hvanderwegen

A 14 year old 3d artist made this. In two months time.

Well, it IS meant as an 80s inspired Halloween story 😉

The new Open Movie called Sprite Fright is out! Get all the production files on the Blender Cloud. https://studio.blender.org/films/sprite-fright/

Oh. My. So many nice tools in there. This would have saved me hours last week. @Igor Are these usually available by default in the Network node view? Or do these have to be activated? Because I did not have access to these before I installed them.

True, but for some reason the tools weren't there. It took a minute to copy the python commands, and execute them. Then a reboot of Houdini, and a new SideFXLabs desktop becomes available. I also tried finding the shelf, but clicked the wrong thing... Anyway, it's solved now. Thanks for the heads-up.

Ah, I got it! Installed via the python shell. (method 2 https://github.com/sideeffects/SideFXLabs) Some interesting tools in there. I wonder why my instructor hasn't mentioned these.

@Igor Where can I find those Labs nodes? I checked the available desktops, but it doesn't seem to be there.

PS there is also the Dissolve node, but when I tried it, it would not work. After some research, it seems the surrounding geometry must be blasted first for it to work properly. Or something. Like I said, it's a toolbox. Pros and cons.

That's the trouble (or advantage depending on your viewpoint) of Houdini: it's a toolbox, but often modeling is just simpler, more efficient, and more direct and user-friendly in other DCCs. Which is the reason many modelers just use other apps to create models, and then import those in Houdini for effects and sims. After dealing with Houdini modeling for a few weeks now, I tend to agree with this approach. Unless my goal is to create a fully parametric uber-object, I will stick with Blender for most modeling. That said, here is a SOP tool that will do what you want: https://orbolt.com/asset/Houdini_Zero_Tom::curvegenerator

From experience I never update the OS until: [A] the new OS has received a year's worth of patches and updates; [B] essential software that I need requires the newer OS. Or: [C] I have to (re-)install an OS for whichever reason and I must start from scratch. [A] and [B] go hand in hand generally.

In the current version (2.93) Nodes can be appended and linked like any other asset. If you have a nice geometry noodle in one file, it may be appended or linked in a different file and reused. In the upcoming v3 Geometry Nodes have seen quite a few changes and many new additions. It is possible to mark geo noodles as assets which are then exposed in the asset browser. These can then be reused in the geo node editor, or even dragged into the node editor as pre-built groups. So presets are possible, but not as flexible (yet) as C4D's capsules with exposed parameters and usable in the outliner or Houdini. It is necessary still to keep working in the geo nodes editor in Blender. But having said that: yes, it is possible to save presets in the upcoming v3 and it is already possible to append/link geo-noodles from other files saving the user from having to redo it all.

Any reason why you are not using Geometry Nodes Point Instancing? It works with lights too.

Just out of curiosity, what method are you using to clone objects?

There's more to the story, it seems. But I do not know the people involved in person, nor do I want to rely on hearsay and speculations, so discussing matters like these generally leads to more speculation in the best case, and tin-hat wearing conspiracy tales at the worst. What I do know for a fact is that another developer (Joe Eager) began work on improving the Sculpt functions in Blender a while ago, and that he intends to (finally!!!) add sculpt layers and VDM (Vector Displacement Mapping). He's already implemented hard face set boundaries for Dyntopo sculpting, and just the other day presented a new extrude tool in sculpt mode. Some demos (more on his channel):

In regards to FBX import / export: if this is essential in your workflow (for example, for game engine export), a very good $28 commercial FBX importer/exporter addon is available: https://blendermarket.com/products/better-fbx-importer--exporter

It's really nothing special and full of mistakes, but here you go. We are supposed to animate three objects: a ball, a bolt, and a plank. I never animated a plank before 😉 I redid all the objects, and found a reasonable ball rig to animate with. It was simple in Houdini to reuse that for the other objects. The file size is a smite too large, so a link instead. animation_test.mp4

Still using the latest Houdini 18.5, Apprentice edition. The school still has issues with licensing atm, and only offers v18, which is no longer valid, it seems. They are working on it (I hope). @Icecaveman Not really, I am just using the graph editor and adding keys for animation. Nothing special. Took me a few days to get familiar with the basic controls a few weeks ago, but I am reasonably adjusted to these now. @Igor Thanks for asking on the SideFX forums. I should get an account as well. I did finish the animation, and I had fun while doing it. 🙂

