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Houdini Lounge » Houdini 20 Sneak Peek Full Feature List
- kevinthebright
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Houdini Lounge » Houdini 20 Rumors
- kevinthebright
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I think what may get overlooked is that indie developers and artists don't have a lot of resources for debugging their set-ups. It took me a while to understand how to find bugs in my networks that were causing crashes. One example from not too long ago, a material node that referenced a missing material would crash Houdini. More recently, calling an asset from a gallery when the gallery library file was outside the $JOB directory would do it. It gets easier but for artists in studios, the institutional knowledge, and the guardrails put in place by the IT department, help a lot.
To keep this on thread,
More (esp. visual) examples in the docs.
Crowd AI, better intergration into Solaris
Also, COPs, COPs, COPs!!! Robust with AI training nodes ready to go ala Copycat, esp segmentation
MLOPs out of the box
Stable Solaris layout nodes / Solaris integration with COPs
To keep this on thread,
More (esp. visual) examples in the docs.
Crowd AI, better intergration into Solaris
Also, COPs, COPs, COPs!!! Robust with AI training nodes ready to go ala Copycat, esp segmentation
MLOPs out of the box
Stable Solaris layout nodes / Solaris integration with COPs
Edited by kevinthebright - July 27, 2023 10:21:43
Houdini Lounge » Houdini 20 Rumors
- kevinthebright
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Houdini Lounge » Houdini 20 Rumors
- kevinthebright
- 208 posts
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Looks like H20 won't release until after Siggraph as there is a preview there:
https://www.sidefx.com/houdini-hive/siggraph-2023/ [www.sidefx.com]
https://www.sidefx.com/houdini-hive/siggraph-2023/ [www.sidefx.com]
Houdini Lounge » Houdini 20 Rumors
- kevinthebright
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raincole
Why do you need a specific AI context tho. Why not just TOP + some AI-related nodes? I'm pretty sure you'll need to call some external python code in the process, so just TOP.
This. Another context is one more place I have to manage in the mental map of what is going on in the shot. I would much rather have fewer contexts and additional nodes in the existing context, e.g., nodes like Copycat nodes in SOPs, TOPs, COPs, as appropriate. Then, train away.
Houdini Lounge » Houdini 20 Rumors
- kevinthebright
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osongI rmb that. And there was some insane speed increase too. Fingers crossed.
Ari has shown ML-assisted terrains in Houdini a couple of years ago (siggraph presentation or something).
Houdini Lounge » Houdini 20 Rumors
- kevinthebright
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lewis_TJust curious, what is your 1% number based on, as it would include all Mac Houdini users?
You are talking in the realm of 1% or less of users in your GPU example, QOL benefit to whom?
Houdini Indie and Apprentice » ffmpeg on Mac 19.5
- kevinthebright
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Houdini Indie and Apprentice » ffmpeg on Mac 19.5
- kevinthebright
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Houdini Indie and Apprentice » usual licensing problem
- kevinthebright
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Solaris and Karma » Solaris Portal Lights?
- kevinthebright
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I just created mesh lights y'day. You would think that Portal box would have registered. Thanks guys!
Solaris and Karma » Solaris Portal Lights?
- kevinthebright
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mzigaib
Since I was diving in to Solaris I did a search about portals in Karma and I found this thread.
Any updates on this?
I see a portal slot on the env light bit no documentation about how to setup this.
Bumping this thread along. Anyone get portal lights working?
Technical Discussion » Using VEX to create groups by attribute
- kevinthebright
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OnyroHi Onyro, By actual groups, I take it you are not seeing the groups when you click on the node information? Is your wrangle after the trail SOP? You should be able to create a group from any attribute with the i@group_groupname = 1 syntax. For example, i@group_blueteam = (@Cd.b == 1) ? 1 : 0; sets a points membership to the blueteam group if point's blue color value is 1. Post your hip if you get stuck.
i want to convert these point attributes to actual groups
Technical Discussion » Find Shortest path - clean branch hierarchy
- kevinthebright
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Houdini Lounge » What holds yourself/studio from adopting Houdini more?
