It might actually be easier if I use Maya's Mesh > Extract to do the cutting up, the process is a lot more straight forward and I can export as an OBJ with groups
Since I'm so new to Houdini I'm wondering if it would be easier to animate the pieces separating in Cinema 4D and bringing that into Houdini for particle fx and lighting or to do it all in Houdini.
For instance I want the pieces to move out slightly along their normal, lock into place, then rotate open.
You can definitely do this in Houdini but how would you gather the pieces together so that their rotation can be modified with an effector?
What would be the best way to move the individual pieces?
Your going to have to dig around and do exploration on that , I am sure there's something exposed via the cluster point or fracture centroid , try and manipulate one single piece first.
matthias_k something like this :-? I know, can be done more smart and with chops for animation… was only a test.
Thanks for taking the time to put that together Matthais. I ended up using connectivity and partition with a foreach subnet to achieve the desired effect