Realtime FX

Bring blockbuster-quality effects into your games with Houdini’s award-winning particle and dynamics tools. Perfect for prototyping interactive experiences, Houdini lets you create stunning FX using particles, rigid body destruction, fluids and more. Export seamlessly to vertex animation textures, sprites, vectors and flow maps to deliver high-performance visuals optimized for real-time gameplay.

SideFX Labs

SideFX Labs includes tools such as Vertex Animation Textures and Texture Sheet Export to make it easier for artists to take Realtime FX to video games. This repository of tools continues to grow and also includes an advanced File Cache node that works well with Pyro FX simulations.

Game Engine Workflows

Through SideFX Labs, there are new workflows for getting PyroFX simulations properly represented in your game engine. With a growing number of tutorials, these workflows become easier to learn and more accessible to artists.

Content Library

Zibra VDB

ZibraVDB for Houdini (Alpha), brings a cutting-edge VDB compression, accelerated playback, and real-time rendering technology into Houdini’s ecosystem, integrating seamlessly into existing artist workflows. It significantly reduces storage costs, improves volumetric data I/O speeds, and ultimately makes it easier and more practical to share working projects and distribute final products containing high-fidelity volumetric effects.

HOUDINI IN PRODUCTION

MetaMeow: Realtime FX

Learn how Houdini's SideFX Labs tools can help developers create games from indie to AAA scale. Explore Unreal Engine 5 features allowing realistic rendering of fluid and ocean simulation from Houdini. Additionally, compare Houdini with other alternatives including Blender's Geometry Nodes, evaluating performance and visual quality.

Flowmaps

Flowmaps are designed to function in your game engine. The flowmap is driven by a texture generated in Houdini. A number of different Labs nodes are needed to generate the flowmap. All aspects of the process are completely procedural, and even allow for some manual tweaks using the flowmap brush.

SideFX Labs Nodes

Here some of the nodes to look out for when working with Realtime FX in Houdini. These SideFX Labs nodes let you take simulations in Houdini and export them to your game engine.

Labs Vertex Animation Textures

Labs Flipbook Textures

Labs Destruction Cleanup

Labs Make Loop

Labs ZibraVDB File Cache

Labs ZibraVDB Compress

Labs Niagara ROP

Labs Fire Presets

Labs Flowmap

Labs Flowmap Obstacle

Labs Flowmap Visualize

Labs Flowmap to Color

LEARNING RESOURCES

Check out a growing collection of curated lessons focused on Realtime FX in Houdini.

REALTIME FX LEARNING PATH

REALTIME FX TOOLS ARE AVAILABLE IN:

Houdini CORE* | Houdini FX | Houdini Indie | Houdini Education | Houdini Apprentice

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* ONLY SOP LEVEL SIMULATION TOOLS