Try the cloud noise sop.
Or you could multiply the density with a ramp parameter in a volume vop.
You will need to convert to vdb before you use cloud noise, but this is a good thing
VDB is soo much faster.
Good luck
G

Hey guys
I'm still kinda new to Houdini (old softimage user)
One thing I would really like learning material for, is character setup.
I've done both Digital Tutors tutorials dealing with the auto rigging system, but it is my understanding that the auto rig is slow and should be avoided at all cost.
I've also done “3DBuzz Houdini advanced character rigging” but this tutorial was made with a much older version of Houdini, so some of the workflow doesn't work anymore.

Do you guys know of some good tutorials for rigging, and character deformation in Houdini?

Are there plans to release a new auto-rig in Houdini, or are there good 3rd party rigs that work with Houdini??
Thanks
Gerbrand

Did you test my method for the camera?
From what I could see, it was a perfect match.
I must say, I'm not sure what to do with your script or Houdini file.
Do I need to export the camera, or is there some live link witchcraft going on here?
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for live link witchcraft
Another idea would be to get Houdini engine to just work in blender.
You would need a engine license for each blender render node, but it's maybe not such a bad solution.
I don't know what would be the most work, so ignore me if I'm talking crazy
G

thanks guys!!
Gerbrand

Hey guys and girls.
I've noticed that my one pc is allot faster with the “Prepare Render Jobs ” part of a render on hqueue.
When I say allot, I mean the one machine will do it in 15 min, while the others will take up to an hour on the same job.
Rendering frames, there isn't such a huge difference.
Is there a way to force one machine to do all the “Prepare Render Jobs” bits and the other machine just focus on the frames?
Thanks
Gerbrand

Hey guys
I've rendered a few exr files, but when I bring them into afterFX, they seem to be auto cropped.
They end up jumping around in my comp, because the frame size is different for each frame.
Is this something I can disable in houdini, or is there something I need to do in afterFX?
Thanks
G

I don't know what it is with me and code…
I understand code, but I can't write it.
Node based “code” works for me

So update on the camera:
This is how i do it now:

Parent null under camera in houdini (CAMNull)
Rotate in objectspace 0,180,0
duplicate camera and kill animation
set the following expresion in camera transforms:
origin(“”, “/obj/CAMNull/”, TX), origin(“”, “/obj/CAMNull/”, TY), origin(“”, “/obj/CAMNull/”, TZ)
origin(“”, “/obj/CAMNull/”, RX), origin(“”, “/obj/CAMNull/”, RY), origin(“”, “/obj/CAMNull/”, RZ)
rightclick on transform parameters and bake (i think this might be new in h15)
export fbx 2013 (not ascii)
import into blendor at scale 100

This seems to work just fine, Maybe I should learn python to turn that into a button, or I could leave it to smart people like you

Oh and blendgraph has been deleted from the internet, so that is a bit of a dead-end.

The footmesh script works, but in some cases you need to assign the material for each frame of the animation.

So I'm still hoping you come up with something more user-friendly.
Something where you don't need to re-import if you make changes, just re-export from houdini, and maybe refresh in blender
G

hey guys, earlier I claimed to have a workaround for getting cameras into blender from houdini.
It seems my workaround only worked for the scene I was testing with.
Do you guys know of a fool-proof way to get cameras into blender?
FBX seems to point the camera in a really weird direction.

Also, I treid installing blendgraph, but I cant find the addon.
It is suppose to be in this post, but I don't see a link
http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?322496-AddOn-Blendgraph-2-7-UPDATED-%28on-hiatus%29 [blenderartists.org]
Thanks guys

ok I will answer my own question in case there are other noobs like myself struggling with this
go here:
http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?252844-Script-Meshfoot-OBJ-Sequence-Manager-%28revised-for-Blender-2-76%29&p=2102852&viewfull=1 [blenderartists.org]
in post#1 there is a blender file.
load that in blender, and create a text editor window.
at the bottom of the window you will find a button called“brows text to be linked” (it looks like a little note pad, but not the one on the left corner of the pannel.)
click it and you should see the “frame_meshfoot.py” file
Save this for future use

The blend graph thing looks interesting, but that is a challenge for another day.
Right now I need to get paying work done, and this will get me there!!

Thanks for this guys!!
It should save lives until we get alembic and proper vdb support.
G

Hey Enivob
This sounds awesome!!
I watched the meshfoot video on vimeo, but it assumes I'm smarter than I am
How do i get meshfoot or this improved version to run in blender?
Where do i find the script?
never used scripts in blender before
I'm real green in blender. I've only been messing with importing and rendering stuff.. too much houdini to still learn
Please help

well for non-changing topology we already have obj with mdd.
This works as a modifier
To be honest with you, I would love it if it is allot like the file sop in houdini.
That way its always reading it from disk, so if we make changes in houdini, it should just update on reload.
Most of the things i can't render in blender right now, is changing topology stuff, like particle systems and liquid meshes.
Cameras are a real pain, but I have my workarounds.
Being able to render a sequence of changing topology is right at the top of my personal list

Nice !!!
I tried it straight away!

I just made a particle emitter, and used the copy sop to get some geo on there.
I can load the individual files, but not the sequence.
Is there a way to import a sequence, or am I jumping the gun ?
Anyways, awesome work!!

I can't even do a single line..of code.
So your horrible 250 lines is better than my 0.
I wish blender just had an awesome alembic importer.
Then you'd be able to drink much more beer and club hard
I tried vdb in blender, but got stuck behind my own inability to compile shit
Good luck sir!
G

wow
Dude, when you figure this out… lives will change!!
I'm checking this thread more than my wife checks on pintrist
Good luck!
G

Wish I could help, but if you need someone to cheer you on in the background, I'm available on skype for that
So exited to see what you come up with!
G

wow !!
That made a difference.
Thanks so much for the pointers

Thanks for taking the time to have a look Enivob.
Unfortunately your render is very noisy.
The moment I tweak the noise level or pixel sample to get rid of the noise, my renders are back to the 1 hour range.
I was hoping for a silver bullet that doesn't exist it seems.
Thanks
Gerbrand

If I could help I would, but I'm super useless with code, and still finding my feet in houdini.
If you need a tester, I'll help with that
G

Hey smart people
I'm working on a personal vr project.
The whole project is about The planet Saturn, but I've run into a problem with rendering volumes.
I've started to create the gas-storm on Saturn's north pole, but my render times are going through the roof.
This frame took 1 hours, and its not even close to finished.
At full res with spherical, it take almost 8 hours.
Could someone take a look at my scene?
I would just like to know if this is a realistic render time, or if I'm making all the mistakes on the planet.
Thanks
Gerbrand

Please keep us updated on this!
I would love to be able to render my scenes in blender, or with cycles!
Right now I'm using obj with mdd cache, but that only works for some things.
I would love to be able to render volumes and changing topology in blender.
Mantra is nice, but too slow for most of my work.
G