I was wondering where would I find Houdini User's Guide?

That would be in any of the older, official 6.1 releases, wouldn't it? I thought the pdf for that was in that release.

If you're talking about this in the context of v7, there is no “User's Guide” anymore - it's all in the online help, but I assume you aren't talking about that…

Cheers,

J.C.

I tried to contact Sidney Vis Lab because they have the full user's manual as a PDF on thier server but they said that they can't make it public because of copywrite issues. It's funny though, they are the only SideFX download site.

It would be really nice to be able to buy books on houdini at Barnes and Noble or have a PDF so one could print information and read somewhere else than at thier desk. There is just something comforting about the printed word that just isn't the same coming from a computer monitor.

Just download the Linux version of Houdini 6.1 off of Vislab. That way, you can just decompress it and get at the documentation without installing it. I just did exactly the same thing and confirmed that the .pdfs are there.

Non-existant in printed form. Also, when I try to search for something, I get an error saying something about chrome/houdini…… not found and I can't figure out how to configure it so I can search for things. The new online help browser is totally lame as far as I am concerned.

Lame is not the word..

When I used the online help, the separator jumps all over the place, making
it very difficult to navigate the system.

Now I simply will not use it, after I installed Archlinux (Brilliant), the online help
simply grinds houdini to a halt, what a joke.. It was bad before..now it's a
waste of time to me… I wish I received a printed manual when I purchased
escape, I hope SideFX is not loosing touch of the real world..

Every couple of days I find myself watching my Softimage|XSI training dvd's
just to see if it can shed some light on some houdini tools I know nothing about,
and it works… I was watching the particles tutorials and started to understand
a little more about how it works in houdini..funny that, I wonder what would
happen if I went back to XSI and used the dvd's to learn the app deep..
Woa…Better not think like that…
I wonder…..

Hi guys,

Can you please tell me which versions of Houdini you're talking about? And any more information about the problems you see with the help, if possible?

If you have access to the Houdini bugbase filing a bug would be even better, but even if you just list it here I'll see what I can figure out.

Cheers,

Matt

how do I access the bugbase? If it is through the internet while using houdini, I am out of luck, I do not have the internet at home.

If you don't already have access to the bug database, don't worry about it. Just post a description of the problem here. Thanks!

I'm talking about version 7.0.379 on linux, the latest version of hesape/houdini.
The problem has been there since I started using the “online help browser”,
so I simply don't use it, it's a total waste of my time as I end up waiting for it
to load up and navigation is non-functional.
Now I Archlinux, the “online HELP browser” simply brings hescape to a craw,
this is just becoming too much for me to bear… No documentation, not updated
training meterial, no information on particle sop, I'm considering the upgrade offer
from Alias 4.5-6.5. Without any documentation hescape/houdini is a waste of
time for me, I wont sit around anymore and hope I can guess how things work,
I did not pay for that….

Regards…

Yeah, I think it is kind of lame that a $14,000 doesn't come with a printed user's manual.

Hi! Pls tell me
what's the expression of panning a camera on rotate y from value -30 to 40?
where can i get more info about the expression?

Hey Guys,

There is all kinds of documenation in video format on SOP POPs and more if you just buy the DVDs from 3D Buzz. Volume 1 of the best of 3D Buzz is what you are looking for. It has tons of videos on Houdini so you need to get this DVD it will cost you about $50. I have written this exact statement so many times that I have stopped posting it everytime some one complains. Escape is not $14,000 its $3,000 there is a big difference. Master is $17,000 but after everything its a little more than $20,000.

http://www.3dbuzz.com/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=16&cat= [3dbuzz.com]

XSI's particles suck compared to Houdini's even at SOP POPs which is a far cry from straight POPs. Maya is better at particles than XSI but still comes no where near Houdini no matter what.

Cheers,
Nate Nesler

Won't be at Siggraph for the 1st Time :cry:

Epressions are in PDFs and in help files. Lots of H-Scripting PDFs in the Help.

Cheers,
Nate Nesler

i can confirm the same chrome error as above in the latest apprentice linux version.

it's been a long time between drinks for apprentice users, its probably too close to a release of H8 to bother but i wonder if there is a reason why 7.0.231 is the latest apprentice build?

I use Houdini Apprentice 7.0.457 for Linux and it seems to work fine (at least for me )!

http://www.sidefx.com/download/index.php [sidefx.com]

The problem with the content tree/content sperator, yes i had (have) it also. The solution is to click it once in the middle part after it goes haywire on you. It will calm down after that.

addic3d thank you lol !!

i always assumed what was on the vizlab mirror was the latest - and that those software updates i'd heard about were for paying customers i.e. maintenance updates

/happy

Does this updated versions work with the Apprentice license?

Yes.