bobc4d
oh man I remember with every new version of Cinema4D we kept waiting for the "make it pretty" button. which never happened.

I haven't fired up Houdini in some time. I've been learning to draw with paper and pencil, I've done some doodling in the past but nothing serious, so I will get that down and get back into Houdini. I will retire 3 or so months into next year, I'll be 65 first of the year and be able to do art/3D full time afterwards. it will be a new experience not living by an alarm or time clock after about 48 years of doing so.

And by then, you might already have H19.5. Even more reasons to be excited.

bobc4d

SIgor420

osong

d3dworld
an easy mode to learn would be great

srsly, this again?

The best thing would be to just let machines do everything for us. Then we don't have to do anything, just observe.

Joking aside, I think there was never a better time to jump into Houdini. SideFX really did a lot with H18, 18.5 to make things much easier without being forced into Vex. It was my 3rd time trying out Houdini, difference is this time I stuck to it and never looked back. 5 months of learning every day produced great results. But, to be able to learn it you need put time into it, nothing comes overnight.

oh man I remember with every new version of Cinema4D we kept waiting for the "make it pretty" button. which never happened.

I haven't fired up Houdini in some time. I've been learning to draw with paper and pencil, I've done some doodling in the past but nothing serious, so I will get that down and get back into Houdini. I will retire 3 or so months into next year, I'll be 65 first of the year and be able to do art/3D full time afterwards. it will be a new experience not living by an alarm or time clock after about 48 years of doing so.

What is your profession, if I may ask?

Sygnum

bobc4d

SIgor420

osong

d3dworld
an easy mode to learn would be great

srsly, this again?

The best thing would be to just let machines do everything for us. Then we don't have to do anything, just observe.

Joking aside, I think there was never a better time to jump into Houdini. SideFX really did a lot with H18, 18.5 to make things much easier without being forced into Vex. It was my 3rd time trying out Houdini, difference is this time I stuck to it and never looked back. 5 months of learning every day produced great results. But, to be able to learn it you need put time into it, nothing comes overnight.

oh man I remember with every new version of Cinema4D we kept waiting for the "make it pretty" button. which never happened.

I haven't fired up Houdini in some time. I've been learning to draw with paper and pencil, I've done some doodling in the past but nothing serious, so I will get that down and get back into Houdini. I will retire 3 or so months into next year, I'll be 65 first of the year and be able to do art/3D full time afterwards. it will be a new experience not living by an alarm or time clock after about 48 years of doing so.

What is your profession, if I may ask?

I wear many different hats: taking care of our network, maintaining and programming security cameras and badge readers, maintain SQL database, program PLCs for automation of water/wastewater pumps and motors and electrical on those pumps and motors. It's fun and most of the guys I work with are 25 to 30 years my junior lol

3D is a hobby.

Interesting, there hasnt been a Daily Build since last Friday, with the last daily update including support for H19 licensing.

Daryl Dunlap
Interesting, there hasnt been a Daily Build since last Friday, with the last daily update including support for H19 licensing.

I had the same thought but linked it to Monday being a day off over there…
Also, it would be very strange to release it with no sneak peek or launch event before…

we should hear something really soon.
let's see what has been cooked till now at sidefx!

I can only think of those who have been testing the beta for a long time just laughing at our desperation here hehe

Well, probably will not happen next week either as Maxon probably has its own release on Tuesday. And if it doesn't happen on Monday or Tuesday next next week then it won't happen at all that weekend.

Maybe they will do like Maya skipping 2021 straight to 2022 and the next release is Houdini 20?

bobc4d
I wear many different hats: taking care of our network, maintaining and programming security cameras and badge readers, maintain SQL database, program PLCs for automation of water/wastewater pumps and motors and electrical on those pumps and motors. It's fun and most of the guys I work with are 25 to 30 years my junior lol

3D is a hobby.

Wow. Additionally it`s fascinating that you chose 3D and Houdini as hobbies! Kudos!

I really look forward to 19, but I‘ll stick with 18.5 until 19 gets stable.

A lot of new stuff is getting introduced with every release, but I hope they don‘t forget improving the „old“ stuff and take more time designing features to be more userfriendly, documented and faster to work with.

This Modeler Plugin has shown me that modeling in Houdini for example can really be a good experience. The official way is not bad either, but there’s room:-)

CV
I really look forward to 19, but I‘ll stick with 18.5 until 19 gets stable.

A lot of new stuff is getting introduced with every release, but I hope they don‘t forget improving the „old“ stuff and take more time designing features to be more userfriendly, documented and faster to work with.

This Modeler Plugin has shown me that modeling in Houdini for example can really be a good experience. The official way is not bad either, but there’s room:-)

For a future xx.5 update, I would like they put all the effort and the science they are known for to work out a better and faster User Experience and User Interface, and overhauling already existing stuff and nodes (like COPs).

Andr
For a future xx.5 update, I would like they put all the effort and the science they are known for to work out a better and faster User Experience and User Interface, and overhauling already existing stuff and nodes (like COPs).

Maybe you could put together a mockup of what you would like the UI to look like and explain how the Houdini user experience could be enhanced, then get users behind your proposal and suggest it to the developers!

GCharb
Maybe you could put together a mockup of what you would like the UI to look like and explain how the Houdini user experience could be enhanced, then get users behind your proposal and suggest it to the developers!

Differently colored frames around Houdini sessions!

Berk_Erdag
Can't wait for the new Karma render with GPU support!

OH YEAH that's what making me wet lol

Sygnum
I also hope for the release of Karma GPU. I like, for example Redshift, but I don`t want to shell out more money for a renderer than the actual 3D software and never warmed up for external renderers anyways.

Totally agree. Redshift IS impressive but have you tried to render slow motion white water??? not happening easily. but there is the struggle!

Midphase
While I agree with you that you shouldn't give money to Maxon, I think you're missing out by not considering 3rd party render engines. The entire industry works on them, and I like to believe that they have done their research and determined that it is the best solution.

and another good point........

5D

Midphase
While I agree with you that you shouldn't give money to Maxon, I think you're missing out by not considering 3rd party render engines. The entire industry works on them, and I like to believe that they have done their research and determined that it is the best solution.

and another good point........

In general yes, it is indeed a good point.

But on the other hand, from a company perspective, as Autodesk grabbed Arnold and Maxon got Redshift, no DCC vendor should be too dependent on a third party renderer which is owned by their immediate competitor. I also think, from the user side, that it is an uneasy situation not having a usable internal renderer. This is literally the situation with C4D when you're doing anything more complex than a few cubes.

Additionally, there is a massive move happening towards individual artists for years, when the indie licenses came up in the first place, and Sidefx being one of the first, most prominent and very generous one.

A big chunk of the artists using these indie licenses live in less developed countries, with subscriptions for renderers ranging from 300-600+ Euros per year with no indie pricing anywhere, this leads to a dead end in a lot of cases, when you can create mind blowing stuff but incapable to render it because you can't afford render tokens or the licenses to run on multiple machines.

But even in western countries, especially with covid having put the industry in total chaos, it is a big question if you want to put up several thousand euros when you don't know what's gonna happen in two months. This year, so far, was totally crazy, in my case.

I can tell you a little personal story. I started a project in April, which should've been done within two weeks. But several months later I'm still stuck because of some communication issues between agency and client. I initially subscribed for a month to C4D and Redshift because C4D's internal renderer is a huge POS. Now I've got to extend the license and constantly remind the agency of this expense and defend it over and over.

Sygnum
A big chunk of the artists using these indie licenses live in less developed countries, with subscriptions for renderers ranging from 300-600+ Euros per year with no indie pricing anywhere, this leads to a dead end in a lot of cases, when you can create mind blowing stuff but incapable to render it because you can't afford render tokens or the licenses to run on multiple machines.

There are affordable alternatives so I don't really get this line of thinking. Octane is about $20/month, 3Delight is free for a very capable version, and there's always Blender (even if you're using Houdini for sims, they can be sent over and rendered in Blender Cycles fairly easily).

People who know me know that I'm all for speaking up and bringing up criticisms when there's a reason for it. In this particular case I really feel that this isn't an issue -- there are some amazing options available for anyone willing to do a bit of research. I think the primary issue is that far too many people are set in their ways and unwilling to consider other options.

Regarding your particular situation with your client -- this is more of an issue of how you negotiate with your clients and set your work terms than about the cost of external renderers.

By the way, we might as well now even go and play a game of guessing! My bet is that H19 drops on 19.9.2021.

ps: The winner gets a free Houdini FX version