Available for work

2017-03-29 Thread Paul Griswold
It's looking like I'll be teaching at a university in the fall, but
between now and then my schedule is open.

I'm honestly willing to tackle anything that'll help pay the bills. So
feel free to contact me off-list if you need someone to help out.

The university job isn't set in stone either, so if another
opportunity comes along I'm happy to hear about it.

Thanks

Paul

Sent from my electric telephone machine
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Re: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

2017-03-29 Thread Christopher Crouzet
Regarding GetArrayMinimum: there is a min()
 function in VEX, or
were you referring to something else?

Note that I'm still using Houdini 13 where support for arrays is not as
extended as in later versions, but I rarely feel the need for storing
arrays in attributes, or even using arrays at all in my code. An example of
exception would be to store the list of neighbouring indices for the
downstream nodes to use, but then it's likely that putting all the logic in
a single monolithic VEX instead wouldn't be such a bad approach.

Maybe the first thing to do before porting a node/workflow from Softimage
would be to figure out how to do it best in Houdini, as a way to get more
familiar with Houdini's philosophy, and then balance the pros/cons of each
approach.


PS: I personally find it cool to see the list revived with Houdini
discussions!


On 30 March 2017 at 02:10, Jonathan Moore  wrote:

> *| BTW, I suspect that many on this list might prefer we move the
> discussion elsewhere to stop the off-topic noise. I was thinking of Google
> groups being a good option.*
>
>
>
> Sounds like a good idea.
>
>
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-bounces@
> listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Andy Nicholas
> *Sent:* 29 March 2017 20:08
> *To:* Official Softimage Users Mailing List. https://groups.google.com/
> forum/#!forum/xsi_list 
> *Subject:* Re: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies
>
>
>
> Yep, agreed. I think we can be more ambitious. Rather than just cloning
> old workflows, we should use them as inspiration to improve on. There’s no
> point precisely duplicating something if that ends up causing long time
> Houdini users confusion because it doesn’t work the way they expect, or if
> it adds too much performance overhead just to make it “nice” from a
> Softimage point of view. I think it should be about making Houdini faster,
> simpler, and easier to use to create and rapidly prototype effects. That
> was what we liked so much about Softimage and ICE after all.
>
>
>
> Houdini tends to have big nodes with lots of functionality. I think we
> should think about having smaller nodes, with more singular functionality
> that is extremely clear. That way, you don’t have to read the manual each
> time you put one down. They should all be VEX expression-able too. I
> suspect some sort of convention about how nodes are made will be necessary
> in order to provide simplicity through consistency.
>
>
>
> How easy all this will be in practice, I don’t know. I suspect the most
> important thing to decide on first is what the problem actually is, before
> we figure out ways to solve it. Three key areas for me are:
>
>
>
> * Obvious missing VOP functionality (e.g. like the example that came up
> earlier: GetArrayMinimum, etc.)
>
> * Extend the POP functionality. I find the current one quite clunky and
> hard to do things quickly like manipulating particle orientation. Ever
> tried making a particle spin around it’s local velocity as it travels? It's
> not quick to do at all.
>
> * Decide on some typical and frequently used DOP use cases and figure out
> ways to set them up simply. E.g. Emit RBD From Particles.
>
>
>
> That’s just off the top of my head, but I’m sure others have their own
> ideas and priorities which I’d love to hear. Do pipe up as well if there’s
> something you’re keen to help with or have a strong opinion on. I’m not
> doing it all myself! ;)
>
>
>
> BTW, I suspect that many on this list might prefer we move the discussion
> elsewhere to stop the off-topic noise. I was thinking of Google groups
> being a good option.
>
>
>
> A
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 29 Mar 2017, at 19:30, Jordi Bares  wrote:
>
>
>
> Don't you think although the inspiration may be to clone useful components
> and tools found in Softimage there is potentially a much bigger scope?
>
>
>
> Not only that, traditional Houdini artists may find these tools useful too?
>
>
>
> I guess what I am trying to say is, Softimage is dead, let's move on to an
> even better place rather than hang around in old memories.
>
>
>
> My 2 cents
>
>
>
> Jb
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>
> On 29 Mar 2017, at 19:23, Olivier Jeannel  wrote:
>
> The EOL_lib
>
> or
>
> The KnightsOfNi_lib
>
>
>
> 2017-03-29 20:05 GMT+02:00 Fabricio Chamon :
>
> softLib looks good!
>
>
>
> Em qua, 29 de mar de 2017 às 18:51, Andy Nicholas 
> escreveu:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> haha! :)
>
>
>
>
>
> Will leave this question hanging tonight in case anyone else wants
>
> to chime in. Final decision can happen tomorrow.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 29/03/2017 17:38, Olivier Jeannel
>
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Autodesk lib ?
>
> N too rancorous...
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas 
>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> I'd probably go with
>
> something like 

RE: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

2017-03-29 Thread Jonathan Moore
| BTW, I suspect that many on this list might prefer we move the discussion 
elsewhere to stop the off-topic noise. I was thinking of Google groups being a 
good option.

 

Sounds like a good idea.

 

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Andy Nicholas
Sent: 29 March 2017 20:08
To: Official Softimage Users Mailing List. 
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/xsi_list 

Subject: Re: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

 

Yep, agreed. I think we can be more ambitious. Rather than just cloning old 
workflows, we should use them as inspiration to improve on. There’s no point 
precisely duplicating something if that ends up causing long time Houdini users 
confusion because it doesn’t work the way they expect, or if it adds too much 
performance overhead just to make it “nice” from a Softimage point of view. I 
think it should be about making Houdini faster, simpler, and easier to use to 
create and rapidly prototype effects. That was what we liked so much about 
Softimage and ICE after all.

 

Houdini tends to have big nodes with lots of functionality. I think we should 
think about having smaller nodes, with more singular functionality that is 
extremely clear. That way, you don’t have to read the manual each time you put 
one down. They should all be VEX expression-able too. I suspect some sort of 
convention about how nodes are made will be necessary in order to provide 
simplicity through consistency.

 

How easy all this will be in practice, I don’t know. I suspect the most 
important thing to decide on first is what the problem actually is, before we 
figure out ways to solve it. Three key areas for me are:

 

* Obvious missing VOP functionality (e.g. like the example that came up 
earlier: GetArrayMinimum, etc.)

* Extend the POP functionality. I find the current one quite clunky and hard to 
do things quickly like manipulating particle orientation. Ever tried making a 
particle spin around it’s local velocity as it travels? It's not quick to do at 
all.

* Decide on some typical and frequently used DOP use cases and figure out ways 
to set them up simply. E.g. Emit RBD From Particles.

 

That’s just off the top of my head, but I’m sure others have their own ideas 
and priorities which I’d love to hear. Do pipe up as well if there’s something 
you’re keen to help with or have a strong opinion on. I’m not doing it all 
myself! ;)

 

BTW, I suspect that many on this list might prefer we move the discussion 
elsewhere to stop the off-topic noise. I was thinking of Google groups being a 
good option.

 

A

 

 

 

On 29 Mar 2017, at 19:30, Jordi Bares  > wrote:

 

Don't you think although the inspiration may be to clone useful components and 
tools found in Softimage there is potentially a much bigger scope?

 

Not only that, traditional Houdini artists may find these tools useful too?

 

I guess what I am trying to say is, Softimage is dead, let's move on to an even 
better place rather than hang around in old memories.

 

My 2 cents 

 

Jb

Sent from my iPhone


On 29 Mar 2017, at 19:23, Olivier Jeannel  > wrote:

The EOL_lib

or

The KnightsOfNi_lib

 

2017-03-29 20:05 GMT+02:00 Fabricio Chamon  >:

softLib looks good!

 

Em qua, 29 de mar de 2017 às 18:51, Andy Nicholas  > escreveu:












haha! :)





Will leave this question hanging tonight in case anyone else wants

to chime in. Final decision can happen tomorrow.








On 29/03/2017 17:38, Olivier Jeannel

wrote:








Autodesk lib ?

N too rancorous...





On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas  >

wrote:



 

I'd probably go with

something like Andy's siLib or softLib - it's a bit more

obvious what it is. Probably the latter if it was up to me.





What do you guys think? Any other suggestions?






On 29/03/2017 17:14, Jonathan Moore wrote:








 

I was thinking H20...

 





On 29 March 2017 at 17:12, Andy

Goehler  >

wrote:



In

honor of inspiration how about?





• softLib


• siLib


• ICELib



 







> On Mar 29, 2017, at 6:08 PM, Andy Nicholas

 >

wrote:


>


> Continuing the thread here:


>


> Any suggestions for a name?


> A


>


> On 29/03/2017 17:00, Andy Nicholas wrote:


>> I'm more than happy to help. I'm just

unsure how much time I'll be


>> able to devote to this as I'm pretty

busy with some personal work at


>> the moment.


>>


>> How about I set up something similar to

Nick's on Github and we go


>> from there?


>>


>> We need a name for it. Let's start a

new thread on the list 

RE: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

2017-03-29 Thread Jonathan Moore
I’m with you Jordi. I think the greatest opportunity here is harnessing the 
experience of the Softimage artist community but cross fertilising it with 
Houdini artists that know how to mine Houdini’s rich possibilities. I think it 
could end up a an interesting  diversion but noting essential to the Houdini 
community as a whole if it’s perceived to be something that’s been created 
purely to ease the path for former Softimage artists. The Houdini community are 
quite hardcore in their defence of an environment that has enabled them to 
create stunning work so we need to be careful that we’re not seen as berating 
Houdini for what it’s not rather than engaging in the possibilities if what is 
and can be.

 

It was with that in mind that I thought that H20 felt an interesting territory. 
Not that I’m precious about that actual name but it feels an interesting 
creative territory that’s an evolution from ICE. The aspect of ICE that I think 
is richest as a collaborative genus is ICE’s approachable user experience. It’s 
something that draws artists in to deeper possibilities whereas Houdini often 
feels like your three levels in to an awesome game that only reveals it’s 
greatness once your eight levels in. Al least that’s what’s often like for me 
on a regular basis.

 

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Jordi Bares
Sent: 29 March 2017 19:30
To: Official Softimage Users Mailing List. 
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/xsi_list 

Subject: Re: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

 

Don't you think although the inspiration may be to clone useful components and 
tools found in Softimage there is potentially a much bigger scope?

 

Not only that, traditional Houdini artists may find these tools useful too?

 

I guess what I am trying to say is, Softimage is dead, let's move on to an even 
better place rather than hang around in old memories.

 

My 2 cents 

 

Jb

Sent from my iPhone


On 29 Mar 2017, at 19:23, Olivier Jeannel  > wrote:

The EOL_lib

or

The KnightsOfNi_lib

 

2017-03-29 20:05 GMT+02:00 Fabricio Chamon  >:

softLib looks good!

 

Em qua, 29 de mar de 2017 às 18:51, Andy Nicholas  > escreveu:












haha! :)





Will leave this question hanging tonight in case anyone else wants

to chime in. Final decision can happen tomorrow.








On 29/03/2017 17:38, Olivier Jeannel

wrote:








Autodesk lib ?

N too rancorous...





On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas  >

wrote:



 

I'd probably go with

something like Andy's siLib or softLib - it's a bit more

obvious what it is. Probably the latter if it was up to me.





What do you guys think? Any other suggestions?






On 29/03/2017 17:14, Jonathan Moore wrote:








 

I was thinking H20...

 





On 29 March 2017 at 17:12, Andy

Goehler  >

wrote:



In

honor of inspiration how about?





