Anyone else getting issues with height fields that get stuck in the viewport?
I'm having this issue where I use some volume visualize node to look at the data in a heightfield layer and it ends up duplicating my heightfield in the viewport and won't go away even when I toggle the visibility flags on the sop nodes or even the geo level nodes.
I end up having to restart houdini to make it go away. Happy to file a bug report but maybe it's user error and I'm missing something?
Thanks!
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Technical Discussion » Ghost Heightfields that stay in the viewport
- Barrett Meeker
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Work in Progress » Sand Dune Simulator WIP
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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Work in Progress » Sand Dune Simulator WIP
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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Almost done but could probably use some refining and adjustment to speed it up.
Right now it's using a solver sop and inside the solver sop it's running some heightfield nodes and a couple opencl nodes. I'm thinking if I combine the opencl nodes that might speed it up? not sure though.
This was my first experience writing opencl and doing much with heightfields. Really awesome how easy houdini makes working with opencl.
fume dust trails were just quickly added after the fact, want to improve them if I do a render like this again.
https://youtu.be/3PXHpsQtdcU [youtu.be]
Right now it's using a solver sop and inside the solver sop it's running some heightfield nodes and a couple opencl nodes. I'm thinking if I combine the opencl nodes that might speed it up? not sure though.
This was my first experience writing opencl and doing much with heightfields. Really awesome how easy houdini makes working with opencl.
fume dust trails were just quickly added after the fact, want to improve them if I do a render like this again.
https://youtu.be/3PXHpsQtdcU [youtu.be]
Houdini Lounge » Intermediate licensing tier between Indie and Artist?
- Barrett Meeker
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You are overthinking this. As an indie game developer who made a game that made over $100k (but not millions) I can tell you Houdini or 3d licensing fees in general are the least of your accounting concerns.
You'll want to look for ways to even out your income - aka setup a seperate company and publish the game under that company name, then pay yourself from that company, this way you can leave money in the company to pay yourself over time. I'm oversimplifying it but hopefully you get the idea. You can even setup a publishing company and a development company and have the publishing company pay the development company, then the development company pay you.
Also one thing to note - revenue would be after steam's 30% cut. This is because when you get checks from steam the 30% has already been taken out so it's never counted as revenue. That's why Epic actually has to specifically call out “gross game sales” or something to get their 5% of gross.
Another point - can't you just use the indie licence then if you make a game that makes some money bump up to an artist license for a couple years then go back to an indie license if your revenue drops?
Anyway, you'll probably find a ton of financial systems aren't well equipped for making nothing for a couple years then having a huge spike - it shoots you into high income tax brackets etc. You should talk to an accountant and or lawyer who understands this stuff before you publish to make sure you have a good company setup and accounting plan.
Hope that helps, good luck.
You'll want to look for ways to even out your income - aka setup a seperate company and publish the game under that company name, then pay yourself from that company, this way you can leave money in the company to pay yourself over time. I'm oversimplifying it but hopefully you get the idea. You can even setup a publishing company and a development company and have the publishing company pay the development company, then the development company pay you.
Also one thing to note - revenue would be after steam's 30% cut. This is because when you get checks from steam the 30% has already been taken out so it's never counted as revenue. That's why Epic actually has to specifically call out “gross game sales” or something to get their 5% of gross.
Another point - can't you just use the indie licence then if you make a game that makes some money bump up to an artist license for a couple years then go back to an indie license if your revenue drops?
Anyway, you'll probably find a ton of financial systems aren't well equipped for making nothing for a couple years then having a huge spike - it shoots you into high income tax brackets etc. You should talk to an accountant and or lawyer who understands this stuff before you publish to make sure you have a good company setup and accounting plan.
Hope that helps, good luck.
Technical Discussion » Frequent system crash while using Houdini
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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I'm mulling over an upgrade. I have an old i7-5820 (6-core) how is the Threadripper? I haven't tried am AMD in decades. Do you run into other issues like this one with it where it's not too well supported?
I know there are tons of benchmarks out there but it's hard to know how they will really relate in houdini performance which would be my main reason for a cpu upgrade.
Thanks so much!
I know there are tons of benchmarks out there but it's hard to know how they will really relate in houdini performance which would be my main reason for a cpu upgrade.
Thanks so much!
Technical Discussion » Tips on how to do recursive terrain fx?
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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https://www.sidefx.com/gallery/recursive-abstract-terrain-vol2/ [www.sidefx.com]
Anyone know the best approach for something like that?
I'm guessing terrain volume base …. then fill them somehow…
I've had a hard time wrapping my head around clustering volumes in vops like doing lego brick fills for example. If anyone has any tips or resources that would be awesome.
Thank you!
Anyone know the best approach for something like that?
I'm guessing terrain volume base …. then fill them somehow…
I've had a hard time wrapping my head around clustering volumes in vops like doing lego brick fills for example. If anyone has any tips or resources that would be awesome.
Thank you!
Houdini Lounge » Modeling primarily in Houdini
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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pickled
Here's a cute thought experiment, if your life depended on the speed and quality of a modeling task, what would you choose right now? The essence of my statement can't be watered down with “but I like this or that too” arguments, because I for one, can model in AutoCAD via a command line. Or at least I was able to long ago, but I'm not insane to keep doing it, regardless of how much I enjoyed it.
