Building FX Tools in Houdini
In this Houdini tutorial, we'll learn how to create in-depth procedural FX tools. Software required: Houdini 14, Windows.
What you'll learn
In this Houdini tutorial, we'll learn how to create in-depth procedural FX tools. Throughout the lessons, we'll look at the steps required to build these tools from scratch. In the course we'll cover highly procedural approaches to creating a curve tangle generation tool and a particle flow simulation tool, while implementing our own particle system and particle forces from scratch, all without the use of a Houdini FX license. To achieve these tools, we'll extensively implement various VOP networks inside Houdini, which will allow us complete control over our setups. As we utilize numerous vector, trigonometry, and attribute manipulation techniques, you'll have gained invaluable knowledge on fundamental workflows and techniques that can be used to tackle problems faced as an Houdini FX Technical Director. By the end of the Houdini training, you'll have a solid understanding of how to approach procedural tool development, how to implement your own particle solver from scratch, and how to package it all up into easily accessible and artist-friendly Houdini Digital Assets. Software required: Houdini 14, Windows.
Table of contents
- Creating Input Geometry for the Curve Tangle Tool 4m
- Creating Input Attributes 10m
- Generating Curves 9m
- Building Profile Shaping Controls 8m
- Building Twist Shaping Controls 9m
- Building Noise Shaping Controls 8m
- Defining the Parameter Interface 10m
- Testing the Shaping Parameters 9m
- Preparing the Curves for Output 8m
- Refining the Curve Tangle Setup 10m
- Converting the Setup into a Houdini Digital Asset 12m
- Implementing Documentation into the Curve Tangle Tool 6m
- Globally Installing the Curve Tangle HDA into Houdini 11m
- Creating Input Geometry for the Particle Flow Tool 5m
- Implement Basic Particle Advection 6m
- Building the First Force Node Behavior 8m
- Continuing to Build the Along Force Node Behavior 10m
- Constructing the Along Force Node Parameter Interface 9m
- Implementing Age, Life, and Mass Particle Attributes 11m
- Testing the Along Force Node 10m
- Implementing Velocity Conserve and Output Velocity 8m
- Building a Toward Force Behavior Node 7m
- Building a Around Force Behavior Node 9m
- Building a Noise Force Behavior Node 7m
- Implementing Multiple Curves into the Solver 9m
- Defining Curve Based Particle Colors 9m
- Implementing a Max Particle Count and ID Attribute 11m
- Refining the Simulation Initial Sequence 8m
- Culling the Input Emission Points 8m
- Adding a Kill Old Particle and Age Visualization Method 10m
- Cleaning up the Particle Flow Setup 11m
- Converting the Particle Flow Subnet into a Houdini Digital Asset 12m
- Refining the Particle Flow Setup 6m
- Testing the Particle Flow Setup 11m
- Shot Debrief 12m
About the author
Beau Garcia is a Senior FX Technical Director at Double Negative, London. Originally from Australia, Beau began his career in television and commercials, where he primarily operated in Maya as a Character TD before making his way to animated feature films. Beau has worked in the Visual Effects industry for over 8 years and has spent the last 5 years specializing in effects, primarily using Houdini. Some of his most recent experiences include creating a massive “Aether” tornado, constructing real... more