I have been working my way through the scripting section of the user guide. I am learning alot andhave become completely fascinated by the possiblities..
I transcribed the tcl example code into a text document and when I source it in the tcl console the canvas draws but nothing else does.
I created a cop network in houdini and selected it before I ran the tcl command for the hscript prompt. I tried double clicking on the cop network after the tcl console appeared no luck..
How does the cop network information get passed to the tcl script?
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Technical Discussion » User guide tcl example
- todd dufour
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Technical Discussion » Missing detailed instructions in global illum tutorial
- todd dufour
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Where is the global illumination tutorial… I am a newby myself…
Today I am working on the scripting section of the user guide. I understand most of the concepts but have yet to get the tcl example to work… That is the tutorial where it is suppose to draw out bars that represent the time ranges of cop networks.. I get the canvas but no bars or list.. Sort of frustrating..
I like the fact that I can back door this beast but it is definatley frustrating at times……. By the way the model is looking great..
Today I am working on the scripting section of the user guide. I understand most of the concepts but have yet to get the tcl example to work… That is the tutorial where it is suppose to draw out bars that represent the time ranges of cop networks.. I get the canvas but no bars or list.. Sort of frustrating..
I like the fact that I can back door this beast but it is definatley frustrating at times……. By the way the model is looking great..
Technical Discussion » C-shell and windoze
- todd dufour
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Thanks a million.. I am home sick today and trying to get through the scripting section of the user guide….
I am a long time mac guy trying to make my way in a world full of windows.
I am a long time mac guy trying to make my way in a world full of windows.
Technical Discussion » C-shell and windoze
- todd dufour
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I am still workign through the scripting tutorials I have been following along with the c-shell stuff… Only I have no idea how to get a c-shell goin in windoze 2000. Is there a terminal in windoze 2000 like in mac osX… Am I supposed to do all the operations through the h-script terminal? I am just a little confused. I understand the concepts of sourcing the render scripts but I just do not know windoze enough to find a c-shell terminal…
Please any help would be much appreciated
Please any help would be much appreciated
Technical Discussion » How do I get guess.cmd to source
- todd dufour
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I finaly figured out what was going on… I have two installs of houdini at the moment…. build 5.5.36 and 5.5.151 I was saving the scripts to the wrong houdini script folder.. Seems to work now. Thanks for your help
Technical Discussion » How do I get guess.cmd to source
- todd dufour
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I am working through the scripting section of the user guide. I transcribed the guess.cmd script and saved it to the scripts folder within houdini. When I type source guess.cmd I get a return of Can't open guess.cmd.
I tried to get a helloworld to work.. basicaly I saved this script to the scripts folder within houdini and I still get cannot open helloworld.cmd
# houdini “hello world”
echo Hello World
What am I doing wrong? I love workign with mel in maya and I have been a longtime code junkie. I realy want to see what kind of tools I can write to help with repetitive task. A few careers ago I was a director lingo CD-rom geek… In my many years of cd-rom production my personal toolkit of code was my profit margin… I am completely excited about the low level nature of Houdini and want to get my hands into the the verbosity engine. Someone please tell me how to pop the hood of this muscle car..
Thanks in Advance
Todd Dufour
I tried to get a helloworld to work.. basicaly I saved this script to the scripts folder within houdini and I still get cannot open helloworld.cmd
# houdini “hello world”
echo Hello World
What am I doing wrong? I love workign with mel in maya and I have been a longtime code junkie. I realy want to see what kind of tools I can write to help with repetitive task. A few careers ago I was a director lingo CD-rom geek… In my many years of cd-rom production my personal toolkit of code was my profit margin… I am completely excited about the low level nature of Houdini and want to get my hands into the the verbosity engine. Someone please tell me how to pop the hood of this muscle car..
Thanks in Advance
Todd Dufour
Houdini Lounge » The Reel Media files ARGH!
- todd dufour
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I have not gone to your site to check out the divx videos… But I think it is great that you have them in that format… so they are accessible… I do not need them anymore… I went through all the video tutorials and have not had anymore problems…. I think that I will compress allll the files that I have with the techsmith. Just in case there is ever a future need… Thanks for everyones participation in this thread… It does seem like noone is complainging of any video tutorial files being bad… My need is gone… Maybe it is time to let this post rest….
Houdini Lounge » The Reel Media files ARGH!
- todd dufour
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No I never did but I should…Just to find out if the cd burrn was bad… I actualy figured out most of the objectstate stuff because I have been to an introductory class at sesi… I am actualy almost done with all the tutorials.. So I realy do not need them… I just wanted to help people who might encounter some of the same problems that I did… I want to help the potential Houdini user base… I figure that I am going to put most all my free time and all my free money into learning Houdini. I also thought that with a strong user base Houdini may actualy have the chance to unseat maya as a main tool… I just think that a lot of tool writing needs to be done. or at least setting up the types of procedures that end user will find extremely easy to use.. I basicaly want to td much of that stuff but I need a user base to use it… So I figure get them learning with little or no impairments… Anyway that is what the thinking is…
I did get your email and I will ftp up to you tonight when I download ws_ftp…..