• softLib


• siLib


• ICELib



 







> On Mar 29, 2017, at 6:08 PM, Andy Nicholas



wrote:


>


> Continuing the thread here:


>


> Any suggestions for a name?


> A


>


> On 29/03/2017 17:00, Andy Nicholas wrote:


>> I'm more than happy to help. I'm just

unsure how much time I'll be


>> able to devote to this as I'm pretty

busy with some personal work at


>> the moment.


>>


>> How about I set up something similar to

Nick's on Github and we go


>> from there?


>>


>> We need a name for it. Let's start a

new thread on the list and move


>> discussions over to that. Is that okay?


>>


>> A


>


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> Softimage Mailing List.


> To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com 
>  

with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to

confirm.








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Re: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

2017-03-29 Thread Andy Nicholas
Yep, agreed. I think we can be more ambitious. Rather than just cloning old 
workflows, we should use them as inspiration to improve on. There’s no point 
precisely duplicating something if that ends up causing long time Houdini users 
confusion because it doesn’t work the way they expect, or if it adds too much 
performance overhead just to make it “nice” from a Softimage point of view. I 
think it should be about making Houdini faster, simpler, and easier to use to 
create and rapidly prototype effects. That was what we liked so much about 
Softimage and ICE after all.

Houdini tends to have big nodes with lots of functionality. I think we should 
think about having smaller nodes, with more singular functionality that is 
extremely clear. That way, you don’t have to read the manual each time you put 
one down. They should all be VEX expression-able too. I suspect some sort of 
convention about how nodes are made will be necessary in order to provide 
simplicity through consistency.

How easy all this will be in practice, I don’t know. I suspect the most 
important thing to decide on first is what the problem actually is, before we 
figure out ways to solve it. Three key areas for me are:

* Obvious missing VOP functionality (e.g. like the example that came up 
earlier: GetArrayMinimum, etc.)
* Extend the POP functionality. I find the current one quite clunky and hard to 
do things quickly like manipulating particle orientation. Ever tried making a 
particle spin around it’s local velocity as it travels? It's not quick to do at 
all.
* Decide on some typical and frequently used DOP use cases and figure out ways 
to set them up simply. E.g. Emit RBD From Particles.

That’s just off the top of my head, but I’m sure others have their own ideas 
and priorities which I’d love to hear. Do pipe up as well if there’s something 
you’re keen to help with or have a strong opinion on. I’m not doing it all 
myself! ;)

BTW, I suspect that many on this list might prefer we move the discussion 
elsewhere to stop the off-topic noise. I was thinking of Google groups being a 
good option.

A



> On 29 Mar 2017, at 19:30, Jordi Bares  wrote:
> 
> Don't you think although the inspiration may be to clone useful components 
> and tools found in Softimage there is potentially a much bigger scope?
> 
> Not only that, traditional Houdini artists may find these tools useful too?
> 
> I guess what I am trying to say is, Softimage is dead, let's move on to an 
> even better place rather than hang around in old memories.
> 
> My 2 cents 
> 
> Jb
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
> On 29 Mar 2017, at 19:23, Olivier Jeannel  > wrote:
> 
>> The EOL_lib
>> or
>> The KnightsOfNi_lib
>> 
>> 2017-03-29 20:05 GMT+02:00 Fabricio Chamon > >:
>> softLib looks good!
>> 
>> Em qua, 29 de mar de 2017 às 18:51, Andy Nicholas > > escreveu:
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> haha! :)
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Will leave this question hanging tonight in case anyone else wants
>> 
>> to chime in. Final decision can happen tomorrow.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 29/03/2017 17:38, Olivier Jeannel
>> 
>> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> Autodesk lib ?
>>> 
>>> N too rancorous...
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas >> >
>>> 
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I'd probably go with
>>> 
>>> something like Andy's siLib or softLib - it's a bit more
>>> 
>>> obvious what it is. Probably the latter if it was up to me.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> What do you guys think? Any other suggestions?
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 29/03/2017 17:14, Jonathan Moore wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
 
 
 I was thinking H20...
 
 
 
 
 
 On 29 March 2017 at 17:12, Andy
 
 Goehler >
 
 wrote:
 
 
 In
 
 honor of inspiration how about?
 
 
 
 
 
 • softLib
 
 
 • siLib
 
 
 • ICELib
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 > On Mar 29, 2017, at 6:08 PM, Andy Nicholas
 
 >
 
 wrote:
 
 
 >
 
 
 > Continuing the thread here:
 
 
 >
 
 
 > Any suggestions for a name?
 
 
 > A
 
 
 >
 
 
 > On 29/03/2017 17:00, Andy Nicholas wrote:
 
 
 >> I'm more than happy to help. I'm just
 
 unsure how much time I'll be
 
 
 >> able to devote to this as I'm pretty
 
 busy with some personal work at
 
 
 >> the moment.
 
 
 >>
 
 
 >> How about I set up something similar to
 
 Nick's on Github and we go
 
 
 >> from there?
 
 
 

Re: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

2017-03-29 Thread Jordi Bares
Don't you think although the inspiration may be to clone useful components and 
tools found in Softimage there is potentially a much bigger scope?

Not only that, traditional Houdini artists may find these tools useful too?

I guess what I am trying to say is, Softimage is dead, let's move on to an even 
better place rather than hang around in old memories.

My 2 cents 

Jb

Sent from my iPhone

> On 29 Mar 2017, at 19:23, Olivier Jeannel  wrote:
> 
> The EOL_lib
> or
> The KnightsOfNi_lib
> 
> 2017-03-29 20:05 GMT+02:00 Fabricio Chamon :
>> softLib looks good!
>> 
>>> Em qua, 29 de mar de 2017 às 18:51, Andy Nicholas  
>>> escreveu:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> haha! :)
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Will leave this question hanging tonight in case anyone else wants
>>> 
>>> to chime in. Final decision can happen tomorrow.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On 29/03/2017 17:38, Olivier Jeannel
>>> 
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
 Autodesk lib ?
 
 N too rancorous...
 
 
 
 
 
 On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas 
 
 wrote:
 
 
 
 
 I'd probably go with
 
 something like Andy's siLib or softLib - it's a bit more
 
 obvious what it is. Probably the latter if it was up to me.
 
 
 
 
 
 What do you guys think? Any other suggestions?
 
 
 
 
 
 On 29/03/2017 17:14, Jonathan Moore wrote:
 
 
 
 
> 
> 
> I was thinking H20...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 29 March 2017 at 17:12, Andy
> 
> Goehler 
> 
> wrote:
> 
> 
> In
> 
> honor of inspiration how about?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> • softLib
> 
> 
> • siLib
> 
> 
> • ICELib
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > On Mar 29, 2017, at 6:08 PM, Andy Nicholas
> 
> 
> 
> wrote:
> 
> 
> >
> 
> 
> > Continuing the thread here:
> 
> 
> >
> 
> 
> > Any suggestions for a name?
> 
> 
> > A
> 
> 
> >
> 
> 
> > On 29/03/2017 17:00, Andy Nicholas wrote:
> 
> 
> >> I'm more than happy to help. I'm just
> 
> unsure how much time I'll be
> 
> 
> >> able to devote to this as I'm pretty
> 
> busy with some personal work at
> 
> 
> >> the moment.
> 
> 
> >>
> 
> 
> >> How about I set up something similar to
> 
> Nick's on Github and we go
> 
> 
> >> from there?
> 
> 
> >>
> 
> 
> >> We need a name for it. Let's start a
> 
> new thread on the list and move
> 
> 
> >> discussions over to that. Is that okay?
> 
> 
> >>
> 
> 
> >> A
> 
> 
> >
> 
> 
> > --
> 
> 
> > Softimage Mailing List.
> 
> 
> > To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com
> 
> with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to
> 
> confirm.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --
> 
> 
> Softimage Mailing List.
> 
> 
> To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com
> 
> with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to
> 
> confirm.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --
> 
> Softimage Mailing List.
> 
> To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com 
> with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.
> 
> 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 --
 
 Softimage Mailing List.
 
 To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com 
 with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.
 
 
 
 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> 
>>> Softimage Mailing List.
>>> 
>>> To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with 
>>> "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.
>> 
>> --
>> Softimage Mailing List.
>> To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com with 
>> "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.
> 
> --
> Softimage Mailing List.
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Re: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

2017-03-29 Thread Olivier Jeannel
The EOL_lib
or
The KnightsOfNi_lib

2017-03-29 20:05 GMT+02:00 Fabricio Chamon :

> softLib looks good!
>
> Em qua, 29 de mar de 2017 às 18:51, Andy Nicholas 
> escreveu:
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> haha! :)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Will leave this question hanging tonight in case anyone else wants
>>
>> to chime in. Final decision can happen tomorrow.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 29/03/2017 17:38, Olivier Jeannel
>>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Autodesk lib ?
>>
>> N too rancorous...
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas 
>>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I'd probably go with
>>
>> something like Andy's siLib or softLib - it's a bit more
>>
>> obvious what it is. Probably the latter if it was up to me.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> What do you guys think? Any other suggestions?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 29/03/2017 17:14, Jonathan Moore wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I was thinking H20...
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 29 March 2017 at 17:12, Andy
>>
>> Goehler 
>>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>> In
>>
>> honor of inspiration how about?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> • softLib
>>
>>
>> • siLib
>>
>>
>> • ICELib
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> > On Mar 29, 2017, at 6:08 PM, Andy Nicholas
>>
>> 
>>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>>
>> > Continuing the thread here:
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>>
>> > Any suggestions for a name?
>>
>>
>> > A
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>>
>> > On 29/03/2017 17:00, Andy Nicholas wrote:
>>
>>
>> >> I'm more than happy to help. I'm just
>>
>> unsure how much time I'll be
>>
>>
>> >> able to devote to this as I'm pretty
>>
>> busy with some personal work at
>>
>>
>> >> the moment.
>>
>>
>> >>
>>
>>
>> >> How about I set up something similar to
>>
>> Nick's on Github and we go
>>
>>
>> >> from there?
>>
>>
>> >>
>>
>>
>> >> We need a name for it. Let's start a
>>
>> new thread on the list and move
>>
>>
>> >> discussions over to that. Is that okay?
>>
>>
>> >>
>>
>>
>> >> A
>>
>>
>> >
>>
>>
>> > --
>>
>>
>> > Softimage Mailing List.
>>
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>> > To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com
>>
>> with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to
>>
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>> --
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>>
>>
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Re: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

2017-03-29 Thread Fabricio Chamon
softLib looks good!

