Course Overview

Class Description:

This course provides an overview of common workflow techniques and optimizations for everyday Houdini use. The goal is to reduce downtime while working. This can be in the form of waiting for geometry to cook or looking through piles of unorganized nodes. As artists, we should all strive to spend more time creating, rather than wrangling the software. By the end of this course, you should have everything you need to start maximizing your time creating in Houdini.

Learning Outcomes:

Students will gain a solid understanding of common hotkeys and techniques to begin personalizing their individual workflows. We will discuss common pitfalls in creating node graphs, and how to avoid them. Students will also learn to leverage the built-in debugging features to ensure their setups are efficient and scalable.

Course curriculum

    1. Files

    2. Discord

    1. 1. Introduction

    1. 1. Preferences, Flags, and Hotkeys

    2. 2. Output Node

    3. 3. Nodes, Network, and Navigation

    4. 4. Custom Desktops

    5. 5. Color and Node Shapes

    6. 6. Panels and Node Organization

    7. 7. Quickmarks & Attributes

    1. 1. Display Options

    2. 2. Viewport Lighting, Textures, and Geometry

    3. 3. Update Mode

    1. 1. Creating Strikes

    2. 2. Art Direction

    3. 3. Time Dependency

    4. 4. Performance Monitor

    5. 5. Optimized vs Non-Optimized

    1. 5-1 - Proxy Geometry- File Cache

About this course

  • $80.00
  • 55 lessons
  • 3.5 hours of video content
Session 1

Houdini UI and Node Networks

In this beginner-friendly session, we will discuss how to make the most of Houdini’s various network windows. We will dive deep into how and when to view geometry, and how to speed up viewport performance. Through the examples, we can see how reordering and planning out your node setups can drastically affect performance.

  • Introduction
  • Houdini Interface and Hotkeys
  • Viewport Optimizations
  • Node Network Optimizations
  • Proxy Geometry
  • General Geometry Tips
Session 2

Advanced Geometry and Dynamics

This next session gets more intermediate showing in-depth ways to work with and visualize geometry, especially in dynamic simulations.

  • Simulating Volumes
  • Time-Dependent Geometry
  • Proxy Geometry
  • Substeps
Session 3

PDG and Rendering Optimizations

In this session, we will also explore ways we can use tools such as PDG and Python to automate repetitive tasks. These tools will allow us to iterate on heavy setups, which may be impossible otherwise.

  • PDG
  • Python
  • Rendering

Instructor

Daniel Lee

Houdini FX Artist

Daniel Lee is a Houdini FX Artist who currently works as a real-time cinematics artist at Buddha Jones. He was previously at The Mill as a FX Artist. During his internship with SideFX's education team, he authored the "Intro to PDG" tutorial series. He has a passion for crafting photorealistic VFX for feature films and animation, coming from a background in mechanical engineering. He graduated from the Gnomon School of Visual Effects.

LinkedIn Instagram Website

WHAT YOU NEED TO TAKE THIS COURSE

  1. Houdini 19.5 or newer (Class will be taught with H20)
  2. Computer (Please see SideFX system requirements)
    1. https://www.sidefx.com/Support/system-requirements/
    2. A second Monitor is recommended, but not necessary
  3. Houdini 20 (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.

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!