I've been changing the far clipping in the display options to 10000 and click the save as default. A message comes up saying it will only effect new views etc. But everytime I start Houdini 6 and start a new file, the far clipping is back to something like 3456.00. How do you get it to stay at 10000?

I also want to change the directory for saving my files to automatically go to CHome/Houdini6_files. How can I do this without using the Save As? I tried to change the directory under Settings>Aliases and Variables>Variables>HIP to be CHome/Houdini6_files but it always reverts back to CHoudini6.0.286 when I start Houdini again. Are you not able to change the default directory permanently? I also tried to set a variable within WinXP for HIP to go to CHome/Houdini6_Files and it still wasn't a default saving directory.

I tried setting the far clipping again and it seems that when you start Houdini, you should change the far clipping to 10000 and save as default and then click file>New file and then the far clipping will be 10000.

Is there no way to make these two things be the default when you start Houdini?

If you are using Windows you can override variables $JOB and $HIP
by creating them in “Control Panel/System/Advanced/System Variables” and setting them to where you want.

Try setting the near and far clipping planes in your camera. The viewport will inherit these values.

Stremik: I tried setting HIP to CHome/Houdini6_Files in the System Variables in windows and it still didn't work. Do I need to put the $ in front of HIP? I'll try it again.

jeff: I'll try setting the clipping in the camera; I guess that means you have to have a camera then. When you select File>New, there isn't any camera and I usually model without a camera (still learning).

Yes, when you do File > New, you get nothing. I like having a camera and a few lights in the scene so I don't use File > New. I would rather close houdini and open a new session.

Like all applications, running a continuous Houdini session will slowly accumulate memory as the arena size grows. Best to start fresh once and a while.

I was told of a way to have the HIP and JOB variable set to my C:\Home\Houdini6_Files instead of the default directory (thanks to arctor and dante over at 3dBuzz).
Right click on the Houdini shortcut and go to properties and where it says “Start In”, change the directory to the one you want. When you go into a new Houdini session, the variables should be pointing to the directory you want. I didn't know about the “Start In” in the shortcut.