Em qua, 29 de mar de 2017 às 18:51, Andy Nicholas 
escreveu:

>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> haha! :)
>
>
>
>
>
> Will leave this question hanging tonight in case anyone else wants
>
> to chime in. Final decision can happen tomorrow.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On 29/03/2017 17:38, Olivier Jeannel
>
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Autodesk lib ?
>
> N too rancorous...
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas 
>
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> I'd probably go with
>
> something like Andy's siLib or softLib - it's a bit more
>
> obvious what it is. Probably the latter if it was up to me.
>
>
>
>
>
> What do you guys think? Any other suggestions?
>
>
>
>
>
> On 29/03/2017 17:14, Jonathan Moore wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I was thinking H20...
>
>
>
>
>
> On 29 March 2017 at 17:12, Andy
>
> Goehler 
>
> wrote:
>
>
> In
>
> honor of inspiration how about?
>
>
>
>
>
> • softLib
>
>
> • siLib
>
>
> • ICELib
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Mar 29, 2017, at 6:08 PM, Andy Nicholas
>
> 
>
> wrote:
>
>
> >
>
>
> > Continuing the thread here:
>
>
> >
>
>
> > Any suggestions for a name?
>
>
> > A
>
>
> >
>
>
> > On 29/03/2017 17:00, Andy Nicholas wrote:
>
>
> >> I'm more than happy to help. I'm just
>
> unsure how much time I'll be
>
>
> >> able to devote to this as I'm pretty
>
> busy with some personal work at
>
>
> >> the moment.
>
>
> >>
>
>
> >> How about I set up something similar to
>
> Nick's on Github and we go
>
>
> >> from there?
>
>
> >>
>
>
> >> We need a name for it. Let's start a
>
> new thread on the list and move
>
>
> >> discussions over to that. Is that okay?
>
>
> >>
>
>
> >> A
>
>
> >
>
>
> > --
>
>
> > Softimage Mailing List.
>
>
> > To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com
>
> with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to
>
> confirm.
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Re: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

2017-03-29 Thread Andy Nicholas

haha! :)

Will leave this question hanging tonight in case anyone else wants to 
chime in. Final decision can happen tomorrow.


On 29/03/2017 17:38, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

Autodesk lib ?
N too rancorous...

On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas > wrote:


I'd probably go with something like Andy's siLib or softLib - it's
a bit more obvious what it is. Probably the latter if it was up to me.

What do you guys think? Any other suggestions?

On 29/03/2017 17:14, Jonathan Moore wrote:

I was thinking H20...

On 29 March 2017 at 17:12, Andy Goehler
>
wrote:

In honor of inspiration how about?

• softLib
• siLib
• ICELib


> On Mar 29, 2017, at 6:08 PM, Andy Nicholas
> wrote:
>
> Continuing the thread here:
>
> Any suggestions for a name?
> A
>
> On 29/03/2017 17:00, Andy Nicholas wrote:
>> I'm more than happy to help. I'm just unsure how much time
I'll be
>> able to devote to this as I'm pretty busy with some
personal work at
>> the moment.
>>
>> How about I set up something similar to Nick's on Github
and we go
>> from there?
>>
>> We need a name for it. Let's start a new thread on the
list and move
>> discussions over to that. Is that okay?
>>
>> A
>
> --
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Re: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

2017-03-29 Thread Olivier Jeannel
Autodesk lib ?
N too rancorous...

On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas  wrote:

> I'd probably go with something like Andy's siLib or softLib - it's a bit
> more obvious what it is. Probably the latter if it was up to me.
>
> What do you guys think? Any other suggestions?
>
> On 29/03/2017 17:14, Jonathan Moore wrote:
>
> I was thinking H20...
>
> On 29 March 2017 at 17:12, Andy Goehler  > wrote:
>
>> In honor of inspiration how about?
>>
>> • softLib
>> • siLib
>> • ICELib
>>
>>
>> > On Mar 29, 2017, at 6:08 PM, Andy Nicholas > > wrote:
>> >
>> > Continuing the thread here:
>> >
>> > Any suggestions for a name?
>> > A
>> >
>> > On 29/03/2017 17:00, Andy Nicholas wrote:
>> >> I'm more than happy to help. I'm just unsure how much time I'll be
>> >> able to devote to this as I'm pretty busy with some personal work at
>> >> the moment.
>> >>
>> >> How about I set up something similar to Nick's on Github and we go
>> >> from there?
>> >>
>> >> We need a name for it. Let's start a new thread on the list and move
>> >> discussions over to that. Is that okay?
>> >>
>> >> A
>> >
>> > --
>> > Softimage Mailing List.
>> > To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com
>> 
>> with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.
>>
>>
>> --
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Re: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

2017-03-29 Thread Andy Nicholas
I'd probably go with something like Andy's siLib or softLib - it's a bit 
more obvious what it is. Probably the latter if it was up to me.


What do you guys think? Any other suggestions?

On 29/03/2017 17:14, Jonathan Moore wrote:

I was thinking H20...

On 29 March 2017 at 17:12, Andy Goehler > wrote:


In honor of inspiration how about?

• softLib
• siLib
• ICELib


> On Mar 29, 2017, at 6:08 PM, Andy Nicholas
> wrote:
>
> Continuing the thread here:
>
> Any suggestions for a name?
> A
>
> On 29/03/2017 17:00, Andy Nicholas wrote:
>> I'm more than happy to help. I'm just unsure how much time I'll be
>> able to devote to this as I'm pretty busy with some personal
work at
>> the moment.
>>
>> How about I set up something similar to Nick's on Github and we go
>> from there?
>>
>> We need a name for it. Let's start a new thread on the list and
move
>> discussions over to that. Is that okay?
>>
>> A
>
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Re: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

2017-03-29 Thread Jonathan Moore
I was thinking H20...

On 29 March 2017 at 17:12, Andy Goehler 
wrote:

> In honor of inspiration how about?
>
> • softLib
> • siLib
> • ICELib
>
>
> > On Mar 29, 2017, at 6:08 PM, Andy Nicholas 
> wrote:
> >
> > Continuing the thread here:
> >
> > Any suggestions for a name?
> > A
> >
> > On 29/03/2017 17:00, Andy Nicholas wrote:
> >> I'm more than happy to help. I'm just unsure how much time I'll be
> >> able to devote to this as I'm pretty busy with some personal work at
> >> the moment.
> >>
> >> How about I set up something similar to Nick's on Github and we go
> >> from there?
> >>
> >> We need a name for it. Let's start a new thread on the list and move
> >> discussions over to that. Is that okay?
> >>
> >> A
> >
> > --
> > Softimage Mailing List.
> > To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com
> with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.
>
>
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Re: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Jonathan Moore
Sound like a plan to me.

On 29 March 2017 at 17:00, Andy Nicholas  wrote:

> I'm more than happy to help. I'm just unsure how much time I'll be able to
> devote to this as I'm pretty busy with some personal work at the moment.
>
> How about I set up something similar to Nick's on Github and we go from
> there?
>
> We need a name for it. Let's start a new thread on the list and move
> discussions over to that. Is that okay?
>
> A
>
>
>
>
>
> On 29/03/2017 16:44, Jonathan Moore wrote:
>
> I'm still waiting for other willing volunteers. :)
>
> On 29 March 2017 at 16:36, Andy Nicholas  wrote:
>
>> Good idea. He's organised his library in the standard Houdini way so I'm
>> sure he'll be able to help guide things if you're looking to move forward
>> with this.
>>
>>
>> On 29/03/2017 16:02, Jonathan Moore wrote:
>>
>> By the way, does anybody have any issues if I talk to Nick Taylor ref the
>> idea of putting a qLib like library together. I think he’s done a sterling
>> effort with his AeLib library, which mirrors the framework of the qLib
>> library. I’m also a fan of his work for - http://futuredeluxe.co.uk/ -
>> and he’s a regular helping hand on the Discord server. That could be useful
>> for sense checking emerging ideas against the wider consensus of the
>> Houdini community.
>>
>>
>>
>> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [
>> mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
>> ] *On Behalf Of *Andy Nicholas
>> *Sent:* 29 March 2017 15:50
>> *To:* Official Softimage Users Mailing List.
>> https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/xsi_list
>>  
>> *Subject:* Re: Random Thoughts about H.
>>
>>
>>
>> > Arrays and vop (or vex if that's your thing) are keys if you want to
>> maintain speed imho.
>>
>> Definitely. Getting into Vex in a big way has been a complete game
>> changer for me in the last couple of years or so. There's just so much you
>> can do with it, and like you said, it's super fast. It's particularly
>> useful in doing generative geometry and other low level geo operations. As
>> much as I still love ICE, Vex is so much more robust and powerful.
>>
>> And sure, feel free to send a scene if you get stuck!
>>
>> A
>>
>> On 29/03/2017 15:32, Olivier Jeannel wrote:
>>
>> Thank you Andy ! Got to try that when I'm back :)
>>
>> I should send you some scene with some questions (somedays). I wanted to
>> do this with Mikael, but sometimes you don't want to bother people to much,
>> plus you have to be sure that what you're asking has sense, and sometimes
>> you just want to find yourself ^^
>>
>> I quite loved the other day thread about strands a la softimage. Recently
>> someone (can't remember the name) posted a tut about clumping hair on
>> vimeo. And I came up with something hybrid but very fast without any for
>> each sop and a little bit of array.
>>
>> Arrays and vop (or vex if that's your thing) are keys if you want to
>> maintain speed imho.
>>
>>
>> On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas 
>> wrote:
>>
>> Thanks for sharing. It's useful to see where you see issues.
>>
>> > I miss the "sort array with key"
>>
>> You need two nodes: "Array Arg Sort", and "Array Reorder". Use the Array
>> Arg Sort to sort your "key" value and produce indices, which you then feed
>> to the "Array Reorder". Maybe that's the first Softimage ICE HDA someone
>> could make. Just encapsulate these two to become a "Sort Array by Key" node.
>>
>> I think a lot of problems with learning Houdini is the complexity and the
>> overwhelming feeling of "great, I can do anything, but where the heck do I
>> start". Much of which is over the linquistical issues like, for example,
>> the disconnectivity between slightly obscure naming of nodes and what they
>> actually do. I wouldn't mind betting that if people start putting together
>> Softimage->Houdini digital assets, the first noticeable thing will be the
>> Softimage style names that are used!
>>
>> Maybe learning Houdini is a similar process to learning a foreign
>> language? Takes a while to get fluent.
>>
>> A
>>
>>
>> On 29/03/2017 14:33, Olivier Jeannel wrote:
>>
>> I'm not comfident enough to tell, and I can only speak for vop (not vex).
>>
>> Having to build a for each loop set of nodes, well it took me time to
>> figure (in fact Mikael tut was the answer)
>>
>> Having to work with per prim vertex array seems to be a limitation when
>> coming to sort those vertex.
>>
>> I have overal sorting issues : it's ok to sort ptnum but an arbitrary
>> integer attribute I'm not sure I can.
>>
>> I wish there was more example (in vop) of array building and sorting.
>>
>> I miss the "sort array with key"
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm just starting with arrays in H but I find it over complicated.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas 
>> wrote:
>>
>> Heh! Flattery will get 

Re: Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

2017-03-29 Thread Andy Goehler
In honor of inspiration how about?

• softLib
• siLib
• ICELib


> On Mar 29, 2017, at 6:08 PM, Andy Nicholas  wrote:
> 
> Continuing the thread here:
> 
> Any suggestions for a name?
> A
> 
> On 29/03/2017 17:00, Andy Nicholas wrote:
>> I'm more than happy to help. I'm just unsure how much time I'll be 
>> able to devote to this as I'm pretty busy with some personal work at 
>> the moment.
>> 
>> How about I set up something similar to Nick's on Github and we go 
>> from there?
>> 
>> We need a name for it. Let's start a new thread on the list and move 
>> discussions over to that. Is that okay?
>> 
>> A
> 
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Houdini Digital Assets for Softies

2017-03-29 Thread Andy Nicholas
Continuing the thread here:

Any suggestions for a name?
A

On 29/03/2017 17:00, Andy Nicholas wrote:
> I'm more than happy to help. I'm just unsure how much time I'll be 
> able to devote to this as I'm pretty busy with some personal work at 
> the moment.
>
> How about I set up something similar to Nick's on Github and we go 
> from there?
>
> We need a name for it. Let's start a new thread on the list and move 
> discussions over to that. Is that okay?
>
> A

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RE: Maya Time Editor

2017-03-29 Thread Sofronis Efstathiou
Hi Anto,

Thank you for your reply – its much appreciated.

