VEX Weekend Bootcamp

HS-115: VEX Weekend Bootcamp

Students will get familiar with VEX and reduce the barrier of entry into algorithmic thinking - whether you are a visual or a linguistic thinker. Learn to break down problems into bite-sized algorithms and chain them

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Course Overview

Class Description:

In this recorded class get familiar with VEX and reduce the barrier of entry into algorithmic thinking - whether you are a visual or a linguistic thinker. Learn to break down problems into bite-sized algorithms and chain them to form a bigger system. 

Learning Outcomes:

You will get up and running with Houdini’s most powerful toolkit-VEX, in this coding workshop.

Course curriculum

1. Files
1. 1. Introduction
2. 2. What is VEX?
3. 3. Basic Data Types
4. 4. What is a Dictionary?
5. 5. Struct and BSDF Data Types
6. 6. Checking Data Types with Attribute Create
7. 7. Q&A: Are dictionaries okay with using different data types together?
8. 8. VEX as a Multithreaded Language
9. 9. Geometry Spreadsheet and Position Vector
10. 10. Declaring Data Types, Attributes vs Variables
11. 11. Bake Attribute into Geometry
12. 12. Attribute View
13. 13. Type Casting
14. 14. Accessing Components
1. 1. = vs ==
2. 2. What is a Function
3. 3. Quick Tip if Stuck on a Function
4. 4. Creating a Function
5. 5. Function Casting
6. 6. Creating a Wave with VEX
7. 7. Interpolation Functions
8. 8. Create a Channel Ramp
9. 9. Conditionals
10. 10. Loops
1. 1. Creating a Point with Vex
2. 2. Combining Cos and Sin to Form a Circle
3. 3. Applying a For-Loop to Generate a Circle
4. 4. Alternate Loops for Creating a Circle
5. 5. Creating the Base of a Spiral
6. 6. Creating a Circle over Detail vs. Points
7. 7. Giving Height to the Spiral
8. 8. Using a Ramp to Adjust the Radius of a Spiral
1. 1. Q&A: Should We Put Everything Inside a Radians Function?
2. 2. Q&A: Do VOPs Use Degrees ?
1. 1. Phyllotaxy Explanation
2. 2. Creating a Circle with Circumference and addpoint Function (addpoint)
3. 3. Adding Points Based on Current Iteration with setpointattrib Function (setpointattrib)
4. 4. Problem: How to Create a Spiral in XZ Axis Using the Golden Angle?
5. 5. Solution: Increasing the Angle Every Iteration
6. 6. Problem: How to Set the Maximum Radius of the Geometry?
7. 7. Solution: Normalizing the Scale Multiplier
8. 8. Introducing Basic Instancing
9. 9. Problem: How to Modify the Point Normals?
10. 10. Solution: Control the Normals with a Point Attribute
11. 11. Solution: Controlling the Scale of Instances with the pscale Attribute
12. 12. Problem: How to Increase pscale Attribute Based on the Distance from a Reference Point?
13. 13. Solution: Fixing pscale with length Function (length)
14. 14. Problem: How to Flip the length Function's Direction?
15. 15. Solution: Fixing length Function with distance Function (distance)
16. 16. Solution: Controlling the Scale with a Ramp Parameter (chramp)
17. 17. A Quick Review on Normalization
18. 18. Introducing rand Function (rand)
19. 19. Randomizing pscale per Point Number with rand Function (rand)
20. 20. Creating Variations by Adding a Float Parameter for a Custom Seed (chf)
21. 21. Introducing Global Variables Frame and Time
22. 22. Problem: How to Add a Growth Animation?
23. 23. Solution- Increasing Overall pscale in Three Seconds with fit Function and clamp Function (fit, clamp)
24. 24. Solution- Increasing pscale Based on Distance to the Center with distance Function (distance)
1. 1. A Quick Overview of Indexing Variables
2. 2. Introducing minpos Function (minpos)
3. 3. Introducing xyzdist Function (xyzdist)
4. 4. Introducing primuv Function (primuv)
5. 5. Understanding UV with a Color Example
6. 6. Introducing intersection Function (intersect)
7. 7. Problem: How to Detect a Collision?
8. 8. Solution: Detecting Intersecting Primitives with intersect Function (intersect)
9. 9. Solution: Using the Direction of Normals to Define the Ray Direction
10. 10. Problem: How to Deform the Geometry Based on a Collision?
11. 11. Solution: Detecting Angle between Vectors with dot product Function (dot)
12. 12. Solution: Detecting if the Vectors are Pointing to Each Other
13. 13. Solution: Checking Inwards if the Sphere is inside the Geometry
14. 14. Further Explanation about the Difference between Checking Outwards and Inwards
1. 1. Introducing Ray Tracing
2. 2. Problem: How to Use Ray Tracing to Rasterize a Scene onto a 2D Plane?
3. 3. Solution: Determining Ray Origin and Ray Direction
4. 4. Solution: Checking Ray Intersection and Sampling Colors with hitprim and primuv Functions (hitprim, primuv)
5. 5. Solution: Creating a Headlight and Fitting the Range
6. 6. Problem: How to Implement a Light in the Scene?
7. 7. Solution: Checking if the Surface is Facing the Light with a the dot product Function (dot)
8. 8. Further Explanation about the Reversed Ray Direction and the Shadow
1. 1. Introducing Point Cloud Functions and nearpoint Functions (pcopen, nearpoint, nearpoints)
2. 2. Understanding attriblur Function Using Scattered Points and a For-Loop (attriblur)
3. 3. Further Explanation about Getting Specific Elements from an Array
4. 4. Problem: How to Set pscale Attribtue Based on Proximity?
5. 5. Solution: Setting pscale Attribute based on Point Distance with distance Function and min Function (distance, min)
6. 6. Solution: Finding the Distance from the Second Point with nearpoints Function (nearpoints)
1. 1. Introducing Pop Curve Force
2. 2. Problem: How to Build Pop Curve Force using VEX?
3. 3. Solution: Using Curves to Add force Attribute with minpos Function (minpos)
4. 4. Solution: Getting the Points to Follow the Curve Direction with xyzdist and primUV Functions (xyzdist, primUV)
5. 5. Solution: Adding the Suction Force to the Curve with a fit Function (fit)
6. 6. Solution: Adding the Orbit Force to the Curve with the cross product Function (cross)
7. 7. Solution: Updating the velocity Attribute for a Continuous Stream Along the Curve_1
8. 8. Advice on Further VEX Learning
9. Submit your work

