Hey, thanks a ton for the examples.
Yeah. possibly a ramp parameter because of its control ability. Its intuitive if exposed.
If its applied to uvs, then no matter where these clouds exist, they will get colour from their ramp parameter in uv space.
The other option I tried is to use an attribute transfer. This option works somewhat but it sucks because it gets it from another object, which I have to manipulate separately, and with less control of falloff.
Another question. Once I get these attributes, applied to the actual object, I know that they can be piped into a number of nodes for specific functionality that is already exposed, but how would I use an attribute as a weight map to drive the scale value Y within a transform node? Do I have to resort to Vops? The only way I have had it work is with a point sop. I have been having issues with getting it to work with vops and the transform node.
What would the expression look like within the transform node? Its not a simple $Cd ( plus some math ) expression. ( I hope its as simple as piping the attribute within an expression. )
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Houdini Lounge » Linear gradient to objects point attribute
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Houdini Lounge » Linear gradient to objects point attribute
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Its good to be back
Yep. That is the idea.
I just need to use a gradient for this task because I want to expose the gradient to the user in the digital asset. imagine I have a variable gradient.
The only gradient I can find is inside of cop or vop, but the one inside vop is much nicer.
Yep. That is the idea.
I just need to use a gradient for this task because I want to expose the gradient to the user in the digital asset. imagine I have a variable gradient.
The only gradient I can find is inside of cop or vop, but the one inside vop is much nicer.
Houdini Lounge » Linear gradient to objects point attribute
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Hey guys.
I got a question.
After a few years break from houdini, I am having to relearn a lot of stuff..
One of the things I want to do is lets say I have an object of whatever shape..
I want to use a uv project from the YZ view, and apply a linear gradient to this.
I then want to use this gradient to apply it to an attribute to the surface/points.
The end idea is to use the gradient to drive the scale of copies that are stamped, but in a linear fashion. the gradient will be used for control within the final OTL.
How would I do this?
I imagine that I have to use vops, but if since its been soo long, and it seems like houdini has been re-arranged since I used it ( no longer divisions between sops, vops, chops, etc. I am still stumbling around Smile )
Any help will be appreciated ( btw, still on version 10 of houdini here…. will be getting v12.5 soon hopefully ).
( i moved this post from the learning houdini forum as it didnt pertain to any tutorials )
I got a question.
After a few years break from houdini, I am having to relearn a lot of stuff..
One of the things I want to do is lets say I have an object of whatever shape..
I want to use a uv project from the YZ view, and apply a linear gradient to this.
I then want to use this gradient to apply it to an attribute to the surface/points.
The end idea is to use the gradient to drive the scale of copies that are stamped, but in a linear fashion. the gradient will be used for control within the final OTL.
How would I do this?
I imagine that I have to use vops, but if since its been soo long, and it seems like houdini has been re-arranged since I used it ( no longer divisions between sops, vops, chops, etc. I am still stumbling around Smile )
Any help will be appreciated ( btw, still on version 10 of houdini here…. will be getting v12.5 soon hopefully ).
( i moved this post from the learning houdini forum as it didnt pertain to any tutorials )
Technical Discussion » muscle test on SESI hares' leg
- ambient-whisper
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hey guys. been tinkering with some ideas of making a simple to use muscle tool. you make a top and bottom null and the muscle snaps into place. from there you have to adjust the shape using a few sliders ( or you might have to go within the null nodes ( Within the muscle subOP and adjust the circles there ). i wouldnt call this anywhere near finished, and im not sure how it would use inflate yet.
anyway just throwing a few ideas out. theres still lots of problems in the tool iteself ( like the muscle flipping if its stretched too much, etc. and its not as intuitive as it would be in final. ( let alone, not optimized at all ).
if anyone has comments/ improvements, theyre always welcome.
the file can be downloaded from here. ( its an apprentice file 7.0.231 )
( used winrar 3.x )
http://ambient-whisper.cgcommunity.com/images_dump/neato/muscle_test_stuff.rar [ambient-whisper.cgcommunity.com]
i have also been thinking about doing something like compression of the muscles based on a measurement of how close the top and bottom nulls are. not sure how to do that yet though.
cheerios.
