is there a benchmark page / chart somewhere?
i would love to see operating systems compared as well as workstation hardware.
this kind of chart would help with purchase discussions quite alot.
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Technical Discussion » Questions on Performance
- smaugthewyrm
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Technical Discussion » how to make 2 fluids to interact each other
- smaugthewyrm
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wouldn't a volumemix sop work? i think so. later, in that SAME TUTORIAL PRODUCT, the smoke stack portion, a volumemix sop is used to subtract one volume from the other, but there is an add function in there also.
i am guessing now, but that sop placed below 2 volume fluid items i think would work.
i am guessing now, but that sop placed below 2 volume fluid items i think would work.
Technical Discussion » FBX renders fine locally, problems on renderfarm
- smaugthewyrm
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just a guess, it looks like the farm is shifting a decimal on the x or z plane. the model seems the have been done partially in the sop level and partially in the geo level.
so, i would say it is shifting 1 decimal to the left at the sop level.
….
:shock:
so, i would say it is shifting 1 decimal to the left at the sop level.
….
:shock:
Technical Discussion » how to make 2 fluids to interact each other
- smaugthewyrm
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if you want to see the EXACT ANSWER have a look at the digital tutors: intro to houdini fluids.
they mix 2 fluids
http://www.digitaltutors.com/store/product.php?productid=3602 [digitaltutors.com]
8)
they mix 2 fluids
http://www.digitaltutors.com/store/product.php?productid=3602 [digitaltutors.com]
8)
Houdini Lounge » Virus Barrier causing Houdini to get VERY slow!
- smaugthewyrm
- 77 posts
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ironic that the virus protection was the problem on a operating system where there are virtually no viruses. LOL.
just a note, you could have done your fresh install on an external hard drive, with ONLY a fresh OS and a fresh Houdini.
that would have spared your seasoned and configured primary system.
glad you found the solution. good info for those that follow after and have the same problem.
just a note, you could have done your fresh install on an external hard drive, with ONLY a fresh OS and a fresh Houdini.
that would have spared your seasoned and configured primary system.
glad you found the solution. good info for those that follow after and have the same problem.
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Houdini Hard?
- smaugthewyrm
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whatever the solution, the fact remains that most users know the non-houdini way. also, the fact remains that the houdini community would be stronger with more users.
houdini is wonderful, and powerful, no question. BUT it is not even considered an option for most students because of its learning curve.
product conversion, or the moment when a user decides to use a NEW application primarily is very very rare with houdini. this is a growth limiting aspect.
i would not suggest that pyrofx shelf items are ‘blackbox’. so, imagine if you will, 4 FULL SHELVES of similar items. then imagine that they are all tweaked slightly and placed so as to be INTUITIVE for a MAYA professional or for a 3dmax professional. now, there is a possible houdini recruit.
that person will be able to get something attractive created and become hooked on the H10 way. THEN he/she may dig deeper and opt for the
'advanced' interface.
i'm just say'n…
houdini is wonderful, and powerful, no question. BUT it is not even considered an option for most students because of its learning curve.
product conversion, or the moment when a user decides to use a NEW application primarily is very very rare with houdini. this is a growth limiting aspect.
i would not suggest that pyrofx shelf items are ‘blackbox’. so, imagine if you will, 4 FULL SHELVES of similar items. then imagine that they are all tweaked slightly and placed so as to be INTUITIVE for a MAYA professional or for a 3dmax professional. now, there is a possible houdini recruit.
that person will be able to get something attractive created and become hooked on the H10 way. THEN he/she may dig deeper and opt for the
'advanced' interface.
i'm just say'n…
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Houdini Hard?
