

In Houdini, each of these decisions is recorded as a node that is wired up to other nodes. A lot of these decisions involve experimenting and reworking ideas to get them just right. Along the way, you make creative decisions that are necessary to achieve your goals. Houdini uses this procedural paradigm throughout: for textures, shaders, particles, "channel data" (data used to drive animation), rendering and compositing.Īs an artist and animator, you use your CG tools to bring life to your ideas. This proceduralism has several advantages: it allows users to construct highly detailed geometric or organic objects in comparatively very few steps compared to other packages it enables and encourages non-linear development and new operators can be created in terms of existing operators, a flexible alternative to non-procedural scripting often relied on in other packages for customisation. As of version 9, Houdini also offers Python as a substitute to hscript and the original expression language.ĭigital assets are generally constructed by connecting sequences of operations (or OPs). However, any major scripting languages which support socket communication can interface with Houdini.

Houdini also has its own CShell-like scripting language, Hscript. Like Maya, Houdini is an open-environment and uses the popular Tcl/Tk scripting language and toolkit (as opposed to the proprietary MEL used in Maya). Distribute your custom tools throughout your production and use Houdini's reliable referencing scheme to keep all the assets up-to-date.

Encapsulate your favourite workflows into assets then set up an artist-friendly UI for your colleagues. Once a solution is in place, you can bundle up your networks into a new node called a Houdini Digital Asset. Gain low-level access to your scene making it easy to face both day-to-day tasks and technical challenges with confidence.ģ. As your creative decisions get saved into Houdini nodes, you build up a wealth of information that is always at your fingertips. You can rewire and modify your node networks any way you desire, making it possible to quickly develop and present multiple interations to your team and ultimately to your client.Ģ. Easily step back and make changes - even late into the production cycle. Its main distinction from other packages is that it has been designed as a purely procedural environment.ġ. Houdini is a high-end 3D animation package developed by Side Effects Software which headquartered in Toronto, Canada.