About this course

$135.00
96 lessons
6 hours of video content

Course Teaser

Day 1

We will cover the basics of VEX and solve mini-problems along the way. You will learn Fundamentals, Basics Data Manipulation: Floats and Integers, Vectors, Arrays: Strings, along with Control Flow, and then finally you will practice all you’ve learned at the end of this course.

Fundamentals:

History
Architecture
Attributes
Parameters vs Variables
Data Types
Declaring Variables
Type Conversion
Attribute Classes

Basics of Data Manipulation:

Floats and Integers

Simple arithmetic (+, -, *, /)
Wave Functions
Creating Waveforms(clamp, fit, modulo)
Waveshaping (chramp)
Gradients

Vectors:

Length of a vector
Simple Vector Math (+, -)
*,/ with a Vector/Scalar
Dot Product and Cross Product

Arrays: Strings

concat, insert, itoa, find, strip, split, tolower, toupper, len

Control Flow:

Loops
Conditionals

Practice:

Spirals
Deep Dive into Instancing
Wave Deformer
Phyllotaxy
Geometry Creation and Culling

Session 2

A more pragmatic session of using all the basics of what we learned to implement algorithms to solve problems, with increasing levels of complexity. In this session you will learn about Functions, Pointclouds, and Neighbourhood lookups, then you will practice Collision Detection and Ray Tracing, Scale based on Proximity, Attribute Blur, Simple Diffusion Solver, and Pop Curve Force. This session includes 2 hours of a workshop, Jeffy will spend time helping students write their own code.

Instructor

Jeffy Mathew Philip

Houdini FX Artist

Jeffy Mathew Philip has been in the Visual Effects industry for about 5 years. He’s worked on multiple productions as a Houdini FX Artist/TD on various feature productions. His work is featured in X-Men Dark Phoenix, IT Chapter 2, and Tomb Raider. He currently works as a QA Specialist at SideFX. Beyond VFX, he has a gamut of experience in multiple creative industries working in various technical problem-solving roles - ranging from Live Productions to Advertising. He has always been curious about technology in the creative space and its possibilities beyond - and loves to share his knowledge and perspectives with mentors, peers, and prospective artists alike.

WHAT YOU NEED TO TAKE THIS COURSE

Computer (Please see SideFx system requirements)
1. https://www.sidefx.com/Support/system-requirements/
2. A second monitor is recommended, but not necessary
Houdini (Apprentice License is free)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

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REFUND POLICY:

Multi-Session Courses

Students may request a refund up to 1 day before the start of the course. Students may also withdraw from Multi-Session Courses at any time and are entitled to a pro-rated refund. The withdrawal date must be 1 day before the next class they intend to drop.

On-Demand Courses

All on-demand courses are non-refundable.

How to Drop a Class

Please send a request to drop a class via email to [email protected].

Your written request to drop any or all of your classes must include:

Student’s full name
Name of the course(s) being dropped

Testimonials

“Holy cow this is all really cool. I started this last night and I’m just loving it.”

Timothy Bladel

See you in Class!

Enroll today

HS-115: VEX Weekend Bootcamp

Course Overview

Class Description:

Learning Outcomes:

Course curriculum

Resources

1. VEX Fundamentals

2. Basics of Data Manipulation

3. Create Geometries

4. Radians and Degrees in VEX

5. Phyllotaxy

6. Collision Detection

7. Ray Tracing

8. Point Clouds

9. Pop Curve Force