From what I have seen and tested, locking or hiding the channels does not stop 
them from having their animation data stored in the source clip – which is odd 
and fairly unintuitive, as well inefficient. In Softimage we had many more 
options – e.g. we were able to store the parameters that were marked vs storing 
all animation parameters found on an object – plus a range of other options 
such as isolating FCurves, expressions and constraints. The Maya method is just 
clunky.  I could delete or mute the channels in the clip once added to the Time 
Editor, but that’s not very user friendly either (and it doesn’t work – once 
muted the channel can’t be unmuted in the graph editor).

Thanks for the heads up on the hierarchy problem with the shape node – that’s 
great.

Cheers

Sofronis (Saf) Efstathiou

Principal Lecturer and BFX Competition & Festival Director
Computer Animation Academic Group
National Centre for Computer Animation

Email: sefstath...@bournemouth.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1202 965805

Profile: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/sofronisefstathiou

Student Work:
http://www.youtube.com/NCCA3DAnimation
http://www.youtube.com/NCCADigitalFX
http://www.youtube.com/NCCAAnimation

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Dropbox\Work_Files\NCCA\VFXandAnimation_competition\BFX_website\BFX_Website\bfx_logo_facebook.png]
 


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Awarded for world-class computer animation teaching
with wide scientific and creative applications

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Anto Matkovic
Sent: 23 March 2017 11:49
To: Official Softimage Users Mailing List. 
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/xsi_list 

Subject: Re: Maya Time Editor

As far as I know, it takes keyable and animated channels. You could use Channel 
Control window to set what is keyable, or just displayed in Channel Box.
Or, you could make a certain channel keyable, locked, nonkeyable or else, 
directly in Chanell Box. Tip: Maya Channel Box works with multiple selected 
nodes, or multiple selected channels of one node, or both.
Btw,  Maya ''select hierarchy'' menu command selects shape nodes, too, perhaps 
you'll want to avoid that, simple MEL that removes shapes from hierarchy 
selection is something like this:

select -hi;
string $mysell[]=`ls -sl -type transform`;
select -r $mysell;


From: Sofronis Efstathiou 
>
To: "softimage@listproc.autodesk.com" 
>
Sent: Monday, March 20, 2017 7:17 PM
Subject: Maya Time Editor

Hi everyone,

I hope you are well. I had a quick question about Maya’s Time Editor, I was 
hoping someone maybe can help, or push me in the right direction.

When storing animation in Softimage’s Animation Mixer we had the option of 
isolation which channel we wanted to store. However, in Maya’s Time Editor I 
can’t seem to save a particular channel marked in the Channel box as a clip, it 
will instead remove all of the animated parameters that belong to the object. 
i.e. if the position of a sphere was animated, how do I just pull the y channel 
and leave the other two channels x and z on the object? The same for rotations 
vs position vs scale, or even the size or colour of an object etc. The same for 
constraints – how do I separate a point cns properties vs a rotation cns? I 
want to be specific about which channels are stored.

Does anyone know? I can’t seem to find any reference to it in the help files or 
online. It just rips off everything – even the options in the Time Editor> 
File>Add Animation from Scene Selection don’t facilitate this. I’m sure I’m 
missing something – maybe its connected to Character Sets? Or channels that are 
marked?

Thanks again.

Sofronis (Saf) Efstathiou

Principal Lecturer and BFX Competition & Festival Director
Computer Animation Academic Group
National Centre for Computer Animation

Email: sefstath...@bournemouth.ac.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 1202 965805

Profile: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/sofronisefstathiou

Student Work:
http://www.youtube.com/NCCA3DAnimation
http://www.youtube.com/NCCADigitalFX
http://www.youtube.com/NCCAAnimation

[Description: Description: 
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Re: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Andy Nicholas
I'm more than happy to help. I'm just unsure how much time I'll be able 
to devote to this as I'm pretty busy with some personal work at the moment.


How about I set up something similar to Nick's on Github and we go from 
there?


We need a name for it. Let's start a new thread on the list and move 
discussions over to that. Is that okay?


A




On 29/03/2017 16:44, Jonathan Moore wrote:

I'm still waiting for other willing volunteers. :)

On 29 March 2017 at 16:36, Andy Nicholas > wrote:


Good idea. He's organised his library in the standard Houdini way
so I'm sure he'll be able to help guide things if you're looking
to move forward with this.


On 29/03/2017 16:02, Jonathan Moore wrote:


By the way, does anybody have any issues if I talk to Nick Taylor
ref the idea of putting a qLib like library together. I think
he’s done a sterling effort with his AeLib library, which mirrors
the framework of the qLib library. I’m also a fan of his work for
- http://futuredeluxe.co.uk/ - and he’s a regular helping hand on
the Discord server. That could be useful for sense checking
emerging ideas against the wider consensus of the Houdini community.

*From:*softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com

[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com
] *On Behalf Of
*Andy Nicholas
*Sent:* 29 March 2017 15:50
*To:* Official Softimage Users Mailing List.
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/xsi_list



*Subject:* Re: Random Thoughts about H.

> Arrays and vop (or vex if that's your thing) are keys if you
want to maintain speed imho.

Definitely. Getting into Vex in a big way has been a complete
game changer for me in the last couple of years or so. There's
just so much you can do with it, and like you said, it's super
fast. It's particularly useful in doing generative geometry and
other low level geo operations. As much as I still love ICE, Vex
is so much more robust and powerful.

And sure, feel free to send a scene if you get stuck!

A

On 29/03/2017 15:32, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

Thank you Andy ! Got to try that when I'm back :)

I should send you some scene with some questions (somedays).
I wanted to do this with Mikael, but sometimes you don't want
to bother people to much, plus you have to be sure that what
you're asking has sense, and sometimes you just want to find
yourself ^^

I quite loved the other day thread about strands a la
softimage. Recently someone (can't remember the name) posted
a tut about clumping hair on vimeo. And I came up with
something hybrid but very fast without any for each sop and a
little bit of array.

Arrays and vop (or vex if that's your thing) are keys if you
want to maintain speed imho.


On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas
> wrote:

Thanks for sharing. It's useful to see where you see issues.

> I miss the "sort array with key"

You need two nodes: "Array Arg Sort", and "Array
Reorder". Use the Array Arg Sort to sort your "key" value
and produce indices, which you then feed to the "Array
Reorder". Maybe that's the first Softimage ICE HDA
someone could make. Just encapsulate these two to become
a "Sort Array by Key" node.

I think a lot of problems with learning Houdini is the
complexity and the overwhelming feeling of "great, I can
do anything, but where the heck do I start". Much of
which is over the linquistical issues like, for example,
the disconnectivity between slightly obscure naming of
nodes and what they actually do. I wouldn't mind betting
that if people start putting together Softimage->Houdini
digital assets, the first noticeable thing will be the
Softimage style names that are used!

Maybe learning Houdini is a similar process to learning a
foreign language? Takes a while to get fluent.

A


On 29/03/2017 14:33, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

I'm not comfident enough to tell, and I can only
speak for vop (not vex).

Having to build a for each loop set of nodes, well it
took me time to figure (in fact Mikael tut was the
answer)

Having to work with per prim vertex array seems to be
a limitation when coming to sort those vertex.

   

Re: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Jonathan Moore
I'm still waiting for other willing volunteers. :)

On 29 March 2017 at 16:36, Andy Nicholas  wrote:

> Good idea. He's organised his library in the standard Houdini way so I'm
> sure he'll be able to help guide things if you're looking to move forward
> with this.
>
>
> On 29/03/2017 16:02, Jonathan Moore wrote:
>
> By the way, does anybody have any issues if I talk to Nick Taylor ref the
> idea of putting a qLib like library together. I think he’s done a sterling
> effort with his AeLib library, which mirrors the framework of the qLib
> library. I’m also a fan of his work for - http://futuredeluxe.co.uk/ -
> and he’s a regular helping hand on the Discord server. That could be useful
> for sense checking emerging ideas against the wider consensus of the
> Houdini community.
>
>
>
> *From:* softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com [mailto:softimage-bounces@
> listproc.autodesk.com ] *On
> Behalf Of *Andy Nicholas
> *Sent:* 29 March 2017 15:50
> *To:* Official Softimage Users Mailing List. https://groups.google.com/
> forum/#!forum/xsi_list 
> 
> *Subject:* Re: Random Thoughts about H.
>
>
>
> > Arrays and vop (or vex if that's your thing) are keys if you want to
> maintain speed imho.
>
> Definitely. Getting into Vex in a big way has been a complete game changer
> for me in the last couple of years or so. There's just so much you can do
> with it, and like you said, it's super fast. It's particularly useful in
> doing generative geometry and other low level geo operations. As much as I
> still love ICE, Vex is so much more robust and powerful.
>
> And sure, feel free to send a scene if you get stuck!
>
> A
>
> On 29/03/2017 15:32, Olivier Jeannel wrote:
>
> Thank you Andy ! Got to try that when I'm back :)
>
> I should send you some scene with some questions (somedays). I wanted to
> do this with Mikael, but sometimes you don't want to bother people to much,
> plus you have to be sure that what you're asking has sense, and sometimes
> you just want to find yourself ^^
>
> I quite loved the other day thread about strands a la softimage. Recently
> someone (can't remember the name) posted a tut about clumping hair on
> vimeo. And I came up with something hybrid but very fast without any for
> each sop and a little bit of array.
>
> Arrays and vop (or vex if that's your thing) are keys if you want to
> maintain speed imho.
>
>
> On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas  wrote:
>
> Thanks for sharing. It's useful to see where you see issues.
>
> > I miss the "sort array with key"
>
> You need two nodes: "Array Arg Sort", and "Array Reorder". Use the Array
> Arg Sort to sort your "key" value and produce indices, which you then feed
> to the "Array Reorder". Maybe that's the first Softimage ICE HDA someone
> could make. Just encapsulate these two to become a "Sort Array by Key" node.
>
> I think a lot of problems with learning Houdini is the complexity and the
> overwhelming feeling of "great, I can do anything, but where the heck do I
> start". Much of which is over the linquistical issues like, for example,
> the disconnectivity between slightly obscure naming of nodes and what they
> actually do. I wouldn't mind betting that if people start putting together
> Softimage->Houdini digital assets, the first noticeable thing will be the
> Softimage style names that are used!
>
> Maybe learning Houdini is a similar process to learning a foreign
> language? Takes a while to get fluent.
>
> A
>
>
> On 29/03/2017 14:33, Olivier Jeannel wrote:
>
> I'm not comfident enough to tell, and I can only speak for vop (not vex).
>
> Having to build a for each loop set of nodes, well it took me time to
> figure (in fact Mikael tut was the answer)
>
> Having to work with per prim vertex array seems to be a limitation when
> coming to sort those vertex.
>
> I have overal sorting issues : it's ok to sort ptnum but an arbitrary
> integer attribute I'm not sure I can.
>
> I wish there was more example (in vop) of array building and sorting.
>
> I miss the "sort array with key"
>
>
>
> I'm just starting with arrays in H but I find it over complicated.
>
>
>
> On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas  wrote:
>
> Heh! Flattery will get you everywhere ;)
>
> Yes, they make sense in both packages to me, and you have the added
> benefit of being able to see the arrays directly in Houdini using the
> Geometry Spreadsheet, rather than turning on the visualisation in Softimage
> and have them disappearing off the top of the screen. You can do Python
> style array slicing in VEX too which is awesomely useful.
>
> Anyway, that's why I wanted to ask Olivier an honest question to try and
> understand where Houdini is lacking. Maybe I'm too close to it to see the
> issues.
>
> A
>
> On 29/03/2017 13:06, Jordi Bares wrote:
>
> I was wondering if using arrays in Houdini 

Re: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Andy Nicholas
Good idea. He's organised his library in the standard Houdini way so I'm 
sure he'll be able to help guide things if you're looking to move 
forward with this.