- smaugthewyrm
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i am in houdini now for about 6 weeks, but using 3d cgi apps since 1993 at sgi.
houdini has been easily the most difficult to use application i have ever encountered. EVERY step is a hunt or mystery to solve.
i believe this is because so much of the philosophy of houdini is to give the user TOTAL control over every aspect. this leads to what i have done so very often. i'll make a change on some parameter setting and unknowingly kill the entire effect.
doh!
furthermore, so many effects are so very slow to show, that tweaking is almost impossible. the lure of simulations is dampened by the lack of multithread support.
having total control, the programmers must assume you know what you are doing when you change any setting, so there are no warnings when the rookie alters something he should not.
total control means that there is a ‘top down’ aversion to creating any ‘blackbox’ solutions or pre-setup effects. some small headway has occurred with the addition of pyrofx shelf additions, but this is really small as the pyrofx are still extraordinarily complex and unintuitive.
some of those that have powered through the learning curve now have an opinion that everyone else should HAVE TO do the same to EARN the power of houdini. just like a doctor who tortures the interns out of tradition. LOL.
now, on the flip side, the learning curve has kept the supply and demand for houdini technical directors at a primo pay grade. the power of houdini is there and unquestioned, while the learning curve is so steep that few artists achieve a useful level of skill for a production environment. so, houdini TD can demand big big bucks for services.
this is another DIS-incentive for gurus to teach what has so painfully been learned.
omg, i am preaching on a soapbox now… sigh…
programmers, please, take a look at the speed of maxon c4d's rendering engine and cloth simulation. maxon is almost 800% faster polygon for polygon.
programmers, consider an entirely new level of interaction for rookies. a ‘desktop’ for example, where ONLY BLACKBOX solutions exist. use some other app as a guide for creating the interface. desktop: maxon c4d for example would feel comfortable to someone used to that app. desktop: lightwave would feel comfortable to someone used to that app. etc, etc.
a series of ROOKIE SHELFS that include houdini effects that mirror the effects in said other application. results should be as similar as possible to those in the other app, and the parameters SHOULD BE LIMITED to those available in the other appl.
WHEN the rookie is wishing for more control, then he/she can opt out of the rookie environment.
houdini upper management:
DO YOU WANT NEW USERS? then you MUST address this learning curve.
okay, rant over.
back to my current houdini mystery, pbr. personally, i think col. mustard killed pbr with the wrench in the drawing room… sigh.
houdini has been easily the most difficult to use application i have ever encountered. EVERY step is a hunt or mystery to solve.
i believe this is because so much of the philosophy of houdini is to give the user TOTAL control over every aspect. this leads to what i have done so very often. i'll make a change on some parameter setting and unknowingly kill the entire effect.
doh!
furthermore, so many effects are so very slow to show, that tweaking is almost impossible. the lure of simulations is dampened by the lack of multithread support.
having total control, the programmers must assume you know what you are doing when you change any setting, so there are no warnings when the rookie alters something he should not.
total control means that there is a ‘top down’ aversion to creating any ‘blackbox’ solutions or pre-setup effects. some small headway has occurred with the addition of pyrofx shelf additions, but this is really small as the pyrofx are still extraordinarily complex and unintuitive.
some of those that have powered through the learning curve now have an opinion that everyone else should HAVE TO do the same to EARN the power of houdini. just like a doctor who tortures the interns out of tradition. LOL.
now, on the flip side, the learning curve has kept the supply and demand for houdini technical directors at a primo pay grade. the power of houdini is there and unquestioned, while the learning curve is so steep that few artists achieve a useful level of skill for a production environment. so, houdini TD can demand big big bucks for services.
this is another DIS-incentive for gurus to teach what has so painfully been learned.
omg, i am preaching on a soapbox now… sigh…
programmers, please, take a look at the speed of maxon c4d's rendering engine and cloth simulation. maxon is almost 800% faster polygon for polygon.
programmers, consider an entirely new level of interaction for rookies. a ‘desktop’ for example, where ONLY BLACKBOX solutions exist. use some other app as a guide for creating the interface. desktop: maxon c4d for example would feel comfortable to someone used to that app. desktop: lightwave would feel comfortable to someone used to that app. etc, etc.
a series of ROOKIE SHELFS that include houdini effects that mirror the effects in said other application. results should be as similar as possible to those in the other app, and the parameters SHOULD BE LIMITED to those available in the other appl.
