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TOTAL DURATION: 1h 8m 23s

In this lesson, you will take your first steps into Houdini as you model a coffee cup then use dynamics to simulate a collection of gumballs falling into it. You will apply textures and materials, add lights and a camera then render out the finished sequence. By touching all aspects of this shot, you will begin learning how to navigate your way through Houdini and its node-based workflow.

This lesson includes a Step by Step PDF document to help guide you.

Return to Foundations 20.5

CREATED BY

rmagee
ROBERT MAGEE

Robert Magee is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at SideFX who has been working with Houdini for 20 years. He has created lots of learning material and demos designed to help artists understand how going procedural with Houdini can benefit their work.

More from Robert Magee

COMMENTS

  • chrisabruce 9 months, 1 week ago  | 

    This is a great set of beginner lessons. I like how it covers all the newer features like solaris and copernicus.

  • knockflakes 9 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Thänx a lot for this great tutorial! So many useful tipps!

  • PerpetualZest 9 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Just leaving this comment in case someone has a similar issue. I had an issue with shadows not displaying in the viewer in Solaris (Video #4). I realized that I only had "Full Lighting" enabled, but I needed the next button down, "Full Lighting with Shadows" to be enabled instead. They are small buttons on the right side of the viewer that look like a lightbulb with a "+" sign inside.

    Anyway, thanks for posting this series, I'm enjoying learning from it so far.

    • dinhphat255 4 months ago  | 

      bro thanks alot I have the same problem

  • LuzidVision 9 months ago  | 

    Just as PerpetualZest said, to have the cup cast shadows on the ground in the viewport render, go to
    Scene view -> Display Options -> Lights Tab -> Lighting Quality: Full Lighting with Shadows

  • piumal89001 9 months ago  | 

    perfect tutorial.really good for beginners.❤️

  • ertemi 9 months ago  | 

    This is truly the best tutorial I have seen so far.
    You can see the effort put into explaining every detail.
    Thanks to Mr. ROBERT MAGEE

  • ashimialz163 9 months ago  | 

    very useful for beginner like me，thx a lot

  • markeloff 8 months, 4 weeks ago  | 

    does anyone know how to solve this error from video 6?

    "Unable to find layer file: 20.5.278/projects/overview_lesson/usd/gumball_sim.usd"

    "Targeted missing explicit primitive: /gumball_sim"

    the error is at the reference node

    • johnkozikowski 1 month, 2 weeks ago  | 

      is it a .usdnc because you don't have a commercial licence? the nc means nothing, just "non commercial"

  • johntdp 8 months, 3 weeks ago  | 

    I got stuck in Chapter 3. Can’t get Copy to Points to work. I have nothing selected, click Copy to Points. I get the prompt to select the first object. I click on the node for the sphere and hit enter, but then do not get the second prompt to select the box. Instead it just opens up the sphere node. What am I doing wrong? Thanks!

    • chretien 8 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

      I got the same issue, I solved it by placing my cursor to the viewport panel instead of having it in the goemetry panel.
      Hope it helps.

      • chretien 8 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

        to clarify, after clicking copy to point and selecting the sphere before you hit enter move your cursor to the viewport panel not the node/geometry panel.. hope it clearer

      • vstevenson 8 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

        This is rarely ever mentioned in even the most fundamental beginner tutorials. I can count on my hand the number of times I've heard a presenter mention it having watched literally 100s of Houdini videos over the years. Thank you for taking your time to mention this very important note for new users.

      • sebABF 1 month, 2 weeks ago  | 

        Thank you! I just got stuck here with the same problem.

  • pierrx666 8 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

    in chapter 5
    at the reference nod creation
    at file pattern windows
    I had to select the all files sign in the drop menu bottom right (the little star : only *)
    because my usd file saved in the step just before is a .usdnc instead of a .usd as shown in the video
    I was stuck here for 1 hour retrying the steps many times before I found this.
    is it normal ?

