Configuration

Table of Contents

• Location
• Editing Configuration
• User Settings
• Shelves

Houdini Engine for 3ds Max requires persisting certain user configuration data that is not scene specific. This section will provide a description of the various configuration files and their purpose.

Location

All of the plug-in's configuration data is saved in a folder that 3ds Max defines as the "plugin configuration" folder. The location of this folder can be found in 3dsMax.ini which can usually be found in the local AppData folder for that particular 3ds Max installation.

Editing Configuration

Configuration settings are automatically saved to their appropriate file when 3ds Max shuts down. The plug-in will save all relevant configuration settings which are exposed via the plug-in's user interface.

As an alternative, all configuration files are editable text files and can be manually edited.

User Settings

User specific settings are saved in HoudiniEngine.ini.

Setting	Type	Description
Assets\HdaRepository	String	Specifies a search path for HDAs. When loading a scene and attempting to load HDAs that are used in the scene, the plugin will look in this search path (if necessary) for the required HDAs.
Bake\CreateLayer	Boolean	When this option is enabled, a new layer will be created when a geometry HDA is baked, and all baked nodes will be added to the layer.
Bake\DummyObject	Boolean	This option controls whether the dummy object node will be included in a geometry HDA bake.
Debug\PrintErrorLevelLogs	Boolean	When this option is enabled, error level logs will be printed to the MaxScript Listener.
Debug\PrintInfoLevelLogs	Boolean	When this option is enabled, info level logs will be printed to the MaxScript Listener.
Debug\PrintWarningLevelLogs	Boolean	When this option is enabled, warning level logs will be printed to the MaxScript Listener.
Debug\TemporaryDirectory	String	This specifies the folder where temporary debugging files will be saved.
Naming\UseOriginalInstanceName	Boolean	When this option is enabled, the plugin will prevent 3ds Max from appending a unique number to the end of instanced geometry nodes (in order to maintain the original node name).
Naming\UseUnique	Boolean	When this option is enabled, all nodes in the scene that are produced by geometry HDAs will be prefixed to ensure unique node naming.
Nodes\AutoRecook	Boolean	This option controls the global default for auto-cooking. When this is enabled, the default behaviour for HDAs will be to auto recook whenever a parameter has changed.
Nodes\SliderCook	Boolean	This option controls the global default for how sliders behave in the parameter UI. When this is enabled, the default behaviour will be for HDAs to auto recook while a slider is dragged. When this is disabled, the default behaviour will be for HDAs to cook only once the slider has been dropped.
OnStart\AutoStartSession	Boolean	When this option is enabled, the plugin will automatically start a session when 3ds Max starts up.
OnStart\AutoStartWindow	Boolean	When this option is enabled, the plugin will automatically open the user interface for the plugin when 3ds Max starts up.
OnStart\LoadHDADirectory	String	When this directory is specified, the plugin will automatically load all of the HDAs in the folder when a new session is started.
Selection\GrabHDARootNode	Boolean	When this option is enabled, the root HDA node will also be selected when selecting any of its geometry in the scene.
Session\AudioDsoSearchPath	String	The directory where audio DSOs (custom plugins) are searched for. You can pass in multiple paths separated by ";" on Windows and ":" on Linux and Mac. The default Houdini search paths will be appended to the end of this string.
Session\DsoSearchPath	String	The directory where generic DSOs (custom plugins) are searched for. You can pass in multiple paths separated by ";" on Windows and ":" on Linux and Mac. The default Houdini search paths will be appended to the end of this string.
Session\Hostname	String	Specifies the hostname of the Houdini Engine session to connect to.
Session\HoudiniEnvironmentFiles	String	A list of paths, separated by ";" on Windows and ":" on Linux and Mac, to .env files that follow the same syntax as the houdini.env file in Houdini's user pref folder. These will be applied after the default houdini.env file and will overwrite the process' environment variable values. You can use this to enforce a stricter environment when running engine.
Session\ImageDsoSearchPath	String	The directory where image DSOs (custom plugins) are searched for. You can pass in multiple paths separated by ";" on Windows and ":" on Linux and Mac. The default Houdini search paths will be appended to the end of this string.
Session\OtlSearchPath	String	The directory where HDAs are searched for. You can pass in multiple paths separated by ";" on Windows and ":" on Linux and Mac. The default Houdini search paths will be appended to the end of this string.
Session\PipeName	String	Specifies the pipe name of the Houdini Engine session to connect to.
Session\Port	Integer	Specifies the port of the Houdini Engine session to connect to.
Session\Type	Integer	Specifies the current session type.

Shelves

Shelves are saved in hemax_shelves.json. The plug-in will attempt to load all of the shelves specified in this JSON file when the plug-in is started. The json schema for the file is as follows:

{
    "shelves" : [
        {
            "name" : "Shelf Name",
            "path" : "Absolute path to the directory of shelf tools"
        }
    ]
}