If you already put the polybevel node in the network editor then set the display flag on polybevel then press ` to invoke a reselect - this will let you interactively make a selection in the viewport. As mentioned press 3 to access edges. After you finish selecting then press enter.

Most of the lessons have been moved over to the new site - is there a particular one you are looking for?

In order to use an asset inside a host application (UE4, Unity, Maya C4D), Houdini must be installed on the same computer as the host and a license that can run Houdini Engine must be accessible.

If you are running Houdini (CORE or FX) on your computer then the Engine will use that same Houdini (CORE or FX) license and you are good to go. If someone else needs to use the asset but doesn't have a Houdini license then they will need a Houdini Engine license. This license is only needed when you first create the asset and any time you recook it by modifying a parameter or other input value.

When you save your level/scene and open it again a cached version of the results are in place and a recook isn't needed so a license isn't pulled until you make a change.

Therefore a pool of floating engine licenses will often serve a larger team rather than one per artist. Unless of course the assets are being updated regularly at which time more licenses will be required.

Robert

If you want to put the Classic Shader in the Material palette next to the Principled Material you just need to do a few simple steps:

1) Go to /mat and in the Network editor press tab > Classic Shader (Not Classic Shader Core). Place the node down.

2) RMB-click on the classicshader1 node and choose Save > To Gallery…

3) In the Edit Node Gallery Entry set the following:

Label: Classic Shader
Categories: Generic
Keywords: Classic Shader Mantra

(Mantra is the important keyword for it to be seen in the Palette)

Click Accept.

4) Now when you go to the Material Palette, you will find the Classic Shader in the Generic section of the Gallery.

You can use this method to add different versions of your materials with different settings to your Gallery

Actually it turns out we did publish the go procedural guide on the new site. You can find it here:
https://www.sidefx.com/tutorials/go-procedural-user-guide/ [sidefx.com]

Those documents are very out of date and therefore have not been moved to the new site:

For expressions you can find lots of updated info in the docs:

http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/commands/_guide [sidefx.com]
http://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/ref/expression_cookbook [sidefx.com]

For the go pro user guide we will be looking into updating the PDFs and publishing new versions. In the meantime the videos are still on vimeo. all the same content is covered - there will be quite a few differences running through these lessons in H16:

https://vimeo.com/album/1468819 [vimeo.com]

oxpal
Even the test versions break and conflict with another. Thanks to Houdini Engine I seem to be locked out of my Unreal Engine 4.14 project, and have yet to get it to work in UE 4.15. And I can't figure out for the life of me why I'm supposed to learn how to compile the Unreal source code to get a fitting HoudiniEngine version.

The plug-in for UE 4.15 comes with the Houdini Production installation and doesn't need to be compiled. When you acquire Houdini from sidefx.com > get > download, the installer will offer you the plug-in as part of the installation process. Note that if your Ue4 is not on your main drive then you may need to move the plug-in to the UE4 plug-ins folder. If you are having technical difficulties with your installation in 4.14 or 4.15, then please contact support@sidefx.com

Indies get a fantastic deal, where they get everything with a license… I bought it for myself for home. But then I'm not allowed to use it in the studio after work, heck if I use it at my PC at home I'm then not even allowed to sometimes work on my laptop. Which also means: If I buy two licenses then, and work with one more person then I'm already above the allowed limit.
For a freelancer that is highly unpractical.

Workstation licenses work the same for indie and commercial licenses - the license we generate is tied to your computer and it is not easy to move that around - otherwise it would essentially be a floating license.

And if I see this right - whenever my internet is broken I'm not allowed to work with my Houdini License at all‽ Was a real WTF moment seeing that.

Workstation licenses get installed from the internet but once they are in place you do not need an internet connection to use them. Where did you read that an internet connection would be needed? I think that was referring to installation not long term use.

The next step would be to get Core… but then that restricts the features you most specifically were looking at Houdini for anyways. The price step to FX seems ‘out there’. And if I think about all the file formats for the licenses and how they could interact, my brain breaks completely. Compare this with Substance Painter - their “rent to own” license is extremely simple and fair. So much that I enjoy paying them.

