This video includes 12 tips and tricks for working efficiently during the month long challenge. Moeen Sayed has entered these contests in the past and has some great advice for keeping your head above water.



Note: The longer videos that Moeen mentions will be coming soon. They will get posted in this thread.

Here is an early posting of the Day 1 Challenge for Mardini 2025. The first week focuses on Modeling using SOPS and the day 1 prompt is Toy. Your creativity will fill in the rest! The results should be rendered but don't need textures because the focus is on the shape you create. You can texture it in week 2 using COPS.

To be eligible for the daily prizes, you must post your Day 1 animation to this thread before midnight EST on March 1st. There is another thread for images. You can enter either an Image or Animation on any one day. You cannot enter both on the same day. You can create an Image one day and an Animation another.

Please go back to the Rules Page [www.sidefx.com] before diving in. Best of Luck!

Note: if you are posting to the SideFX forum for the first time then your post needs to be reviewed. You don't need to post multiple times. We will get to it! Also be sure to stick with the same username for the whole contest - if you change your username partway through your points could get mixed up.

Here is an early posting of the Day 1 Challenge for Mardini 2025. The first week focuses on Modeling using SOPS and the day 1 prompt is Toy. Your creativity will fill in the rest! The results should be rendered but don't need textures because the focus is on the shape you create. You can texture it in week 2 using COPS.

To be eligible for the daily prizes, you must post your Day 1 images to this thread before midnight EST on March 1st. There is another thread for animation. You can enter either an Image or Animation on any one day. You cannot enter both on the same day. You can create an Image one day and an Animation another.

Please go back to the Rules Page [www.sidefx.com] before diving in. Best of Luck!

Note: if you are posting to the SideFX forum for the first time then your post needs to be reviewed. You don't need to post multiple times. We will get to it! Also be sure to stick with the same username for the whole contest - if you change your username partway through your points could get mixed up.

"The only External geometry and texture maps that can be used as part of your submission are the Greyscalegorilla assets."

Check out the Mardini page to learn how you can use Greyscalegorilla Studio with Houdini to access assets. There are up to 50 free assets if you are not subscribed. If you subscribe then you have access to thousands more!

Be sure to mention if you use GSG in your entry. Then we can collect those entries for GSG to review.

------------------------

Elevate your 3D workflow with Greyscalegorilla Studio, the desktop app that seamlessly integrates over 5,000 premium materials, models, textures, and HDRIs directly into Houdini.

With our one-click Connector plugin, effortlessly browse, preview, and import assets into Houdini, streamlining your creative process. Stay organized with intuitive search and personalized favorites, ensuring you spend less time searching and more time creating.

Learn More... [greyscalegorilla.com]

Requson
Pure Houdini with no outside geo or textures... sounds daunting but I'm game

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In past years people who have focused on Houdini felt they had a disadvantage to people who used outside content. This evens the fields a bit.

Note that Content Library Material (https://www.sidefx.com/contentlibrary/) can be used to support your work. There are even some textures in there.

Umang_Raj
In which timezone the daily prompt will be posted from?

All the prompts have been posted - the forums for you to submit your work will go up based on the Eastern Standard Time (EST) That is also used for the deadlines. The details are in the rules.

Robert

geetee2323
thanks for clarifying that Maestro Magee, and thanks for doing the foundations book, I got it just two days ago
highly recommend it, its old school in all the best possible ways.

That should be helpful with Mardini - be sure to note that there are three new Foundation lessons available on this page (https://www.sidefx.com/learn-main-menu/start-here/) that aren't in the book yet. Each of them have PDF chapters that match the foundation book style.

playhead
Is this all the prompt-related info for the whole month, or will more details be given daily?

Yes - this is all there is - you take the weekly topic - for instance Model: SOP - and create a model using the daily prompt - day 1 is toy. You should use SOPS in some capacity to create a model of a toy.

maitlandvt
Howdee Mr. Mageee! I wondered, are there gonna be specific nodes featured each day, as well?