- kevinthebright
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lewis_T
I really don't follow your aversion to even having everything in SOPs, with dopnets inside it.
Right, just my preference and the first thing that popped to mind in answering the question. For me, the Vellum Solver, the pyro sparse solver, are a great step in that direction. And for sure, there are many things about Houdini I wish I had time to learn. Super fun app.
Houdini Lounge » What holds yourself/studio from adopting Houdini more?
- kevinthebright
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raincoleI've known you could do that for a million years and it never occurred to me to do it. Thanks!2. HDAs are overkill. I would much rather have Nuke's Toolsets so I can save groups of nodes without going into build-a-tool world, i.e., make it easy to save and reuse node chains, like when you put down a Component Builder node set. That nifty pscale trick Simon did in the Titan cables video? Make it trivial to to grab, reuse and share that set-up.
You could just grab the nodes to a shelf.
Houdini Lounge » What holds yourself/studio from adopting Houdini more?
- kevinthebright
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lewis_TLewis, Nor sure I follow you. For example, if I build a crowd agent in SOPs, I then have to put down a DopNet, dive inside and start building the crowdsolver network. It's this diving in and jumping up I wish Houdini didn't have. I want to build it all on one flat level.
You can do all your work in one level inside SOPs.
Houdini Lounge » What holds yourself/studio from adopting Houdini more?
- kevinthebright
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Death by a thousand paper cuts:
1. There is no work flow. You spend too much time jumping around. I can traverse up and down a Nuke tree for hours without having to stop and think about where a node or parameter is. I change a thing, I see the result and keep going. This also makes it easy to hand another artist a Nuke script without much explanation - they just read down the tree. Houdini scripts are usually spread out over too many levels and contexts to make them easy to share and understand. Solaris, Vellum and sparse pyro are going in the right direction but let's do it everywhere.
2. HDAs are overkill. I would much rather have Nuke's Toolsets so I can save groups of nodes without going into build-a-tool world, i.e., make it easy to save and reuse node chains, like when you put down a Component Builder node set. That nifty pscale trick Simon did in the Titan cables video? Make it trivial to to grab, reuse and share that set-up.
3. Axe the OP. I personally hate the OP vernacular. /mat and /stage tell me something rather than being random acroynms my brain has to stop and decipher. Again, the paper cuts. It feels related to that whole thing where people talk about Prisms once in awhile. It's a blast from the past but really, it isn't helpful, especially when you start explaining things to newbies. And LOPS / Solaris / USD / stage / is...I don't know, something.
4. The help docs. The help docs have long felt like they were written at a command line prompt. No judgment but for VEX you get this kind of thing: <type> attrib(<geometry>geometry, string attribclass, string name, int elemnum) which is cludgy at best. Rarely did you get a real world example, e.g., pos = point("defgeo.bgeo", "P", 3) which is all you really wanted. They're getting better and now I see screen grabs for node trees occasionally (e.g., crowds). I remember when they added them for ForEach loops and I was blown away. Too often though, its just "this sets up this attribute," without real help as to what it does in the context of that node. I know a bunch of old school users will bang away at how great the docs are but it feels people without a CS background often aren't well-served by the docs. CGWiki, PixelFondue, Entagma fill in the gaps but that they are so necessary to understanding Houdini is also telling.
5. Who's on First. I second the AttributeCreate example someone posted above. I would add the nontrivial time it takes to sort out how to get an attibute from one place, e.g. a VEX wrangle, to another, a parameter in a node can get confusing as all hell. Also what you can feed into a parameter (e.g., expression, VEX, pattern-matching, etc) can trip you up. It feels like moving attibutes around could be much cleaner but I'm sure there are very good reasons it is not. I know we're in experienced user territory now but looking back at the time it took to learn it, it feels like it didn't need to be that hard.
