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TOTAL DURATION: 1h 11m 23s

Take your first steps into the world of Houdini and begin to discover the power of its node-based workflow. As you progress, you'll build a complete scene from start to finish. Learn how to model, simulate, texture, light, and render a simple shot while exploring the core concepts that make Houdini such a flexible and procedural tool.

This lesson includes a step-by-step PDF which you can use to follow along the lesson supported by video tutorials.

CREATED BY

rmagee
ROBERT MAGEE

Robert Magee is a Senior Manager | Products and Customer Insights 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

  • matryl1 2 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Its good to check Render All Frames with a Single Process before render. It makes the render quicker.

  • Xianggf 2 months, 1 week ago  | 

    hello

  • bmbp 2 months, 1 week ago  | 

    when i add point light; why i can't point on the cup ; the point show in a length from cup

    • floriangoussin2021 1 month, 2 weeks ago  | 

      I have the same issue. I ended up placing the light using their gimbals. Could you find a way to fix your issue?

    • rmagee 1 month, 2 weeks ago  | 

      Point lights go in all directions which is why we didn't worry about pointing it in a specific direction.

  • tfcoutinho 2 months ago  | 

    Thanks a lot for this tutorial, It helped a lot to put a framework togheter including COPs.

    Cheers!

  • Charles Adams 1 month, 4 weeks ago  | 

    Is there a book?

    • rmagee 1 month, 3 weeks ago  | 

      There is a book for H19.5 - it is a little too old to be helpful with H22 - working through the H22 lessons right now to update them - hopefully this will lead to a H22 book

  • giapvo84 1 month, 4 weeks ago  | 

    I have finished all lessons today and I have a great feeling about Houdini. I was overwhelmed at Houdini for the first couple weeks but this series tighten everything together nicely. Now I can continue move on to the other beginner levels to build a strong foundation before going to intermediate level tutorials.

  • giapvo84 1 month, 3 weeks ago  | 

    Hi Robert,

    After watching other series on lookdev, I found there is Material Library node where users create USD MaterialX builder or Karma Material builder. Each builder is a material whereas with Texture Material Library, users can create many USD material and develop networks of material. Watching that series, I understand that USD MaterialX builder doesn't have some of the node that on Karma Material build has but users could export to other DCC to recognize like Maya LookdevX. So my question is, when to use the Texture Material Library like in this video and when to use the Material Library and create material builder?

    Thank you.
    Giap.

    • rmagee 1 month, 3 weeks ago  | 

      Texture Material Library takes you to the Copernicus context so your focus is on texturing. The final USD Material node generates a material for use in Solaris. The Material Library node is for building materials using various Material X nodes that can reference textures. You have more control over the parts of the material.

      • giapvo84 1 month, 3 weeks ago  | 

        I have done some research and I found Texture Material Library is like creating texture procedurally like Substance Designer. But it has a feature of outputting the material so users could use right away instead of referencing texture again in the builder to build a material. I hope I understand it correctly.

  • slmn2003 1 month, 3 weeks ago  | 

    Why dont you explain the code you write in parameter?

    • rmagee 1 month, 3 weeks ago  | 

      Which code are you referring to? Have you downloaded the PDF document - usually there is more detail in the PDF - the video's main goal is to act out the steps from the PDF.

      • slmn2003 1 month, 3 weeks ago  | 

        like that code you write about connecting an empty null constraint from a geo level to transform parameter's rotation and scale in the sop level of the football tutorial.

  • WUCHONG 1 month, 3 weeks ago  | 

    之前的好复杂我感觉22要好点。

  • rweeks 1 month, 3 weeks ago  | 

    in solaris, when created the grid and then the uvproject node - i don't see the uv's showing at all. i have clicked the uv toolbar icons to toggle them on/off and the material toolbar icon as well. how to see if the uv attributes are being created correctly.

    • rmagee 1 month, 2 weeks ago  | 

      On the UV project node go to the initialize tab and press Initialize - make sure you have the Handle tool selected when you do this.