I did get your email and I will ftp up to you tonight when I download ws_ftp…..
Houdini Lounge » The Reel Media files ARGH!
- todd dufour
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When I get home tonight I will email and try to figure out how to get the files to you.. Probably ftp? Which I have never done from a pc…. I always use fetch or transmit on my mac… There must be some kind of ftp program on win 2000.. I'll ask our sys admin guy today about it… I will send you the qt just to see if it works at all on your machine…
The techsmith works great but the audio is a little bad… I think that can get dialed in… There are no propriety audio optionis with techsmith.. In fact the only option techsmith gives is a slider range from faster compression to better compression… I picked better compression…
About the utlimate size of the files… There is 20 gigs of uncompressed files… The file I started with last night was about 260 megs uncompressed… Techsmith compressed it to about 20 megs or roughly 10 percent of its size…. Redoing all the files should be about 2 gigs which is a lot… but my feeling is that we only need to post the files that people can't play with reel media… For me I could not view the object states.. The rest have been fine…. I don't mind being the point person for others that need an alternative video as long as I have a way of sending them the files…. besides burning cds and mailing them… I realy do not want to get into sending out tons of cds but ftping or posting some of the files is fine….. We will get this figured out… So I will drop an email now…
The techsmith works great but the audio is a little bad… I think that can get dialed in… There are no propriety audio optionis with techsmith.. In fact the only option techsmith gives is a slider range from faster compression to better compression… I picked better compression…
About the utlimate size of the files… There is 20 gigs of uncompressed files… The file I started with last night was about 260 megs uncompressed… Techsmith compressed it to about 20 megs or roughly 10 percent of its size…. Redoing all the files should be about 2 gigs which is a lot… but my feeling is that we only need to post the files that people can't play with reel media… For me I could not view the object states.. The rest have been fine…. I don't mind being the point person for others that need an alternative video as long as I have a way of sending them the files…. besides burning cds and mailing them… I realy do not want to get into sending out tons of cds but ftping or posting some of the files is fine….. We will get this figured out… So I will drop an email now…
Houdini Lounge » The Reel Media files ARGH!
- todd dufour
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I tried the animation codec as a quicktime with the settings described earlier in this post. I think that I might just have a problem with quicktime on my machine… I get some bizarre playback artifacts that effect my entire display.. The initial frames looked great and were comparable to my latest techsmith test… Both files came to about 18 megs… the audio has a hiss in my bose headphones. So if anyone has audio compression expertise please chime in.
I am convinced that peter picked the best possible file size to quality (especialy text display) optioin. Meaning the Reel Media Files Arrgh.
The techsmith codec for screen display and scrubbing ability is just awesome… The file updates in real time without quality loss… Definately designed for video tutorials… The original uncompressed file was about 256 megs.. After techsmith that file is about 18 megs… Now we do not have to fit all these files on a cd and we do not even need to post them all… I would like some people in the comunity to take a look at my current techsmith attempt and give opinions and suggestions.. Also after I batch these babies I will keep them for anyone who is willing to post them… Yes I am only part of the equation to getting alternative tutorial files on the internet.. I need a partner to host the files… Think of all the hits you will get.. I am satified on a personal level with the techsmith codec.. I only have 30 days before my eval period runs out for the ability to encode with techsmith… So I will be batching all the files starting next week or the following week…. Again if anyone has any suggestions on compression please let me know as soon as possible.
I am convinced that peter picked the best possible file size to quality (especialy text display) optioin. Meaning the Reel Media Files Arrgh.
The techsmith codec for screen display and scrubbing ability is just awesome… The file updates in real time without quality loss… Definately designed for video tutorials… The original uncompressed file was about 256 megs.. After techsmith that file is about 18 megs… Now we do not have to fit all these files on a cd and we do not even need to post them all… I would like some people in the comunity to take a look at my current techsmith attempt and give opinions and suggestions.. Also after I batch these babies I will keep them for anyone who is willing to post them… Yes I am only part of the equation to getting alternative tutorial files on the internet.. I need a partner to host the files… Think of all the hits you will get.. I am satified on a personal level with the techsmith codec.. I only have 30 days before my eval period runs out for the ability to encode with techsmith… So I will be batching all the files starting next week or the following week…. Again if anyone has any suggestions on compression please let me know as soon as possible.
Houdini Lounge » The Reel Media files ARGH!