WHEN the rookie is wishing for more control, then he/she can opt out of the rookie environment.
houdini upper management:
DO YOU WANT NEW USERS? then you MUST address this learning curve.
okay, rant over.
back to my current houdini mystery, pbr. personally, i think col. mustard killed pbr with the wrench in the drawing room… sigh.
Edited by - May 25, 2009 16:44:51
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » understanding vex matte and shadowmatte
- smaugthewyrm
- 77 posts
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i did comp in photoshop…
this might clarify… if i do not render the buildings, then i loose mask for the pyro.
if i do render the models i do get mattes, but no alpha. see i want the remove the pyro where it disappears behind the pole, but is a little ALSO infront of the pole.
what i really want is for my cgi elements to
GENERATE ALPHA mask content.
and yes, the pyro is only lowres. i am not looking forward to figuring out
how to generate an uprez pyro without destroying my autodop explicit cache file.
UPDATE
i finally found the very simple solution.
on the vex-matte shader, ‘main’ tab, i had to set ‘alpha’ to zero.
lol.
this might clarify… if i do not render the buildings, then i loose mask for the pyro.
if i do render the models i do get mattes, but no alpha. see i want the remove the pyro where it disappears behind the pole, but is a little ALSO infront of the pole.
what i really want is for my cgi elements to
GENERATE ALPHA mask content.
and yes, the pyro is only lowres. i am not looking forward to figuring out
how to generate an uprez pyro without destroying my autodop explicit cache file.
UPDATE
i finally found the very simple solution.
on the vex-matte shader, ‘main’ tab, i had to set ‘alpha’ to zero.
lol.
Houdini Lounge » Houdini on Solaris?
- smaugthewyrm
- 77 posts
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digitallysanesmaugthewyrmIt won't, since Houdini only runs on Linux x86 and x86_64, so it's not binary compatible with SPARC processors.
this would allow you to use houdini 10 and a modern OS on your current sun equipment.
Dragos
so h10 is processor dependent AND OS dependent? bummer.
i had assumed that it would run on any linux install… oops.
see, with mac and wintel, MOST apps will run on EITHER of the 4 major variations. there are lots of exceptions of course, but most work fine.
mac:
MacOSX 10.x INTEL or PPC
win:
XP pro 32bit or 64bit
Edited by - May 22, 2009 17:59:17
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » understanding vex matte and shadowmatte
- smaugthewyrm
- 77 posts
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i've created a little scene here to test and understand matte shaders.
basically, i'd like to render and see an alpha mask created by the torus.
neither the vexmatte shader and the shadowmatte shader seem to create
an “a” channel in mplay.
it is my understanding, that for rotoscoping, any geometry i model to match the live footage needs to be masked out for compositing.
for example: live footage that includes a building. i model a simple building that tracks the livefootage building. i have some particles collide with the model… say for some rising smoke. i only want the rising smoke. BUT part of the smoke dissapears BEHIND THE BUILDING, so the model of the building should now mask those particles.
if i can render the model AS A MATTE with an alpha channel, then when the smoke is composited over the live footage, it will appear as though the smoke disappears behind the LIVE FOOTAGE BUILDING.
basically, i'd like to render and see an alpha mask created by the torus.
neither the vexmatte shader and the shadowmatte shader seem to create
an “a” channel in mplay.
it is my understanding, that for rotoscoping, any geometry i model to match the live footage needs to be masked out for compositing.
for example: live footage that includes a building. i model a simple building that tracks the livefootage building. i have some particles collide with the model… say for some rising smoke. i only want the rising smoke. BUT part of the smoke dissapears BEHIND THE BUILDING, so the model of the building should now mask those particles.
if i can render the model AS A MATTE with an alpha channel, then when the smoke is composited over the live footage, it will appear as though the smoke disappears behind the LIVE FOOTAGE BUILDING.
