Hi there,

I just got a call today with a job offer using the Houdini software. I've never used it before, but I told the people I'd do a test for them anyway.

So I've downloaded the program, but I'm totally confused as to opening it. There's a whole list when I go to open the program, and I'm unsure of which one to use. As if that wasn't bad enough, it asks me about liscencing or something, and I tried to register as an apprentice, but that didn't seem to work.

I have used 3d programs before (XSI and maya) but it hasn't been for about 3 years… and this is just really confusing to me.

If I can get any help, it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

You've used XSI and Maya and never had to deal with licensing before? Hmmm….

Anyway, yes there are several programs listed there - I'm unsure if the unlicensed install shows “Houdini Apprentice”(I doubt it), but otherwise just run “Houdini Master”.

As to why licensing the eval didn't work, you'll need to be more specific. Platform you're running on, precisely what went wrong, etc. You'll need to be connected to the internet for licensing to work.

J.C.

Check out this thread it lists lots of tutorials

http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&t=6828&highlight=tutorials [sidefx.com]

JColdrick
You've used XSI and Maya and never had to deal with licensing before? Hmmm….

I used XSI while in College. The school had all the liscences and stuff for that done, so we never had to deal with it. I used Maya in an internship - again, didn't have to deal with liscenceing and such because it was the companies software.

Ok, I'm running Windows XP, and everything went well until I tried to open Master. I clicked on the link to liscence over the internet (which was connected) and it kept brining up a little box in the corner of my screen saying something about an ‘error’. I kept closing it, and it kept re-opening. After about 10 minutes of this, I shut it down.

Thanks

ChannyC
I clicked on the link to liscence over the internet (which was connected) and it kept brining up a little box in the corner of my screen saying something about an ‘error’. I kept closing it, and it kept re-opening. After about 10 minutes of this, I shut it down.
Thanks

You are being way to generally in your problem. For us to help you, you need to give us specifics. Error message boxes generally contain some sort of useful information as to what the problem is. Instead of closing the little box, read what it says.

You say you are confused by seeing a ‘whole list’ when you open the program. Well what does the list say? Which program is it? (The entire Houdini package ships with a bunch of programs, is it the License Server, Houdini itself, what?)

Other information helps too, like what type of graphics card you have.

Alright. This is getting rediculous.

The confusion over the ‘list’ is this:

All Programs> Side Effects Software> Houdini 8.1.866> Command Line Tools
Geometry Viewer
HDK Install
Houdini Escape
Houdini Halo
Houdini Master
Houdini Select
HScript
Image Viewer
Liscence Administrator
Uninstall Houdini

Which program do I use??


The error boxes, I took screenshots of:





The last one is what I get after clicking the link from the top picture to get the apprentice version. It keeps repeating itself over and over every time I try to close until I have to manually stop it through Window's task manager.

I probably have 120 meg shared graphics card, but really I don't see why this has ANYTHING to do with my problem of OPENING the program.

Now if I could please get some constructive and positive comments on how to fix the problem so I can open the program and get to work doing my test, it would be greatly appreciated.

Hi,

Everyone is trying to help here but due to the lack of specifics, it's hard to tell you what exactly is the problem.

However, based on your last post, the problem is the graphics card which does not support OpenGL fully thus the errors you're getting. You can set an environment variable to instruct Houdini to use the CPU for the graphical interface. As the CPU has to do more work, Houdini will run slower or less interactively. If you would like to try this out, please go to this thread [sidefx.com], look for my post at the bottom and follow the instructions there.

Good luck!

Cheers!
steven

Thank you for your informative reply.

I've been trying to run the program on my laptop, but what I may try is running it on my fiancee's desktop. He said his graphics card might support the OpenGL and we might not have all these problems.

Either way, this job offer is starting to go down the drain for me. If I can't get it working on his computer, I may just decline the offer… I'm a better 2d animator then 3d anyway. *sigh*


*EDIT* We got the program to work on my fiancee's computer, however… we both have no clue how to use it. My finacee didn't even have any idea how to make a keyframe, and he's gor a good handle on both XSI and MAYA.

Guess I'm off to try to fine some tutorials now.

Houdini is different (and better, generally) from Maya and XSI. The organization and workflow are very different.

However, all the basics are very well explained in the online help. Also, if you would have taken your time to browse this site, you would have seen in the Products section the 2 available versions of Houdini: Escape and Master (this is like Maya Complete and Unlimited, for example). This would have made the selection from the start menu list much easier.

Also on the product info pages you can find the System requirements, which state the need for an OpenGL card.

As I said, the online help for the basic workflow is very good and offers nice tutorials. Since Houdini is so different, don't expect to learn it in a day or two. If you want to get a job as a Houdini animator, you should better take you time to go through the docs and understand them, instead of posting threads with capitalized “urgent!!!” statements or basic questions like “how I move the bones”.
Try also the Tutorials [sidefx.com]section of this site.
There are video tutorials at 3D Buzz [3dbuzz.com], nice info at OdForce [forums.odforce.net] and downloadable video tutorials here: http://odforce.net/downloads/videos/v6/ [odforce.net] (those are for the version 6 of Houdini, but they are useful anyway.

Good luck in your journey!

Dragos

Before you decline the offer, it might be worth checking with the company whether they expect you to know how to animate in Houdini or whether they are prepared to train you. We've taken on people before with no Houdini experience just because we couldn't find anyone who did. Training someone to do basic animation and keyframing only takes half a day so it not a big deal if the animator is a good one.

Good luck.

Garman did a really-beginner intro video:
http://tutorials.vizyacky.com/ [tutorials.vizyacky.com]

Nice to see this …
Meanwhile, some experience Houdini people are still being turned down and looking for work…
I am glad I am living this crazy CG world.
Exhausted monkey!!!!!!

This crazy industry which relies on if's / maybe / mighthappen / who you know / right time / right place.The black hole has a firm grip on me

R

You are a lucky person. Where is your company? I also want a job about Houdini too!

Hey simon what's the name of your company and where is it located, I have several years of Film experience, 2 using houdini.

thanks,
Phenom

We're in London but we don't make films, and haven't employed anyone new for many years….

Okay, I have a similar problem…

When I click on Houdini Master (or any of the programs under Houdini actually) I get the same prompt from the user above. When I click on ‘install a commercial licence’ a box pops up that never opens… in other words it is a box that appears to never run. It literally stays blank until I close it. And when I click on ‘examine or modify’ a box pops up that says the program can't run, and it will let me know blah, blah, blah….

Could this be a Windows Vista problem? I've already uninstalled Houdini, and then re-installed, and it is still doing the same thing!

Hi,

If you can provide more details about the hardware you're using, especially graphics card, we'll be able to provide some assistance.

The first thought is you're having graphics card issues which I explain in my post above. Please go through that & if it still doesn't work, please let us know with more information.

Cheers!
steven

I wouldn't be surprised if it's a Windows Vista problem since it's more restrictive.

maybe you need to tell that secret service guy to “accept”

(if that's too vague, im reffering to the apple commercial that rips on windows vista)