…With some more new questions! These may be stupid or already answered questions but I was wondering…

1) How much is renderplus for houdini escape? This seems like it would be a really popular option, but I simply couldn't find any info on it (maybe it's too expensive, maybe it's dead…?). I found a year old thread about it, but the pricing was in a dead link .

2) How long has the particle SOP been available in houdini select/escape? I thought I looked for it in version 5.5 or 6.0 and it was only in master. But come to think of it, I didn't know anything about houdini back then (or now hehehe) so maybe it was just POPs that was missing.

3) Does this program kick total ass or is it just me? :p

4) Are DOPs completely new in houdini 8? I'm sure they must've evolved from something, was the addition of DOPs a massive new feature set?

5) Can anyone give me a quick run down of the changes made to houdini? I read that POPs were added in houdini 2.5(?). What year was that? How long have houdini Select/Escape been available? If possible, can anyone just layout a “timeline” with or without approximate years… (I'm just curious because it seems to me like this program is really advancing… while my native 3D programs… are not hehe).

Hullo!

Here is a little bit of a timeline for Houdini:
http://www.odforce.net/wiki/index.php/WhatIsHoudini%3F [odforce.net]


… and I know that at the very least, Houdini kicks ass.


Jason

Hey, ReggieFourmyle

you can read more about Escape here:
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=44 [sidefx.com]

also watch the ‘Products’ section of the menu at www.sidefx.com for other options.

Particle SOP has been in non-Master versions of Houdini 6.0. As for 5.5 I am not sure.
Also you might be confusing Particle SOP with POPs, which are Particle Operations. Particle SOP alone can give you as much particle functionality as Maya particles or similar. POPs futher push the control and functionality of particle systems.

Hope this helps.

And you should definetly check the link that Jason gave you.

DOPs were a massive addition to the software in version 8, and my general feeling is that Sesi will continue to rip out new features at an impressive rate. Their general approach seems to be to introduce new features every year and there are no signs of that stopping. And although other packages tend to throw everything together as quick as possible just to get it out the door and say that they have a feature Sesi tend to take a much more measured approach and only release or add a feature when they know they have the very best way to do it. And by “best” I mean most powerful really. You won't find many one click solutions in DOPs for example but I also doubt that you would hit any walls with it either (no pun intended :roll: )

My guess, and this is only me guessing, is look out for fluids and more character rigging tools, improvements to mantra and hopefully some general speed improvements, for starters. What they really have planned only Sesi know but you can guarentee they aren't sitting on their laurels.

If you visit odForce you will find one of the longest threads in history discussing what features people would like to see in future versions, which makes for interesting reading if you have a spare week or two. 8)

…you can read more about Escape here

(From the sidefx site) Animated characters can be rendered in Houdini Mantra or, with the Renderplus add-on, by many popular 3rd party renderers.

MADjestic: That's actually the site that I'm looking at and still confused about the price of renderplus. Notice that the sidefx site says it's available as an add-on, but it doesn't mention how much it costs or if it has any limitations. Anyone have any info on this? On a similar note, I should also mention that houdini master has no mention of DOPs being available for it.

Their general approach seems to be to introduce new features every year and there are no signs of that stopping.

Wow, that's pretty much what I needed to hear . Years ago, I considered going down the houdini path (about the time houdini apprentice came out) but I ended up sticking with maya because I got the (wrong) impression that houdini was a rarely used, old tool, that was only practical in high end effects. Of course, I realize now that I was way off. This timeline that jason posted makes it even more evident, VEX being a fairly new feature, and VOPs soon afterwards kinda emphasizes my excitement about the program's continued progression in a really great manner.

look out for fluids

Yes, I can't wait for a fluid solver. This definitely seems to be up sesi's alley. Even though it'll probably be out of my price range, I'd still love to see it just in case I ever get the chance to work at a real effects house

If you visit odForce you will find one of the longest threads in history discussing what features people would like to see in future versions

Yea, I saw that thread, and it was one of the reasons that I asked about the progression here. I'm really dumbfounded by this new finding (that houdini's not old and rarely updated) I definitely, have my sights set now.

that's funny, I can't find andy separate mention of DOPs either at the products page… Maybe SESI doesn't think it's something unusual about having them?

anyway, you can download Houdini, install the Aprentice license and run different options of Houdini (i.e. Escape, Select, Master, etc.). DOPs are only present in Master option, though Escape has Dop Transform SOP so that you could use information extracted from DOP simulation that could be performed by TD with a Master option license (at least that's what I understood from the Help).