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Solaris and Karma » Display Volume as Bounding Box
- smbell
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This is super useful, but is there a way to make my bounding boxes just show as lines in the stage view like the normal viewport and not whatever these card looking things are? They look normal in the standard viewport.
Edited by smbell - May 4, 2022 15:50:18
Technical Discussion » Rendering packed/instanced volumes in Karma
- smbell
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I'm experimenting with karma in Houdini 19 and attempting to render a cloudscape scene I was previously rendering with Arnold. I can't seem to get it to render any volumes that are instanced with the native houdini instancer or packed primitives from a copy to points.
I'm assuming that it's just not supported yet?
I can see in the scene graph that all the volumes are coming in with the sop import but they just don't render and switching the "Packed Primitives" switch to the various options has an affect on the scene graph, but doesn't help them render.
I was able to render them with the instancer LOP node in the stage, but I was hoping to not have to re-create my entire setup using that.
I'm assuming that it's just not supported yet?
I can see in the scene graph that all the volumes are coming in with the sop import but they just don't render and switching the "Packed Primitives" switch to the various options has an affect on the scene graph, but doesn't help them render.
I was able to render them with the instancer LOP node in the stage, but I was hoping to not have to re-create my entire setup using that.
Technical Discussion » Karma ROP - instancing not working
- smbell
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jsmack
The instance node won't work. Use packed geos.
I'm trying to render a cloudscape and packed .vdbs don't seem to be rendering either.
Houdini for Realtime » Labs terrain texture output not writing images.
- smbell
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I'm trying to output my heightmap textures using the Labs terrain texture output and it doesn't appear to be working correctly. I spent a bit of time trying to troubleshoot it by diving into the networks... It will write the temp .exr to the $HOUDINI_TEMP folder, but it doesn't run the Topnet. It gets this error:
Error
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "generate_from_imageplanes_pythonprocessor1.generate", line 41, in <module>
File "generate_from_imageplanes_pythonprocessor1.generate", line 25, in MakeWorkItems
File "C:/PROGRA~1/SIDEEF~1/HOUDIN~1.561/houdini/python2.7libs\pdg\__init__.py", line 473, in _runOnMainThread
return self._runOnMainThread(work_item, wait, function, args, kwargs)
RuntimeError: Object of type 'tuple' is not an instance of 'none'
Error running Python callback 'Deferred Function Call':
TypeError: Object of type 'tuple' is not an instance of 'none'
(generate_from_imageplanes_pythonprocessor1.generate)
I've tried 19.0.531, 561 and 589 both py 2 and python 3 versions. They all get the same error.
Error
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "generate_from_imageplanes_pythonprocessor1.generate", line 41, in <module>
File "generate_from_imageplanes_pythonprocessor1.generate", line 25, in MakeWorkItems
File "C:/PROGRA~1/SIDEEF~1/HOUDIN~1.561/houdini/python2.7libs\pdg\__init__.py", line 473, in _runOnMainThread
return self._runOnMainThread(work_item, wait, function, args, kwargs)
RuntimeError: Object of type 'tuple' is not an instance of 'none'
Error running Python callback 'Deferred Function Call':
TypeError: Object of type 'tuple' is not an instance of 'none'
(generate_from_imageplanes_pythonprocessor1.generate)
I've tried 19.0.531, 561 and 589 both py 2 and python 3 versions. They all get the same error.
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » render all takes?
- smbell
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mfiorilli
Here's a script to render all takes. I put it on my ropnet node. Select the ropnet node, click the gear icon -> Edit parameter interface. Then create a button. Put this in the callback script:
for take in hou.takes.takes(): hou.takes.setCurrentTake(take); hou.parm('execute').pressButton()
Make sure the language is set to python for the callback script
Just wanted to say thank you for this little tip! Saved me a whole lot of trouble.
Houdini Engine for Unreal » Runtime error in packaged build, can't find Houdini module
- smbell
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I found the answer in this thread. Same thing I had to do a few years ago...
https://www.sidefx.com/forum/topic/62250/#post-343643 [www.sidefx.com]
Seems like the plugin should just be setup this way by default since it's not a runtime plugin.
https://www.sidefx.com/forum/topic/62250/#post-343643 [www.sidefx.com]
Seems like the plugin should just be setup this way by default since it's not a runtime plugin.