These are some of the things that have made Houdini a stuggle for me to use and advocate for it. It's a great DCC but this is the first year in 10 I've seriously considered not reupping my license. It's powerful but pretty unique and with so many really great and very accessible tools (Unreal, Axiom, Blender, Nomad, etc) it feels like the time to final frame is pretty high.
For background, I've used Houdini since v.11, mostly for effects on indie films. I started in 3D with Shake, then Nuke, then Houdini so I can't compare to Maya or 3DSMax. My core s/w is Houdini, Nuke, Substance and Nomad on a Mac (a whole ∆ painful topic).
Thanks for the chance to add the feedback.
TL/DR: Houdini's ratio of Productive Work to Why Isn't It Working? is very low because Houdini lacks a cohesive UX.
1. There is no work flow. You spend too much time jumping around. I can traverse up and down a Nuke tree for hours without having to stop and think about where a node or parameter is. I change a thing, I see the result and keep going. This also makes it easy to hand another artist a Nuke script without much explanation - they just read down the tree. Houdini scripts are usually spread out over too many levels and contexts to make them easy to share and understand. Solaris, Vellum and sparse pyro are going in the right direction but let's do it everywhere.
2. HDAs are overkill. I would much rather have Nuke's Toolsets so I can save groups of nodes without going into build-a-tool world, i.e., make it easy to save and reuse node chains, like when you put down a Component Builder node set. That nifty pscale trick Simon did in the Titan cables video? Make it trivial to to grab, reuse and share that set-up.
3. Axe the OP. I personally hate the OP vernacular. /mat and /stage tell me something rather than being random acroynms my brain has to stop and decipher. Again, the paper cuts. It feels related to that whole thing where people talk about Prisms once in awhile. It's a blast from the past but really, it isn't helpful, especially when you start explaining things to newbies. And LOPS / Solaris / USD / stage / is...I don't know, something.
4. The help docs. The help docs have long felt like they were written at a command line prompt. No judgment but for VEX you get this kind of thing: <type> attrib(<geometry>geometry, string attribclass, string name, int elemnum) which is cludgy at best. Rarely did you get a real world example, e.g., pos = point("defgeo.bgeo", "P", 3) which is all you really wanted. They're getting better and now I see screen grabs for node trees occasionally (e.g., crowds). I remember when they added them for ForEach loops and I was blown away. Too often though, its just "this sets up this attribute," without real help as to what it does in the context of that node. I know a bunch of old school users will bang away at how great the docs are but it feels people without a CS background often aren't well-served by the docs. CGWiki, PixelFondue, Entagma fill in the gaps but that they are so necessary to understanding Houdini is also telling.
5. Who's on First. I second the AttributeCreate example someone posted above. I would add the nontrivial time it takes to sort out how to get an attibute from one place, e.g. a VEX wrangle, to another, a parameter in a node can get confusing as all hell. Also what you can feed into a parameter (e.g., expression, VEX, pattern-matching, etc) can trip you up. It feels like moving attibutes around could be much cleaner but I'm sure there are very good reasons it is not. I know we're in experienced user territory now but looking back at the time it took to learn it, it feels like it didn't need to be that hard.
These are some of the things that have made Houdini a stuggle for me to use and advocate for it. It's a great DCC but this is the first year in 10 I've seriously considered not reupping my license. It's powerful but pretty unique and with so many really great and very accessible tools (Unreal, Axiom, Blender, Nomad, etc) it feels like the time to final frame is pretty high.
For background, I've used Houdini since v.11, mostly for effects on indie films. I started in 3D with Shake, then Nuke, then Houdini so I can't compare to Maya or 3DSMax. My core s/w is Houdini, Nuke, Substance and Nomad on a Mac (a whole ∆ painful topic).
Thanks for the chance to add the feedback.
TL/DR: Houdini's ratio of Productive Work to Why Isn't It Working? is very low because Houdini lacks a cohesive UX.
Houdini Lounge » Sluggish viewport on OSX
- kevinthebright
- 208 posts
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Houdini Indie and Apprentice » How to turn off viewport quick tips
- kevinthebright
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