On 29/03/2017 16:02, Jonathan Moore wrote:


By the way, does anybody have any issues if I talk to Nick Taylor ref 
the idea of putting a qLib like library together. I think he’s done a 
sterling effort with his AeLib library, which mirrors the framework of 
the qLib library. I’m also a fan of his work for - 
http://futuredeluxe.co.uk/ - and he’s a regular helping hand on the 
Discord server. That could be useful for sense checking emerging ideas 
against the wider consensus of the Houdini community.


*From:*softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] *On Behalf Of *Andy 
Nicholas

*Sent:* 29 March 2017 15:50
*To:* Official Softimage Users Mailing List. 
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/xsi_list 


*Subject:* Re: Random Thoughts about H.

> Arrays and vop (or vex if that's your thing) are keys if you want to 
maintain speed imho.


Definitely. Getting into Vex in a big way has been a complete game 
changer for me in the last couple of years or so. There's just so much 
you can do with it, and like you said, it's super fast. It's 
particularly useful in doing generative geometry and other low level 
geo operations. As much as I still love ICE, Vex is so much more 
robust and powerful.


And sure, feel free to send a scene if you get stuck!

A

On 29/03/2017 15:32, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

Thank you Andy ! Got to try that when I'm back :)

I should send you some scene with some questions (somedays). I
wanted to do this with Mikael, but sometimes you don't want to
bother people to much, plus you have to be sure that what you're
asking has sense, and sometimes you just want to find yourself ^^

I quite loved the other day thread about strands a la softimage.
Recently someone (can't remember the name) posted a tut about
clumping hair on vimeo. And I came up with something hybrid but
very fast without any for each sop and a little bit of array.

Arrays and vop (or vex if that's your thing) are keys if you want
to maintain speed imho.


On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas > wrote:

Thanks for sharing. It's useful to see where you see issues.

> I miss the "sort array with key"

You need two nodes: "Array Arg Sort", and "Array Reorder". Use
the Array Arg Sort to sort your "key" value and produce
indices, which you then feed to the "Array Reorder". Maybe
that's the first Softimage ICE HDA someone could make. Just
encapsulate these two to become a "Sort Array by Key" node.

I think a lot of problems with learning Houdini is the
complexity and the overwhelming feeling of "great, I can do
anything, but where the heck do I start". Much of which is
over the linquistical issues like, for example, the
disconnectivity between slightly obscure naming of nodes and
what they actually do. I wouldn't mind betting that if people
start putting together Softimage->Houdini digital assets, the
first noticeable thing will be the Softimage style names that
are used!

Maybe learning Houdini is a similar process to learning a
foreign language? Takes a while to get fluent.

A


On 29/03/2017 14:33, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

I'm not comfident enough to tell, and I can only speak for
vop (not vex).

Having to build a for each loop set of nodes, well it took
me time to figure (in fact Mikael tut was the answer)

Having to work with per prim vertex array seems to be a
limitation when coming to sort those vertex.

I have overal sorting issues : it's ok to sort ptnum but
an arbitrary integer attribute I'm not sure I can.

I wish there was more example (in vop) of array building
and sorting.

I miss the "sort array with key"

I'm just starting with arrays in H but I find it over
complicated.



On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas
>
wrote:

Heh! Flattery will get you everywhere ;)

Yes, they make sense in both packages to me, and you
have the added benefit of being able to see the arrays
directly in Houdini using the Geometry Spreadsheet,
rather than turning on the visualisation in Softimage
and have them disappearing off the top of the screen.
You can do Python style array slicing in VEX too which
is awesomely useful.

  

RE: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Jonathan Moore
By the way, does anybody have any issues if I talk to Nick Taylor ref the idea 
of putting a qLib like library together. I think he’s done a sterling effort 
with his AeLib library, which mirrors the framework of the qLib library. I’m 
also a fan of his work for - http://futuredeluxe.co.uk/ - and he’s a regular 
helping hand on the Discord server. That could be useful for sense checking 
emerging ideas against the wider consensus of the Houdini community.

 

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Andy Nicholas
Sent: 29 March 2017 15:50
To: Official Softimage Users Mailing List. 
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/xsi_list 

Subject: Re: Random Thoughts about H.

 

> Arrays and vop (or vex if that's your thing) are keys if you want to maintain 
> speed imho. 

Definitely. Getting into Vex in a big way has been a complete game changer for 
me in the last couple of years or so. There's just so much you can do with it, 
and like you said, it's super fast. It's particularly useful in doing 
generative geometry and other low level geo operations. As much as I still love 
ICE, Vex is so much more robust and powerful.

And sure, feel free to send a scene if you get stuck!

A

On 29/03/2017 15:32, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

Thank you Andy ! Got to try that when I'm back :) 

I should send you some scene with some questions (somedays). I wanted to do 
this with Mikael, but sometimes you don't want to bother people to much, plus 
you have to be sure that what you're asking has sense, and sometimes you just 
want to find yourself ^^

I quite loved the other day thread about strands a la softimage. Recently 
someone (can't remember the name) posted a tut about clumping hair on vimeo. 
And I came up with something hybrid but very fast without any for each sop and 
a little bit of array.

Arrays and vop (or vex if that's your thing) are keys if you want to maintain 
speed imho. 


On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas  > wrote:

Thanks for sharing. It's useful to see where you see issues.

> I miss the "sort array with key"

You need two nodes: "Array Arg Sort", and "Array Reorder". Use the Array Arg 
Sort to sort your "key" value and produce indices, which you then feed to the 
"Array Reorder". Maybe that's the first Softimage ICE HDA someone could make. 
Just encapsulate these two to become a "Sort Array by Key" node.

I think a lot of problems with learning Houdini is the complexity and the 
overwhelming feeling of "great, I can do anything, but where the heck do I 
start". Much of which is over the linquistical issues like, for example, the 
disconnectivity between slightly obscure naming of nodes and what they actually 
do. I wouldn't mind betting that if people start putting together 
Softimage->Houdini digital assets, the first noticeable thing will be the 
Softimage style names that are used!

Maybe learning Houdini is a similar process to learning a foreign language? 
Takes a while to get fluent.

A




On 29/03/2017 14:33, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

I'm not comfident enough to tell, and I can only speak for vop (not vex). 

Having to build a for each loop set of nodes, well it took me time to figure 
(in fact Mikael tut was the answer)

Having to work with per prim vertex array seems to be a limitation when coming 
to sort those vertex.

I have overal sorting issues : it's ok to sort ptnum but an arbitrary integer 
attribute I'm not sure I can.

I wish there was more example (in vop) of array building and sorting.

I miss the "sort array with key"

 

I'm just starting with arrays in H but I find it over complicated.



On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas  > wrote:

Heh! Flattery will get you everywhere ;)

Yes, they make sense in both packages to me, and you have the added benefit of 
being able to see the arrays directly in Houdini using the Geometry 
Spreadsheet, rather than turning on the visualisation in Softimage and have 
them disappearing off the top of the screen. You can do Python style array 
slicing in VEX too which is awesomely useful.

Anyway, that's why I wanted to ask Olivier an honest question to try and 
understand where Houdini is lacking. Maybe I'm too close to it to see the 
issues. 

A



On 29/03/2017 13:06, Jordi Bares wrote:

I was wondering if using arrays in Houdini makes as much sense as in Softimage… 
Andy??? You are the expert here.

 

jb

 

On 29 Mar 2017, at 10:57, Andy Nicholas  > wrote:

 

Hi Olivier, where do you see the biggest difference with ICE arrays and Houdini 
arrays? In both you have ways of adding, removing, sorting, etc. elements in 
the array in whatever context you're in, no?

A

On 29/03/2017 09:48, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

An example of something we own as ice 

Re: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Andy Nicholas
> Arrays and vop (or vex if that's your thing) are keys if you want to 
maintain speed imho.


Definitely. Getting into Vex in a big way has been a complete game 
changer for me in the last couple of years or so. There's just so much 
you can do with it, and like you said, it's super fast. It's 
particularly useful in doing generative geometry and other low level geo 
operations. As much as I still love ICE, Vex is so much more robust and 
powerful.


And sure, feel free to send a scene if you get stuck!

A

On 29/03/2017 15:32, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

Thank you Andy ! Got to try that when I'm back :)
I should send you some scene with some questions (somedays). I wanted 
to do this with Mikael, but sometimes you don't want to bother people 
to much, plus you have to be sure that what you're asking has sense, 
and sometimes you just want to find yourself ^^
I quite loved the other day thread about strands a la softimage. 
Recently someone (can't remember the name) posted a tut about clumping 
hair on vimeo. And I came up with something hybrid but very fast 
without any for each sop and a little bit of array.
Arrays and vop (or vex if that's your thing) are keys if you want to 
maintain speed imho.


On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas > wrote:


Thanks for sharing. It's useful to see where you see issues.

> I miss the "sort array with key"

You need two nodes: "Array Arg Sort", and "Array Reorder". Use the
Array Arg Sort to sort your "key" value and produce indices, which
you then feed to the "Array Reorder". Maybe that's the first
Softimage ICE HDA someone could make. Just encapsulate these two
to become a "Sort Array by Key" node.

I think a lot of problems with learning Houdini is the complexity
and the overwhelming feeling of "great, I can do anything, but
where the heck do I start". Much of which is over the linquistical
issues like, for example, the disconnectivity between slightly
obscure naming of nodes and what they actually do. I wouldn't mind
betting that if people start putting together Softimage->Houdini
digital assets, the first noticeable thing will be the Softimage
style names that are used!

Maybe learning Houdini is a similar process to learning a foreign
language? Takes a while to get fluent.

A



On 29/03/2017 14:33, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

I'm not comfident enough to tell, and I can only speak for vop
(not vex).
Having to build a for each loop set of nodes, well it took me
time to figure (in fact Mikael tut was the answer)
Having to work with per prim vertex array seems to be a
limitation when coming to sort those vertex.
I have overal sorting issues : it's ok to sort ptnum but an
arbitrary integer attribute I'm not sure I can.
I wish there was more example (in vop) of array building and sorting.
I miss the "sort array with key"

I'm just starting with arrays in H but I find it over complicated.


On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas
> wrote:

Heh! Flattery will get you everywhere ;)

Yes, they make sense in both packages to me, and you have the
added benefit of being able to see the arrays directly in
Houdini using the Geometry Spreadsheet, rather than turning
on the visualisation in Softimage and have them disappearing
off the top of the screen. You can do Python style array
slicing in VEX too which is awesomely useful.

Anyway, that's why I wanted to ask Olivier an honest question
to try and understand where Houdini is lacking. Maybe I'm too
close to it to see the issues.

A


On 29/03/2017 13:06, Jordi Bares wrote:

I was wondering if using arrays in Houdini makes as much
sense as in Softimage… Andy??? You are the expert here.

jb


On 29 Mar 2017, at 10:57, Andy Nicholas
 wrote:

Hi Olivier, where do you see the biggest difference with
ICE arrays and Houdini arrays? In both you have ways of
adding, removing, sorting, etc. elements in the array in
whatever context you're in, no?

