In this overview video, we step through the basic workflow of adding muscles to an animated creature and applying them as a skin deformer. This particular workflow does not require any dynamics simulation. We start by creating simple muscle forms using Houdini’s Muscle Tool Shelf. We’ll learn how to adjust shape and placement, attach them to your character rig, and how to enable automatic secondary animation (jiggle). Finally, we’ll look at how the shelf tools easily set up your muscles as a skin deformer leveraging Houdini’s Muscle Displace operator.

Muscles in Houdini are versatile, easy to use, interconnected tools. Houdini’s muscle system has been designed to serve both FEM (dynamics simulations) and non-FEM (skin deformer) workflows while using a unified set of digital assets. With the foundational information presented in this video, you’ll be ready to rig up a creature with simple muscles and you’ll be prepared to take the next steps: creating custom muscles, and using muscles in simulations with Houdini’s Tissue System.

COMMENTS

  • SourabhSingh 7 years, 2 months ago  | 

    was waiting for this Masterclass to happen! Thank you SideFx.

  • kinnikinick 7 years, 2 months ago  | 

    Here's a suggestion:
    In the video, workflow involves painting a mask for muscle deformer weights. How about an option to automatically build that mask from bone weights? Most of the time, muscles will be affecting similar regions to the bones they're associated with. You'd still tweak the mask, of course, but it would be easier and more procedural than painting from scratch.
    You folks are probably already on this, as usual...

  • Jet27 7 years, 2 months ago  | 

    Hi, Would be nice if the skin could be shrunk around the muscles once in place. With the muscles bulging it looks to be displacing the original sculpting too much. Once rigged and set up can the muscles still have their density or girth tweaked and possibly reduced, so it can pull the skin back down and give a leaner more ripped look. Nice Video.

  • Pavel Dostal 7 years, 1 month ago  | 

    hi all, can you export muscles deforms export to fbx file format on character, we create application in ue4 and we need create muscles deform and export to fbx to unreal engine, please help me, thanks

  • wangxiao 5 years ago  | 

    HI ,Is there a systematic tutorial?

  • Rob Chapman 8 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

    is this the latest muscle tutorial then ? seems like muscle shelf is depreciated where this came from?

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