linux.
Technical Discussion » Win11/WSL -- Anyone able to make it work yet?
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
@jsmack I'm trying to get the x86-64 Linux build to run from the WSL Ubuntu bash shell. What's fun is that hkey runs as a graphical application, with no Windows Xserver like VcXsrv running. Obvs the best way to run Houdini on Linux is to run it on a Linux workstation. I'm constrained by the fact that I have one workstation and a finite amount of research budget (USD$0.00, according to the ledger)
A couple of learnings so far:
A couple of learnings so far:
- Only CUDA and DirectML GPU compute are supported in WSL on Nvidia cards, and there's no OCL CPU support in the kernel for my AMD Ryzen9 CPU. Houdini would crash on launch until I was able to disable OpenCL. I'm not at my workstation right now, but I had to set a HOUDINI_OCL env variable, I just don't remember which one.
- I haven't figured out how to connect to a license server running on a remote machine. I can ping it, but I can't get a license from it.
- Apprentice licenses can't be used either. I suspect it's because the machine allowed by the local, noncommercial license is the Windows machine and not the "machine" WSL is.
- WSL and WSL networking are still a bit opaque to me in terms of how they function on a basic level, in that I don't know if a hserver process started and managed in one bash shell can be counted on to handle network or local licenses for a Houdini or hbatch process running in another,. I also don't know if the hserver instance running on Windows conflicts with one launched from the WSL bash shell, or if the WSL hserver instance is somehow nerfed from sensitive inter-process communication by WSL, or disqualified from use at all in WSL by SideFX.
Edited by stjohn - Oct. 29, 2021 08:37:05
Technical Discussion » Win11/WSL -- Anyone able to make it work yet?
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
Have any of you brave souls succeeded in getting Houdini 18.5 to run in Windows Subsystem for Linux yet?
Graphics support for Linux apps is now GPU-enabled and without a Windows-side Xserver and display, and H18.5.696 --almost-- works. The reason for spelunking this rabbit hole is that I wanted a way to side-by-side test Windows vs Linux platform differences in geo output. Plus, I like Linux, but a lot of our tooling is Windows only.
Anyway, the license manager runs, as does hserver. I'm struggling a lot with VPN connections and remote license servers though. I can start hserver in a bash shell, but hkey reports it as not running. Running Houdini for the first time (I reinstalled it a lot) gets me to the license type dialog, but no licenses (including apprentice) are installed.
Anyway, just wondering if anyone got Houdini to the 'Hello World' stage.
Cheers!
Graphics support for Linux apps is now GPU-enabled and without a Windows-side Xserver and display, and H18.5.696 --almost-- works. The reason for spelunking this rabbit hole is that I wanted a way to side-by-side test Windows vs Linux platform differences in geo output. Plus, I like Linux, but a lot of our tooling is Windows only.
Anyway, the license manager runs, as does hserver. I'm struggling a lot with VPN connections and remote license servers though. I can start hserver in a bash shell, but hkey reports it as not running. Running Houdini for the first time (I reinstalled it a lot) gets me to the license type dialog, but no licenses (including apprentice) are installed.
Anyway, just wondering if anyone got Houdini to the 'Hello World' stage.
Cheers!
PDG/TOPs » Side fx PDG tutorial - problem
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
Did you ever figure this out, and is there any other instrumentation on PDG workflows that would allow us to debug issues like this?
Houdini Lounge » VEX Web Docs Cause Blindness.
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
Who decided it would be a good idea to grey out the navigation column when the mouse is over the main page in the VEX docs?
My eyes want to have words with them, when they eventually un-squint themselves.
My eyes want to have words with them, when they eventually un-squint themselves.
Technical Discussion » Get/set tuple arrays in VEX
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
It's been a while since I rode this horse into battle, but I'm back in VEX hell with a fresh question:
How do I access the values of sourceprimuv attribute generated by the Intersection Analysis SOP?
the generated attribute takes the form:
Every attempt to get at this thing with getattrib() or using a dot operator errors out.
The half-assed way would be to do it in Python, but I'd really rather not break out of this wrangle node to do something that VEX should be able to handle. I should be able to read that attribute in VEX, right?
Cheers!
How do I access the values of sourceprimuv attribute generated by the Intersection Analysis SOP?
the generated attribute takes the form:
[ (0.4522335, 0.0, 0.0), (0.2454474, 0.0, 0.0) ]
Every attempt to get at this thing with getattrib() or using a dot operator errors out.
The half-assed way would be to do it in Python, but I'd really rather not break out of this wrangle node to do something that VEX should be able to handle. I should be able to read that attribute in VEX, right?
Cheers!
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Importing Geospatial Data (vector) in Houdini
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
I got this to work, sort of. I wound up making a Python 2.7 Anaconda environment to get around my native pip being too old to pass the authentication on pypi.org. From there, I was able to grab the state, pyshp, kml, and geojson packages. If you don't have these packages in your PYTHONPATH, you can't read those filetypes.