A

On 29/03/2017 09:48, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

An example of something we own as ice user :
One of the first thing I replicated was the Modulate by
Volume.
When I arrived on Houdini and saw all those tutorial with
people using the Attribute transfer, I tried to use it
myself and was horrified : I found it slow and not precize.
Nobody was using a UV location + dotproduct method, and
imho that's by far the most efficient method.
The hardest thinking was "how should I wire it in Houdini
way of working ?". I came up with one Vop HDA, and one SOP
   

RE: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Jonathan Moore
With my limited knowledge of XSI the main areas where I think ICE wins is the 
ease of manipulating arrays in a nodal manner that has no real parallel in 
VOPs. I’m specifically talking about pop, push, sort, get average, maximum, 
minimum, sum etc, etc. And that’s before we get into to the great array 
compounds that were shared by the community. None of these things are missing 
in VEX but approachable parallels  in VOP’s are lacking. But to put the shoe on 
the other foot managing context is a far more logical process in Houdini than 
it is in XSI. 

 

I haven’t personally minded being pushed deeper into C like programming than I 
was previously comfortable with as I find VEX exceptionally efficient and well 
structured. A few well-chosen lines of VEX beats a spaghetti junction of VOP 
nodes any day. However the beauty of visual programming interfaces is that 
they’re far more approachably to artists with little to no programming 
experience. In many ways I far prefer VOPs to ICE but VOPs definitely lacks a 
compelling set of ‘compounds’ that artists can analyse at leisure and gain a 
greater ability for programmatic thinking at a pace they’re comfortable with.

 

From: softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com 
[mailto:softimage-boun...@listproc.autodesk.com] On Behalf Of Andy Nicholas
Sent: 29 March 2017 14:57
To: Official Softimage Users Mailing List. 
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/xsi_list 

Subject: Re: Random Thoughts about H.

 

Thanks for sharing. It's useful to see where you see issues.

> I miss the "sort array with key"

You need two nodes: "Array Arg Sort", and "Array Reorder". Use the Array Arg 
Sort to sort your "key" value and produce indices, which you then feed to the 
"Array Reorder". Maybe that's the first Softimage ICE HDA someone could make. 
Just encapsulate these two to become a "Sort Array by Key" node.

I think a lot of problems with learning Houdini is the complexity and the 
overwhelming feeling of "great, I can do anything, but where the heck do I 
start". Much of which is over the linquistical issues like, for example, the 
disconnectivity between slightly obscure naming of nodes and what they actually 
do. I wouldn't mind betting that if people start putting together 
Softimage->Houdini digital assets, the first noticeable thing will be the 
Softimage style names that are used!

Maybe learning Houdini is a similar process to learning a foreign language? 
Takes a while to get fluent.

A




On 29/03/2017 14:33, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

I'm not comfident enough to tell, and I can only speak for vop (not vex). 

Having to build a for each loop set of nodes, well it took me time to figure 
(in fact Mikael tut was the answer)

Having to work with per prim vertex array seems to be a limitation when coming 
to sort those vertex.

I have overal sorting issues : it's ok to sort ptnum but an arbitrary integer 
attribute I'm not sure I can.

I wish there was more example (in vop) of array building and sorting.

I miss the "sort array with key"

 

I'm just starting with arrays in H but I find it over complicated.



On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas  > wrote:

Heh! Flattery will get you everywhere ;)

Yes, they make sense in both packages to me, and you have the added benefit of 
being able to see the arrays directly in Houdini using the Geometry 
Spreadsheet, rather than turning on the visualisation in Softimage and have 
them disappearing off the top of the screen. You can do Python style array 
slicing in VEX too which is awesomely useful.

Anyway, that's why I wanted to ask Olivier an honest question to try and 
understand where Houdini is lacking. Maybe I'm too close to it to see the 
issues. 

A



On 29/03/2017 13:06, Jordi Bares wrote:

I was wondering if using arrays in Houdini makes as much sense as in Softimage… 
Andy??? You are the expert here.

 

jb

 

On 29 Mar 2017, at 10:57, Andy Nicholas  > wrote:

 

Hi Olivier, where do you see the biggest difference with ICE arrays and Houdini 
arrays? In both you have ways of adding, removing, sorting, etc. elements in 
the array in whatever context you're in, no?

A

On 29/03/2017 09:48, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

An example of something we own as ice user :

One of the first thing I replicated was the Modulate by Volume. 

When I arrived on Houdini and saw all those tutorial with people using the 
Attribute transfer, I tried to use it myself and was horrified : I found it 
slow and not precize.

Nobody was using a UV location + dotproduct method, and imho that's by far the 
most efficient method.

The hardest thinking was "how should I wire it in Houdini way of working ?". I 
came up with one Vop HDA, and one SOP HDA (which is simply the vop compounded).

The great "plus" with Houdini, is that it's able to transfer values of any 
context (point, 

Re: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Olivier Jeannel
Thank you Andy ! Got to try that when I'm back :)
I should send you some scene with some questions (somedays). I wanted to do
this with Mikael, but sometimes you don't want to bother people to much,
plus you have to be sure that what you're asking has sense, and sometimes
you just want to find yourself ^^
I quite loved the other day thread about strands a la softimage. Recently
someone (can't remember the name) posted a tut about clumping hair on
vimeo. And I came up with something hybrid but very fast without any for
each sop and a little bit of array.
Arrays and vop (or vex if that's your thing) are keys if you want to
maintain speed imho.

On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas  wrote:

> Thanks for sharing. It's useful to see where you see issues.
>
> > I miss the "sort array with key"
>
> You need two nodes: "Array Arg Sort", and "Array Reorder". Use the Array
> Arg Sort to sort your "key" value and produce indices, which you then feed
> to the "Array Reorder". Maybe that's the first Softimage ICE HDA someone
> could make. Just encapsulate these two to become a "Sort Array by Key" node.
>
> I think a lot of problems with learning Houdini is the complexity and the
> overwhelming feeling of "great, I can do anything, but where the heck do I
> start". Much of which is over the linquistical issues like, for example,
> the disconnectivity between slightly obscure naming of nodes and what they
> actually do. I wouldn't mind betting that if people start putting together
> Softimage->Houdini digital assets, the first noticeable thing will be the
> Softimage style names that are used!
>
> Maybe learning Houdini is a similar process to learning a foreign
> language? Takes a while to get fluent.
>
> A
>
>
>
> On 29/03/2017 14:33, Olivier Jeannel wrote:
>
> I'm not comfident enough to tell, and I can only speak for vop (not vex).
> Having to build a for each loop set of nodes, well it took me time to
> figure (in fact Mikael tut was the answer)
> Having to work with per prim vertex array seems to be a limitation when
> coming to sort those vertex.
> I have overal sorting issues : it's ok to sort ptnum but an arbitrary
> integer attribute I'm not sure I can.
> I wish there was more example (in vop) of array building and sorting.
> I miss the "sort array with key"
>
> I'm just starting with arrays in H but I find it over complicated.
>
>
> On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas  > wrote:
>
>> Heh! Flattery will get you everywhere ;)
>>
>> Yes, they make sense in both packages to me, and you have the added
>> benefit of being able to see the arrays directly in Houdini using the
>> Geometry Spreadsheet, rather than turning on the visualisation in Softimage
>> and have them disappearing off the top of the screen. You can do Python
>> style array slicing in VEX too which is awesomely useful.
>>
>> Anyway, that's why I wanted to ask Olivier an honest question to try and
>> understand where Houdini is lacking. Maybe I'm too close to it to see the
>> issues.
>>
>> A
>>
>>
>> On 29/03/2017 13:06, Jordi Bares wrote:
>>
>> I was wondering if using arrays in Houdini makes as much sense as in
>> Softimage… Andy??? You are the expert here.
>>
>> jb
>>
>> On 29 Mar 2017, at 10:57, Andy Nicholas  wrote:
>>
>> Hi Olivier, where do you see the biggest difference with ICE arrays and
>> Houdini arrays? In both you have ways of adding, removing, sorting, etc.
>> elements in the array in whatever context you're in, no?
>>
>> A
>>
>> On 29/03/2017 09:48, Olivier Jeannel wrote:
>>
>> An example of something we own as ice user :
>> One of the first thing I replicated was the Modulate by Volume.
>> When I arrived on Houdini and saw all those tutorial with people using
>> the Attribute transfer, I tried to use it myself and was horrified : I
>> found it slow and not precize.
>> Nobody was using a UV location + dotproduct method, and imho that's by
>> far the most efficient method.
>> The hardest thinking was "how should I wire it in Houdini way of working
>> ?". I came up with one Vop HDA, and one SOP HDA (which is simply the vop
>> compounded).
>> The great "plus" with Houdini, is that it's able to transfer values of
>> any context (point, prim, you name it, ..)
>> I'll try to record something.
>>
>> I think there's a large place for improvement in H for everything that
>> concerns arrays. In ice, there was a lot of things to do with arrays ,
>> hence the speed. And the ice tools were super efficient for that. In
>> Houdini, there's a kind of "thinking" that as VOP by nature is looping
>> through points it is an "enough" solution.
>> Well, "maybe" but it's so criptic that unless you're a vex/C/python
>> programmer I find it very time consumming to understand. Plus there are no
>> doc samples or tut, a part from the one from Mikael Perterssen
>> http://shortandsweet3d.blogspot.fr/. That makes me wonder if 

Re: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Andy Nicholas

Thanks for sharing. It's useful to see where you see issues.

> I miss the "sort array with key"

You need two nodes: "Array Arg Sort", and "Array Reorder". Use the Array 
Arg Sort to sort your "key" value and produce indices, which you then 
feed to the "Array Reorder". Maybe that's the first Softimage ICE HDA 
someone could make. Just encapsulate these two to become a "Sort Array 
by Key" node.


I think a lot of problems with learning Houdini is the complexity and 
the overwhelming feeling of "great, I can do anything, but where the 
heck do I start". Much of which is over the linquistical issues like, 
for example, the disconnectivity between slightly obscure naming of 
nodes and what they actually do. I wouldn't mind betting that if people 
start putting together Softimage->Houdini digital assets, the first 
noticeable thing will be the Softimage style names that are used!


Maybe learning Houdini is a similar process to learning a foreign 
language? Takes a while to get fluent.


A



On 29/03/2017 14:33, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

I'm not comfident enough to tell, and I can only speak for vop (not vex).
Having to build a for each loop set of nodes, well it took me time to 
figure (in fact Mikael tut was the answer)
Having to work with per prim vertex array seems to be a limitation 
when coming to sort those vertex.
I have overal sorting issues : it's ok to sort ptnum but an arbitrary 
integer attribute I'm not sure I can.

I wish there was more example (in vop) of array building and sorting.
I miss the "sort array with key"

I'm just starting with arrays in H but I find it over complicated.


On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas > wrote:


Heh! Flattery will get you everywhere ;)

Yes, they make sense in both packages to me, and you have the
added benefit of being able to see the arrays directly in Houdini
using the Geometry Spreadsheet, rather than turning on the
visualisation in Softimage and have them disappearing off the top
of the screen. You can do Python style array slicing in VEX too
which is awesomely useful.

Anyway, that's why I wanted to ask Olivier an honest question to
try and understand where Houdini is lacking. Maybe I'm too close
to it to see the issues.

A


On 29/03/2017 13:06, Jordi Bares wrote:

I was wondering if using arrays in Houdini makes as much sense as
in Softimage… Andy??? You are the expert here.

jb


On 29 Mar 2017, at 10:57, Andy Nicholas > wrote:

Hi Olivier, where do you see the biggest difference with ICE
arrays and Houdini arrays? In both you have ways of adding,
removing, sorting, etc. elements in the array in whatever
context you're in, no?

