Hello, I was wandering whether to sign-up to DigitalTutors Houdini Training. My fear is that that from viewing the dates on the content, that new content is not being developed. This may lead to less support for questions, irrelevant content vs latest versions of Houdini etc.

Similarly, 3DBuzz does not seem to be developing any new content these days.

Is there a hidden message here?

Opinion / Thoughts appreciated

Cheers
Eric

Hi Eric,

I remember when I first started using H, I was tempted to sign-up to Digital Tutors. In the end I went with 3D Buzz and CMIVFX - both really good training providers. Whilst there haven't been any new products with 3D Buzz for a while now, I dare say further content will be forthcoming. Both Buzz and CMI go into a lot of detail, with clear explanations - 3D Buzz consistently excels in this respect. Also, with Buzz, the forums are up to date and help is always forthcoming.

I'd be really interested to see what Buzz's next H product will be. I think one useful tutorial would be professional level project workflow from inception to subsequent modelling, shader writing and final compositing (whether it be in H or, say, Nuke). The TD1 & 2 series with 3D Buzz project kind of did this - and was very useful - but, I must admit, I kind of switched off very early on - for me personally, that was nothing to do with the content and everything to do with the kind of project itself - but that is wholly subjective anyway, I guess. The Talented Ball project just didn't appeal to me at all. Though its technical content has proved a valuable reference resource.

Despite H's annual incarnations - I'm used to software upgrades every two years! - a lot of the training material (even from H'8') is very relevant. I've even found some useful stuff from H6! I think one of the main issues with H training is that it is fragmented. Unless one is studying it on a dedicated VfX/animation course - say, at Bournemouth uni - then I think progress will be slow - cobbling together snippets from here and there. I think one reason for this is that Houdini is such a massive application. Still it would be really something if there was a comprehensive and structured training resource that was made available for H; much like there is for Maya. Escape Studios do a pretty nifty online training course for Maya. Though it isn't exactly cheap.

The very best of luck. It'd be nice to hear how you get on. I only started properly with H in January this year.

Cheers

Helenerg
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I think one reason for this is that Houdini is such a massive application. Still it would be really something if there was a comprehensive and structured training resource that was made available for H; …

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quoted for agreement .

a compact and well structured not only of commercial training ones , but of Hou-Knowledge in general , would be great for most of Hou-Users in most of the cases . the first thing that comes in my mind are the huge ( but disperse ) amount of solutions / advices found in two main Hou-forums . slightly out of topic … but not much

i own almost all the set of CMI videos about Hou . i like them but they are like knowing about a planet's life while you are standing always over its clouds .

Hou is unique ; huge'n'deep . so its Knowledge should ( maybe ) be organized and ‘served’ in a non-conventional way . and possibly linked / accessed from within the App itself , IMHO . this may require some time , but would support Users and Hou itself tremendously .



.cheers

Well Fellow “Lurkers” (not the most flattering of descriptions), thanks for the heads-up. I have looked at the 3D Buzz stuff. While at first they seem to take a while to get to doing something in H, the tutoring style is excellent. But will they produce some new ones, in H11?

Why have digitalTutors stopped updating their content?

Any recommendations on which CMIVFX videos are worth going for?

Hi Eric,

Which CMI vids are worth getting? Hmn….well, I can only speak for the 7 or so I have. All are great with the exception of the TD fluids one: this one suffers from too much clicking/whizzing around the screen - sometimes it leaves one feeling a little nauseous! lol. The tutor really knows his stuff. I was hoping there would be a section on rendering fluids etc., but alas not. It's a long vid, and well worth the money - but you will have to watch it quite a few times, but not if you're feeling queasy . Any vid by Georges Nakhle is well worth it - he's great, but I am biased, he's a friend He takes his time and explains things really clearly. One of the newer ones on procedural animation is very good. Though you'll need H11 for some of the chapters re the newer version of the For Each SOP. I currently still use H10 on my main system and H11 on my mac mini (2gb) to try stuff out - my little mac handles H with ease. There are some great new things in H11; but if I'm honest, I actually prefer H10.

The CMI vids on VEX/VOPS are a little disappointing - the second one is perhaps more useful, the first one is OK. The first gives an overview of VEX/VOPs and basically builds an already exisitng operater from scratch - again, I can see why David Garry (the tutor) did this, but I was a little disappointed - but that's a personal thing. Anyway, hope the above helps. What CMI vids interest you at the moment?

Cheers

Digital tutors is good for getting started. I really enjoyed learning from it for basic fundamentals. Gnomon Workshop has a couple of good videos but at a price. 3D Buzz is great since it breaks up training into segments. It is what your needs are.

Digital Tutors - Basic Fundamentals
Gnomn Workshop - Complete Projects
3D Buzz - Specialized projects

They are all good. I have learned from all of them and at a quick pace.

Good Luck.

About 3DBuzz, they also have a Basic Fundamentals course, it is called HOUDINI FASTTRACK, plus, they do have specialized projects. I learned Houdini using 3Dbuzz Houdini Fasttrack course.

I'm still learning as I don't have as much time as I'd like to devote to Houdini 24/7, but I'm taking the necessary steps.

I've bought from Digital Tutors, CMI and 3DBuzz.

Digital Tutors is good for the basics and a general understanding. The instructor is clear and easy to understand.

CMI focuses on some more advanced things and is pretty good. My two downfalls for CMI are that the instructors are hard to understand for some of the series and you can't download any of the material (it's only streaming). I think this may be changing.

3DBuzz lays down an impeccable amount of detail and thought process behind how Houdini works. That is invaluable. Granted the projects aren't the most amazing, but it is hard to please everyone and the things they choose to do do cover a lot of bases and provide an excellent resource.

Thank you all for your feedback.

Aside from Peter Q the community of up to date material seems slim. I also found AI good for spot solutions and in a context that I can relate to.

And yes, it is all about find time to become good.

I am ploughing my way through the Technical Rigging Course by 3DBuzz. In depth but a hard slog.

Cheers

Digital Tutors, CMI and 3DBuzz has NO Project based Houdini Lessons!
http://forums.odforce.net/index.php?/topic/12245-any-realistic-tutorial-for-the-vfx-pipeline-out-there/ [forums.odforce.net]

HD Production Techniques - the only advanced high quality and realistic HD Lessons is this course

http://www.fxphd.com/courseInfo.php#HOU101 [fxphd.com]

http://www.fxphd.com/courseInfo.php#HOU201 [fxphd.com]

Houdini CG/FX training stuff is insufficient…..