For modeling speed I use Zbrush. Houdini has replaced Softimage and 3ds max for me but without Zbrush in the workflow maybe Houdini would feel too slow.
My workflow is generally blockout in Houdini (used to be softimage) then sculpt all the details. I like Houdini better for blocking out and procedural modeling than softimage, feels easier to keep things procedural to play with proportions etc.
Modeling improvements would be great though. Is there a way to vote up RFE's ?
Houdini Lounge » Modeling primarily in Houdini
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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I actually like Houdini for modeling. I use a mix of houdini & zbrush or VR sculpting. While I do miss XSI which was the best for modeling… I like Houdini about as well as I liked 3ds Max for direct modeling.
idk, maybe I'm not worth my salt though… some of my previous work
https://www.artstation.com/barrett [www.artstation.com]
For normals I think the best way is to probably let them auto-generate until toward the end. To do this you just don't assign any N attribute and then in the opengl display it will auto generate them and update as you model. You can set the cusp angle here as well.
idk, maybe I'm not worth my salt though… some of my previous work
https://www.artstation.com/barrett [www.artstation.com]
For normals I think the best way is to probably let them auto-generate until toward the end. To do this you just don't assign any N attribute and then in the opengl display it will auto generate them and update as you model. You can set the cusp angle here as well.
Houdini for Realtime » Sweep Geometry Request
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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the game dev tool sweep geometry only seems to work on flat object now like sweeping a grid along a curve. It would really great if this worked for 3d geometry.
Or maybe I'm doing something wrong?
This is an example of a grid vs a cube (top one is a cube) you can see it looses the top, seems to compress it down into the bottom.
Thank you!
Or maybe I'm doing something wrong?
This is an example of a grid vs a cube (top one is a cube) you can see it looses the top, seems to compress it down into the bottom.
Thank you!
Houdini for Realtime » Procedural bone creation
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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I'm trying to get the above python script to work, but I don't think I'm putting it in the right place. What's the best way to get that python script working in Houdini? Thank you!
Houdini Lounge » Help! Houdini Terrain HDA appearing differently in Unreal
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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Looks like it's a problem with the copy. Look into your copy step by step and see why it is looking weird. If you get that looking correct the unreal version should look correct as well.
Houdini for Realtime » Volumes from Houdini to Unreal Engine?
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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Depends how you want it to appear. You could instance a cover at every point and get a voxel style. If you want a more cloud like volume you could spawn a fog sheet, could do this with a Niagara particle system.
If you want to write a ray matching shader I think you need to make it into image slices. You could do a bunch like 20x 4k maps, split it into sections.
If you want to write a ray matching shader I think you need to make it into image slices. You could do a bunch like 20x 4k maps, split it into sections.
Houdini for Realtime » Maya -> Houdini -> UE4 units
- Barrett Meeker
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My opinion is work in m in Houdini. Then if I am importing an fbx into unreal that was from Houdini I put 100 into the import scale so unreal brings it in right. The advantage of this is the Houdini engine HDAs come in right as well as things like the gamedev vertex animation stuff. Just my 2 cents. I don't use Maya as part of my pipeline though.
Houdini for Realtime » Maya -> Houdini -> UE4 units
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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My opinion is work in m in Houdini. Then if I am importing an fbx into unreal that was from Houdini I put 100 into the import scale so unreal brings it in right. The advantage of this is the Houdini engine HDAs come in right as well as things like the gamedev vertex animation stuff. Just my 2 cents. I don't use Maya as part of my pipeline though.
Houdini for Realtime » Volumes from Houdini to Unreal Engine?
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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Unreal doesn't have any native volume data ability so you need to fit the volume into something else, either image slices or if you want it for gameplay elements you could export it as a csv file which unreal can read.
Technical Discussion » Is "SideFX Houdini" a complete 3D software, or just an advanced FX package ?
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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It's complete, you can model, animate, light and render all within it.
It does have it's strengths and weaknesses though. From my limited experience modeling isn't quite as fast as say 3dsmax and I think most character animators might feel the animation side is a weakness. Where as FX and volumes are big strengths.
It does have it's strengths and weaknesses though. From my limited experience modeling isn't quite as fast as say 3dsmax and I think most character animators might feel the animation side is a weakness. Where as FX and volumes are big strengths.
Houdini Engine for Unreal » Does Houdini have a LiveLink to Unreal
- Barrett Meeker
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I think the answer is no. I use both together quite a bit and HDA Houdini engine is the closest thing to live link. Its pretty good, but you do need to hit save in Houdini then refresh in unreal to get an update so not really a live link.
Houdini Engine for Unreal » Houdini Engine for Unreal - Version 2
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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HOT! ♥♥♥♥♥ When XSI died, I wasn't sure if I would ever find 3d love again. Now Houdini and I we've been together a long time and the ♥ is just as strong. With Unreal, it's such a great threesome. Thanks for working so well with Unreal and the great work!
Technical Discussion » Houdini to unreal Niagara Mesh particle issue
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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Technical Discussion » Game Dev - Simple Baker / Gameres - Bake color from texture
- Barrett Meeker
- 54 posts
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The simple baker is only setup to bake vertex color. I think you need to use the regular baking method to bake from one diffuse color onto another mesh.
I agree though it would be good to change the simple baker to support diffuse map to diffuse map baking.
I agree though it would be good to change the simple baker to support diffuse map to diffuse map baking.
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