Daryl Dunlap
Ask a bird from Japan

Maybe I'm slow, but I still have no idea what this means. Can anyone explain?

TOPs and the new Procedural Dependency Graph looks outstanding! I can see a ton of uses for this one…

Will tensorflow come packaged with Houdini now?

Midphase

Daryl Dunlap
Ask a bird from Japan

Maybe I'm slow, but I still have no idea what this means. Can anyone explain?

There was some japanese guy spilling the beans on Twitter since yesterday

On the event: really awesome. That's what you get when you focus on what you know how to do really well and take it to the next level.
Of course, as a Mantra lover I think my time will come in H18…

WOW.
I'm really blown away by this 17.5, more than I have been for 17.0
Will it be possible to create a new custom wedge TOPs that fully interface with the other TOPs?

orr
Will tensorflow come packaged with Houdini now?

That's my question too!

Fully redesigned Fuse SOP with new snapping and fusion capabilities
Enhancements to BlendShapes 2.0
Selection by pattern and surface normal
Parity between viewport and Mantra
Better clipping planes
Homing along construction plane normal

Good stuff…

At 9:20 I think I hear him saying TOPs will be available on Houdini FX and Core… could it possible it won't be available in Indie?

On the FB thread It has been confirmed by the marketing director that PDG is included in Indie

jarenas
At 9:20 I think I hear him saying TOPs will be available on Houdini FX and Core… could it possible it won't be available in Indie?

Indie is actually FX with the different license mode, so it will be available for sure.

Andr
On the FB thread It has been confirmed by the marketing director that PDG is included in Indie

Thanks, I don't use FB so I missed that. Good to know because I can think of lots of workflow and creative uses of TOPs for indies…

in short verbiage what is PDG? is it like Takes but on super steroids?

bobc4d
in short verbiage what is PDG? is it like Takes but on super steroids?

No, the way I understand it is that it's basically extending the Houdini network paradigm into the entire VFX pipeline of a production, all the while computing it in a parallel manner to optimize CPU cycles. A good example during the presentation was with the multiple agents running into ground explosives. The explosion simulations and physics were run only when needed and independently of where in the timeline they actually happened. It is a much more efficient way to get the computing operations in Houdini to be as fast as the processor will allow.

But I think that's only scratching the surface. TOPs appears to be capable of far more, including managing large datasets, as well as creating various assets and deliverables as needed by the different departments. The closest analogue that I could think of would be something like the Adobe Media Manager for video, except even that seems like a poor and very limited equivalent in comparison.

I think the usefulness of TOPs and PDG will heavily depend on the complexity of the production pipeline. Big studios will find this to be an incredible advance which will undoubtedly cement Houdini's hold in the industry for years to come. Smaller VFX houses and freelancers might not find as big of an advantage, depending on what type of work they're doing.

I think time will tell exactly how much this will impact the small players, but for big VFX houses working on massive projects, this is a game changer for sure.

Midphase

bobc4d
in short verbiage what is PDG? is it like Takes but on super steroids?

I think time will tell exactly how much this will impact the small players, but for big VFX houses working on massive projects, this is a game changer for sure.

From what I understand it's mainly about work flow and pipeline efficiency. Game world/assets generation is a trending topic right now in the game industry, but before PDG it take a lot of Houdini and python wizardry to do that, only big company can afford people proficient enough to make such pipeline. Now I can see a lot of indie and middle sized team will start to embrace Houdini in post-PGD era.

Midphase
Smaller VFX houses and freelancers might not find as big of an advantage, depending on what type of work they're doing.

Actually i think those will benefit even more from this. When you only have one computer you needed to be a very good coder to setup something they showed off in the presentation (make a sim, wedge it, render, make video files, composite them next to each other etc. - at least if you wanted it to all be automatic - think how much time this would cost if you would set it up one by one… )
So i think someone like me who does not know anything about pipeline coding this is a blessing.

The wedging geometry stuff that entagma seems to be doing some tutorials about - i read this like you can basically model a thing or two and then wedge it 1000 times and then you can choose any model you like.
Think of this with something like L-System where you model a fern and then they next day you have a lot of different ferns - no speedtree, no coding etc.
You can probably build up your own asset libraries/gyms this way.
IIRC there also was an example in the presentation using a street barrier and getting a lot of different results.

Im actually most excited about the world building for games that indie pixel will have a tutorial about. Looked really great!

Many big studios have their proprietary solutions for pipeline stuff, years of R&D, probably they won't throw away them and replace with this PDG stuff instantly. However the Pilot PDG can be something like the next-gen off the shelf pipeline growth platform. Rather than the rigid Python code-snake, I think this will enable guys to grow the pipeline more organically, and it can fill the hole between the tech-minded pipeline dept. and artist-driven tasks.

I think the visual representation is better for communication than any code, so the exchange between departments and people can be more fluent/effective. For debugging, it's also a different level, as they mentioned in the presentation. To be honest originally VFX/animation isn't about coding, and it's quite deprivating when the requirements in a job offer for an artist role contain something like this “Python coding skills are highly recommended”. Hopefully this will change in the future and PDG can make the kick-in, thumbs up SideFX!

I aggree with Kai Xu and powerstroke3000, smaller studios and freelancers, indie game creators will benefit more from PDG. We actually get an off-the-shelf pipeline platform, so it will be practically possible to set up a complex pipeline and throw away boring and repetitive tasks which take huge amount of time and also draws down the creative stuff to general office work. Small studios can be big-like whith this, without the usual disadvantages.

An interview with Simon Holmedal crosses my mind: (the relevant part starts at 0:45):
Mouvo 2017 Simon Holmedal [vimeo.com]

Btw, watching the communicating flashing dots in the presentation, I felt this excitement
Node Encounters of the Third Kind [www.youtube.com]

I like that with PDG you can see what the render will look like at any given frame, from what I've seen of it so far. SideFX has been pushing things, I know it's no rush; although I feel like I'm at the end of the train wondering if I'll ever make it to the beginning as in learning and understanding all that is available up to the current version of Houdini.

please release it!

I can't wait

They said they would release mid March so “i am guessing” 15th Friday

or the may wait for after GDC Game Developers Conference after March 18-22 so 22th of March

and “yes” Andr you can bet your boots we all can't wait!