  • rweeks 1 month, 3 weeks ago  | 

    i also dont have the toolbar button in the solaris scene viewer to toggle between the COPS view the Solaris Render view. had to pin the solaris view then jump into the texture to work on it. that was after creating a grid and uv's at SOP level and importing them.

    • rmagee 1 month, 2 weeks ago  | 

      Are you in the Solaris Desktop? That option should be on by default when using that desktop. If not then you can RMB-click on the Pin icon and choose Follow Parent Context > Display As Pane Button. That will turn it on for you.

  • L0vesWonyy 1 month, 3 weeks ago  | 

    In which tutorial can I, as a beginner, first properly learn the basics? Navigation and such things that I need first as a beginner. I am actually looking for a tutorial from beginner to advanced. Who can help me with this?

    Thanks in advance!

    Regards, Herman

    • rmagee 1 month, 2 weeks ago  | 

      This tutorial is meant to be a starting point and does cover navigation. Check out the Getting Started Learning Path. That will give you some options.

  • JalenSheree 1 month, 1 week ago  | 

    For Texturing the ground, when I add my "ground__mat" material in the middle of the Material Linker, it doesn't link to the Texture Material Library with the checkerboard.

    • rmagee 1 month, 1 week ago  | 

      It is hard for me to tell without seeing your files - can you please package up your project directory then zip it up and share on the Learning Forum. Then ping me and I'll take a look.

  • mfdeba 1 month, 1 week ago  | 

    Relating to a comment made earlier, I can not place the light interactively in the same way as shown in the video. Selecting the rim of the cup is not possible and it becomes a struggle to place the light as it should be. Has there been a change in the latest version of Houdini, or am I missing something?

    • rmagee 1 month, 1 week ago  | 

      Are you in the Handle tool? which build are you working with?

      • mfdeba 1 month, 1 week ago  | 

        Hi, thanks for asking.

        The build is 22.0.368, which I believe is the latest. I’m on a Mac, with an Apprentice license.

        I’m in the handle tool and can place the light, but not on the cup, only on the background grid. I made some tests in a separate file and the problem seems to be that Scene Import objects are not recognised when placing the light, but the created grid is. If I leave the background grid out of the scene, I can not place the light at all.

  • phungdanhthang.neu 1 month ago  | 

    I really appreciate your dedication Mr. Magee! With all the different lessons up here yet you still find time to answer them with care. Respect!

  • Joseph_Raja 1 month ago  | 

    Amazing tutorial, Robert! Breaking down the bridge between SOP simulation caching, USD stage referencing, and multi-frame rendering in Karma XPU made what used to feel complex very approachable. Truly appreciate your clear, structured teaching style

  • msintts 3 weeks, 1 day ago  | 

    In chapter 5 I dint find the node texturemateriallibrary. I found only materiallibrary. Is the same node?

    • rmagee 3 weeks, 1 day ago  | 

      It should be texturemateriallibrary - are you in Houdini 21? it is a new H22 node. Material Library is something different.

      • msintts 3 weeks, 1 day ago  | 

        I have Houdini 21.0.512 Apprentice

      • msintts 3 weeks, 1 day ago  | 

        I upgraded to version 22 and now I can find texturemateriallibrary node. Thank you

  • marinagriffin12 3 weeks, 1 day ago  | 

    Thanks for the hint - I was looking for it also and cannot find.

  • steriguthi 1 week, 1 day ago  | 

    In lesson 5, the checkerboard texture is not showing up for me once assigned to the ground. Made sure that textures are shown in the viewport is enabled.

  • jchopard 2 days, 23 hours ago  | 

    In 'Modeling a cup' section, why couldn't we set PolyExtrude Distance to 0.1 (instead of -0.1) and avoid having to add the Reverse node?

  • Bob White 1 day, 23 hours ago  | 

    the checkerboard pattern from lesson 5 is not working for me as well. Mac Tahoe Indie 22.368.

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