    • Vin20 7 months, 1 week ago  | 

      Yes it happened to me as well, thanks for the help, after clicking on the file, I also had to click the little box that said make path relative to current Directory

  • jollysweets 8 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

    this was great, useful and easy to follow! thank you so much!

  • ignacio.nevarezzuniga 8 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Excellent course, Robert is a great teacher

  • sina122020 8 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Thanx. The best path for every beginner is to watch these videos first.

  • remlapeel 8 months ago  | 

    Good at points, but clicks without explaining a lot, and like a lot of tutorials is tell you what to click and not why.

  • Eddie_Roach 7 months, 3 weeks ago  | 

    When I import my cup into solaris stage it returns to default. It loses the handle, the subdivisions, etc. Also the ground geo doesn't sit within the geo drop down of the scene grpah path after merging it with the cup geo.

    • Eddie_Roach 7 months, 3 weeks ago  | 

      Looks like I had to change SOP Import Mode to "Display". I now can't seem to get any shadows on the ground geo when I add the point lights.

      • MataS9 7 months ago  | 

        How did you change the SOP Import mode?
        BTW you have to use the buttons on the right of the viewport and select the one that has a lightbulb and a black hole thing under it to have shadows. good luck!

  • cruzdh2035 7 months, 3 weeks ago  | 

    In chapter 6 when I click "File Pattern" to import the balls to the stage, the file gumballs_sim.usd doesn´t appear. I hope someone can help me with this problem :(

    • rmagee 7 months, 3 weeks ago  | 

      Are you using apprentice? Then you need usdnc. If that is not it then choose usd from the menu next to the file name.

      • cruzdh2035 7 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

        It worked, thank you so much :)

      • Laura-89 4 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

        I need help. I'm using Houdini Apprentice. I'm currently on chapter 6 trying to add file pattern. When I click on USD and see gumball_sim, it's got a folder logo next to it instead of a paper logo. When I click on it, there's nothing there. I am unsure of what to do?

        • Laura-89 4 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

          Don't worry I figured it out :) However, I just pressed play on the animation and the gumballs are going through the floor :/ lol. What have I done wrong??

          • waterqube 2 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

            Got the same problem I need help

  • santanacarlos 7 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

    Thank you for this very useful content. As a beginner it can be a bit overwhelming but this type of video helps a lot to understand the procedural functioning of Houdini.

  • skygenesis86 7 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Hello All,
    I have done this tutorial 3 times now and I keep getting the same error on part 6 step 8. After I click render to disk I get a red triangle with the errors:

    "failed to create file "C:/Users/virid/AppData/Local/Temp/houdini_temp/usd_renders/usdrender_2756_1256_1/bump_normal.1.exr : No such file or directory"
    and
    "Unable to fetch texture file from COPs: op:/stage/ground_mat_maps/specular_color[1]"

    Has anyone had this issue?

  • TailedWorld 7 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Robert, is there any written form for this tutorial? I still learn via reading & doing. Yes, I am that old..

    • TailedWorld 7 months, 1 week ago  | 

      Sorry.. just found the step by step pdf. Ty

  • MataS9 7 months ago  | 

    Hello. I am having a problem with part 6. I am using Apprentice if that helps in any way. For some reason the gumballs don't collide the same way in the OBJ network. Any help would.. help!

    • skspsenthilkumar 6 months, 4 weeks ago  | 

      Experiencing the same. Any help?

    • rmagee 6 months, 4 weeks ago  | 

      Hard to figure out without the scene file - can you post to learning forum and ping me to download - thanks

      • skspsenthilkumar 6 months, 3 weeks ago  | 

        Thanks for the reply. Sent files for your perusal.

        • piddmotion 5 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

          hi, i have the same issues. where can i see your post?. i can't find it in learning forum - thanks

  • Victor1997 6 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

    Hi, when i choose tube it comes up with just a white outline and nothing i do makes an actual visible tube appear.