Not this year - the weekly theme defines what part of Houdini you should focus on and the prompt is a creative theme. This should give you a bit more freedom to choose nodes that you need for your project. We still want to see a screen grab to confirm that the Houdini context in question is where all the magic happens.

Here are the Daily Prompts. Your entry should use the context of Houdini featured for that week and then get inspiration from the daily prompt. Mardini has been designed so that models in week 1, can be textured in week 2, animated in week3, simulated in week 4 and rendered in week 5. While you don't have to carry over your work in this way it is certainly one strategy for managing the workload.

MathiasJ
Might brave this again.

We allowed to use apps like Nuke/Resolve for comp or should it be COPs?

COPS - all in Houdini this year!

If you are entering Mardini and were planning to use Houdini Apprentice, you can work Watermark free with a 2-month copy of Houdini Indie. Click below to sign up for this FREE license:

https://forms.gle/4EGnXmtenn7JJNvg6 [forms.gle]

Get Ready for the MARDINI Daily Art Challenge - your chance to compete for cool prizes by creating images or animations! With a different challenge every day during the month of March, you'll have 31 chances to enter and win.

This year, each week features a different Houdini focus area – with a daily prompt to inspire your artwork. As usual, the judges will be looking at the aesthetics of your artwork.

Check out all the details for Mardini 2025:

https://www.sidefx.com/community-main-menu/contests-jams/mardini-2025/ [www.sidefx.com]

If you have any questions - post them to this thread. Don't start any threads of your own - daily threads will be made available for you to post entries.

Prompts will be posted on Feb 28, 2025!

We posted the Electra Rig file in the Content Library:

https://www.sidefx.com/contentlibrary/electra-rig-h205/ [www.sidefx.com]

Hopefully that can help.

Does anyone have the free Houdini Engine for Unreal/Unity installed? This a commercial license that will interfere with education licenses. What happens is that when you open up Unreal it finds the commercial license then when you load an education asset it is rejected because those files aren't allow in commercial software.

Get rid of the free Houdini Engine for Unreal/Unity and then your education license will be used for the HE for Unreal and the .hdanc file will be accepted.

Robert

I am not updating it for H20 - will update it for the next release - working on it now

Robert

Congratulations to everyone for a great month of art and animation, to everyone who completed the Iron Heart and to Jan for winning best collection. Best Image/Animation judging is also now complete and available on the Winners Page [www.sidefx.com].

For everyone who won daily prizes or Iron Heart SWAG Packs (and you submitted your contact sheet on time) please fill out the following form:

PRIZE CLAIM QUESTIONNAIRE [docs.google.com]

Note that you can only win one daily prize even if you won on multiple days.

For anyone missing prizes from Mardini 2023 make sure you have filled out this form [docs.google.com] and we will address those missing prizes when we fulfill Mardini 2024.

Congratulations to the winners. Everyone is listed here:

https://www.sidefx.com/community-main-menu/contests-jams/h20-tech-art-challenge/ [www.sidefx.com]

Congratulations to everyone for getting to the end of Mardini 2024. If you have completed entries for all 31 challenges please submit them by filling out the following contact sheet template and submitting a png file to this Iron Heart forum by April 5, 2023 at Midnight EDT to win an Iron Heart prize. This forum will be locked at that deadline so be sure to submit the contact sheet on time.

Note that these entries did not need to meet the daily deadlines, only the April 5 deadline. But all entries should be in their respective forum so we can see the full artwork/animation.

PS - be sure to include your SideFX website avatar in the top right corner.

Download the Contact Sheet Template [media.sidefx.com]

Last Day of Mardini 2024!- Day 31 is SideFX Labs Edge Smooth node:



There is not a scene file for this video. You can easily recreate the effect by following the video.

Thanks for participating - information about what comes next will be posted once the Day 31 daily winners have been announced.

PS - there have been many requests for these node videos to continue after Mardini - that is certainly something we are considering - we just need to give Moeen a chance to rest from the last month.