That's a big problem now,that's why few people would build scenes in houdini.Houdini needs a new object-layer system just like other DCC.

It's 2022,still no luck on the object management.Using kitbash to build scene in houdini is a pain.

One way would be to arrange stuff directly in USD I guess

osong
One way would be to arrange stuff directly in USD I guess

Layout in solaris is great,but the asset prepartion is cumbersome.

when I started with Houdini I also had the same issues with file import you guys described above. Many of these are still very cumbersome, so I resorted to Blender for this (its free after all). In fact I do a lot of Concept and Layout stuff in Blender as well, everything is just a lot easier and more direct.

But thankfully there´s USD now and with "Primitive Matching Patterns (%geofrommat(/materials/previewsurface1, preview))" you can replace materials relatively quickly. A bit of Python on top and you can transform Houdini into a Hub for everything coming together. Karma is a pretty capable Renderer and so far it seems it can take quite a big load.


It seems Houdini will always be taylored towards the technical people! Its just so confusing at times. With Solaris and OBJ you have two completely different ways to build and render scenes.

I think time is money and its in the best interest of SideFx to get new people working as fast as possible (without technical hurdles).

best
c

wanglifu
That's a big problem now,that's why few people would build scenes in houdini.Houdini needs a new object-layer system just like other DCC.

Over the last 2 years I’m doing exactly that. Converting CAD Files in Moi, organizing, setup Materials and finishing in Blender, it’s just a lot less cumbersome and faster.

I love Houdini and I would love SideFX to consider improving this workflow.

The fact SideFX is trying to push Solaris, a system that requires you to know a lot of USD jargons to do the most basic operations, as the default scene management tool, is just pure insanity.

At this point minimizing Houdini in one's workflow feels like a necessity.