  • adarve 6 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

    Thank yo for this content, it help us a lot

  • KingGristy 6 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Getting this error when trying to combine,

    Event Queue Full. Events being dropped:
    UI_EVENT_REDRAW to UI_Window
    Event Queue dropping 13272 events.
    Event Queue Full. Events being dropped:
    UI_EVENT_VALUE_CHANGE to FUI_NetNavigator
    Event Queue dropping 46 events.

    Any ideas?

    • rmagee 6 months, 1 week ago  | 

      Is this the latest build of Houdini 20.5? Maybe try another build or submit your issue to support.

  • Vinicius Freire 6 months, 1 week ago  | 

    excellent class, I already had a headache looking for classes on YouTube, some say they are for beginners but they are not. I will watch all sidefx content. grateful

  • yev 6 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Oh my god, this is so good! Thank you very much for your time and effort!

  • nghnerklc 6 months ago  | 

    I'm stuck editing the material properties. It doesn't have the same color options as the instructor's material. When I searched for "quick," nothing came up, so I had to look under "material" instead. I was hoping to catch up on the first day of the Mardini contest, but it looks like I have a long way to go. :(

  • rmagee 6 months ago  | 

    share your file on the Learning forum and ping me - I will take a look. And in the post let me know what version of Houdini are you using?

    https://www.sidefx.com/forum/10/

    • nghnerklc 6 months ago  | 

      Hey dear instructor,
      I'm so grateful for your responsive help! Today, Ive been granted an indie trial for the contest, and I just checked the "quick material" prompt in Solaris—it's there now! 😊 If I get stuck again, I’ll kindly reach out for your support. Thank you so much! 🙏✨

      • moselhyahmed6 5 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

        how did you fix it

  • Character_animator 5 months, 4 weeks ago  | 

    Thank you so much for such a great lesson. Everything is on the shelves and there is no confusion!!!

  • ale85 5 months, 3 weeks ago  | 

    Hello, I have a problem, in Solaris when I set the metalness to 0.8 in the gumballs material and render it, the render is like full of little white dots on the balls and it goes away just if I reduce the metalness to 0.3 or lower. It's not the first time it happens and I have no idea how to solve it, I tried everything. Any help?
    Thank you

    • canislupus 5 months, 1 week ago  | 

      I have the same problem :((((

  • michallis 5 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

    Great lesson, after having already some basic understanding, the added value is great as the tutorial is done with new features in mind.
    Thank you

  • moselhyahmed6 5 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

    hey i have the same problem as nghnerlc had
    I cant find the quick material in the tap in solarias any help ?

    • rmagee 5 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

      Is your mouse over the network? It won't work if your mouse is over the viewport - Also you need to make sure you are at /stage which is a Solaris network.

  • alexandrewill159 5 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

    "Unable to fetch texture file from COPs: op:/stage/ground_mat_maps/specular_color[1]"

    Has anyone had this issue?

  • canislupus 5 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Hi, I'm stuck. Nothing appears to me about the "quick material". I tried to get a houdini indie license but I think that didn't help at all. I need help.

    • canislupus 5 months, 1 week ago  | 

      Ok, I fixed it by putting in an Edit Material Properties but I don't get the options to change the color or anything like that. Now I don't get anything out of the COP Network, I can't edit the floor. Do I have to buy or download something specific so that these nodes come out?

  • KTTC 4 months, 4 weeks ago  | 

    Hi all, im new to Houdini and this is a great tutorial however im having issue of some gumballs going through the cup, anyone know how to fix this or might be causing this?
    Im wondering if i didnt do something right possibly during copytopoints?
    TIA

    • rmagee 4 months, 3 weeks ago  | 

      If this is happening at the end of the lesson it is possible that you didn't recache the simulation so the simulation is working with the smaller cut instead of the taller one.

  • marcinkepski1992 4 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

    Shift + wtf? nothing happen

  • marcinkepski1992 4 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

    update

    dont use + from num keyboard

    working.

