IF sidefx want more people to take up Houdini how come they dont produce more tutorials / better help with the application.I am coming from xsi /maya and the biggest thing stopping me ramping up quickly is the lack of information.I am used to normally relying on the sdk help / help but its so fustrating knowing what I want to do but not knowing where to look, just look at the xsi HTML help or the xsi SDK , or Maya Mel reference.


R

I think that's a valid observation, and frankly it's good to get those comments from a new user. There is a lot of documentation, but I find there's a lot of missing “holes” that I'm sure a beginner must find frustrating. Advanced modelling, for one, seems to be one of the most frustrating gaps. It's learn by example, which I think works for a lot of cases, but when you're confronted with accomplishing something more complicated that a rocket with fins, it can be wanting.

Just to be clear, though, you know about the examples in the help cards, and the tutorials on the sesi site, right? Also, www.odforce.net is a good resource.

Cheers,

J.C.

Yup, and to add to this, 3D Buzz also has a bunch of video tutes and Garman's VizyAcky.com has a bunch of beginner tutes too.

There's also a lot of older tutes on the SideFX site that are still relevant.
And there's Will Cunningham's Magic of Houdini book.

There's a lot out there, it's just spread all ove the place.

Jerry

If you are talking about the HDK there is very limited docs, but I don't think Sesi see it as a priority for getting new users since mostly you can do so much without the HDK. Also its the old do you take the programmers off development to write the help or do you keep them developing new stuff within Houdini itself…… Sesi just isn't big enough yet to do both i think. Chicken and egg situation.

Help for the HDK:

There is an introduction to the HDK on the exchange then the examples in the toolkit. May seems a little but I think it is a good start. It is better to have quality examples than quantity…. as for example Schmaya, where a lot of their examples dont work as expected… I ve been doing a lot of it lately, unfortunately. But maybe it is because of me.
At the beggining, the HDK looks frustrating but dont let this taking over you. Take a deep breath, go through the lines and look at the Headers too, they are a kind of helpfull and there is always the forum.

Help for Houdini:

I think there is a lot around now, and there are those help cards with the examples which are great. Then after it is all about being “creative” and experimenting…. it is like French cooking or any kind of cooking! Learn the basics and fly like a big boy!

Le_monkey_butt
it is like French cooking or any kind of cooking! Learn the basics and fly like a big boy!

I think you need to watch which mushrooms you're using.

the gnomon video Houdini 101 is very good for the basics
and yes the buzz tutorials too
also just purchased Magic of Houdini book hope is good too

thanks for the comments guys , Sidfx should not be relying on 3rd party vendors to produce there learning material that is business suicide. If you want more experienced people to learn / use promote houdini you have to make it easy to pick up fast .I had a job a while ago , seeds blowing off a flower dandylion head.Using houdini would of been great , but just looking at the difficulties I have had this week , with only this place to ask questions , and docs with large holes in. I would not of been able to complete the job in time.
I know the gnomon DVDs are a great start , theres another coming out soon,but please sidefx employ somebody to produce better content for your help , because the more into you put ino help Tus the more people will pick it up !

R