A

On 29/03/2017 09:48, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

An example of something we own as ice user :
One of the first thing I replicated was the Modulate by Volume.
When I arrived on Houdini and saw all those tutorial with
people using the Attribute transfer, I tried to use it myself
and was horrified : I found it slow and not precize.
Nobody was using a UV location + dotproduct method, and imho
that's by far the most efficient method.
The hardest thinking was "how should I wire it in Houdini way
of working ?". I came up with one Vop HDA, and one SOP HDA
(which is simply the vop compounded).
The great "plus" with Houdini, is that it's able to transfer
values of any context (point, prim, you name it, ..)
I'll try to record something.

I think there's a large place for improvement in H for
everything that concerns arrays. In ice, there was a lot of
things to do with arrays , hence the speed. And the ice tools
were super efficient for that. In Houdini, there's a kind of
"thinking" that as VOP by nature is looping through points it
is an "enough" solution.
Well, "maybe" but it's so criptic that unless you're a
vex/C/python programmer I find it very time consumming to
understand. Plus there are no doc samples or tut, a part from
the one from Mikael Perterssen
http://shortandsweet3d.blogspot.fr/
. That makes me wonder if
other people really consider or understand this.
Also, if you compare Peter Quint and Mikael way to deal with
States, hell, I'm 200% on the ice method.


2017-03-28 20:39 GMT+02:00 Olivier Jeannel
>:

I'm a morron, but I'd love to have exclusive pure Ice
minded HDA library.

2017-03-28 20:29 GMT+02:00 Rob Chapman
>:

Thought I'd pipe in since tekano got invoked, also
slowly attemting to transition and agree with most

Re: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Olivier Jeannel
I'm not comfident enough to tell, and I can only speak for vop (not vex).
Having to build a for each loop set of nodes, well it took me time to
figure (in fact Mikael tut was the answer)
Having to work with per prim vertex array seems to be a limitation when
coming to sort those vertex.
I have overal sorting issues : it's ok to sort ptnum but an arbitrary
integer attribute I'm not sure I can.
I wish there was more example (in vop) of array building and sorting.
I miss the "sort array with key"

I'm just starting with arrays in H but I find it over complicated.


On Wednesday, March 29, 2017, Andy Nicholas  wrote:

> Heh! Flattery will get you everywhere ;)
>
> Yes, they make sense in both packages to me, and you have the added
> benefit of being able to see the arrays directly in Houdini using the
> Geometry Spreadsheet, rather than turning on the visualisation in Softimage
> and have them disappearing off the top of the screen. You can do Python
> style array slicing in VEX too which is awesomely useful.
>
> Anyway, that's why I wanted to ask Olivier an honest question to try and
> understand where Houdini is lacking. Maybe I'm too close to it to see the
> issues.
>
> A
>
>
> On 29/03/2017 13:06, Jordi Bares wrote:
>
> I was wondering if using arrays in Houdini makes as much sense as in
> Softimage… Andy??? You are the expert here.
>
> jb
>
> On 29 Mar 2017, at 10:57, Andy Nicholas  > wrote:
>
> Hi Olivier, where do you see the biggest difference with ICE arrays and
> Houdini arrays? In both you have ways of adding, removing, sorting, etc.
> elements in the array in whatever context you're in, no?
>
> A
>
> On 29/03/2017 09:48, Olivier Jeannel wrote:
>
> An example of something we own as ice user :
> One of the first thing I replicated was the Modulate by Volume.
> When I arrived on Houdini and saw all those tutorial with people using the
> Attribute transfer, I tried to use it myself and was horrified : I found it
> slow and not precize.
> Nobody was using a UV location + dotproduct method, and imho that's by far
> the most efficient method.
> The hardest thinking was "how should I wire it in Houdini way of working
> ?". I came up with one Vop HDA, and one SOP HDA (which is simply the vop
> compounded).
> The great "plus" with Houdini, is that it's able to transfer values of any
> context (point, prim, you name it, ..)
> I'll try to record something.
>
> I think there's a large place for improvement in H for everything that
> concerns arrays. In ice, there was a lot of things to do with arrays ,
> hence the speed. And the ice tools were super efficient for that. In
> Houdini, there's a kind of "thinking" that as VOP by nature is looping
> through points it is an "enough" solution.
> Well, "maybe" but it's so criptic that unless you're a vex/C/python
> programmer I find it very time consumming to understand. Plus there are no
> doc samples or tut, a part from the one from Mikael Perterssen http://
> shortandsweet3d.blogspot.fr/. That makes me wonder if other people really
> consider or understand this.
> Also, if you compare Peter Quint and Mikael way to deal with States, hell,
> I'm 200% on the ice method.
>
>
> 2017-03-28 20:39 GMT+02:00 Olivier Jeannel  >:
>
>> I'm a morron, but I'd love to have exclusive pure Ice minded HDA library.
>>
>> 2017-03-28 20:29 GMT+02:00 Rob Chapman > >:
>>
>>> Thought I'd pipe in since tekano got invoked, also slowly attemting to
>>> transition and agree with most already said and thanks, is already a huge
>>> pointer to as yet unknown aspects and features of how complex houdini is.
>>>  also would be interested in a more 'compounded' way of learning Houdini
>>> like ice was introduced. Everything a compound node of nested compound
>>> logic with exact same UI logic and Core nodes and complexity under the hood
>>> but still accessable in a single click and an 'easy for artists' ability to
>>> follow the logic flow into further nested compounds and see how it was
>>> made. Not so with houdini yet  open one compound and is equivalent to
>>> inside of the neighborhood telephone junction box. Part of the enjoyment,
>>> for me, was building own logic and then seeing the contrast of the
>>> 'Softimage' way, and for sure, if you are building something fairly complex
>>> requiring macro detailed interactions with something of a much larger
>>> scale, eg characters running through a several fields of flowers,  then
>>> somethings can be improved or optimised from the off the shelf examples.
>>> Otherwise prepare for big data and long iteration times. It seems covering
>>> all bases like the 'houdini' way is fine for examples and base setup but
>>> not so in more complicated tasks is better to be good at understanding
>>> 

Re: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Andy Nicholas

Heh! Flattery will get you everywhere ;)

Yes, they make sense in both packages to me, and you have the added 
benefit of being able to see the arrays directly in Houdini using the 
Geometry Spreadsheet, rather than turning on the visualisation in 
Softimage and have them disappearing off the top of the screen. You can 
do Python style array slicing in VEX too which is awesomely useful.


Anyway, that's why I wanted to ask Olivier an honest question to try and 
understand where Houdini is lacking. Maybe I'm too close to it to see 
the issues.


A


On 29/03/2017 13:06, Jordi Bares wrote:
I was wondering if using arrays in Houdini makes as much sense as in 
Softimage… Andy??? You are the expert here.


jb

On 29 Mar 2017, at 10:57, Andy Nicholas > wrote:


Hi Olivier, where do you see the biggest difference with ICE arrays 
and Houdini arrays? In both you have ways of adding, removing, 
sorting, etc. elements in the array in whatever context you're in, no?


A

On 29/03/2017 09:48, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

An example of something we own as ice user :
One of the first thing I replicated was the Modulate by Volume.
When I arrived on Houdini and saw all those tutorial with people 
using the Attribute transfer, I tried to use it myself and was 
horrified : I found it slow and not precize.
Nobody was using a UV location + dotproduct method, and imho that's 
by far the most efficient method.
The hardest thinking was "how should I wire it in Houdini way of 
working ?". I came up with one Vop HDA, and one SOP HDA (which is 
simply the vop compounded).
The great "plus" with Houdini, is that it's able to transfer values 
of any context (point, prim, you name it, ..)

I'll try to record something.

I think there's a large place for improvement in H for everything 
that concerns arrays. In ice, there was a lot of things to do with 
arrays , hence the speed. And the ice tools were super efficient for 
that. In Houdini, there's a kind of "thinking" that as VOP by nature 
is looping through points it is an "enough" solution.
Well, "maybe" but it's so criptic that unless you're a vex/C/python 
programmer I find it very time consumming to understand. Plus there 
are no doc samples or tut, a part from the one from Mikael 
Perterssen http://shortandsweet3d.blogspot.fr/. That makes me wonder 
if other people really consider or understand this.
Also, if you compare Peter Quint and Mikael way to deal with States, 
hell, I'm 200% on the ice method.



2017-03-28 20:39 GMT+02:00 Olivier Jeannel >:


I'm a morron, but I'd love to have exclusive pure Ice minded HDA
library.

2017-03-28 20:29 GMT+02:00 Rob Chapman >:

Thought I'd pipe in since tekano got invoked, also slowly
attemting to transition and agree with most already said and
thanks, is already a huge pointer to as yet unknown aspects
and features of how complex houdini is.
 also would be interested in a more 'compounded' way of
learning Houdini like ice was introduced. Everything a
compound node of nested compound logic with exact same UI
logic and Core nodes and complexity under the hood but still
accessable in a single click and an 'easy for artists'
ability to follow the logic flow into further nested
compounds and see how it was made. Not so with houdini yet
 open one compound and is equivalent to inside of the
neighborhood telephone junction box. Part of the enjoyment,
for me, was building own logic and then seeing the contrast
of the 'Softimage' way, and for sure, if you are building
something fairly complex requiring macro detailed
interactions with something of a much larger scale, eg
characters running through a several fields of flowers,
 then somethings can be improved or optimised from the off
the shelf examples. Otherwise prepare for big data and long
iteration times. It seems covering all bases like the
'houdini' way is fine for examples and base setup but not so
in more complicated tasks is better to be good at
understanding which bits to leave out.  or be able rapidly
prototype your own. I think like Mr Bolland has done and
Pooby is asking for is these intermediate compounds between
that Softimage bought with it to help us poor artists out 

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Re: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Jordi Bares
I was wondering if using arrays in Houdini makes as much sense as in Softimage… 
Andy??? You are the expert here.