Houdini Engine for Unreal » Runtime error in packaged build, can't find Houdini module
- smbell
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bobcober
The easiest way to use the plugin is probably to grab the prebuilt binaries off of github: https://github.com/sideeffects/HoudiniEngineForUnreal-v2/releases [github.com]
Make sure to grab the version that matches the version of Unreal you are using.
You can install the plugin either directly in the engine folder (in "Engine/Plugins/Runtime/HoudiniEngine") or in your project folder (in "Plugins/Runtime/HoudiniEngine").
Installing the plugin
Download the pre-built binaries of the plugin in the "Releases" section of this repository.
Extract the "HoudiniEngine" folder in the release to the "Plugins/Runtime" folder of Unreal. You can install the plugin either directly in the engine folder (in "Engine/Plugins/Runtime/HoudiniEngine") or in your project folder (in "Plugins/Runtime/HoudiniEngine").
Start Unreal Engine, open the Plug-ins menu and make sure to enable the HoudiniEngine v2 plug-in (in the Rendering section). Restart UE4 if you had to enable it.
To confirm that the plug-in has been successfully installed and enabled, you can check that the editor main menu bar now has a new "Houdini Engine" menu, between "Edit" and "Window".
My plugin is installed correctly and works perfectly fine.
My issue is the error I mentioned when I run a windows .exe build of my current game level.
“Plugin ‘HoudiniEngine’ failed to load because module ‘HoudiniEngineRuntime’ could not be found. Please ensure the plugin is properly installed, otherwise consider disabling the plugin for this project.”
My plugin inside the editor is 100% functional.
I don't want to have to bake all my HoudiniAssetActors in able to be able to build the level to a .exe. I didn't previously have to do this a few years ago when I was first working with Houdini Engine.
I've re-installed UE4 since then and a newer Houdini Engine version, which is all good, but I forgot how I solved this problem a few years ago.
Edited by smbell - July 10, 2021 22:09:01
Houdini Engine for Unreal » Runtime error in packaged build, can't find Houdini module
- smbell
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Hi everyone. It's been a few years since I played around with UE4 and the Houdini Engine, but I decided to open up a few of my old projects and poke around again.
When I open up my (at one point) working projects and build my .exe it all builds fine, but when I run it, I'm getting the same error from the original poster in this thread.
“Plugin ‘HoudiniEngine’ failed to load because module ‘HoudiniEngineRuntime’ could not be found. Please ensure the plugin is properly installed, otherwise consider disabling the plugin for this project.”
I remember solving this problem years ago, but I can't remember what I did. I have my build folder with a fully functional .exe in it, so I know it worked in the past. My houdini engine plugin is installed and fully functional.
I tried the solution posted here, but when I tried to make a C++ class, it totally hosed my whole project and I was unable to build at all. I'm more interested in this for the houdini engine, not unreal, so I don't know much about C++. I certainly don't remember doing any of that business before.
When I open up my (at one point) working projects and build my .exe it all builds fine, but when I run it, I'm getting the same error from the original poster in this thread.
“Plugin ‘HoudiniEngine’ failed to load because module ‘HoudiniEngineRuntime’ could not be found. Please ensure the plugin is properly installed, otherwise consider disabling the plugin for this project.”
I remember solving this problem years ago, but I can't remember what I did. I have my build folder with a fully functional .exe in it, so I know it worked in the past. My houdini engine plugin is installed and fully functional.
I tried the solution posted here, but when I tried to make a C++ class, it totally hosed my whole project and I was unable to build at all. I'm more interested in this for the houdini engine, not unreal, so I don't know much about C++. I certainly don't remember doing any of that business before.
Technical Discussion » Extremely puzzling volume velocity values on re-sim
- smbell
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Technical Discussion » Extremely puzzling volume velocity values on re-sim
- smbell
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Sorry for the long post, but I've run into an issue that is driving me crazy and I can't seem to figure it out.
I have a pretty simple pyro sim with some Disturbance and Turbulence using Pressure as a control field. I ran the sim Tuesday night, and in the morning I realized I went a bit too far in both.
Fast forward to today, when I had some time to re-run the sim. I opened the original file, adjusted both the Disturbance and Turbulence down a bit and rendered out my file cache.
I immediately noticed that my files were more than 2x the size. Same voxel size, same channels etc. Upon viewing the velocity channels in the volume visualizer, I can see that the new sim has velocity in all the voxels, where my original sim has it only near the actual smoke and all the values are zero outside this area.