Technical Discussion » Graph editor changed? or not working?
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heres the first error that i get at the end of the installation
any idea how to get rid of the problem?
{EDIT}
tried out version 6.1 out of curiosity ( installed just now ). and i get same error that in 7. the fonts have already been installed, etc. and now when i open up houdini first thing i see is the animation desktop and i cant work with the network editor and other things.
Adding Effects
Font Effects is an invalid font (or already installed)
Adding Software/Houdini
Font Software/Houdini is an invalid font (or already installed)
Adding 7.0.192/bin/gfont.exe
Font 7.0.192/bin/gfont.exe is an invalid font (or already installed)
Adding -Sq
Font -Sq is an invalid font (or already installed)
Adding -o
Font -o is an invalid font (or already installed)
Adding CProgram Files/Side Effects Software/Houdini 7.0.192/houdini/fonts/font.index
Font CProgram Files/Side Effects Software/Houdini 7.0.192/houdini/fonts/font.index is an invalid font (or already installed)
Saving font table to: CPROGRA~1/Side Effects Software/Houdini 7.0.192/houdini/fonts/font.index
any idea how to get rid of the problem?
{EDIT}
tried out version 6.1 out of curiosity ( installed just now ). and i get same error that in 7. the fonts have already been installed, etc. and now when i open up houdini first thing i see is the animation desktop and i cant work with the network editor and other things.
Technical Discussion » Graph editor changed? or not working?
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OK. turns out it was a bad download that caused this after all. weird thing is, bad downloads usually wont execute, yet this installed fine
anyway. i uninstalled the unfinished houdini. cleared the temp files, deleted the sidefx directory to make a perfectly clean installation. ( as well as deleted the hserver and sesinetd files. ).
i installed the working houdini install and when it finishes installing and initializes a few things i get a few errors that i encountered before when upgrading the beta versions.
the first error being a font error, where the font that it tries to install is already installed.
the second error doesnt give much information at all. it just gives out a fatal error.
when i run houdini now, it loads but gives a confirm/warning dialog and it says “hmaster.exe load failed: no such file or directory”. and a continue button. ( i went to check if the file was there and it is. )
if i press ok i can work in the application but its 1/2 broken. ( i used to get this with betas too ) the graph curves work now , but when i try to make anything in the network editor it doesnt actually create any nodes.
in order to create nodes i have to go to the viewer and place nodes there. they show up in the network editor just fine and i can move them around then…
so. i want to uninstall houdini one more time, but if anyone has any tips on what i should uninstall to get rid of it completely, so i can really make a clean new install, it will be appreciated.
cheers.
anyway. i uninstalled the unfinished houdini. cleared the temp files, deleted the sidefx directory to make a perfectly clean installation. ( as well as deleted the hserver and sesinetd files. ).
i installed the working houdini install and when it finishes installing and initializes a few things i get a few errors that i encountered before when upgrading the beta versions.
the first error being a font error, where the font that it tries to install is already installed.
the second error doesnt give much information at all. it just gives out a fatal error.
when i run houdini now, it loads but gives a confirm/warning dialog and it says “hmaster.exe load failed: no such file or directory”. and a continue button. ( i went to check if the file was there and it is. )
if i press ok i can work in the application but its 1/2 broken. ( i used to get this with betas too ) the graph curves work now , but when i try to make anything in the network editor it doesnt actually create any nodes.
in order to create nodes i have to go to the viewer and place nodes there. they show up in the network editor just fine and i can move them around then…
so. i want to uninstall houdini one more time, but if anyone has any tips on what i should uninstall to get rid of it completely, so i can really make a clean new install, it will be appreciated.
cheers.
Technical Discussion » Graph editor changed? or not working?
- ambient-whisper
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tried 4 things.
1. what you said. no effect
2. same but deleted the directories for prefs. for houdini7 first, no effect ) then for all versions, but again no effect.
3. updated drivers. no effect
1. what you said. no effect
2. same but deleted the directories for prefs. for houdini7 first, no effect ) then for all versions, but again no effect.
