Log into your account to keep track of your progress. You can work through the lessons without logging in but your progress will be lost when you refresh the page.

This three-part Solaris series for Houdini 21 that takes you from USD fundamentals to a production-ready workflow: build a reusable Solaris scene template (import → lighting → Karma XPU render), create clean USD assets with Component Builder (variants, purpose, gallery), and integrate Megascans while standardizing materials and asset management.

What you’ll make: A reusable Solaris scene template for future projects A small USD asset library with variants and clear purpose settings A Megascans-driven lookdev setup with consistent materials

Key Topics: USD basics • Scene management in Solaris • Reusable scene template • Karma XPU rendering • Component Builder • Asset Gallery • Variants • Purpose • Importing external assets (Megascans) • Material assignments • USD asset management • Building a reusable asset library

Who it’s for: Artists moving from SOPs into Solaris/USD who want a clean, repeatable scene/asset pipeline for rendering and lookdev.

CREATED BY

Mario_Leone
MARIO LEONE

Originally from Italy, visual arts have been my passion for as long as I can remember. I worked as photographer for several years and I joined the VFX industry 3 years ago. I’m working as Senior Tech Artist at Triarts, creating tools and supporting artists. I also founded NodeFlow, a Youtube channel supported by SideFX where I share educational content with the community. In 2024 I was one of the few winners of the Rookies Contest, my work has been featured by NVIDIA, and I had the chance to publish articles regarding my art in leading platforms like 3D World, Creative Bloq, The Rookies & Think Tank Training Center. Find my Personal work here: https://vimeo.com/865083222 Check my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@nodeflowhoudini And Hey, if you read it until here, thank you so much, I am excited to work with you, either as Tech artist, Professor or as Houdini Generalist!

More from Mario Leone

COMMENTS

  • aparajitindia 6 months, 2 weeks ago  | 

    Thanks. Excellent tutorial.

  • Simon_Telezhkin 6 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Changing Primitive path for karmaphysicalsky from "/lights/$OS" to anything else detaches the sun from the sky, I can see that lighting in the video is changing as well. After this changing Altitude and Azimuth only changes the sky and there are no controls that changes the sun position? Is it a bug, or some quirks that can be fixed by the user?

  • Mario_Leone 6 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Hi Simon, I just tested it again in Houdini 21, and you are right! Although the hierarchy is correct, the lighting is changing. If anyone knows the reason for this, I am genuinely curious! Maybe it's a bug. I will try to study it more, thanks for the heads up!

    Mario

Please log in to leave a comment.