MACHINE LEARNING & AI
Artists and researchers can use Houdini to create large volumes of high-quality, labeled data for training models, including 3D geometry, simulations, and rendered imagery. Build custom datasets, simulate real-world conditions, and feed machine learning pipelines with precision and scalability.
ONNX Inference Engine
There are many systems to do training and these often require significant dependencies. However, often the resulting model consists of only a few simple operations. The ONNX format is a file format and inference engine that allows one to use models trained in PyTorch or TensorFlow in a common framework.
Terrain
This Terrain demo starts with the creation of an ML model that is used directly in Houdini. You can plug in your own terrain erosion HDAs, or heightfield patterns then use higher or lower resolution to compare results. Test against massive terrains, or work with small finely tuned details.
Copernicus Filters
The ONNX engine lets you build filters using Machine Learning to create custom results.
Deformer
Simulation can be used to obtain deformations that look more realistic than linear blend skinning. Can we learn from simulated poses to improve on linear blend skinning? This Machine Learning example shows how linear blend skinning can be improved on by learning from random poses.
Synthetic Data
Synthetic data is artificially generated information that mimics real-world data. It can be used to train, test, and validate machine learning models when real data is scarce, expensive, or biased.
Synthetic data plays a critical role in accelerating AI development by enabling greater diversity, control, and scalability across datasets. Houdini’s procedural workflow is uniquely suited to the demands of synthetic data generation.
SideFX has partnered with the AI Vision team at Endava, a next-generation technology services corporation, to bring you a suite of tools designed to facilitate creating dataset variations and annotations suitable for training Computer Vision scenarios.
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MACHINE LEARNING & AI
Beyond the built-in tools for ML in Houdini, many artists are linking outside AI models to the Houdini interface. Here are just a few.
Generative AI
Learn how cutting‑edge generative‑AI tools — Trellis, Hunyuan, and curated Hugging Face/Civitai models — can be leveraged inside Houdini’s procedural system to yield prompt‑driven meshes.
ML for Artists
A beginner-friendly overview of machine learning in Houdini, explaining core concepts like data collection, model training, and inference.
Houdini x ComfyUI
Take a look at how GenAI could be used in Houdini. Follow along with a demo showing how it is possible to do quick lookdev on a local workstation of to create texture options for a shot.
ML Nodes
Here some of the nodes to look out for when working with Machine Learning in Houdini. These are in the Task Operator or TOPS node network.
LEARNING RESOURCES
Check out a growing collection of lessons focused on ML in Houdini.
Machine Learning Tools
ML Sketching
ML Groom Deformer
MACHINE LEARNING IS AVAILABLE IN:
Houdini CORE | Houdini FX | Houdini Indie | Houdini Education | Houdini Apprentice