3. updated drivers. no effect
Technical Discussion » Graph editor changed? or not working?
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yeah theres an asterix ( its on by default anyway ). i tried other modes like Rx, etc. but neither do anything in this case.
dopesheet mode and table dont show keys either. i just see keys only in the timeline, thats it.
dopesheet mode and table dont show keys either. i just see keys only in the timeline, thats it.
Technical Discussion » Graph editor changed? or not working?
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yep they are. i tried even dragging and dropping the channels from the left hand side into the graph editor but no go either, heh. i will try different drivers a bit later. but i really doubt its a driver issue.
Houdini Lounge » Bone manipulation Speed
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locking worked. thanks ( didnt think it would be that simple of a solution, but hey : )
thanks again!
thanks again!
Technical Discussion » Graph editor changed? or not working?
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laptop
winxp pro
p4 3ghz
1gb ram
geforce fx 5600
plenty of hd space
its a fairly solid laptop. anyway its odd because in older versions, the graph editor worked. ( its just that in previous versions houdini wasnt as stable, as it seems to be now ).
drivers are 53.04
winxp pro
p4 3ghz
1gb ram
geforce fx 5600
plenty of hd space
its a fairly solid laptop. anyway its odd because in older versions, the graph editor worked. ( its just that in previous versions houdini wasnt as stable, as it seems to be now ).
drivers are 53.04
Technical Discussion » Graph editor changed? or not working?
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er i mean its version 7.0.192. which is the newest there is. still seems broken.
maybe i just need to reinstall houdini. i remember having problems especially with version 7 betas where if i uninstalled houdini and installed a new one… the new one would be broken all over the place, and give lots of errors.
so my question now is, how do i COMPLETELy remove houdini.
this is what ive done until now.
1. press the uninstall button.
2. kill the hserver, and sesinetd processes.
3. go into the windows/system32 dir and delete both files.
( because if i didnt delete them, the new version would never work for me )
4. reboot
5. install new version of houdini.
this would pretty much make sure that houdini worked, but it seems something is still off. maybe i missed some files i should have deleted somewhere?
maybe i just need to reinstall houdini. i remember having problems especially with version 7 betas where if i uninstalled houdini and installed a new one… the new one would be broken all over the place, and give lots of errors.
so my question now is, how do i COMPLETELy remove houdini.
this is what ive done until now.
1. press the uninstall button.
2. kill the hserver, and sesinetd processes.
3. go into the windows/system32 dir and delete both files.
( because if i didnt delete them, the new version would never work for me )
4. reboot
5. install new version of houdini.
this would pretty much make sure that houdini worked, but it seems something is still off. maybe i missed some files i should have deleted somewhere?
Technical Discussion » Graph editor changed? or not working?
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using apprentice H 7.0.172
ive never had this problem until this version. for some reason i dont have any animation data showing up in the graph editor. is there something changed that i need to do ? is it broken? or?
i can key items, and see animation in viewport, but when i want to go into the graph editor to change the curve type from linear to whatever else, so i can then go in and edit, i cant because the curves are not there.
ive never had this problem until this version. for some reason i dont have any animation data showing up in the graph editor. is there something changed that i need to do ? is it broken? or?
i can key items, and see animation in viewport, but when i want to go into the graph editor to change the curve type from linear to whatever else, so i can then go in and edit, i cant because the curves are not there.
Houdini Lounge » Bone manipulation Speed
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hello.
Im in H 7.0.172.
most of the rigging i have done before in Houdini has always focused on just using simple parenting, and never really skinning anything. after testing the rabbit OTL, and then trying something out on my own ( nothing fancy, just a few bones deforming a relatively low resolution model. ), is it me or is houdini lagging a lot when rotating bones when the geometry thats bound to it is being displayed? im wondering if anything could be done in preferences to speed this up? changing to wireframe had no effect. because it doesnt seem to be the card to blame ( houdini runs great overall, no issues. just this lag when rotating bones with bound geometry )
looking at it. its the Cooking of the capture operators within the model itself. but in my opinion its a bit slow when you take into consideration the size of the model itself. in other applications ive had much larger models with more complex rigs that updated a little faster than what im getting here ( and on a smaller model with almost nothing really happening ).
