USD is the native Scene file format for the Karma or Renderman Renderer. The question is will Redshift, Arnold, Octane, Vray.... change there native format to USD or not. I would say in the long run the current old Rendering process will go away just because no Renderengine Company will invest to update all there custom plugins for each DCC Software when they can have just one Plugin for all.

every layer of functionality gives more options but also more complexity. it is never easy to change the pipeline but in the long run it will be beneficial.

ttnix
I absolutely love Houdini, it’s an amazing program. Just finished watching the 20.5
Keynote on YouTube and I’m so excited with what’s new.
As technology advances and grows, I’m wondering if it’s time to revisit this conversation since the last post was in 2011. Today you can use programs like nomad for 3D sculpting, Zbrush is being developed with a beta coming coon on iOS. DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro are now available as well on the iPad.

Inspiration comes at times when we are not sitting at our desks, it would be so beneficial if we could just open our tablet (iOS, Android, Windows) and ride that inspiration wave with either modelling, texturing, lighting, etc., that we can just transfer to our main computer and continue. Also move aspects of our work from our computer and take it on the go.

Not looking to replace my desktop with a tablet as that just wouldn’t be possible. Just looking for a mobile option to use as I’m traveling For modeling.

What are your thoughts?

it makes a lot of sense for sculpting on a tablet or NLA for social media shorts. well you can use houdini today on windows tablet or convertible. i have one and i use the pen nearly never in houdini.

just as a history fun thing Blender had a port to a iPAQ in 2001!
https://x.com/tonroosendaal/status/673845432792047616 [x.com]

Good to know i am not alone

habernir
How do you know that's its a new cops networks?

Rumors

There are two ways that should be simple to integrate.

1. Commandline : https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/latest/advanced/command_line/index.html [docs.blender.org]
   
2. Python Module : https://docs.blender.org/api/current/info_advanced_blender_as_bpy.html [docs.blender.org]
   
3. HAPI(not ideal for your case): https://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/hapi/ [www.sidefx.com]
   

It looks like Commandline is very simple to use.
https://blenderartists.org/t/how-to-export-mesh-object-to-fbx-from-command-line/1144571 [blenderartists.org]

oldteapot7
By the way i have question about workflow. Iam still learning and havnt touched materials and shading part yet.

But is there easy way to render scene in Karma XPU as preview (for client corects and stuff)
And then render same scene in Arnold or Octane as final stage. Render for production and postprocess stage.

So.. is there any easy way for that? Or i have to make duplicate materials and lights and all for 2 different renderers?

i know that Octane in Solaris has some strange glitches had last year teached my brother and they use Octane with C4D and Maya.
the first bug was we couldn't change Render Resolution! the Plugin is over 1 year out and it can't read the Camera Resolution in the USD File WTF! and then there where many other small bugs.

In theory you can setup the scene with Solaris (Geometry, Camera, Light) define for each Render Engine a custom Shader and in the future you only need a mtlx shader. But depending on Render Engine there can be a mismatch of Render Functionality and a different stage of USD Support that need custom Camera and Light Parameters.

when you can use just one Render Engine you have less problems in my view.

andraskavalecz
Thank you for the tips )
We modeled our assets in dcc's like Maya and Modo and brought them into in its own clarisse project, applied materials...made combiners ....and then referenced in those project files into our layout scenes. pretty straight forward.

Correct me if I am wrong, but from highlevel... : import geo into houdini, apply karma materials (do variants) and save USD, reference the USDs into the Solaris/Stage and do the layout.

i would say that is the way how you will work mostly with houdini in Solaris to get a near clarisse feeling. there is the classic way of working in SOP (/obj) and then load the geometry in solaris because before solaris everything was in SOP and then rendered with some nodes in ROP. you can also do it in the classic way, end of the day you must be happy

andraskavalecz
Thank you for the tips )
Sorry for the houdini noob sounding qeustion. But does it mean the new (Solaris way) assets are not saved in native houdini files (hip, hda..) but rather in USDs?
I am tyring to keep it as simple as possible ))

simple as possible and that with houdini? I like your thinking
very good question far far above noob level!