jb

> On 29 Mar 2017, at 10:57, Andy Nicholas  wrote:
> 
> Hi Olivier, where do you see the biggest difference with ICE arrays and 
> Houdini arrays? In both you have ways of adding, removing, sorting, etc. 
> elements in the array in whatever context you're in, no?
> 
> A
> 
> On 29/03/2017 09:48, Olivier Jeannel wrote:
>> An example of something we own as ice user :
>> One of the first thing I replicated was the Modulate by Volume.
>> When I arrived on Houdini and saw all those tutorial with people using the 
>> Attribute transfer, I tried to use it myself and was horrified : I found it 
>> slow and not precize.
>> Nobody was using a UV location + dotproduct method, and imho that's by far 
>> the most efficient method.
>> The hardest thinking was "how should I wire it in Houdini way of working ?". 
>> I came up with one Vop HDA, and one SOP HDA (which is simply the vop 
>> compounded).
>> The great "plus" with Houdini, is that it's able to transfer values of any 
>> context (point, prim, you name it, ..)
>> I'll try to record something.
>> 
>> I think there's a large place for improvement in H for everything that 
>> concerns arrays. In ice, there was a lot of things to do with arrays , hence 
>> the speed. And the ice tools were super efficient for that. In Houdini, 
>> there's a kind of "thinking" that as VOP by nature is looping through points 
>> it is an "enough" solution.
>> Well, "maybe" but it's so criptic that unless you're a vex/C/python 
>> programmer I find it very time consumming to understand. Plus there are no 
>> doc samples or tut, a part from the one from Mikael Perterssen 
>> http://shortandsweet3d.blogspot.fr/ . 
>> That makes me wonder if other people really consider or understand this.
>> Also, if you compare Peter Quint and Mikael way to deal with States, hell, 
>> I'm 200% on the ice method.
>> 
>> 
>> 2017-03-28 20:39 GMT+02:00 Olivier Jeannel > >:
>> I'm a morron, but I'd love to have exclusive pure Ice minded HDA library. 
>> 
>> 2017-03-28 20:29 GMT+02:00 Rob Chapman > >:
>> Thought I'd pipe in since tekano got invoked, also slowly attemting to 
>> transition and agree with most already said and thanks, is already a huge 
>> pointer to as yet unknown aspects and features of how complex houdini is.
>>  also would be interested in a more 'compounded' way of learning Houdini 
>> like ice was introduced. Everything a compound node of nested compound logic 
>> with exact same UI logic and Core nodes and complexity under the hood but 
>> still accessable in a single click and an 'easy for artists' ability to 
>> follow the logic flow into further nested compounds and see how it was made. 
>> Not so with houdini yet  open one compound and is equivalent to inside of 
>> the neighborhood telephone junction box. Part of the enjoyment, for me, was 
>> building own logic and then seeing the contrast of the 'Softimage' way, and 
>> for sure, if you are building something fairly complex requiring macro 
>> detailed interactions with something of a much larger scale, eg characters 
>> running through a several fields of flowers,  then somethings can be 
>> improved or optimised from the off the shelf examples.  Otherwise prepare 
>> for big data and long iteration times. It seems covering all bases like the 
>> 'houdini' way is fine for examples and base setup but
>>not so in more complicated tasks is better to be good at understanding 
>> which bits to leave out.  or be able rapidly prototype your own. I think 
>> like Mr Bolland has done and Pooby is asking for is these intermediate 
>> compounds between that Softimage bought with it to help us poor artists out 
>> 
>> --
>> Softimage Mailing List.
>> To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com 
>>  with "unsubscribe" in the 
>> subject, and reply to confirm.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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>> subject, and reply to confirm.
> 
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Re: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Pierre Schiller
Me wants. :D

On Wed, Mar 29, 2017 at 3:48 AM, Olivier Jeannel 
wrote:

> An example of something we own as ice user :
> One of the first thing I replicated was the Modulate by Volume.
> When I arrived on Houdini and saw all those tutorial with people using the
> Attribute transfer, I tried to use it myself and was horrified : I found it
> slow and not precize.
> Nobody was using a UV location + dotproduct method, and imho that's by far
> the most efficient method.
> The hardest thinking was "how should I wire it in Houdini way of working
> ?". I came up with one Vop HDA, and one SOP HDA (which is simply the vop
> compounded).
> The great "plus" with Houdini, is that it's able to transfer values of any
> context (point, prim, you name it, ..)
> I'll try to record something.
>
> I think there's a large place for improvement in H for everything that
> concerns arrays. In ice, there was a lot of things to do with arrays ,
> hence the speed. And the ice tools were super efficient for that. In
> Houdini, there's a kind of "thinking" that as VOP by nature is looping
> through points it is an "enough" solution.
> Well, "maybe" but it's so criptic that unless you're a vex/C/python
> programmer I find it very time consumming to understand. Plus there are no
> doc samples or tut, a part from the one from Mikael Perterssen http://
> shortandsweet3d.blogspot.fr/. That makes me wonder if other people really
> consider or understand this.
> Also, if you compare Peter Quint and Mikael way to deal with States, hell,
> I'm 200% on the ice method.
>
>
> 2017-03-28 20:39 GMT+02:00 Olivier Jeannel :
>
>> I'm a morron, but I'd love to have exclusive pure Ice minded HDA library.
>>
>> 2017-03-28 20:29 GMT+02:00 Rob Chapman :
>>
>>> Thought I'd pipe in since tekano got invoked, also slowly attemting to
>>> transition and agree with most already said and thanks, is already a huge
>>> pointer to as yet unknown aspects and features of how complex houdini is.
>>>  also would be interested in a more 'compounded' way of learning Houdini
>>> like ice was introduced. Everything a compound node of nested compound
>>> logic with exact same UI logic and Core nodes and complexity under the hood
>>> but still accessable in a single click and an 'easy for artists' ability to
>>> follow the logic flow into further nested compounds and see how it was
>>> made. Not so with houdini yet  open one compound and is equivalent to
>>> inside of the neighborhood telephone junction box. Part of the enjoyment,
>>> for me, was building own logic and then seeing the contrast of the
>>> 'Softimage' way, and for sure, if you are building something fairly complex
>>> requiring macro detailed interactions with something of a much larger
>>> scale, eg characters running through a several fields of flowers,  then
>>> somethings can be improved or optimised from the off the shelf examples.
>>> Otherwise prepare for big data and long iteration times. It seems covering
>>> all bases like the 'houdini' way is fine for examples and base setup but
>>> not so in more complicated tasks is better to be good at understanding
>>> which bits to leave out.  or be able rapidly prototype your own. I think
>>> like Mr Bolland has done and Pooby is asking for is these intermediate
>>> compounds between that Softimage bought with it to help us poor artists out
>>> 
>>>
>>> --
>>> Softimage Mailing List.
>>> To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com
>>> with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.
>>>
>>
>>
>
> --
> Softimage Mailing List.
> To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com
> with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.
>



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Re: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Andy Nicholas
Hi Olivier, where do you see the biggest difference with ICE arrays and 
Houdini arrays? In both you have ways of adding, removing, sorting, etc. 
elements in the array in whatever context you're in, no?


A

On 29/03/2017 09:48, Olivier Jeannel wrote:

An example of something we own as ice user :
One of the first thing I replicated was the Modulate by Volume.
When I arrived on Houdini and saw all those tutorial with people using 
the Attribute transfer, I tried to use it myself and was horrified : I 
found it slow and not precize.
Nobody was using a UV location + dotproduct method, and imho that's by 
far the most efficient method.
The hardest thinking was "how should I wire it in Houdini way of 
working ?". I came up with one Vop HDA, and one SOP HDA (which is 
simply the vop compounded).
The great "plus" with Houdini, is that it's able to transfer values of 
any context (point, prim, you name it, ..)

I'll try to record something.

I think there's a large place for improvement in H for everything that 
concerns arrays. In ice, there was a lot of things to do with arrays , 
hence the speed. And the ice tools were super efficient for that. In 
Houdini, there's a kind of "thinking" that as VOP by nature is looping 
through points it is an "enough" solution.
Well, "maybe" but it's so criptic that unless you're a vex/C/python 
programmer I find it very time consumming to understand. Plus there 
are no doc samples or tut, a part from the one from Mikael Perterssen 
http://shortandsweet3d.blogspot.fr/. That makes me wonder if other 
people really consider or understand this.
Also, if you compare Peter Quint and Mikael way to deal with States, 
hell, I'm 200% on the ice method.



2017-03-28 20:39 GMT+02:00 Olivier Jeannel >:


I'm a morron, but I'd love to have exclusive pure Ice minded HDA
library.

2017-03-28 20:29 GMT+02:00 Rob Chapman >:

Thought I'd pipe in since tekano got invoked, also slowly
attemting to transition and agree with most already said and
thanks, is already a huge pointer to as yet unknown aspects
and features of how complex houdini is.
 also would be interested in a more 'compounded' way of
learning Houdini like ice was introduced. Everything a
compound node of nested compound logic with exact same UI
logic and Core nodes and complexity under the hood but still
accessable in a single click and an 'easy for artists' ability
to follow the logic flow into further nested compounds and see
how it was made. Not so with houdini yet  open one compound
and is equivalent to inside of the neighborhood telephone
junction box. Part of the enjoyment, for me, was building own
logic and then seeing the contrast of the 'Softimage' way, and
for sure, if you are building something fairly complex
requiring macro detailed interactions with something of a much
larger scale, eg characters running through a several fields
of flowers,  then somethings can be improved or optimised from
the off the shelf examples.  Otherwise prepare for big data
and long iteration times. It seems covering all bases like the
'houdini' way is fine for examples and base setup but not so
in more complicated tasks is better to be good at
understanding which bits to leave out.  or be able rapidly
prototype your own. I think like Mr Bolland has done and Pooby
is asking for is these intermediate compounds between that
Softimage bought with it to help us poor artists out 

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Re: Random Thoughts about H.

2017-03-29 Thread Olivier Jeannel
An example of something we own as ice user :
One of the first thing I replicated was the Modulate by Volume.
When I arrived on Houdini and saw all those tutorial with people using the
Attribute transfer, I tried to use it myself and was horrified : I found it
slow and not precize.
Nobody was using a UV location + dotproduct method, and imho that's by far
the most efficient method.
The hardest thinking was "how should I wire it in Houdini way of working
?". I came up with one Vop HDA, and one SOP HDA (which is simply the vop
compounded).
The great "plus" with Houdini, is that it's able to transfer values of any
context (point, prim, you name it, ..)
I'll try to record something.

I think there's a large place for improvement in H for everything that
concerns arrays. In ice, there was a lot of things to do with arrays ,
hence the speed. And the ice tools were super efficient for that. In
Houdini, there's a kind of "thinking" that as VOP by nature is looping
through points it is an "enough" solution.
Well, "maybe" but it's so criptic that unless you're a vex/C/python
programmer I find it very time consumming to understand. Plus there are no
doc samples or tut, a part from the one from Mikael Perterssen
http://shortandsweet3d.blogspot.fr/. That makes me wonder if other people
really consider or understand this.
Also, if you compare Peter Quint and Mikael way to deal with States, hell,
I'm 200% on the ice method.


2017-03-28 20:39 GMT+02:00 Olivier Jeannel :

> I'm a morron, but I'd love to have exclusive pure Ice minded HDA library.
>
> 2017-03-28 20:29 GMT+02:00 Rob Chapman :
>
>> Thought I'd pipe in since tekano got invoked, also slowly attemting to
>> transition and agree with most already said and thanks, is already a huge
>> pointer to as yet unknown aspects and features of how complex houdini is.
>>  also would be interested in a more 'compounded' way of learning Houdini
>> like ice was introduced. Everything a compound node of nested compound
>> logic with exact same UI logic and Core nodes and complexity under the hood
>> but still accessable in a single click and an 'easy for artists' ability to
>> follow the logic flow into further nested compounds and see how it was
>> made. Not so with houdini yet  open one compound and is equivalent to
>> inside of the neighborhood telephone junction box. Part of the enjoyment,
>> for me, was building own logic and then seeing the contrast of the
>> 'Softimage' way, and for sure, if you are building something fairly complex
>> requiring macro detailed interactions with something of a much larger
>> scale, eg characters running through a several fields of flowers,  then
>> somethings can be improved or optimised from the off the shelf examples.
>> Otherwise prepare for big data and long iteration times. It seems covering
>> all bases like the 'houdini' way is fine for examples and base setup but
>> not so in more complicated tasks is better to be good at understanding
>> which bits to leave out.  or be able rapidly prototype your own. I think
>> like Mr Bolland has done and Pooby is asking for is these intermediate
>> compounds between that Softimage bought with it to help us poor artists out
>> 
>>
>> --
>> Softimage Mailing List.
>> To unsubscribe, send a mail to softimage-requ...@listproc.autodesk.com
>> with "unsubscribe" in the subject, and reply to confirm.
>>
>
>
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