it also lags the most when i make major changes, its fine if i rotate a bit slower. if i swing it however it lags quite a bit for the next few rotations until houdini can catch up.
any help is appreciated.
played with it a bit more just now. if i just paint weights the model deforms super fast if i use capture regions it lags big time. im fine with that, but it would be nice if i could use the weights from capture regions and transfer that information over to the paint weights, and then complely get rid of the capture regions to speed things up. is there anyway to do this in a clean fashion?
to give a better idea of how slow the capture regions seem to be. its like having a model weighed ( no capture regions ), and then at the end of the chain, you add a subdivide node.
Im in H 7.0.172.
most of the rigging i have done before in Houdini has always focused on just using simple parenting, and never really skinning anything. after testing the rabbit OTL, and then trying something out on my own ( nothing fancy, just a few bones deforming a relatively low resolution model. ), is it me or is houdini lagging a lot when rotating bones when the geometry thats bound to it is being displayed? im wondering if anything could be done in preferences to speed this up? changing to wireframe had no effect. because it doesnt seem to be the card to blame ( houdini runs great overall, no issues. just this lag when rotating bones with bound geometry )
looking at it. its the Cooking of the capture operators within the model itself. but in my opinion its a bit slow when you take into consideration the size of the model itself. in other applications ive had much larger models with more complex rigs that updated a little faster than what im getting here ( and on a smaller model with almost nothing really happening ).
it also lags the most when i make major changes, its fine if i rotate a bit slower. if i swing it however it lags quite a bit for the next few rotations until houdini can catch up.
any help is appreciated.
played with it a bit more just now. if i just paint weights the model deforms super fast if i use capture regions it lags big time. im fine with that, but it would be nice if i could use the weights from capture regions and transfer that information over to the paint weights, and then complely get rid of the capture regions to speed things up. is there anyway to do this in a clean fashion?
to give a better idea of how slow the capture regions seem to be. its like having a model weighed ( no capture regions ), and then at the end of the chain, you add a subdivide node.
Houdini Lounge » apprentice v7.0.142 released
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yeah. i mainly installed it because for some reason a number of people i know have been getting this one specific/worm thing that keeps comming back no matter how hard we try. guessing its an isp problem, because no matter how up to date our windows was it wasnt solved.
all i have to do is leave my pc on for a few hours.. not even browse the net. and poof. its back.
all i have to do is leave my pc on for a few hours.. not even browse the net. and poof. its back.
Houdini Lounge » apprentice v7.0.142 released
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if anyone wants to upgrade to houdini 7 after you upgraded to service pack 2, then dont do it. Sidefx will need to upgrade their install shield or something because it just doesnt want to install. it goes through the entire install and at the end it says that the install has been interrupted and hasnt modified the system. you go into the new houdini directory and it will be empty.
oi.
Apparantely the installer has been upgraded from version 2.0 to 3.0.
hopefully this can be patched up soon
oi.
Apparantely the installer has been upgraded from version 2.0 to 3.0.
hopefully this can be patched up soon
Technical Discussion » sop level pathing?
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Howdy.
im making a little muscle tool and theres a bit of a problem.
i have a path made in object level. i go into the actual path node in which its constructed. within here i want to make a skinned object.
thing is. i want the cross sections to get their orientation on the curve, much like if i chose to make a null travel on a curve in object level. and then to be able to use the “skin” node. this will give a good result and let me control each cross section element, so i can shape the muscle how i like.
i tried using a sweep but it works best when you use a single cross section.
if using sweep i guess i could always use a few group nodes and then transform on each to control things like scaling, but this still wont give me the nice clean method of manipulating each cross section as nicely if they could be controlled before being skinned.
so, is there a simple way to do this in sop level?
currently ive tried doing a few things where i experimented with making nulls travel on the curve in op level, then i make the skinned cross sections get their orientation using the vtorigin expression, but i keep getting inverted/ or double transformations, so its not working out how i like. which is why i need a way to do it inside sop level.