Houdini Lounge » Houdini on Solaris?
- smaugthewyrm
- 77 posts
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Vince,
ubuntu will install on many many sun sparc stations. i have not explored it my self, but have read good things.
this would allow you to use houdini 10 and a modern OS on your current sun equipment.
8)
sparc install guide
https://help.ubuntu.com/9.04/installation-guide/sparc/index.html [help.ubuntu.com]
download ubuntu
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download [ubuntu.com]
i wonder if any computer maker will ever come close to the ‘coolness’ SGI had in the 90s… damn, those machines were just awesome.
ubuntu will install on many many sun sparc stations. i have not explored it my self, but have read good things.
this would allow you to use houdini 10 and a modern OS on your current sun equipment.
8)
sparc install guide
https://help.ubuntu.com/9.04/installation-guide/sparc/index.html [help.ubuntu.com]
download ubuntu
http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download [ubuntu.com]
DaJuice
Naw, Solaris and IRIX support was dropped quite a while ago.
i wonder if any computer maker will ever come close to the ‘coolness’ SGI had in the 90s… damn, those machines were just awesome.
Houdini Lounge » Which build of Houdini are you using?
- smaugthewyrm
- 77 posts
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Work in Progress » Learning Particles [updated 09/05/04]
- smaugthewyrm
- 77 posts
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Houdini Indie and Apprentice » PyroFX Tests + Video
- smaugthewyrm
- 77 posts
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please see my jpeg here.
i've typed what settings i think you intend for the effect shown pic 14.
as the cells don't quite line up directly below 14 i think you mean
the setting cell MOSTLY under the column pic 14.
am i reading your chart correctly?
i've typed what settings i think you intend for the effect shown pic 14.
as the cells don't quite line up directly below 14 i think you mean
the setting cell MOSTLY under the column pic 14.
am i reading your chart correctly?
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » pyrofx as a light source
- smaugthewyrm
- 77 posts
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okay, ‘village idiot’ LOL, perfect. so that leads to the next question.
if i am going to comp a pyro asset onto live footage, then the illumination needs to be kinda like a shadow pass.
i imagine that if i instance point lights to the pyro, then setup a lighting take that includes only the instanced pyro pointlights, then composite that pass with ‘lighten’ over the live footage, it would add the fire light to the live footage.
am i on the right track here?
if i am going to comp a pyro asset onto live footage, then the illumination needs to be kinda like a shadow pass.
i imagine that if i instance point lights to the pyro, then setup a lighting take that includes only the instanced pyro pointlights, then composite that pass with ‘lighten’ over the live footage, it would add the fire light to the live footage.
am i on the right track here?
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » pyrofx as a light source
- smaugthewyrm
- 77 posts
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Houdini Indie and Apprentice » PyroFX Tests + Video
- smaugthewyrm
- 77 posts
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see how his timeline is doubled on the bottom pic? that looks like an opengl error and would be a problem with this computer, drivers or vid card.
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » pyro fx
- smaugthewyrm
- 77 posts
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If you want smoke to leave the pyro box, you should add sink geometry at the “open” edges of the box instead of turning off Closed boundaries on the pyro object.
http://localhost:48626/dynamics/smokeandfire [localhost]
from the internal help pages “pyro (smoke and fire) tools”
what do they mean “add sink geometry at the ‘open’ edges” ?
http://localhost:48626/dynamics/smokeandfire [localhost]
from the internal help pages “pyro (smoke and fire) tools”
what do they mean “add sink geometry at the ‘open’ edges” ?
Technical Discussion » Shatter Dynamics
- smaugthewyrm
- 77 posts
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this may help. thread:
export from Maya import to Houdini
http://forums.odforce.net/lofiversion/index.php/t7556.html [forums.odforce.net]
:wink:
export from Maya import to Houdini
http://forums.odforce.net/lofiversion/index.php/t7556.html [forums.odforce.net]
:wink:
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » pyro fx
- smaugthewyrm
- 77 posts
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