Hello,


Can you compare houdini with maya? Is it evenly strong?

Thx

bernard

That is like trying to compare a Hummer to a Porsche? They both get your from point A to B, but they make the trip from A to B very different.

Maya like the Porsche can get you places pretty quickly….but in cases where you get stuck…(in mud or traffic)….you are screwed and have to wait or call for a tow truck…..Where the Hummer (Houdini) won't be as fast you can just grin as you drive around the traffic and tear through the fields to B.


At the end of the day it all depends on the driver though.

Can you compare houdini with maya? Is it evenly strong?

I once saw Maya lift 500 pounds! Then again i heard Houdini can do its magic and go over that.

————————————————————————
Joking aside, you wont go wrong with either its best decided on:

1.Job requirements
2.Personal preference

If its for learning 3D then i would go for Maya if you plan to get a first job. Or maybe Houdini artist are more in demand than it seems? Dunno

Wolfwood
That is like tryingCan you compare a Hummer with a Porsche? They both get your from point A to B, but they the make the trip from A to B very different.

Maya like the Porsche can get you places pretty quickly….but in cases where you get stuck…(in mud or traffic)….you are screwed and have to wait or call for a tow truck…..Where the Hummer (Houdini) won't be as fast you can just grin as you drive around the traffic and tear through the fields to B.


At the end of the day it all depends on the driver though.

Wolfwood,

That is the best reply I have read to the xxx vs Houdini questions that pop up every month or so. That response should be made into a sticky.

Cheers,

/Rick

Mr. Woolfy, that's probably the best line I've ever read. You're a funny man.

Though… how often do you need a hummer? (the truck/tractor wannabe thing I mean )

I'd take the porsche. It's cool, fast… and get's you a hummer if you want one.


–Carlos

Wow. “Houdini - The Hummer of 3D software”. Hmmm somehow, that doesn't appeal to me…
I'm thinking it's the other way around!

(I'd rather be the Porsche!)

Tom Allen

Paul Salvini, Kim Davidson and Mark Elendt pulling up to Siggraph -05 in a Hummer! Flattening the Maya booth of course!

Sorry…

Hummers are so last decade.

Mini. Cool, well designed, well built, nothing to prove except good taste.

Besides, you could roll over the Maya booth and cause no fatalities except the 2:00pm con….oops…demo…

Cheers,

J.C.

I see Maya as the street racer where Houdini's an F1 car.

I see maya as the tricked out front wheel drive street racer. Full of contradictions, mostly show, somewhat fast off the line, consumer friendly, upgrades are expensive and everyone driving one of these things thinks that buying new parts will either make them faster or look cooler to the chicks. Doesn't take too much talent to driving one of these cars, sorry. If you want to push maya, you go find a plug-in or have dozens of programmers thrash with mel reinventing the same wheel as everyone else has until you get something that works.
Looks good standing still but where's the go when you need it the most? Oh and show-boy courrier drivers are real cheep these days.

Houdini is an all out F1 racing car. Nothing to hide behind. A rough ride with hardly any suspension but wickedly powerful, light and f**king fast. Working with other houdini users, your skills are there for everyone to see. If you suck, it shows so go back to your street racer. If you are good, you will rock. You are one turn away from disaster but you always recover pushing the limits. It takes time to get fast. Like all the other F1 constructors, you have to build many of the bits yourself and it's tons of fun. At least I think so.
Basically no limits.
How much does Michael Shumacher make these days??? Enough said.


As we know, Wolfwood needs his hummer.

I've heard that Maya got Hair, Fur, Fluid effects and cloth all build in.
Does Houdini also has those modules? And if not, why is the prize of houdini so much higher then maya and will it ever be possible to create these effects ?



Thanks,

I'm surprised to see SESI directly involved in conversations, usually provocated by overcomplicated people.

Is not that Apple's “we are special” attitude, in your words Jeff ?
Where is Apple now ?

As mutch as i like Houdini, as mutch i dont like most of the Houdini users. They are just too “special” for me.

:arrow:

Apple are doing fantasticly well, I can't move without seeing an ipod stuck in someones ear.

As mutch as i like Houdini, as mutch i dont like most of the Houdini users. They are just too “special” for me.

Interesting, I find most of the users hugely friendly and helpful.
Please forgive people trying to support the software they love to use, we don't get the full page spreads trumpeting the latest wizzbang feature every five minutes so I think the users take on it themselves to big it up whenever they get the chance.

As to fur, hair, fluids etc. it's coming. But that isn't why people buy or need Houdini. But great when it arrives then people will stop asking where is it.
Actually Fur is already easy to do.

I'll admit that I've moved somewhat in the “plugin vs build yer own” equation over the last couple of years. No question, for a number of jobs being able to press a few buttons and get something that looks pretty good very fast is great for a lot of jobs. Problem is, those jobs are usually the lower-end jobs where the budget isn't that high, and the odds of those “really appreciative clients” coming back with a real job with good creative and lots of money are next to nil. Experience teaches that.

Now, you're using those clever plugins on a *real* job? One where they're not just happy with it rolling over, but they want it to fetch a bone too? Just so? I've been running into it more and more every year that the attitude becomes “well, the plugin won't do that”, and then just shoulder shrugs. It's highly infuriating. What the hell do these animators/compositors think people in the field did before those fast and easy plugins? Just shrugged? Redid the whole thing with a subtle change and presented it to client when they clearly wanted something else? No way! They were in touch with what was really going on, they had experience with camera-stands and desktop animation - they knew if they hacked around *this* thing *this* way, they could come up with a kludge that worked.

The bad side effect of the fast and easy plugin is an unprofessional, impotent attitude, and it's increasing. It makes us all look bad.

Now, I'm not saying that Houdini not shipping with instant answers to all problems makes it *better* - it positively does not. What Houdini *does* do, however, is give you enough access to what's going on to make the changes you need, to get the results the client wants. I'm also not saying all other packages suck, they won't let you get the job done. That's just evangelism. I do know that knowing Houdini helps me to know what's really going on, to feel in control, and not at the mercy of the software.

Sorry you find us “too special”, Some. I've never met a better group of sharing, helpful, technically-competent animators in my life.

Cheers,

J.C.

JC only gets evangelical about operating systems

houdini ppl are an awesome bunch theres just not 3 billion of them like maya users so you can only get so many questions answered

JC only gets evangelical about operating systems

True.

J.C.

Awww I stepped in crap again. Sorry for that guys.

I go out of my way helping anyone that asks with whatever they want. It doesn't matter what tools they are using, I try to help given time constraints. Everyone is treated equally well. Seems to be the Side Effects way. If you expel just a bit of effort, you get all this help. If that makes you feel special, then that is a good thing.


-jeff