Hi,
I would like to ask a question. I am a broadcast designer (student). I have graduated two years ago… So I am still (probably will be for a long time) an amateur. I am using tools like Maya and AE in my workflow to create 2D and 3D graphic elements. I have graduated from a VCD (Visual Communication Design) department. So I have a design focused education. At this point I decied to get deeper and applied to an MA programme on Digital Effects. I got accepted.

I know that they are going to teach Houdini. I am very new to this community and have never seen or used Houdini before. I have heard lots of scary things about the software… Things like: You have to be a coder! You have to be a techincal guy (Good knowledge of Physics, Hardcore Math!) etc.

So now I would like to ask you: Do you think Houdini is too much for a motion designer with a “design” background and has never been involved in programming etc. ?

I do not plan to work on advanced CGI, Hollywood style FX projects. But I want to improve my animation skills and bring some new aproaches into my motion graphics workflow.

I know the software is hard to learn. But is it really so much technical? Is there a chance for a person with basic 3D/2D skills to get a new point of view? Or is it only for TD guys with hardcore math + coding skills?

Thanks.

If you browse this forum I think you will find this discussion has happen many times before.
But just to pick up on one of your points, do you need to be a coder, well one of the main reasons for using houdini is to do things visually that you would otherwise have to do in code. I think the question you should ask yourself is “do I want to learn how to do things in a procedural and logical way”. And “do I want to learn houdini's way of doing these things without writing code”.

You will need to learn the fundamentals of CG in order to use Houdini to its full potential but if you do it will benefit you whatever software you end up using.

If you have no imagination to do new things and only want to use plugins then the answer is Houdini might not be for you but if you start from a creative point of view and then want to know how to achieve your CG vision then the answer is probably yes.

Symbolic
I know the software is hard to learn. But is it really so much technical? Is there a chance for a person with basic 3D/2D skills to get a new point of view? Or is it only for TD guys with hardcore math + coding skills?

This a rather large misconception. Houdini is as artist friendly as 3DSMax or Maya. You can get things done without knowing hardcore math and coding. Now the difference is that Houdini doesn't hide the more technical aspects, it allows you to get under the hood whereas Maya tends to weld the hood shut.

In Maya you have to work Maya's way on Maya's terms. In Houdini you can work your own way….but its on Houdini's terms.

Try it out, read the docs, ask questions and if it doesn't fit your work style then try something else. In the end its just a tool. Some people like a Swiss Army Chainsaw, others don't.
:wink:

Sorry…


I did not mean to make a double post on an issue that has been discussed before. I should have checked the previous posts…

…and thanks for the help though my mistake. I got your point. I will brows the old posts now.

I would like to add: Thanks to Houdini, you ( almost ) dont need a programmer ( I heard that before from SESI :wink: ). Anyway, if we take Maya :evil: :twisted: you will need to code to achieve what putting down one OP will do. And as Simon said with a bit of imagination Houdini will be the answer, though a bit of of maths for scripting will help you to achieve great things.

Thanks Wolfwood.
This eased the preassure a little bit…

Simon
If you have no imagination to do new things and only want to use plugins then the answer is Houdini might not be for you but if you start from a creative point of view and then want to know how to achieve your CG vision then the answer is probably yes.

s/imagination/time/

Good point by Simon, one thing that you won't find in Houdini is the sort of “clip art” way of working. In some of the 3D packages, all you really need to do is download some geometry off the internet, apply some plugin shaders designed specifically to provide some look, then hit render with some special plugin renderer. And boom you have a really nice looking render.

While nothing is wrong with this approach, you lose a lot of flexibility. For example, after you get your nice render the director goes, “But I want it to melt in a subtle but mysterious way.” So now you have hope you can find some “melt” plugin and pray that it works with the existing plugins etc.

I think this where some of the “really technical and need to be a coder” misconception come from. In Houdini you are doing the work and not some plugin, which as Simon mentions, requires you need to know at least the fundamentals.

Hi
I said this here before I think I am just artist
you can see my website here:
http://arizanovic.blogspot.com/ [arizanovic.blogspot.com]
but currently I am halfway through Houdini book and switching full time from maya to H and I never worked with sw taht enables you more control
it is actualy impossible to do things wrong!
and help and community support from here, odforce and Hmailing list is incredible!
just stick with it!

Thanks to all of you for the feedbacks… I did not expect so much replies in this short time… Nice to see that here it is a great forum…


This was exactly what I was sensing about Houdini… but it is a big and confusing world…

* * *

just a second a go my friend came in and looked at my screen and said: “Ow? Houdini?! Does it still exist?” And I said: “Yes!… Actually it is a kind of something very very new.”

* * *

Anyway… lets not make things emotional.

Wolfwood

Symbolic
I know the software is hard to learn. But is it really so much technical? Is there a chance for a person with basic 3D/2D skills to get a new point of view? Or is it only for TD guys with hardcore math + coding skills?

This a rather large misconception. Houdini is as artist friendly as 3DSMax or Maya. You can get things done without knowing hardcore math and coding. Now the difference is that Houdini doesn't hide the more technical aspects, it allows you to get under the hood whereas Maya tends to weld the hood shut.

In Maya you have to work Maya's way on Maya's terms. In Houdini you can work your own way….but its on Houdini's terms.

Try it out, read the docs, ask questions and if it doesn't fit your work style then try something else. In the end its just a tool. Some people like a Swiss Army Chainsaw, others don't.
:wink:

this is the best description about houdini I ever heard so far and i'll take it as inspiration when i'll have to describe houdini to people who'll say “houdini is hard to learn”