Course Overview

Class Description:

From novice Houdini users to seasoned motion designers, all students will find value in this course's in-depth exploration of design principles and their application using Houdini's latest tools. You'll learn the key aspects of crafting compelling images: lighting, composition, camera work, and color theory. We'll cover simple, easy-to-follow rules to improve your design eye, putting these principles into practice directly in Houdini and Karma. You'll also learn to generate textures, build shapes, and create slap comps in Copernicus, Houdini's brand new image processing context while exploring the latest Karma features in Houdini 20.5. By the end, you'll have the skills to elevate the aesthetic quality of your renders.

Learning Outcomes:

Enhance your Houdini renders with composition and lighting fundamentals! Through practical exercises, you'll improve your artistic eye by covering design principles like lighting, composition, and color. Additionally, you'll learn how to apply Houdini's new Copernicus context to your latest projects. This course teaches you to enrich your renders by combining a deeper understanding of design with Houdini's latest tools.


Course curriculum

    1. Files

    2. Discord

    3. Session 1 Presentation

    4. Session 2 Presentation

    5. Session 3 Presentation

    1. 1. Introduction

    2. 2. Idea Generation

    1. 1. Setting Copernicus Network

    2. 2. Mixing Noises

    3. 3. Remapping Colors with Ramp

    4. 4. Creating Material Maps

    1. 1. Text Displacement

    2. 2. Composing UV Maps with SDF Shapes

    3. 3. Tiling Shapes

    4. 4. Filling Texture Gaps

    5. 5. Extracting Outlines

    6. 6. Coloring Texture

    1. 1. Base Pattern Generation

    2. 2. Scattering Composition

    3. 3. Coloring Texture

    1. 1. Modeling Base Shape

    2. 2. Applying Texture

    3. 3. Importing Scene to Karma

    4. 4. Importing COPs Maps to Karma Materials

    5. 5. Final Render Nodes

Abstract Motion Design with Copernicus

  • $90.00
  • 74 lessons
  • 7.5 hours of video content
Session 1

Idea Generation and Intro to Copernicus

Students will gain a solid foundation in idea generation methods by identifying specific inspirational topics for abstract motion design. We will create unique procedural textures and generate abstract shapes through Houdini's new Copernicus feature, covering fundamental concepts like noises, UVs, SDF shapes, stamping, and preview materials. This session will explore various Copernicus COPs, set up Karma render environments, and apply practical texture assignments. Students will dive deep into design fundamentals and apply them to Houdini and Karma through working on shots and technical exercises.

  • Introduction
  • Ideation and Inspiration Sources
  • Introduction to Copernicus (COPs) Fundamental Concepts
  • Noises, UVs, SDF Shapes, Stamping, Preview Material and more
  • Exploring Copernicus COPs
  • Setting Up Karma Render Environments
  • Practical Texture Assignment
Session 2

Composition and Lighting

In this session, we explore composition principles including the Golden Ratio, perspective, and framing. Students will learn camera essentials such as focal length. We then dive into the fundamentals of light behavior and various studio lighting setups, covering key, fill, back, and rim lights, before exploring more complex lighting arrangements. Students will master shadow quality and control, and understand the interplay between composition and lighting. We'll acquaint ourselves with Karma's lighting toolset and learn how to finalize a shot. The session also introduces Karma's new Lens Material LOP and the new Quick Material. They will learn, how to use Copernicus to distort renders, to generate Light Textures and Gobos. Throughout, students will apply their learnings to practical lighting and composition assignments, enhancing their ability to create effective renders in Houdini.

  • Composition Principles - The Golden Ratio, Perspective, Framing, and Beyond
  • Camera Essentials - Understanding Focal Length
  • Fundamentals of Light Behavior
  • Studio Lighting Setups - Key Lights, Fill Lights, Backlights, Rim Lights
  • Exploring more Complex Lighting Setups
  • Mastering Shadow Quality and Control
  • The Interplay of Composition and Lighting
  • Exploring Karma's Lighting Toolset
  • Finalizing a Shot
  • Karma's New Lens Material LOP
  • Introducing the New Quick Material
  • Using COPs to distort renders
  • Generate Gobos and Light textures in COPs
  • Practical Lighting and Composition Assignment
Session 3

Color and Compositing

This session introduces students to color theory, exploring color contrasts and harmonies. We'll examine the interplay of composition, lighting, and color to create compelling visual narratives. The course covers aberrations to increase realism in Copernicus Slap Comps, and we're using simulation data in COPs. Therefore, Students will learn to set up an MPM Solver and how to use Copernicus Slap Comps creatively. Furthermore, Students will learn multiple ways to make textures tileable in COPs. They learn, how to import Geometry with Attributes and Groups to COPs, how to bring in Objects with UVs to COPs, and how to reproject textures to the UVs to avoid UV seams. Students will import Heightfields and Cameras into COPs and will learn, how to mix materials by painting into COPs. We'll conclude with a final assignment. By the end of this session, students will have a solid understanding of color principles and advanced compositing techniques to enhance their Houdini projects.

  • Introduction to Color Theory
  • Color Contrasts and Harmonies
  • The Interplay of Composition, Lighting, and Color
  • Enhancing Image Realism with Copernicus Slap Comps
  • Using the MPM Solver
  • Importing Simulation Data in COPs
  • SOPs to COPs and COPs to SOPs
  • Using the Geometry Spreadsheet with COPs
  • Bring in UVs from SOPs
  • Reproject Textures over multiple UV islands in COPs
  • Import Camera into COPs
  • Heightfield to COPs
  • Multiple ways to make textures tilable
  • Paint into COPs
  • Mix Materials in COPs
  • Using Copernicus Slap Comps Creatively
  • Final Assignment

Instructor

Justus Steinfeldt

3D Motion Designer

Justus Steinfeldt is a freelance 3D Motion Designer and Photographer based in Germany, with a background in design. He has 14 years of photography experience and three years in the 3D world. Justus is particularly skilled in using Houdini, which he fell in love with two years ago. With only 20% vision, he uses assistive technology to navigate the digital space seamlessly and create abstract worlds.

LinkedIn Instagram Website

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Subscribe to our newsletter.
Add the full Houdini.School schedule to your calendar:

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.

Refund a Class
Please send a request to get a refund via email to [email protected].
Your written request to drop any or all of your classes must include:
  1. Student’s full name
  2. Name of the course(s) being dropped

See you in Class!