I truly understand that having a free product, meaning here Houdini Apprentice, is a bless to be having access to for such a professional product.

But can someone tell me why is there no allowance for external renderers to be used with Apprentice version?

Let's for example, i am a beginner, as i am, and in order to learn the program at no cost, i can work with apprentice version and thats fantastic! I get to work as much as i can in order to, with time, develop a deep knowledge in such a wast space of Houdini.
But for real, most people starting out don't have that high-end hardware to render scenes relatively fast. I mean, i do 2d and 3d on a laptop! Shuting down as soon as cpu reaches a heat margin…

I clearly can't profit from Apprentice version, so why can't we install for example Redshift and render with our gpu? Why ban that option?

You can use Redshift in Apprentice - just render to it's render view, not Houdini.

fuos
You can use Redshift in Apprentice - just render to it's render view, not Houdini.

Is this legal?
I mean it clearly states at the product info that Apprentice does not use external renderers, right?

I'm not aware if it's been tested in court.

fuos
You can use Redshift in Apprentice - just render to it's render view, not Houdini.

Btw what do you mean by that. I am a beginner, i know what viewport in houdini is. Are there any specific steps i need to take after i install redshift on my station?

RedShift isn't front of me right now but on the RedShiftROP there are a few buttons for rendering - try them out.

I search other way round: I own Houdini-Indie and search a free external renderer, because Redshift or Octane are far beyond my financial possibilities as a non-commercial hobbyist.

Any hints, what external renderers are availeable for free or very much cheaper than the famous ones, but offer a nice quality-brush-up for the renderings in Houdini?

Thanks for your help!

As a non-commercial hobbyist you're well adviced with Renderman [renderman.pixar.com] or 3Delight [www.3delight.com].

Both really great renderers.

redfox8170
Octane are far beyond my financial possibilities as a non-commercial hobbyist.

Octane is $20/month. Most people will easily spend that on coffee without even giving it a second thought.

Hobbyist doesn't mean that you don't have to spend any money on what you enjoy, quite the opposite – it's a fun activity that you happily pay for. Just ask any other hobbyist!

P.S.

By the strict definition, I am an hobbyist too, and I spend a lot of this awesome hobby that I enjoy so much!


P.P.S.

If you really don't want to spend any money on software, check out Blender!


P.P.P.S.

Another +1 on 3Delight….it's a great renderer and it's free. If you want to know more about how to use it in Houdini, check out my tutorial on it:

https://youtu.be/IC9Gt6TG0ws [youtu.be]

Wait what? can you really use apprentice for external renderers? will that remove the watermark as well? that would make indie redundant for many people..

rickvdvulkaan
Wait what? can you really use apprentice for external renderers? will that remove the watermark as well? that would make indie redundant for many people..

No you cannot. See here [www.sidefx.com].

well yeah i figured. but i can imagine that since you render it with an external renderer, the watermark won't be transferred somehow. but that would be just too easy.