Hello guys and gals!
This is my first post here.So,I'll get into the point directly.I am a below intermediate and above beginner level in Cinema 4D(which i absolutely love).My real strength at the moment though is in After Effects.Also I gave a shot to Maya,but I don't really like it,it's just a matter of taste.I am really interested in visual fx,but I am quite afraid and not sure about myself on using Houdini.What scares me is that I have never used a node based system and Houdini is quite technical from what i've seen on the internet. I love the mentality behind it,thats why I wanted to ask a couple of questions. I am all self taught,so no education on VFX background etc.Im 27 and truth is,I dont want to lose more time,so i have to start with confidence.I was thinking of getting the appretince Houdini which costs 99 bucks.So my questions are pretty general:

How much time,would i need to be confident in Houdini? (have in mind I am a fast learner,but with no VFX education.)

Are maths and trigonometry a must for VFX?

Is Houdini feature rich for modeling and texturing?

Is it hard to get matchmove data inside Houdini?(currently,this is ridiculously easy with AE and C4D,but i also use Syntheyes and from time to time pfTrack)

P.S. Currently I use C4D for modeling,rendreing,animation and simple dynamic simulations and general MoGraph. I want to get profficient at Houdini for VFX mostly,but I wouldn't mind to use it as my main allarounder too!

P.S 2 Will i be able to take anything done in Houdini to C4D in anyway? (sims,fluids,etc)

Thanks in advance!

Hey daggo!

Welcome aboard.
I am at more or less you staring point. But one year ahead of you if you will…

I can't answer all questions, but I will do my best to cover most of it.

To be confident - like really confident - I am not sure. I am not there yet. Confident of knowing where stuff is, and what other people on the forums are talking about. Maybe about 6 month to 1 year. Depending on the amount of time you spent on it.

Math is cool if you know some stuff. It helps a lot.
Kahnacademy can help you out in that area. But I think these days you can get quite a lot out of Houdini without a diploma.

Matchmove - ask someone else.

Compared to Cinema 4D:
Modeling is slower and sometimes a pain in the ass. Cinema is quite well good in that area right now. Yet not at all procedural.
Rendering is just fine. Depending on your style of work maybe slower yet a lot more adjustable.
Animation is better in Houdini imho. But that is just personal preference.
Mograph - It is not as easy as in Cinema, but it works nicely and you get a ton of extra options with the advanced Dynamics and stuff.
Font tool isn't that cool though.

Export You can export/import just fine. So you really can just take your models from Cinema and bring them into Houdini if you keep working with both softwares. Export should work fine too.


BUT while alot of this does not sound all to good, you will learn to understand the advantages of Houdini over time. If you dived into XPresso in C4D a little and enjoyed it. Houdini will not disappoint you.

So that are my experiences on that. Maybe someone can add more info on that.

Hey baldwithglasses,
Thanks a ton for your reply. When someone shares more or less same experiences with you,means you're not alone in all this CG chaos.I don't want to part ways with C4D just yet,it's really friendly and nice for what i want it do to.Sad thing is,here in Greece,there aren't many CG studios that do VFX,so C4D,AE and MoGraph gives me a standard salary to live.VFX is my true destination and i will do everything to go there,too bad i started a little bit late,beeing 27 ! Anyway,thanks a lot mate!Wish you the best!

Hi! Im in the same boat as daggo, but I have a more specific question
How to export Houdini particles to Cinema 4d?

If thats possible then I dont have to learn xparticles