Now where it gets stranger is that I re-opened the original file that I used to cache out the original sim and re-cached a few frames and it now looks like the new sim... I'm usually all for chalking this kinda stuff up to human error, but I'm 100% sure it's the original settings and file and everything.
Is there anything that anyone can think of that would cause this? I really would like the original velocity behavior back since it has much smaller files, uses less memory etc. it's killing me here.
I've attached a pic of the old vs new sim with the same settings, and a later frame where you can really see how it looked on the first run.
I have a pretty simple pyro sim with some Disturbance and Turbulence using Pressure as a control field. I ran the sim Tuesday night, and in the morning I realized I went a bit too far in both.
Fast forward to today, when I had some time to re-run the sim. I opened the original file, adjusted both the Disturbance and Turbulence down a bit and rendered out my file cache.
I immediately noticed that my files were more than 2x the size. Same voxel size, same channels etc. Upon viewing the velocity channels in the volume visualizer, I can see that the new sim has velocity in all the voxels, where my original sim has it only near the actual smoke and all the values are zero outside this area.
Now where it gets stranger is that I re-opened the original file that I used to cache out the original sim and re-cached a few frames and it now looks like the new sim... I'm usually all for chalking this kinda stuff up to human error, but I'm 100% sure it's the original settings and file and everything.
Is there anything that anyone can think of that would cause this? I really would like the original velocity behavior back since it has much smaller files, uses less memory etc. it's killing me here.
I've attached a pic of the old vs new sim with the same settings, and a later frame where you can really see how it looked on the first run.
Edited by smbell - July 9, 2021 16:18:36
Technical Discussion » [Bullet] Relationship between Glue strengths and generated Impacts?
- smbell
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Has anyone figured this out yet?
It makes it very difficult to work with breaking thresholds when I don't know what the actual impact values are for my constraints. They are being scaled by the constraint strength.
If I have 5000 for my glue constraint strength, then no impact is ever higher than 5000.
I understand that the constraint is now broken since it has reached the strength of the glue and is no longer an active constraint, but it seems like the value should still show the computed impact.
OK, I found where to see it...
In the spreadsheet, in the actual rbd_object data under ConstraintGeometry the impact values are the actual computed impact.
It makes it very difficult to work with breaking thresholds when I don't know what the actual impact values are for my constraints. They are being scaled by the constraint strength.
If I have 5000 for my glue constraint strength, then no impact is ever higher than 5000.
I understand that the constraint is now broken since it has reached the strength of the glue and is no longer an active constraint, but it seems like the value should still show the computed impact.
OK, I found where to see it...
In the spreadsheet, in the actual rbd_object data under ConstraintGeometry the impact values are the actual computed impact.
Edited by smbell - June 16, 2021 15:14:09
Technical Discussion » Cloud Density Fall off
- smbell
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I've just run into this same issue. If you dive into the cloud node, it appears that there is nothing at all setup in there to create a gradient for the density from the center or the interior band voxels. The ramp just remaps the density that is a solid value across the entire cloud, so it's not actually "remapping" anything that a ramp would help with. It's just an additional multiplier.
This seems like an oversight or a bug in that it's not even implemented correctly as it's described on the tin.
This seems like an oversight or a bug in that it's not even implemented correctly as it's described on the tin.
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Mantra takes 45 min to render 640x360 donut model
- smbell
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jsmackmark
There was a performance improvement in very recent daily builds for non-RAT textures. It was most noticeable on Windows. Please try a recent daily build.
Hey Mark,
I think this might be a different issue. We're seeing roughly performance parity between hdr/rat Envlights on Intel architecture CPU's and vastly different on AMD. Could this be due to differences in LLVM or AVX on the two architectures? This particular env map has a 'sun spot' in it with values in the 100k range.
Yeah, there definitely seems to be something else at play here. It doesn't matter what the env map is either. I've tried ones with a very small dynamic range (brights in the 5-10 range) and they exhibit the same behavior on AMD machines.
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » Mantra takes 45 min to render 640x360 donut model
- smbell
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I am running into a very similar situation here with an AMD Ryzen 9 5950x machine that I just built.
Rendering this simple scene with a handful of spheres and a single HDR or EXR image as an environment light takes a really long time to render. I'm talking about almost two hours using the default mantra settings. If I open the same scene at my office on an 8 year old dual Intel xeon machine which is less than half the speed, it renders in about 20 seconds. Converting the HDR image to a .rat file solves the issue on my AMD machine and it renders in 8 seconds.