    • ejiresch 3 months, 3 weeks ago  | 

      "shift +" does not work for me in lesson 1, no matter if I use the num key or not

      • ejiresch 3 months, 3 weeks ago  | 

        fixed it, had to change the hotkey (was assigned to shift + =)

  • Immy_Raja 4 months, 1 week ago  | 

    hi there, really enjoying the tutorial but stuck on something,

    in lesson six. when i go into object veiw and scrub, i dont see any gumballs

    any help would be great

    • Immy_Raja 4 months, 1 week ago  | 

      solved my own problem. i was had to refresh karma

  • Ross68 3 months, 3 weeks ago  | 

    Hi, part 4 point 1, no geo directory displayed in the panels (and no cup object in the scene). Apprentice. Thanks in advance.

  • viraj_dey 3 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

    Please need assistance. Having problem with Lesson 3, I made the Sphere and the Box objects, now at Object Level with nothing selected, I select Copy to Points, but when I select the Sphere and press Enter, it takes me to the Geometry Level of the Sphere, same when I select the Box. I tried selecting both Sphere and Box together and then pressing Enter but it takes me to the Geometry Level. Copy to Points isn't working for me. What do I do? I'm new to Houdini and using Houdini Apprentice.

    • viraj_dey 3 months, 1 week ago  | 

      Problem solved.

      • rmagee 3 months, 1 week ago  | 

        Glad to hear it.

  • viraj_dey 3 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Help!!! Lesson 6, I did everything right, but when I Render to Disk using usdrender_rop, it doesn't render, it finishes before 72 frames, so far I could only render 1-3 frames when I checked in MPlay, Load Image tab. I am using Houdini Apprentice and lowered render resolution to 1280x720, still does not render. There is a error red triangle with an exclamation mark on usdrender_rop, inside node info it says:
    Failed to complete render: exit code -1073741571
    Use a Log Viewer with External Render Processes enabled for more information.
    Command Exit Code: -1073741571

    describe failed on plugin com.borisfx.silhouette.plugin.ofx

    • rmagee 3 months, 1 week ago  | 

      I would suggest touching base with support - sounds like a technical issue.

  • gamaod 3 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Hi,
    I am on Part Six, step 01. When I Save To Disk, it saves the file as $HIP/usd/gumball_sim.usdnc. i have no idea where the nc at the end comes from. I can select it after I remove the nc at the end, but when I get to Step 02 nothing shows up in the Scene Graph Path panel in the bottom left. Up to this point I have had no problems with the tutorial, so what did I do wrong?

    • rmagee 3 months, 1 week ago  | 

      It is because you are using Apprentice or the Education version of Houdini. Instead of removing the nc - set the "Show files matching" list to * when you load the file. This should make the file available for selection.

  • Angelman609 3 months ago  | 

    Great tutorial, thanks Robert!

  • FrankieGrimes 2 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

    in chapter 2 "working with nodes" when I move the color node to after the tube node, the cup changes shape to a shot glass.
    using apprentice 20.5.613

  • THEMINGKING 2 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Hi there, I'm unable to complete Step 6 because the Render to Disk process receives an error that pops up after 1 out of 72 frames has been rendered.
    I got an error inside the USD Render ROP node which says this:
    Command Exit Code: -1073740791

    kOfxStatErrMissingHostFeature
    describe failed on plugin com.FXHOME.HitFilm.BleachBypass
    kOfxStatErrMissingHostFeature
    describe failed on plugin com.FXHOME.HitFilm.LightFlares
    kOfxStatErrMissingHostFeature
    describe failed on plugin com.FXHOME.HitFilm.ScanLines
    kOfxStatErrMissingHostFeature
    describe failed on plugin com.FXHOME.HitFilm.ThreeStripColor
    kOfxStatErrMissingHostFeature
    describe failed on plugin com.FXHOME.HitFilm.TVDamage
    kOfxStatErrMissingHostFeature
    describe failed on plugin com.FXHOME.HitFilm.Vibrance
    kOfxStatErrMissingHostFeature
    describe failed on plugin com.FXHOME.HitFilm.WitnessProtection
    [14:29:08] Clamped resolution to: [1280, 720]

