Creating a Rocket Swarm with Procedural Volume Copying in Houdini
In this Houdini tutorial, we will learn how to use procedural volume copying to create a rocket swarm that is both efficient and flexible. Software required: Houdini 13.0.447.
What you'll learn
In this Houdini tutorial, we will learn how to use procedural volume copying to create a rocket swarm that is both efficient and flexible. It will allow us to make modifications to timing, positioning, and scale without having to recreate or resim the effect from scratch. To achieve this effect, we will setup several basic pyro simulations. We will then create a particle simulation with custom attributes to use as our copy points. Then, we'll use the Copy SOP and copy stamping to position our pyro simulations correctly. We will use VBD cloud modeling tools in conjunction with our particle simulation to make rocket trails. Finally, we will bring all these elements together, shade them, and render in Mantra. Software required: Houdini 13.0.447.
Table of contents
- Reviewing Initial Setup 7m
- Setting up Simulation for Rocket Fire 10m
- Finishing up Rocket Fire Simulation 9m
- Creating Smoke Simulation 5m
- Particle Simulation Setup 8m
- Finalizing Particle Simulation 10m
- Procedural Copying for the Rockets and Rocket Fire 9m
- Copying the Launch Smoke 7m
- Copying Explosion Simulation 8m
- Setting up Rocket Trails Simulation 7m
- Constructing Volume Trail 9m
- Adding Noise and Density Fade 7m
- Finalizing Rocket Trail and Adding Lights 9m
- Adding Materials to Volumes 6m
- Refining Rocket Swarm and Final Render 10m
About the author
Sam Rickles is a Lead FX Technical Director with Sony Pictures Imageworks in Vancouver, British Colombia. A six year veteran in the VFX industry, Sam works primarily with Houdini to achieve his effects, ranging from realistic vehicle destruction and pyro effects, to wacky paint cannons and freeze beams. His work can be seen in seven feature films, including Hotel Transylvania 2, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Edge of Tomorrow. He is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology with a B.S. de... more