- todd dufour
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Any suggestions on how to compress the audio in both avi and qt formats would be great. And does anyone have an opinion on the max allowable file size. There are a lot of videos. At 25 megs each, a server could quickly get consumed. And what is anyones opinioin towrard techsmith being the alternative format… I realize that the linux crowd would probably be left out. Do we need two alternatives to the reel media files… So far I only had problems with the object state videos… I currently have worked through the all of the tutorials except for the last pop and rendering…. Although aren't there more videos that deal with the roller coaster projects.
Houdini Lounge » The Reel Media files ARGH!
- todd dufour
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Never got to carving pumkins with the kids… Costco and albertsons did not have any..
I ran a few test tonight… My first thoughts are that it is just amazing how Peter got the Reel media files to be around 6 megs and still be able to read the text clearly…
I tried some slight modified compression test using divX soreson cinepack at 50/50(temporal spatial) and techsmith… both of the quicktime test simply did not work.. The playback was pathetic… I did not try the suggestion of the animation codex but will try that test tomorrow night..
so far techsmith with its near default settings worked the best… It was the only test that I could read the text as clearly as Peter's reel media file… the techsmith test was 25 megs. Peter's reel media file was 6.29 megs..
Big difference….
The divX with slight modified defaults was 19 megs and the text was unreadable… Playback would get sriously messed up with any attempt to scrub…
Sorry that I am not quite writing down all of the settings I used here tonight.. I am keeping a log file of settings that I have used…
Again any suggestions would be greatly appreciated….
I am willing to try 3 test a night which accounts for about an hour and a half of time…. I still need to keep up with my learning of Houdini which is my favourite personal pastime next to surfing and time with my wife and kids…
I ran a few test tonight… My first thoughts are that it is just amazing how Peter got the Reel media files to be around 6 megs and still be able to read the text clearly…
I tried some slight modified compression test using divX soreson cinepack at 50/50(temporal spatial) and techsmith… both of the quicktime test simply did not work.. The playback was pathetic… I did not try the suggestion of the animation codex but will try that test tomorrow night..
so far techsmith with its near default settings worked the best… It was the only test that I could read the text as clearly as Peter's reel media file… the techsmith test was 25 megs. Peter's reel media file was 6.29 megs..
Big difference….
The divX with slight modified defaults was 19 megs and the text was unreadable… Playback would get sriously messed up with any attempt to scrub…
Sorry that I am not quite writing down all of the settings I used here tonight.. I am keeping a log file of settings that I have used…
Again any suggestions would be greatly appreciated….
I am willing to try 3 test a night which accounts for about an hour and a half of time…. I still need to keep up with my learning of Houdini which is my favourite personal pastime next to surfing and time with my wife and kids…
Houdini Lounge » The Reel Media files ARGH!
- todd dufour
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Well it is sunday and I am home without too much to do… Carve pumpkins later… I finaly got some instalations done… Yes I will use media cleaner to do some of the compression.. I must say that I think that it will be difficult to come up with a compression scheme with a better balance of screen text readability to file size…In fact I am not trying to up one on the reel files… Again a few of the files did not play back correctly on my system and I wish that I could have had an alt… So that is my goal is to develop an alt… So I will begin trying everything exept divX which would probably be a good place to start.. I was going to purchase divx pro tonight but I only have american express and they do not except that form of payment so I might try some of the other suggestions… Peter thanks for stating what your playback fps was and your sound settings…
Houdini Lounge » The Reel Media files ARGH!
- todd dufour
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I know that I should have had some compression test done already but I have been way too busy to sit down at my home computer for any length of time…. And when I do have 30 minutes I just want to go through the tutorials… I get about 30 mins a day with houdini… My wife tells me that this sunday I do not have any kids birthday parties to go to… So I am planning on starting a pipeline for some compression test this weekend… but I have not had a problem with any of the reel media files since the first set of object states… The rest of the vids have played perfectly…. So my plan was to find the nicest alternative and comproess all the files to that spec and burn the movies to cd for backup… Instead of posting all the files to a server, only the files that end users are having problems with will get posted on a request basis…. That way no one's server get overburdened….
I intended to be finished experimenting with codecs and posting some of the results by now. I feel bad that I have not had the time.. Work is very busy and I am cranking long days for the next few weeks…We are doing a big character job at work and my weekends have been filled with inlaws kids birthdays and soccer games…
Todd Dufour
I intended to be finished experimenting with codecs and posting some of the results by now. I feel bad that I have not had the time.. Work is very busy and I am cranking long days for the next few weeks…We are doing a big character job at work and my weekends have been filled with inlaws kids birthdays and soccer games…
Todd Dufour
Houdini Lounge » The Reel Media files ARGH!