Project file are still for houdini the .hip but you can export the solaris graph data to USD (.usda -> ASCII to analyse what is inside / USD ROP). Functionality Tools are inside Houdini and currently there is no USD way to build something like a HDA. But that could maybe change in the future. Houdini way of working is always reference the files and never embed it into the hip file. NEVER...

currently sidefx has made some move to have parameters information and node network in the geometry data (APEX thing). this is still new and it will take time how the artist can use it in production. it also means for the future one data format for CPU, GPU Functions and no dependency for the houdini core HScript.
Fun Stuff: Houdini core is inspired by UNIX so it means there is a right management where you can set permission to nodes as in the unix world (https://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/commands/opchmod.html). but I think all that will be removed and don't used it in production bosses don't like it (didn't happen to me but read it somewhere studio department bosses can get angry).

There are many other factors that count too!

there are currently many developments in the rendering section with shifts from shader format (mtlx), scene description format (USD) and other technology's.

for indie artist you can select any render engine I would say most indie projects can be solved with any of these render engines. when you do architectural rendering vray could be preferred. when you have Autodesk products in your pipeline Arnold can be your ideal render. the state of capabilities, speed, and stability can change by time and project requirement. today you can get demo version with watermarks for free to learn and recrate the shader networks brings you more then just a forum post from a unknown person like me.

happy learning.

for layout and scene setup Solaris (/stage) is the way to go as you have seen.
the difference to clarisse is Solaris supports multiple Render Engine where each one has it's own Shader Network. that should change with mtlx but still a progress.

Old stuff in Houdini: /ROP /shop /ch /img
ROP is the old way of rendering with Mantra it is EOL and in the future i guess it will be removed.
SHOP is the old Shader Network it gets replaced with MAT
CH still there for Signal Data / Audio Processing not sure what Sidefx has in mind to update it.
IMG is for 2D Image Compositing there are some rumours for a new Compositing System. (https://sidefx.bamboohr.com/careers/90)


Tutorials for Solaris:
https://www.sidefx.com/learn/solaris-karma/ [www.sidefx.com]

aidexiaojike

曼德拉草0
I played with godot and made a instance exporter as a test. In my view it would make sense to create the levels in houdini and export as .tsnc files.

ok 你好，我是来自中国的设计师，我想需要godot能读取HDA文件的插件，因为这样就可以实时编辑和预览效果了。谢谢你。

YOUR MESSAGE: Hello, I am a designer from China. I think I need a plug-in for godot to read HDA files, so that I can edit and preview the effects in real time. Thank you.

the complexity to create a plugin with support and everything else is a lot of work. the idea was to make everything in houdini and then export the scene into godot. the advantage is if you want to support another game engine or use it with three.js it takes just a fraction of code changes and time.

For Effects and Animation there are no plans to support it because depending on concept it is a bigger task. but gltf can be exported from houdini to godot.

Note: there is also a small fix in the godot instancer code, it should show now the scene in the godot editor.

Well clay has normaly the same color. Don't use UV and just use a basic shader no texture that should not flicker. You can make some masking with curveture for edges but everything else i can't help.
When you have to add a texture say the zbrush guy can add UV's and make some vacation or run like forrest gump

I never had this problem in my project or friends... i feel your pain or pleasure of accepting challanges.

tbay312
And no, I don't believe this comparison is too early. SideFX has announced that XPU is "gold," which means that it should be able to compete with other software packages for its place in production pipelines, and it's been publicly released for about 5 years now.

Just as a small note Karma XPU was first released as alpha in H19 (oct 2021). That is about 2.5 years ago. Karma CPU was released about 5 years ago (H18 with solaris).
Same sqme but diffrent

Maybe you can have a talk with the XPU main developer brian sharpe?

Karma lense shader could be a option.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Houdini/comments/12th6na/help_anamorphic_lens_effect_in_houdini_using_lens/ [www.reddit.com]

https://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/solaris/karma_lens_shader.html [www.sidefx.com]

NLM
Hey ! I'd love to hear about this project! Did you manage to fix what you were looking for?

Sadly not. Thats why i also did not submitted it and release the code.
I was thinking to release the code but i am sure then many complaines would come up because the problem with H20. When i release the code i will update it here.