I copied the state folder, geojson folder, and shapefile.py to the houdarcs/python_libs folder.
The setup_env process is borked. The repo has a bin_win_libs_64bit directory, but the setup only adds the 32bit directory to your PATH, which no longer exists in the repo. If you add that manually to your PATH variable, it should work.
Both shapfile and geojson file read data, more or less correctly. The hardest part is exporting the stuff from QGIS correctly. Pro tip: Create a boundary polygon in your vector layer export that matches the extents of your raster heightfield. That way, you can offset your map center back to the origin using the bounding information instead of a wild-ass guess or the mark 1 eyeball.
I copied the state folder, geojson folder, and shapefile.py to the houdarcs/python_libs folder.
The setup_env process is borked. The repo has a bin_win_libs_64bit directory, but the setup only adds the 32bit directory to your PATH, which no longer exists in the repo. If you add that manually to your PATH variable, it should work.
Both shapfile and geojson file read data, more or less correctly. The hardest part is exporting the stuff from QGIS correctly. Pro tip: Create a boundary polygon in your vector layer export that matches the extents of your raster heightfield. That way, you can offset your map center back to the origin using the bounding information instead of a wild-ass guess or the mark 1 eyeball.
Edited by stjohn - July 9, 2019 20:34:39
Technical Discussion » GLTF 2.0 blendshape export
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
Hi all,
Are blendshape/morph target/whatever-you-want-to-call-them animations supported in Houdini17.5 GLTF export? Use case is a blendshape-animated FBX from Maya. I want to convert it to GLTF for consumption in Unreal, Unity, and an in-house engine. Loading the FBX looks like it works: I have a Morph Target, a geo object, and a material network. Inside the geo object is a mesh, a farkton of blendshapes (as locked nulls), and a blend SOP they all connect to. This works. It plays back in Houdini just fine.
When I export this as a GLTF or GLB, the file size is 4k, so that's obviously not working. What are best practices for getting blendshape GLTF/GLB files out of Houdini?
Cheers!
Are blendshape/morph target/whatever-you-want-to-call-them animations supported in Houdini17.5 GLTF export? Use case is a blendshape-animated FBX from Maya. I want to convert it to GLTF for consumption in Unreal, Unity, and an in-house engine. Loading the FBX looks like it works: I have a Morph Target, a geo object, and a material network. Inside the geo object is a mesh, a farkton of blendshapes (as locked nulls), and a blend SOP they all connect to. This works. It plays back in Houdini just fine.
When I export this as a GLTF or GLB, the file size is 4k, so that's obviously not working. What are best practices for getting blendshape GLTF/GLB files out of Houdini?
Cheers!
Technical Discussion » H16: Mantra 'cannot find geometry' render error?
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
Still here.
Got it today, 16.5.323. No spaces in the filename itself, but spaces exist in the path. File renders fine when loading a local copy from the desktop.
Is this really still a thing in 2018?
Got it today, 16.5.323. No spaces in the filename itself, but spaces exist in the path. File renders fine when loading a local copy from the desktop.
Is this really still a thing in 2018?
Technical Discussion » Stop me if you've heard this one before: 'module' object has no attribute 'foo'
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
I've got a bunch of defs in my HDA's python module, and one of them, regenTiles(), gets triggered by a button press callback.
Unless I allow edit, then open type properties and edit the PythonModule script in some way, then save the asset, regenTiles will always throw an AttributeError.
A long time ago, Rob Vinluan showed me a hackaround that put all the parms in a dictionary or something to wake them up, but I don't have access to that asset at my new workplace.
Is there a definite answer for why this happens and how to prevent it in the future? How do I make sure that my asset initializes with all of the functions in the Python Module callable by parameter callbacks?
Technical Discussion » Script editor block select bug
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
I'm not surprised, it's intermittent, which is always a bitch to track down. I don't know the exact conditions that make it happen on my end either.
Technical Discussion » Script editor block select bug
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
One of the most irritating experiences in the Asset workflow is the fact that the script editor in Type Properties/Scripts will seem to randomly scroll to somewhere else and select everything from where you want to be to where it put you. So not only do you wind up way off the fairway, you get a blinding flash of yellow light in your eyes for your trouble.
This is H15.5 on Windows 10, so it may not show up other OSs, especially Linux where window focus is actually done properly.
It might have to do with some instances of scrolling the script edit window without actually clicking in the window first. if you scroll around, then click in the window where you stopped, it will appear to scroll back to where your last selection was, then highlight from where your new selection is to that point. So something in there is not keeping track of text editor scroll position when focus is changing around.
This is H15.5 on Windows 10, so it may not show up other OSs, especially Linux where window focus is actually done properly.
It might have to do with some instances of scrolling the script edit window without actually clicking in the window first. if you scroll around, then click in the window where you stopped, it will appear to scroll back to where your last selection was, then highlight from where your new selection is to that point. So something in there is not keeping track of text editor scroll position when focus is changing around.
Houdini Engine for Maya » Possible for Group Node in Maya as input to Houdini Engine?
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
After the last couple of days working with the Houdini Engine for Maya plugin, my first time doing anything with it beyond loading it to see if it works, I have to throw my vote in for a way to use Maya group nodes as asset inputs. It could be something as blunt as adding a DAG path prim attribute instead of a detail attribute.
Merge ‘em all, let God sort ’em out.
I might have to do this in my asset anyway. From that, I could build a parallel hierarchy in the Houdini session, away from Maya's interest, then save that whole thing out as FBX or ABC for import into Maya as a new root node.
It would sure be nice to build a new DAG root from a Houdini hierarchy, so I'm adding a +1 for that feature too.
Of course, this is a fairly naive perspective. My experience with Maya can still be measured in hours.
Merge ‘em all, let God sort ’em out.
I might have to do this in my asset anyway. From that, I could build a parallel hierarchy in the Houdini session, away from Maya's interest, then save that whole thing out as FBX or ABC for import into Maya as a new root node.
It would sure be nice to build a new DAG root from a Houdini hierarchy, so I'm adding a +1 for that feature too.
Of course, this is a fairly naive perspective. My experience with Maya can still be measured in hours.
Houdini Engine for Maya » Asset input DAG path
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
Hi all,
Is there a way to get the DAG path of the asset's input mesh?
My use case:
I'm creating a bunch of objects dynamically in the session's /obj path, which I then export to FBX with a dynamically created ROP in the session's /out path.
If I could get the DAG path of the mesh I'm using as input, it would make it a lot easier to create names for my dynamic objects and their nested subnets, as well as filenames for FBX output.
I heard a rumor that this is possible, but only for h15.5, via a detail attribute containing the DAG path of the input. (EDIT: Confirmed, it's there)
Also, maybe related to this post:
https://www.sidefx.com/forum/topic/38022/ [sidefx.com]
Is there a way to determine the DAG path of an object that a Houdini asset is parented to in the Maya scene hierarchy? The use case here would be setting a bunch of attribs, parms, and node names based on the asset's parent.
I'm not looking to import maya cmds into my asset script, that sounds like dark magic that will break its containment ward at 2am on a Friday, but I would like to know all the ways in which I can get information about the asset input.
cheers,
-John
Is there a way to get the DAG path of the asset's input mesh?
My use case:
I'm creating a bunch of objects dynamically in the session's /obj path, which I then export to FBX with a dynamically created ROP in the session's /out path.
If I could get the DAG path of the mesh I'm using as input, it would make it a lot easier to create names for my dynamic objects and their nested subnets, as well as filenames for FBX output.
I heard a rumor that this is possible, but only for h15.5, via a detail attribute containing the DAG path of the input. (EDIT: Confirmed, it's there)
Also, maybe related to this post:
https://www.sidefx.com/forum/topic/38022/ [sidefx.com]
Is there a way to determine the DAG path of an object that a Houdini asset is parented to in the Maya scene hierarchy? The use case here would be setting a bunch of attribs, parms, and node names based on the asset's parent.
I'm not looking to import maya cmds into my asset script, that sounds like dark magic that will break its containment ward at 2am on a Friday, but I would like to know all the ways in which I can get information about the asset input.
cheers,
-John
Edited by stjohn - July 20, 2016 12:24:56
Technical Discussion » curve edit-state color too similar to viewport BG
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
This isn't my first rodeo, I know all about the 3 options for viewport backgrounds.
What was new was the edit-state curve color, which was too similar to the background, even though it's the inverse.
As of this post though, it seems to be fixed, in that the edit-state curve is now black or dark grey, which is much easier to see on the gradient instead of the maya-like blue they had before.
What was new was the edit-state curve color, which was too similar to the background, even though it's the inverse.
As of this post though, it seems to be fixed, in that the edit-state curve is now black or dark grey, which is much easier to see on the gradient instead of the maya-like blue they had before.
Technical Discussion » curve edit-state color too similar to viewport BG
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
Any chance you guys can up the hue and value spread on the curve edit-state over the gradient BG? it's really hard to see.
Or, you know, give us a color picker so we can choose the values ourselves.
Or, you know, give us a color picker so we can choose the values ourselves.
Houdini Engine for Unreal » Versions of Unreal Engine 4
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
Houdini Engine for Unreal » Versions of Unreal Engine 4
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Indie > Unity FBX Rig Import Issues
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
Since the last posting, there have been some changes to our FBX export implementation that will allow you to export FBX rigs to DOTA2, among other things. I can't speak to other packages as of yet, but one of the issues was that FBX was adding a lot of extra nodes that most importers didn't know what to do about, and throwing zero capture weight errors.
If anyone's still paying attention to this thread, please give it a whirl in UE4 and Unity.
If anyone's still paying attention to this thread, please give it a whirl in UE4 and Unity.
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Export anim to maya and then to fbx problem
- stjohn
- 140 posts
- Offline
What kind of sim animation? Is this a character rig, a deforming mesh, or something else?
-
- Quick Links