I'd like to start today a topic on Modeling workflow in Houdini.
I've started a project with a lot of vehicles, fully modeled in houdini. But I'm facing several questions about the modeling workflow.
Houdini offers artists a lot of ways to manage objects, scenes, organization. And I'd like to have feedbacks on the way you guys, creates objects.
Basically, the question is :
:: Do you prefer dealing with :
1- One geometry object, everything inside (subnetworks) :
2- One subnet with a lot a geometry objects inside linked together
Both have advantages and inconvenients. Both could have consequences on the rest of the pipeline (texturing, shading, rigging).
Here is a list of what I've noticed
## All inside Geometry object
—————————–
:: Advantages ::
1) Don't need to navigate through serveral objects.
2) Don't need to deal with object merges and the merge methods (None, Into this object, Into Specified Object)
3) You can use wrangles to create tools and expressions
4) You can instance objects with copy to points and edit them later
5) You can template any part of your model
6) You can edit all the geometry at once (Lattice for example or Edit on everything)
:: Inconvenients ::
1) You can be lost with huge tree
2) You can loose initial object orientations
3) Come back later on object parts can be painfull
4) You need to make a lot a groups
5) Maybe need to split object later for rigging ?
## Lot of geometry objects
—————————
:: Advantages ::
1) Smaller trees by objects
2) Don't need to manage to many groups
3) You can keep initial object position (usefull for export kitbashing for example)
4) You can link object together with constraints, easy to rig
:: Inconvenients ::
1) The instance node can't be edited
2) You need to navigate through objects to adjust them, show them, show parts of them
3) Need to manage object merge method (None, Into this object, Into Specified Object)
4) You need to use python for tools instead of vex
5) Can't edit whole geometry (lattice, create common groups)
So this is just few things I've noticed, but I know in every cases, we have solutions to do what we want.
I use to work with the first solution, but this mean to be organized :
- create subnetworks with objects inside (and keep initial poses)
- create hda tools (for example align tool, scatter tools…)
- create groups and subgroups per object (inside subnetworks)
- create python tools to split objects if needed (per group name, per connected elements, etc)
So, now, what about you ?