Tools for Digital Artists
SideFX Labs is a testing ground for over 150 tools designed to help you get up and running quicker. The SideFX Labs tools wrap up and release common workflows and create tight integrations with software you use everyday. The tools are developed outside the regular Houdini development cycle which makes them more accessible for testing and feedback.
Originally published as the Gamedev tools, this initiative has been rebranded as SideFX Labs to recognize that artists in different industries often share the same workflows, and that these tools can benefit the whole Houdini Community.
FX
Houdini is known for its strong FX tools and SideFX Labs has tools to process the results for use in a realtime environment for games or virtual production. Labs has a range of tools to help optimise and export your sims to textures, fbx, csv, etc.
MESH PROCESSING
There are a lot of steps to get quality meshes into your games - photogrammetry, topology cleanup, mesh reduction, uv layout, baking maps. Lab tools let you simplify that process with wrapped up workflows and integrations with popular software.
WORLD BUILDING
Digital worlds are becoming bigger and more complex and it is important to have an efficient world building workflow. Whether you want to recreate New York City, grow a dense forest or add interior details to your sci-fi adventure there are Lab tools for you.
INTEGRATIONS
One piece of software can't meet all the challenges you face in a day. Houdini can be the backbone to your pipeline, allowing other packages to send and receive assets to streamline your pipeline. SideFX Labs provides integrations that include support for photogrammetry, lookdev, texture generation and more.
ADOBE SUBSTANCE
Stay node-based and procedural for more of your process. The Substance plugin creates a tight relationship between texture generation and Houdini's powerful procedural tools for modelling.
ALICE VISION
Take a set of images and convert them into a highly detailed mesh with color using the AliceVision plugin. One node for simplified processing or break out each step to create a custom pipeline.
INSTANT MESHES
Convert your polygon soup into a clean, flowing mesh made up of quad topology with the Instant Meshes plugin. Redirecting the flow is as easy as laying down a paint stroke with this retopology tool.
INTEGRATION TOOLS
LABS TOOLS IN ACTION
SEA OF THIEVES | Valentine gives a comprehensive look at the adoption of Houdini by Tech Art while working on Sea of Thieves."Although we only began to learn and apply Houdini mid-way through production, it proved an invaluable tool in the Tech Art toolbelt. This talk explores the deepening link in our workflow between shader development and Houdini tooling with detailed breakdowns of specific use-cases, including lightning strikes, kraken tentacles, vomit and clouds."
CANDY CRUSH | We connect with Peter Ridgway, Global CG Supervisor, and Miguel Mendez, Technical Artist, on how KING has developed a global platform of modular tools that enables artists to develop 3D environments for any KING game. Using Houdini Engine, they can build and deploy Houdini tools to target apps such as Maya, 3ds Max, Unity, and their own proprietary engines - so that artists can use Houdini procedural technology in the software they already know how to use.
MORTAL KOMBAT | Dive into the techniques and production lessons learned during the development of Mortal Kombat 11 with Houdini. We will focus on our geometry cache pipeline which allowed us to leverage Houdini’s fluid simulation tools to drive our unique cinematic blood effects. As a studio new to Houdini, we will give a behind the scenes look at some of our assets and share a little bit of the wisdom we’ve gained while ramping up on Houdini over a two year development cycle.