Building FX Tools in Houdini

Pluralsight
Course Summary
In this Houdini tutorial, we'll learn how to create in-depth procedural FX tools. Software required: Houdini 14, Windows.
-
+
Course Description
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.
-
+
Course Syllabus
Introduction and Project Overview- 0m 59s
—Introduction and Project Overview 0m 59sBuilding FX Tools in Houdini- 5h 11m
—Creating Input Geometry for the Curve Tangle Tool 4m 3s
—Creating Input Attributes 9m 34s
—Generating Curves 9m 15s
—Building Profile Shaping Controls 7m 52s
—Building Twist Shaping Controls 8m 52s
—Building Noise Shaping Controls 8m 8s
—Defining the Parameter Interface 10m 4s
—Testing the Shaping Parameters 9m 17s
—Preparing the Curves for Output 8m 22s
—Refining the Curve Tangle Setup 10m 24s
—Converting the Setup into a Houdini Digital Asset 11m 58s
—Implementing Documentation into the Curve Tangle Tool 5m 57s
—Globally Installing the Curve Tangle HDA into Houdini 10m 57s
—Creating Input Geometry for the Particle Flow Tool 4m 30s
—Implement Basic Particle Advection 6m 22s
—Building the First Force Node Behavior 8m 15s
—Continuing to Build the Along Force Node Behavior 9m 40s
—Constructing the Along Force Node Parameter Interface 8m 50s
—Implementing Age, Life, and Mass Particle Attributes 10m 43s
—Testing the Along Force Node 9m 57s
—Implementing Velocity Conserve and Output Velocity 7m 59s
—Building a Toward Force Behavior Node 7m 3s
—Building a Around Force Behavior Node 9m 28s
—Building a Noise Force Behavior Node 6m 56s
—Implementing Multiple Curves into the Solver 9m 8s
—Defining Curve Based Particle Colors 8m 39s
—Implementing a Max Particle Count and ID Attribute 10m 59s
—Refining the Simulation Initial Sequence 8m 27s
—Culling the Input Emission Points 7m 44s
—Adding a Kill Old Particle and Age Visualization Method 9m 39s
—Cleaning up the Particle Flow Setup 10m 54s
—Converting the Particle Flow Subnet into a Houdini Digital Asset 12m 9s
—Refining the Particle Flow Setup 5m 57s
—Testing the Particle Flow Setup 10m 30s
—Shot Debrief 12m 29s