> On 8 May 2018, at 08:34, Matt Morris <[email protected]> wrote: > > I'd certainly be down for that too :) > > Hacked my way through Houdini for a volume job recently and while there's a > wealth of information out there its sometimes difficult to know the optimal > way to achieve something, and find up to date solutions for the mat context > instead of shops for example. Ended up back in xsi for some particle > behaviours as there are so many compounds I miss for randomization etc.
"Optimal way" is an elusive thing.. I keep learning new approaches for things I learned and now are kind of lame… (for example the constant adding colours to apply effects and then rename them or worse, remove the color afterwards… I do it now via attributes and visualisers and it is a lot more elegant) And yes, I am not using SHOPs anymore (unless I am using Arnold)… MATs is the way forward and quite exciting when you realise what is in front of you. Anyway, it is something of an ever evolving task… Jb > > > > On 8 May 2018 at 08:25, Morten Bartholdy <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > Thanks Jordi. Well, like I said – I will have to dive in to Houdini at some > point I guess :) > > I would love a Soft2Houdini crash course :) > > MB > > Den 4. maj 2018 klokken 20:22 skrev Jordi Bares <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>>: > > For the sake of sharing my experiences… > > On 4 May 2018, at 14:24, Morten Bartholdy <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > Pardon me for intruding, but I have to agree with Jonathan here. > > It used to be that developers worked to make better tools and make them more > accessible to the average artist (and I am not talking about Kais Powertools > ;), but that path seems to have been abandoned in the pursuit of better and > more advanced tools, and letting it up to the users to get a degree in rocket > science to be able to wield said tools at all > > Tools are getting easier (just look at the new hair system in 16.5 vs 16.0 or > the new MAT context in order to blend BRDFs properly), complex things are > simply complex (DOPs for example) and you can’t simplify certain things > without loosing the whole point or it will take a lot to get there (for > example custom controls with DOPs records and others) > > Houdini is probably the best example of this. I know a lot of effort has gone > in to making it more accessible, but to my knowledge it still requires a fair > amount of insight into expression syntax and scripting plus more than basic > math end vector knowhow to get even simple things done. > > The fact you can add expressions in your fields (something you can’t do in > softimage) means you don’t need to script as much… so arguably you can choose > between learning simple expressions or learning to program. > > Both require a certain level of simple maths involving trigonometry, vectors > and matrices. > > I understand your position (stated in earlier threads) that the increased > demands on production requires more complex solutions/tools, > > I would say sophisticated rather than complex… for example packed primitives > allow you to do things that are truly mind-bending in combination with > Material Style Sheets, but that does not mean they are difficult of full of > moving parts. > > but I don't buy the premise that it also has(!) to become more difficult to > use. > > I don’t think that either.. a good example of sophisticated tools in Houdini > 16 and 16.5 that are a pleasure to work are the new terrain tools… but it is > also true that unfortunately some problems are complex no matter what. > > Good UI devs could alleviate that and make even really complex stuff > accessible to the least technical artist in the room if ressources were made > available, ie the management and dev team leads concur it would be a good > idea. I am going out on a limb and guessing it might often come down to this > – spend ressources on making the tool more accessible or spend them on making > more and better tools… In reality I think in all fairness they try and > balance it while keeping a keen eye on their userbase and potential for > increasing it. > > With the UI and UX there is a major point Jeff Wagner explained to me long > time ago… Houdini is non-linear (branches splitting and mixing again) so many > things there can be easily put on a linear system (like Softimage) are not > possible in Houdini and therefore we have to accept certain limitations. > Exactly the same than ICE, you don’t have many tools making your live eraser > in terms of workflow inside ICE, you need to know what you are doing. > > But it is true also that Softimage vision of ICE is a lot neater, easier and > element in terms of packaging functionality in ICE… A LOT BETTER IN FACT. > > What remains is that people like me find Houdini way too technical for > practical use (the steep learning curve) and as such I have not delved into > it for real yet. > > May be that is what makes you feel it is complex… > > I will for sure, because I think it is probably the only major 3D DCC which > is really evolving and making groundbreaking tools available to the users, so > it will very likely inherit the world, but for me, and probably many others, > as Jonathan probably indicates, it would do so much faster if it was made > even easier to use :) > > Agreed, there are many things that should be a lot easier because you do them > all the time (like path deform for example, or layering animation, or having > a shape manager and others) but don’t be mistaken, it is not difficult at all > until you need to dive in certain areas. > > And that would mean I would get to spend less time in Maya which honestly > makes me short of breath to the point of needing to vomit, almost every day. > > Well, then I can guarantee you you will age slower. ;-) > > Peace and have a great weekend. jb > > PS. I am thinking… would it be of interest for you guys if I talk to SideFX > to organise a crash course in Houdini for Softimage users? May be replicating > one of the old XSI tutorials live in Houdini??? I still love those tutorials… > remember the carnivore plant? > > Just my two kr (the coin we use here) > > Have a nice weekend all – Morten > > Den 3. maj 2018 klokken 19:17 skrev Jordi Bares <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>>: > > And by my judgement, Houdini is no closer to being a generalist replacement > for Softimage. > > This is what I would love to understand if you don’t mind… > > jb > > ------ Softimage Mailing List. To unsubscribe, send a mail to > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> with “unsubscribe” in the > subject, and reply to confirm. > > ------ Softimage Mailing List. To unsubscribe, send a mail to > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> with “unsubscribe” in the > subject, and reply to confirm. > > ------ Softimage Mailing List. 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