Houdini

Houdini is built from the ground up to be a procedural system that empowers artists to work freely, create multiple iterations, and rapidly share workflows with colleagues.



In Houdini, every action is stored in a node. These nodes are then “wired” into networks that define a “recipe” that can be tweaked to refine the outcome then repeated to create similar yet unique results.

The ability for nodes to be saved and to pass information, in the form of attributes, down the chain is what gives the app its procedural nature.

It includes a wide variety of polygons, NURBS, and subdivision surface modeling tools. Procedural techniques can be used to maintain a robust construction history and to create complex models such as environments. The Cloud FX tools offer an artist-friendly way of building, sculpting, and rendering cloud formations.

This workflow utilizes sparse volume sculpting tools created as part of the OpenVDB open-source initiative.

It has an animator-friendly workflow which includes a channel editor, dope sheet, and interactive timeline. Set keyframes on any parameter or use App’s Advanced Motion-editing tools for even more control.

The program’s node-based approach fits perfectly with the working methodology of a typical character rigging TD. Characters can then be wrapped up into a single Digital Asset node and delivered to the animation team.

App’s lighting workflow provides a flexible and powerful environment for managing lights, building shaders, and defining the look of a shot. Environment and GI lights work well with Mantra’s physically-based rendering.

With the software, you can rely on a robust built-in rendering solution called Mantra or create custom support for a wide variety of third-party renderers. Mantra is particularly good at rendering volumes such as smoke.

Features and Highlights

Artist Friendly Tools
While the nodes are what makes unique and give it power, there are lots of viewport and shelf tools that allow for artist-friendly viewport interactions. Behind the scenes, It builds up the nodes and networks for you. Houdini lets artists explore different creative paths because it is easy to branch off a new node to explore alternative solutions.

VFX & Simulation
Visual effects artists gravitate to the app because its procedural workflow is ideal for creating sophisticated particle and dynamic simulations. Effects are typically designed to react to actions taking place in a shot and a procedural solution “automates” these reactions providing studios with more creative control and more rapid turnaround.

Shots & Multiple Iterations
It lets you make creative decisions deep into production as changes made to program nodes cascade through the network to create a new and unique result. This detectability is retained throughout the creative process and can be used to make last-minute decisions that would be too costly in a traditional CG pipeline.

Pipeline in a Box
Whether you are setting up a shot or building a game level, the graphics app lets you create tools that can be reused many times during a project’s life cycle. Instead of simply reacting to issues and problems, you will be able to plan and visualize and refine your pipeline.

Asset Creation Tools
A big benefit of the app’s node-based approach is the ability to encapsulate node networks into custom nodes that are shareable. Create these digital assets without writing any code then share them with other artists. With the Engine, open assets in other applications such as Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, C4D, UE4, and Unity with the asset’s procedural controls available for editing in the host app.

Film & TV
Create more shots under tight deadlines while achieving feature film quality results with App’s procedural node-based workflow. Experience unprecedented levels of flexibility and control to enhance both your creativity and productivity.

Gamedev
Game developers face a growing demand to build huge immersive worlds populated with vast amounts of content. To achieve great gameplay while meeting deadlines, a procedural approach using It offers a smarter way to create quality games.

Motion Graphics
Designers, animators, and storytellers use motion graphics to create content that stimulates audiences using powerful and compelling visuals. Create a wide range of aesthetic and dynamic experiences using the app and its procedural node-based toolset.

VR
Virtual and Augmented Reality creates a complete experience that takes the viewer to places they've never been before. It provides a powerful set of tools that makes it easier to create and manage the content used to populate these amazing digital worlds.

What’s new in Houdini 20.5

• APEX, KineFX, and animation
• Muscles and tissue
• Hair, fur, feathers
• Crowds
• Solaris
• Karma
• PDG
• Houdini Engine, APIs, and plug-ins
• HQueue
• Copernicus
• Modeling and geometry
• Viewport, user interface, and scripting
• MPM
• Rigid body dynamics
• Vellum
• Machine Learning
• VEX and OpenCL

Compare Products:

Houdini FX
It delivers a powerful and accessible 3D experience with its procedural node-based workflow while providing tools for simulating fluids, destruction fx, pyro fx, grains, cloth, and crowds.

Houdini CORE
The app is designed for modelers, lighters, character riggers, animators, and game artists. Scenes and digital assets created in FX can be opened, manipulated, and rendered in Core.

Houdini Indie
It makes all of the tool FX’s animation and VFX tools available under an indie license to animators and game devs who want to use the app during the incubation stage of their business.

Houdini Apprentice
With apprentices, students and hobbyists have access to virtually all of the features of the award-winning FX which can be used to create personal non-commercial projects.

System Requirements

Operating System - 64-bit only

• Windows 11
• Windows 10
• Windows 8.1 and below (win7, etc) is NOT supported.
• Windows Server (any version) is NOT supported

Memory

16 GB required

32 GB or higher recommended and 64GB strongly recommended for fluid simulations

Processor

Intel or AMD x64 CPU with SSE 4.2 required. Houdini 20.5 will not run on a system with an instruction set lower than SSE 4.2.

Disk Space

5.0 GB required for installation

Input Devices

3 Button mouse required

Scroll wheel used where present

Wacom tablet recommended for Houdini's brush-based tools

Graphics Cards

A GL4.0 compliant graphics card is required. GL3.3 cards will have missing features and lower GL versions will not run Houdini 20.0 at all.

12GB VRAM or more is required. Less than this can result in display errors such as blank windows. High DPI displays (4K, 5K) or multiple monitors require a minimum of 12GB.

Graphics card must support OpenCL version 1.2.

• NVIDIA RTX & GeForce GPUs: 555.x  Production/Studio Driver or higher
• AMD: 24.Q2 or higher
• Intel 30.0.100.9955 or higher.

GPU Acceleration

• On certain graphics cards, Houdini can use the GPU to dramatically increase the performance and speed of your Vellum and Pyro FX simulations.
• In order to take advantage of this capability, you'll need a GPU capable of supporting OpenCL. Refer to the Supported Graphics Cards page.
• The amount of VRAM your GPU has access to will limit the size of simulation that you can run on it. 16GB + is ideal for larger simulations.
• GPU acceleration currently does NOT make use of multiple OpenCL devices (i.e. two or more graphics cards) but this may change at a future date. An exception to this is Karma XPU, which can make use of multiple NVidia GPUs.

Monitor

• Minimum resolution:  1920 x 1080 or higher is recommended.
• 12GB VRAM or higher required for dual displays or single displays greater than 1920x1200.
• Color depth of 32-bit (“true color”) required.

Remote Desktop with Houdini

Remote desktop solutions such as Teradici, VNC, Teamviewer, AnyDesk and Windows Remote Desktop may be considered. Note that performance may vary and only NVIDIA RTX and AMD Radeon Pro cards are known to work best with Microsoft's Remote Desktop.

PROS

• Unmatched Procedural Workflow
• Extensive VFX Toolset
• Non-Destructive Editing
• Customizable Node-Based System
• Seamless Integration with Pipelines

CONS

• Steep Learning Curve
• High System Requirements
• Expensive Licensing Options
• Limited Modeling Tools
• Challenging for Small-Scale Projects

Note: 30 days trial version.

Also Available: Download Houdini for Mac