HOUDINI APPRENTICE · FREE LEARNING EDITION
Take the Leap into Houdini.
Houdini is the 3D software behind the effects, worlds and visuals that make people stop and stare, from shows such as House of Dragon to games such as Arc Raiders. Make it bigger, wilder and more beautiful, and keep reshaping it until it’s exactly what you imagined.
Houdini Apprentice gives you virtually the full Houdini toolset, free for personal, non-commercial projects. Download it today and start creating.
Made by students learning Houdini
Free to download and use
Available for Linux, Windows and MacOS
WHY ARTISTS LOVE HOUDINI
Keep playing until it’s perfect.
Houdini remembers every creative choice you make, so nothing is ever locked in. Make the wave bigger, the explosion slower, the canyon deeper — and watch your whole scene follow along. You spend your time chasing ideas, not redoing work.
Say yes to every idea
Try bold versions and wild variations without starting over. Your best idea is often the tenth one.
Nature at your command
Fire, smoke, water, sand, cloth and hair behave like the real thing — and still go exactly where you want them.
Happy accidents, on purpose
Randomize, remix and explore. Houdini turns up surprising results you’d never sculpt by hand.
A style that’s yours to define
Create looks no preset or plug-in can give you, so your work looks like no one else’s.
WHATEVER YOU CREATE
Bring your vision to life.
Houdini is for more than FX specialists. Whatever you love to make, here’s how it helps you make more of it.
FX exactly how you pictured
Explosions, crashing waves, crumbling buildings, swirling magic. Shape the timing, scale and personality of every effect until it hits just right — with the same tools behind major films and series.
Characters full of life
Add the subtle motion that makes audiences believe: muscles that flex, cloth that swings, hair that catches the wind. Spend your time on the performance, not the busywork.
Worlds for your stories
Raise mountains, flood valleys, fill the sky with clouds, then light your scene and render the final frame without leaving Houdini. Capture a real place with Gaussian Splats to add to your scene.
Game levels you can reshape
Draw a path and watch a forest, village or dungeon grow around it. Change your mind and it rebuilds itself. Bring your game ideas to life with rich environments and effects — and play them in Unreal and Unity when you move up to Houdini Education or Houdini Indie.
Motion that surprises
Particles, patterns, morphing shapes and hypnotic loops you can push in any direction. When the idea evolves, tweak a value instead of rebuilding your design.
3D that stops the scroll
Satisfying simulations, impossible materials and abstract loops stand out in any social media feed. Build your style and your portfolio for free in Apprentice — and when your content starts earning, step up to Houdini Indie.
YOU WON'T LEARN ALONE
Houdini is free. So is the learning.
Houdini goes deep, and that’s what makes it so rewarding. You won’t be figuring it out alone. SideFX and the Houdini community have built a huge library of free lessons, sample projects and talks, so you always know what to try next.
Houdini 22 also adds richer tooltips that explain each tool as you use it.
HOUDINI APPRENTICE
Up and running in three steps
01
Download
Get the Houdini installer from the SideFX download page and install it.
02
Launch & License
On first launch, leave “Install my free Houdini Apprentice license” selected and click Next.
03
Start Creating
Open a Foundations tutorial and make your first project the same day.
CHOOSE YOUR EDITION
Start free. Grow when you’re ready.
Houdini Apprentice, Houdini Education and Houdini Indie all work like the full version of Houdini FX. Start free with Apprentice, use Education while you’re a student, and move to Indie when your work starts earning. What changes is who each one is for, how you can use your work, and how you render it.
| How they differ | Apprentice | Education | Indie |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $95 USD / year | $299 USD / year or $449 USD / 2 years |
| Who it’s for | Anyone learning — students, artists and hobbyists | Validated students (instructors and secondary schools can contact SideFX for free licenses) | Independent artists and small studios earning under $100K USD a year, or with under $1M USD in funding |
| Commercial use | No — personal, non-commercial projects | No — learning and teaching | Yes, within Indie limits |
| Render resolution | Up to 1920×1080 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Render watermark | Yes (except .picnc files) | No | No |
| Karma render licenses | 1 | 10 | 2 |
| Third-party renderers | No | Yes | Yes |
| Houdini Engine (Unreal, Unity, Maya, 3ds Max) | No | Yes [Engine Education included] | Yes [Engine Indie free] |
| Scene file format | .hipnc | .hipnc [opens Apprentice files] | .hiplc |
| License term | 30 days, renews free (online check monthly) |
Annual | 1 or 2 years Up to 3 licenses per facility |
Students: home and school, one workflow
Apprentice and Education share the .hipnc format. Work at home for free, then bring the same files into Houdini Education to render at higher resolution without a watermark.
Ready to get paid? Go Indie.
Freelance jobs, monetized channels, sponsored posts and games for sale are commercial work. Houdini Indie gives you the same tools with unlimited resolution, no watermark and Houdini Engine.
Apprentice cannot be used in the same pipeline as commercial or Indie versions of Houdini, and digital assets made in Apprentice can’t be used with Houdini Engine. See the End User License Agreement for full details and the full comparison chart for every Houdini edition.
WHAT WILL YOU MAKE FIRST?
Your next idea is one download away. Get Houdini Apprentice free and start creating today.