The title says it all. I have a volume light for some fire that I want to import into Maya along with my fire sim. Is it possible to do this? I tried a test export with just a single point light and it didn't seem to work.

Nope. At the current state, only geometry data and parameter values are passed in and out of Houdini Engine. So you can't export lighting. However, you can actually do a mantra render through Houdini Engine, which would then use the asset's light, camera, shaders, etc. Typically, you would want to promote the “Render” button up to the asset, then you can click it from Maya. Of course, this will take up a render license, as it would in Houdini Indie.

Thanks for the reply awong. Is there any decent workflow for exporting Houdini lights to Maya?

It occurs to me that perhaps I am asking the wrong question. Is there anyway to use fire volumes as a volume light in Maya so that we can get realistic fire lighting?

90ender
It occurs to me that perhaps I am asking the wrong question. Is there anyway to use fire volumes as a volume light in Maya so that we can get realistic fire lighting?

Ah, if you're trying to use the output volumes as lights in Maya, that may be possible. The Houdini volumes are mapped to a regular Maya fluid, so this depends on the tools that you use down the pipe. Generally in Maya, to use a fluid as a light source, I think you would have to adjust the incandescence attribute on the fluid, and also use final gathering in the renderer.