I understand .rat files are better optimized, but this seems like there is an issue with AMD machines and the handling of HDR/EXR images as environment lights in Mantra.
Can anyone with an AMD machine try to render this test scene?
Rendering this simple scene with a handful of spheres and a single HDR or EXR image as an environment light takes a really long time to render. I'm talking about almost two hours using the default mantra settings. If I open the same scene at my office on an 8 year old dual Intel xeon machine which is less than half the speed, it renders in about 20 seconds. Converting the HDR image to a .rat file solves the issue on my AMD machine and it renders in 8 seconds.
I understand .rat files are better optimized, but this seems like there is an issue with AMD machines and the handling of HDR/EXR images as environment lights in Mantra.
Can anyone with an AMD machine try to render this test scene?
Edited by smbell - March 21, 2021 20:27:21
Technical Discussion » @hittime from pop collision detect doesn't stop growing
- smbell
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I'm sure there is a simple answer for this, but it's got me scratching my head... I'm trying to use the @hittime attribute in order to do some stuff with my @pscale, but it never stops growing even after the particles are stopped by the pop collision detect behavior.
The @hittotal attribute does the same thing, like they are all vibrating on the surface or something even though they are not moving.
I've attached a simple scene.
The @hittotal attribute does the same thing, like they are all vibrating on the surface or something even though they are not moving.
I've attached a simple scene.
Technical Discussion » SideFX labs plugin is not installing.
- smbell
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I'm having this issue as of the 18.5.462 update. Anyone solved this problem?
Edit: Ended up just hardcoding the path that the shelf tool installs the files to and it worked fine. Something is up with the auto installation process.
Edit: Ended up just hardcoding the path that the shelf tool installs the files to and it worked fine. Something is up with the auto installation process.
Edited by smbell - Feb. 3, 2021 18:13:09
SI Users » Camera pan with a "look at" constraint
- smbell
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I see it's H18 almost 18.5 in 2020 and the camera aim viewport behavior is still stuck in the 90s.
The export view continuously is a nice addition, but it doesn't address the fundamental flaws with the camera system as it stands. As others have mentioned in this thread, having a look at point that is respected in the viewport, while manipulating the camera from the viewport is of the utmost importance for working with cameras in Houdini in an efficient manner. I have literally spent all day today animating a camera move that would have taken me an hour with a “Maya like camera and aim setup.” I hate comparing packages, especially to Maya these days, but I think it's what everyone is wishing for in this regard.
It would be really nice to see some improvement in this area in upcoming releases.
Edit: I didn't realize this was in the SI users section, but my issues still stand! I'll make a new post in a different section as well.
The export view continuously is a nice addition, but it doesn't address the fundamental flaws with the camera system as it stands. As others have mentioned in this thread, having a look at point that is respected in the viewport, while manipulating the camera from the viewport is of the utmost importance for working with cameras in Houdini in an efficient manner. I have literally spent all day today animating a camera move that would have taken me an hour with a “Maya like camera and aim setup.” I hate comparing packages, especially to Maya these days, but I think it's what everyone is wishing for in this regard.
It would be really nice to see some improvement in this area in upcoming releases.
Edit: I didn't realize this was in the SI users section, but my issues still stand! I'll make a new post in a different section as well.
Edited by smbell - Aug. 14, 2020 17:24:57
Technical Discussion » Curve: multiple primitives to a single primitive? SOLVED
- smbell
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I think he means one primitive per larger segment maybe?
The join sop should do the trick with “Only Connected” checked.
The join sop should do the trick with “Only Connected” checked.
Edited by smbell - July 25, 2020 23:39:34
Technical Discussion » USD render ROP not writing files (solved)
- smbell
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jsmack
the output path needs to containin place of the<F4>which only works when rendering frame-by-frame since the value of $F4 is evaluated in Houdini before it makes into the usd.$F4
ahh, cool! Thanks for the quick reply.
Technical Discussion » Beginner: create a CRT screen curve from a quad
- smbell
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Easiest thing is probably to just use a lattice to pull the center area out a bit.
Grid > Shelf tool “Lattice” > select the center points of the edit node > translate in Z
Grid > Shelf tool “Lattice” > select the center points of the edit node > translate in Z
Edited by smbell - July 25, 2020 20:14:33
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