Just venting my frustration a bit here... I've been working on a simple bouncy ball animation, and WOW Houdini can really act up at times. It crashes. It glitches out. It is buggy as heck. At least, that is my experience after having to deal with Houdini's animation graph editor. And it is not the first time: I animated something simple a week ago, and it started to glitch as well at that time. For example, after working for an hour or two when I selected all keys in the graph editor to scale all of them to adjust the overall timing. Result: an empty graph editor. Keys were lost. The animation wouldn't play anymore. Obviously, I am used to Houdini acting out by now. So before I performed that action, I had saved the scene, and reloaded it. Same effect. I reloaded the scene at least 10 times. Sometimes it would still play the animation, but it was impossible to display the keys and animation curves. For about an hour I tried everything. Then Houdini decided to give up, and crash. Restarted Houdini, and I loaded my scene: all my panel setup customization was gone (obviously my fault, because Blender does this automatically, but in Houdini I have to create a custom panel setup). Still, it loaded the scene, and low and behold, the graph editor behaved as it should. And there were other issues: onion skinning suddenly disappearing in one of the viewports. I couldn't find a way to select my objects in a quad viewport in wire view that I teared off and placed on my third screen. Probably my fault, but now I wonder. Seriously, how is it possible that such an expensive app that is extensively used in seriously heavy production can act up like this with a simple bouncing ball scene? I just imported a rigged ball from the net. I add simple keys and work in a super simple scene. I am not doing anything out of the ordinary. Yet it crashes and glitches. And just cost me nigh-on an hour of work. Anyway. Into the breach once again. Still need to finish this scene. Wish me luck. (And I wish I was animating this in Blender...)

Yes, will keep you updated. And to be fair, the course outline and requirements did state that prior 3d experience is preferred. I just wonder why on Earth so many people with no 3D experience whatsoever are participating in this course then! 😉 Can't imagine how they feel right now. Instead of producing actual work we are talking about VOPS and VEX and drivers with variables.

Consider the time when you started out in 3D. Then taking a course in Cinema4D or Maya or Max, the first class is about the GUI and overall workflow. The second class is about animation, drivers, and the graph editor. And the third class covers the basics of scripting and shows an example of a cubical array of cubes driven by scripts or nodes with animated colour changes, scale changes, etc via empties that act like fields. I find it a bit illogical, unless seen from the perspective of a technical artist/director. And assuming at least basic knowledge of 3d on the part of the students. We'll see how it goes. It is not what I expected, in truth.

Yeah, it's weird - A few weeks ago I started learning basic Z80 Assembly language with the WinApe Amstrad CPC emulator and strangely enough I find that quite fun and MUCH easier to wrap my head around than Houdini this week!!! Conversely, I jumped into Houdini's modeling nodes two weeks ago myself, and found them quite easy to understand. But the instructor hardly touched the topic (just how to add a sphere, box, and edit those). And in week two we learned how to animate stuff. Which was simple, because I am very familiar with graph editors and animation editors in other DCCs. So it was a doddle. But again, animation is not something I would cover until a bit later in a 3D course. In particular something like a graph editor would be rather daunting and intimidating to absolute beginners... I guess the instructor expects us to figure some things out for ourselves. Which is fine, but it would be nice if any references or resources were made available to us. I teach myself, and I agree with you that I would never teach Houdini like this to beginners or semi-experienced 3d artists. I am becoming convinced that this course is approached from the angle of a technical director/artist. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. But I wonder how some of the other students must be feeling right now, LOL

That makes me feel a little bit better about it. 🙂 Yes, I saw your model endeavour a few weeks ago. Nicely done.