- todd dufour
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I have not had a moment this week… My wife started a new job…. Well she started working after 9 years of being an at home mom… So I take the kids to school in the morning and I am having a tough time adjusting to the new scheadule….. Carlos if you need any help converting the apprentice videos I will be more than happy to help… I have all 20 gigs here at home… I got them from Peter from SESI… I am hoping that I have time to do some converting this weekend or at least set up the batches… Maybe after soccer… I have three boys….. If you tell me what your recipe for conversion is I will be happy to take some of the conversion work load off of you…. Just email me or post here I will check this forum out tomorrow…
Houdini Lounge » The Reel Media files ARGH!
- todd dufour
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That is just awesome…. I am sure that it will be a couple of days before I am ready to email you something… I am hoping that I have a few test done by wednesday..
Todd Dufour
Todd Dufour
Houdini Lounge » The Reel Media files ARGH!
- todd dufour
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Hey thanks for posting the reel media files on your server… On friday I picked up all the uncompressed apprentice videos…. All 20 gigs worth…. So now I have them… I have not been able to do any compression test yet.. My kids (3 boyz) had soccer games all weekend… Soccer Funday Funday Funday Sunday Sunday Sunday… Sorry for the little rant but I just had a lot of soccer this weekend.. I plan on starting some compresion test list week…. It would be extremely helpful if I could upload some of the test to your server…. I think that once I have a good alt for the reel media files then I will compress them all and try to find a home for them or I will burn them all to CD and upload on a case by case…. So far I have had no problems with the the rest of the tutorial files… I have heard though that there are a few problems with soome of the videos that I have not gotten to….. I am not at home and I am on my mac at work so I could not test the files you have posted but I will tonight… Thanks for you involvement…
Todd Dufour
Todd Dufour
Houdini Lounge » The Reel Media files ARGH!
- todd dufour
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I do not have a way of testing out playback on linux/Irix… I have been thinking of trying to set my new HP up to Linux, but I have not gotten around to it and I would rather spend my time learning Houdini than trying to come to grips with a new OS and all the issues that come along with it…. It would be great to get someone who would be willing to help find a better alternative to the reel video format for both linux and Irix… Originaly, I thought that most of the apprentice people would be on Windoze, like myself. I wanted to offer a second set of videos to supplement the reel video files that did not playback on their system… Most of the objectstate videos (which are the introductory videos) picture would lock up while the audio would finish on my system. This made it extremely difficult to see what was going on… If I did not have such a strong desire to learn Houdini I might have been so frustrated that I would have given up… So from a selfish stand point I realy was not going to worry about the linux Irix people…After reading the last few post, it would be great to find a format that works seemlessly across all platforms, sans mac.. This undertaking would definatlely take some input and help from people that work on linux/Irix…. I am sure that if we can figure out a format that meets all the criteria SESI would adopt that format in the future…
I was suppose to get the files from SESI on wednesday morning, but I forgot that I have a doctors appointment that morning so maybe I will get them on thursday or friday…
Anyone who wants to help I would greatly appreciate it… I could use help in the following areas
1) compressing (once the final format is deicded)
2) testing on multiple platforms
3) hosting of final files
4) any input about what formats to test first
5) hosting of format testing files…
If anyone feels the need to help, Thankks in Advance..
Todd Dufour
I was suppose to get the files from SESI on wednesday morning, but I forgot that I have a doctors appointment that morning so maybe I will get them on thursday or friday…
Anyone who wants to help I would greatly appreciate it… I could use help in the following areas
1) compressing (once the final format is deicded)
2) testing on multiple platforms
3) hosting of final files
4) any input about what formats to test first
5) hosting of format testing files…
If anyone feels the need to help, Thankks in Advance..
Todd Dufour
Houdini Lounge » The Reel Media files ARGH!
- todd dufour
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That is a realy great offer…. Also do you have any input on the format…. On mac I would do mpeg or sorsen…. Although I am not sure how great the text would come out…. Most of the video files run about 10 minutes which is a lot of video.. Fortunately, they should compress rather well since the screen does not change that much… I should get the files next week and then start experimentiing with compression schemes and playback…
Todd Dufour
Todd Dufour
Houdini Lounge » The Reel Media files ARGH!
- todd dufour
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I will take a look at the link and look into that codec… I haven't finished all the videos yet, but eventhough some of the videos have issues I am impressed with the quality of the screen image… It is important to be able to see what all the little icons look like. Otherwise it could be rather confusing.
I just wanted to get the videos in another format in case someone has a problem with a specific reel video. With another set of videos on a server, people will have a second chance to see a video that might be unplayable on their system.. I am only doing this for those need another option.. Hopefully there is a codec with an acceptable quality to size ratio… Thanks for your input…
I just wanted to get the videos in another format in case someone has a problem with a specific reel video. With another set of videos on a server, people will have a second chance to see a video that might be unplayable on their system.. I am only doing this for those need another option.. Hopefully there is a codec with an acceptable quality to size ratio… Thanks for your input…
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