<<Edit:>>
ok, i definitely dont want to use the group/edit combo after sweeping method, this gives undesired results with scaling if the points for the curve are outside the sop. the edits have to happen before the sweep node comes into play.
im making a little muscle tool and theres a bit of a problem.
i have a path made in object level. i go into the actual path node in which its constructed. within here i want to make a skinned object.
thing is. i want the cross sections to get their orientation on the curve, much like if i chose to make a null travel on a curve in object level. and then to be able to use the “skin” node. this will give a good result and let me control each cross section element, so i can shape the muscle how i like.
i tried using a sweep but it works best when you use a single cross section.
if using sweep i guess i could always use a few group nodes and then transform on each to control things like scaling, but this still wont give me the nice clean method of manipulating each cross section as nicely if they could be controlled before being skinned.
so, is there a simple way to do this in sop level?
currently ive tried doing a few things where i experimented with making nulls travel on the curve in op level, then i make the skinned cross sections get their orientation using the vtorigin expression, but i keep getting inverted/ or double transformations, so its not working out how i like. which is why i need a way to do it inside sop level.
<<Edit:>>
ok, i definitely dont want to use the group/edit combo after sweeping method, this gives undesired results with scaling if the points for the curve are outside the sop. the edits have to happen before the sweep node comes into play.
Technical Discussion » Invalid Server Key
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although i think this should be under the 6.5 early access forum, im having the same problem. trying to get a non-commercial license for 6.5 but its not budging, and asking for email/pass
Technical Discussion » Softbody Dynamics
- ambient-whisper
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howdy.
ive been playing around at adding some softbody to skin, and using the spring tool its easy enough, but i cant seem to get any good results with it, for areas like a belly, underarm, legs. etc.
ive looked on the net and in the docs, to try and readup on effective ways of achieving what i want. or atleast anything that could point me in the right direction.
right now im thinking that the softbody pop will do the trick, but there really doesnt seem to be much documentation for me to reffer to, that explains how to add softbodies that work.
ive been playing around at adding some softbody to skin, and using the spring tool its easy enough, but i cant seem to get any good results with it, for areas like a belly, underarm, legs. etc.
ive looked on the net and in the docs, to try and readup on effective ways of achieving what i want. or atleast anything that could point me in the right direction.
right now im thinking that the softbody pop will do the trick, but there really doesnt seem to be much documentation for me to reffer to, that explains how to add softbodies that work.
Technical Discussion » shape and time
- ambient-whisper
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Ive been wondering about this for a bit.
In Mirai theres a way to save multiple shapes or any element thats separate from time space. kind of like having a bind pose that you can reuse later. but more than one. the setup is the same interface that is used for morph targets. ( its neat because the morph technology works on bones too )
now. im wondering. is there a way to somehow collect bone information from a character and store it in a way that could be added to some pulldown menu, so that we could quickly snap our character into poses?
im guessing a bake procedure would have to happen that would collect bone positions/ or rotations/ and length. or just positions of manipulators, that could be recalled later.
that information would then be stored within a text file in its own directory, that could be later hand picked when needed? not sure.
just some random thoughts. probably wont attempt this yet, but definitely want to sometime in the future.
im thinking that chops will have to be used, but something more intuitive, that could be placed within a rig, and used as a tool from the menu would be what im aiming for.
any comments/suggestions are welcome
cheers.
In Mirai theres a way to save multiple shapes or any element thats separate from time space. kind of like having a bind pose that you can reuse later. but more than one. the setup is the same interface that is used for morph targets. ( its neat because the morph technology works on bones too )
now. im wondering. is there a way to somehow collect bone information from a character and store it in a way that could be added to some pulldown menu, so that we could quickly snap our character into poses?
im guessing a bake procedure would have to happen that would collect bone positions/ or rotations/ and length. or just positions of manipulators, that could be recalled later.
that information would then be stored within a text file in its own directory, that could be later hand picked when needed? not sure.
just some random thoughts. probably wont attempt this yet, but definitely want to sometime in the future.
im thinking that chops will have to be used, but something more intuitive, that could be placed within a rig, and used as a tool from the menu would be what im aiming for.
any comments/suggestions are welcome
cheers.
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