    Also every time I start up Houdini Apprentice, I get an error on the Houdini Console which says this:
    describe failed on plugin com.FXHOME.HitFilm.BleachBypass
    describe failed on plugin com.FXHOME.HitFilm.LightFlares
    describe failed on plugin com.FXHOME.HitFilm.ScanLines
    describe failed on plugin com.FXHOME.HitFilm.ThreeStripColor
    describe failed on plugin com.FXHOME.HitFilm.TVDamage
    describe failed on plugin com.FXHOME.HitFilm.Vibrance
    describe failed on plugin com.FXHOME.HitFilm.WitnessProtection

    Is there a way to disable these plugins and how can I fix this error that doesn't allow me to render any objects?

  • rezapgurning 2 months ago  | 

    can anyone help me to find the quick cloud material?

  • ZzzZzzZzz2000 1 month, 3 weeks ago  | 

    I do not have a solaris renderer desktop. So this course sadly ends with video #4 for me.

    • ZzzZzzZzz2000 1 month, 3 weeks ago  | 

      Okay, found the sub-menu. Sry!

  • Marco1110 1 month, 1 week ago  | 

    If anyone like me had an issue with the balls not colliding with the cup, you need to plug in the object merge node in the 3rd pin of the rbdbulletsolver node rather than in the 4rth pin

    • rmagee 1 month, 1 week ago  | 

      It should be the fourth - that is the collision input

      • Marco1110 1 month, 1 week ago  | 

        I double checked and you're absolutely right. I've initially plugged it into the 5th pin thinking it was the 4th cause I didn't realise this node had 5 pins

  • brad-NBO 1 month ago  | 

    I have a question in chapter 3 regarding the Convex Collision Shape for the cup.

    The gumballs, the first half of them just pass through the bottom and sides of the cup rolling on the ground. The remaining stay in the cup and stack up and overflow as expected.

    I've tweaked as many parameters as I could and even tried rearrange the order of the nodes to see what that would do but nothing changed the behavior.

    Any suggestions what it may be that is causing this? I tried all the other collision shapes and they seem to work as expected. I am using the latest Apprentice version since a couple of days ago, 20.5.613.

    Thanks, love the tutorial and Houdini, it's awesome

    • brad-NBO 1 month ago  | 

      I was trying to add more objects and added a RBD Bullet Solver node for each object. The sim doesn't like it, it partially works. There must be a way to have multiple objects in the scene for a sim, eventually I'll find it. Individually the objects work perfectly but the way I added multiple RBD Bullet Solvers tied into the Merge Display didn't work as expected.

  • johan.axdorph 1 month ago  | 

    Got stuck at chapter 2 at 01:25. He sets the Justify Z to "None" in order to center the cup in the Match size node, but when I set it to none nothing happens at all. "Min" and "Max" makes it move but "None" does nothing. Does anyone know why?

    • johan.axdorph 1 month ago  | 

      I solved it. Had to put Justify X to "none" instead of Justify Z.

  • brad-NBO 1 month ago  | 

    In chapter 4 I find the Karma XPU leaves a pixelized outline around objects and the denoise doesn't get rid of it.
    But the Karma CPU functions well. Not sure if using the CPU makes much difference than the XPU. I'm using a laptop NVIDIA 3070 with 6gb vram so maybe that may be a limitation for future considerations?

  • blorgbyr 3 weeks ago  | 

    Just finished the whole thing and it was amazing! Only question is any idea why my renders are 1280x720 resolution even though in the render settings they´re set to 1920 x 1080?

    • blorgbyr 3 weeks ago  | 

      Might be a license issue now that I think of it.

  • emilytrantow98 2 weeks ago  | 

    Great intro to Houdini! Modeling the coffee cup and then adding the gumball dynamics is a fantastic way to learn the node-based workflow. This reminds me of the procedural generation possibilities in games, specifically thinking about procedural map creation like in Pokerogue, and how a detailed Pokerogue Dex could benefit from similar data management. I appreciate the PDF guide for beginners! https://playpokerogue.com

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