I have submitted another project for tge challange.

hanyilun2

alexwheezy

toonafish
Don’t know if this is on topic, but if SideFX is smart they will incorporate some kind of AI asap, and programming or scripting will be replaced by writing easy to understand prompts, which would make Houdini much more accessible for mere mortals that can’t write code.

That's pretty sad to hear. I wouldn't want SideFX to waste their time and go down this path of development using AI as an assistant inside Houdini.

Over the last 10 years there are already enough tutorials: articles, courses, blogs telling you that it's not that hard, you just need to spend some time to learn the basics, which shows that it's already quite accessible. After all, there are even tools that allow you to beautifully package snippets of code so that it can be reused with.
And I would not call it all programming as it is used now in the usual sense of the word. Real programming is much more complex than what is used in VEX, HScript and what is required of artists.

What is more interesting in my opinion is the possibility to apply AI invisibly to the user where Houdini may not be fast enough at the moment: simulation, rendering, data compression algorithms, improving DashBox's internal search engine, etc. As it was shown in the last H20 presentation that we can use ML for skinning and terrains.

Are there real artists demanding AI coding in Houdini or it's just marketing bs? It's hard for me to imagine how AI coding can solve real problems in real works. I just spent $99 purchased OD Shelftool recently ,it makes my life much easier with those big,nice,beautiful,readable,easily editable thumbnails in asset library/file browser and intuitive drag-and-drop operating.But I feel little bit sad, as a former c4d user and I'm still firing up c4d&blender once in a while, I know this is just how a modern DCC suppose to be.(I tried Solaris' asset library, it SUCKS！ by all means).I would appreciate it if SideFx start putting their finger on those basic user experience features ,it will benefit all skill level artists, encourage us firing up Houdini more.

AI there are base functionality in Houdini. If you don't know how to use it or create projects with pytorch, tensorflow it is 100% fine not to use.

Houdini is very technical so some UX can be as a new user very strage. If there are editor functions that doesn't make sense in your view please make a RFE or if there is a houdini meetup near your location get in contact to some houdini artist. Houdini is not easy everyone knows it, it also can be that it doesn't fit in your work process and C4D could be a better solution for you.

Please don't use BS or Sucks... thank you.

I am sure there will be a Vulkan ROP. Maybe next release. We need to wait.

Houdini 2 Godot Exporter

This is a HDA Setup for Exporting 3D Scenes to Godot Engine.

Current target was to have a Basic 3D Scene Exporter for the Godot Engine inside Houdini.
The Scene Exporter can Export a CSV file with the required Optimisation where indie Developers can create 3D Scenes with +50K Instanced Objects with no problems.

OBJ HDA Asset Exporter
The target is to have multiple Asset Exporters to organize the Project in sections.

• Export multiple assets in gltf or glb
  
• can create Godot Scene Files
  
• define Godot Asset Folder
  

OBJ HDA Scene Exporter
Creates CSV Files and Godot Scene File with Instance Data for small and medium Indie Game Levels

• Exports CSV in UTF-8
  
• can create Scene Files
  
• Optimizer for reducing File Size
  

SOP HDA Instance Asset
Helper Node for creating the required Attributes for the Scene Exporter Node.

• creates all required Attributes
  
• Custom Godot path or Houdini Object
  

The Project is on Github with some Examples.
https://github.com/Mandrake0/houdini2godot [github.com]

Setup Guide

Instead of houdini.env you should use a package json file.

https://help.maxon.net/r3d/houdini/en-us/Default.htm#html/Houdini+Plugin+Configuration.html [help.maxon.net]

There is also the redshift forum:
https://redshift.maxon.net/categories [redshift.maxon.net]

i think it is the right time for a UI RFE!

the vfxplatform it notes for this year a big QT upgrade.
https://vfxplatform.com/ [vfxplatform.com]

How to RFE:
https://www.sidefx.com/forum/topic/25347/ [www.sidefx.com]

LouisVass
nice going!

what issues have you encountered running this in H 20?

ive been working on the same thing, started in 19.5 and now in 20

The problem is with the Python Threading. it is the same code from the Blender Bridge. somehow it gives a Error in H20.
Need to fix some small Errors then i can release it on Github.