Choose Houdini Core if you want procedural modeling or terrain generation tools in your game pipeline. Many game studios using Houdini are creating this kind of game art and Houdini Core fits the bill. If you want to create in-game VFX then you would need Houdini FX. The rent-to-own option is interesting - thanks for pointing that out. We have recently announced new rental pricing that makes it easier for freelancers to access licenses as they need them. You could consider getting Houdini Core for your day-to-day work then renting (or have your client rent) a Houdini FX license when a project demands it.

I'm sure it's all good once you know how it works, and that there are reasons like fear of piracy behind it, but it probably scares honest users instead. Even I (with determination and time to spare on research) end up with a big question mark. Maybe this works for AAA game studios, but I can't see how smaller game studios are supposed to pick this up.

I really appreciate the time you have taken to bring up these issues. Our licensing is definitely wired more for a studio setup and it is good to hear the issues freelancers and smaller studios face. This feedback will help us figure out better solutions in the future.

I am looking into whether or not a complete list can be created. Until then here is a wallpaper with some of the main Shortcuts:

You can learn about all of the winning entries here:

Thanks to everyone who entered and to the judges for helping us make the right choice:

https://www.sidefx.com/community/marvelous-machines-winning-artwork/ [sidefx.com]

Robert

Still working through the entries. Getting close - will announce winners before the end of this week.

Robert

We are still working with the judges - winners will be announced as soon as this process is finished.

Houdini scenes and Digital Assets cannot be shared between Houdini Indie and Commercial Houdini (Core and FX) pipelines. That breaks the EULA in two ways - one mixing files from two different types of products and the commercial customer likely makes more than 100K therefore indie shouldn't be involved.

Freelancers using Indie can export results in other formats (exr, geo, obj, tiff) to larger clients but cannot share native Houdini file formats. If a Freelancer needs to work with a commercial client using native Houdini file formats then a commercial license of Houdini (Core or FX) is required.

If you upgrade from Indie to a commercial version of Houdini then we will do a one-time conversion of files that you need in the standard .hip file format. Indie uses .hiplc and Apprentice uses .hipnc.

Welcome to the Houdini Jobs Forum. This is for studios to post jobs to the community.

Please include clear recruiting contact information so that the candidates can get back to you through your official channels.

Day of week is now show, displayed entries field is now in place and the from/two fields are now named properly. We are working on getting them ordered properly on mobile.

The new Journal (renamed Changelog) is now up and running:

http://www.sidefx.com/changelog/ [sidefx.com]

On May 27th 2016 the Houdini Community suffered a loss when Chris Maynard of cmiVFX passed away. Chris was a long-time supporter of Houdini and worked with talented artists to create an impressive library of Houdini learning materials. Our condolences go to his family and friends and we are sorry for their loss. You can read more about Chris here:

http://www.obitsforlife.com/obituary/1331671/Maynard-Christopher.php [obitsforlife.com]

You can also hear Chris talk in his own words in his last interview:

http://thevirtualassist.net/chris-maynard-cmivfx-owner-interview/ [thevirtualassist.net]

cmiVFX is going to continue. The team there will post more information about that some time soon. A gofundme campaign was started for his family but was taken down to give the family time to grieve. If it is reposted, we will add the link here.

Robert

The journal (renamed the Changelog) is now available natively on the new website:

http://www.sidefx.com/changelog/ [sidefx.com]

This should work more effectively and won't require a redirect to the old site.

Thanks for your patience as we migrate to the new site. Downloads and the Store are now being worked on!

Robert

These lessons are also available in the tutorial section [sidefx.com] - you can filter down to Houdini 15.5 and QuickStart to see them all:

mandrake0
tutorial section:

i just made a tutorial and i can't add a hip or a zip file. it would be nice to add this functionality otherwise i have to link it to another site.

the tutorial builder misses a code block element.

i also can't delete tutorials where are in draft mode.

We will be adding the ability to upload files in the future. For now, you can host the files on someplace like dropbox or google drive then you can add the link to a button in the tutorial layout.

You can now set up the SideFX forum to display using a dark theme.

To do this:

1. Login to the site and go to your profile - mouse over your avatar and choose Manage Account
   
2. Click on the Forum tab
   
3. Choose from the Theme menu