Actually, I did not have a lot of trouble getting into Blender nodes. Nor Houdini's modeling nodes. Perhaps it's because this week felt more like a coding class than anything else. This is an introduction to Houdini class, and I felt that this topic was tackled a little bit too early in the course. We did animation in the second class. But so far no modeling, no scene setup, no basic rendering, none of the expected basic stuff. I would understand if this class is aimed at experience 3DDC users, but the class consists mainly of beginners. Some of which want to learn about 3D in general! And I am approaching Houdini with an open mind. Just have a feeling the course structure is a bit upside-down, even if it would be aimed at experienced 3D users. Well, I am of course not very familiar yet with Houdini's modeling tools. I find them clunky at this point. But then I think C4D's modeling tools are clunky as well. Probably a personal preference. I do understand the advantages, and I am a big proponent of non-destructive modeling myself. I like the hammer example, btw. I talked to the instructor, and there are some big names in the industry that never got to grips with Houdini, no matter what. Perhaps I am lacking the mindset. Then again, anything worth learning takes time and effort. So on we go!

@3D-Pangel Nodes are a visual coding language. Simple as that, in my opinion. I am now three weeks into my Houdini course, and this week the topic of VEX and VOPs was discussed. VOPs stands for VEX Operators. They allow VEX scripting in a visual format. But I quickly figured out, just like visual node scripting in Godot (a game engine), that scripting makes thing just simpler and more effective. For example, a simple if then else expression becomes unwieldy quickly in VOPS. VOPS affect vertices, primitives (Houdini's term for polygons), volumes, points, and more. It helps to have programming knowledge (Python, for example) when learning this stuff: Houdini uses global variables for frames and other things, and these can be used to drive stuff everywhere. VEX script is easily added via Wrangler nodes - basically a node container with a code editor to write script in. As @Igor wrote, many tools (nodes) are written by the developers using VOPS and VEX and a combination of these. It hides the complexity, and users can just go on with the job. Aside from VEX and VOPS Houdini also allows the user to create drivers directly in input fields (similar to Blender's drivers). That's another way to control things, and something can be tackled using any of these approaches. So we can create an attribute node holding a variable that drives other parameters in other nodes. I wouldn't have been able to grasp these concepts without a good understanding of programming, to be honest. At the end of the class my head was spinning, and I still have to go over the content matter one more time. I can't imagine how some of the other students, who have no coding or 3DDC experience, must have felt! 😛 Anyway, many nodes that are used for more mundane things such as modeling, scene setup, or materials are pretty easy to grasp. The nodes view is just a different conceptual view compared to an Outliner. But Houdini also consistently uses nodes for render setups, for example. Last week I wanted to try out the new Karma render engine (which is supposed to become the new standard in Houdini) and that is part of the new Solaris USD scene building tools. I used it three times in two days. Now, 6 days later I have completely forgotten how to do it. I do not remember the nodes. In other DCCs I know how to set up a render in a matter of minutes. Even in Max last year, after not having touched it in 7 years, I was able to quickly render a shot. Not so in Houdini and Karma (it is easier in Mantra, though). I couldn't get the materials to render either in Karma. These have to be connected first into the scene, or something. As for Geometry/Animation Nodes in Blender versus Houdini's nodes: Houdini is EVERYTHING nodes, and nodes are Houdini. In Blender (and I gather in C4d as well, but I haven't played around with the nodes) nodes are tacked on top of things. In Blender I can easily combine nodes output with modifiers and other objects external to the nodes. In Houdini this is just not possible, because the nodes are Houdini - as Igor explained. This week was very, very frustrating in Houdini. I know what I want. I have high level knowledge of other DCCs and 3d concepts, techniques and workflows. Translating this knowledge to effectively drive Houdini is proving to be harder than I imagined. Usually I pick up a new DCC with a week, or two, or so. Not so with Houdini 😉 One thing I have already decided is that I am NOT going to do much modeling in Houdini. While it is fun to have a completely non-destructive nodal tree of all modeling actions saved, I am SOOOOOO much faster in Blender with Hardops and other modeling tools. Our instructor mentioned she almost never models in Houdini herself, because she finds it inefficient and indirect. And she has worked over a decade in it for AAA game studios and animation studios like Dreamworks! And I agree. I intend to use Houdini for effects and the odd non-destructive model if the effect calls for it.

I agree, so much to learn nowadays. And then there's work to pay the bills 😛 @FLima It is possible to exclude lights affecting objects via view layers and compositing. Bit convoluted, but it works. There's a good YouTube channel explaining compositing and passes in B 2.9x: