Is there a HOM python function that will bring up a color editor dialog, allow the user to select a color, and return it as an (r,g,b) tuple?

Unfortunately there is not. You'll have to use something like the PyQt color picker.

What is the recommended method for utilizing PyQt within a Houdini python script? The following (placed in a shelf button tool) just segfaults Houdini 12:

import PyQt4.Qt as qt
c = qt.QColorDialog.getColor()
print c

You need to integrate things into the Houdini UI event loop, similarly to this:

http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini12.1/hom/cookbook/pyqt/part1/ [sidefx.com]

hey Graham, wasn't there a python way of loading a .ui file? so if you make your custom editor (or say you want to launch the gallery manager) you can actually call out the .ui file? I seem to think that hou.ui had a method for this..

You can create a dialog using a Houdini .ui file (hou.ui.createDialog). However, that is only useful for making fairly simple Houdini style UIs. There are no simple widgets that represent the Houdini color picker, so it's not really applicable here.

Noticed the H14 Color Editor is way better than the default PyQt.QColorDialog color editor. is this one available to lauch is it PyQt? is it exposed?