10:00 AM EST
KEYNOTE

The day begins with the Keynote where you can learn about SideFX and Houdini. Artists Ryan Bowden of Weta FX, Xray Halperin of Insomniac Games and Mark Fancher of Already Been Chewed will then talk about why they use Houdini to create their digital art.

Ryan Bowden is currently working as a Lead FX Technical Director for Weta FX. With 10+ years of film/television experience at various studios some of his film credits include: Aquaman, Jungle Book, Tron Legacy, and most recently Avatar: The Way of Water. He enjoys guiding new artists and building new workflows/templates to help artists get into shots as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Xray Halperin is a technologist whose career spans feature film, advertising, location-based entertainment, video games and interactive media while accepting invitations to lecturer at schools and conferences from Shanghai to Mumbai. Xray served as the Chair of Los Angeles ACM SIGGRAPH in 2007 and 2008. Xray organized a course on crowd animation for SIGGRAPH Asia in Yokohama Japan in 2009 and spoke at Texas A&M in 2010. That same year Xray was the keynote speaker for the Xi'an Animation Conference in China. Xray is currently a Senior Technical Artist at Insomniac Games developing procedural tools and techniques for titles such as "Marvel’s Spider-Man", "Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales", "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart", the upcoming "Marvel’s Spider-Man 2" and the upcoming "Marvel’s Wolverine".

Mark Fancher is Lead FX Artist and Senior Motion Designer at Already Been Chewed specializing in art directed simulations and proceduralism. He is self-taught with over a decade of experience working in computer graphics, and a strong passion for teaching others.

11:00 AM CST
The Art of Computer Graphics

Computer graphics plays a huge role in the world we live in today. From blockbuster movies to video games to virtual reality experiences, computer graphics are a big part of many artist-based professions. Learn where this art form came from and how it is being used today. Equally important are the ways that traditonal skills like drawing, painting, sculpting and photography can make better computer graphic artists. In order for the virtual worlds to be as immersive as possible, computer graphics needs to be a language everyone understands. 

Robert Magee is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at SideFX who has been working with Houdini for over 20 years. He has created lots of learning material and demos designed to help artists understand how going procedural with Houdini can benefit their work.

12:00 PM CST
Go Procedural with Houdini

Over the years, Houdini and its node-based procedural workflow have contributed to Academy Award winning movies, AAA video games and much more. Learn how this unique software allows artists to use networks of nodes to support the creative process. Whether you are a single artist or a team of artists, Houdini can streamline how you work and make it easier to create quality results. For students, Houdini skills are becoming a must-have and can open up doors when looking for a great job. Take your first steps into the world of Houdini as you learn how it works and how you can build a strong base of knowledge.    

Robert Magee is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at SideFX who has been working with Houdini for over 20 years. He has created lots of learning material and demos designed to help artists understand how going procedural with Houdini can benefit their work.

2:30 PM CST
Hands on Houdini

Bring your own laptop and follow along with Houdini. Learn how to create a node, navigate a scene and work with Houdini's node-based workflow. This is the ideal chance for artists new to Houdini to get their hands on the software and start building a new skillset.    

Robert Magee is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at SideFX who has been working with Houdini for over 20 years. He has created lots of learning material and demos designed to help artists understand how going procedural with Houdini can benefit their work.

11:00 AM CST
HDA Jam

Each participant engages in creative problem solving by building their own Houdini Digital Asset from the ground up. A selection of ordinary objects will be provided as a starting place. For example, if a participant chooses to create an HDA based on an egg beater they would create a hard surface model, and add appropriate animation channels for the moving parts.    

Xray Halperin is a technologist whose career spans feature film, advertising, location-based entertainment, video games and interactive media while accepting invitations to lecturer at schools and conferences from Shanghai to Mumbai. Xray served as the Chair of Los Angeles ACM SIGGRAPH in 2007 and 2008. Xray organized a course on crowd animation for SIGGRAPH Asia in Yokohama Japan in 2009 and spoke at Texas A&M in 2010. That same year Xray was the keynote speaker for the Xi'an Animation Conference in China. Xray is currently a Senior Technical Artist at Insomniac Games developing procedural tools and techniques for titles such as "Marvel’s Spider-Man", "Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales", "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart", the upcoming "Marvel’s Spider-Man 2" and the upcoming "Marvel’s Wolverine".

2:30 PM CST
USD Assets for Gamedev

The Universal Scene Description [USD] open source initiative is rapidly becoming a prominent part of studio pipelines in both the film/tv and games industries. Film and TV studios have been using USD in their pipelines for a few years, but Game Development studios are just exploring it as a solution. Its flexibility, efficiency, and collaborative nature are all reasons why this shift to USD is happening. Learn how to create a USD asset according to current industry recommendations. The tools and techniques learned in this workshop can also help you stand out when looking for a job, as many studios now seek students who have experience with USD. Houdini's suite of tools in Solaris will be used to used to effectively and efficiently manage USD assets and scenes.  

Peter Arcara is a Training Lead at SideFX. He creates courses for the Houdini Insight learning platform, consults with instructors about curriculum, and supports the Houdini Educator Community. He loves watching rocket launches and F1 races in his free time.

11:00 AM CST
Intro to Procedural Modeling with SOPs

In the first part of this workshop you will discover some of the simple yet powerful SOPs workflows used in procedural modeling, all while building a procedural couch generator that can easily be adjusted to create a wide variety of couch shapes.

Mark Fancher is Lead FX Artist and Senior Motion Designer at Already Been Chewed specializing in art directed simulations and proceduralism. He is self-taught with over a decade of experience working in computer graphics, and a strong passion for teaching others.

2:30 PM CST
Procedural Modeling with Vellum

In the second part, you will build off the couch design by simulating cloth, blankets, and pillows using the Vellum brush. 

Mark Fancher is Lead FX Artist and Senior Motion Designer at Already Been Chewed specializing in art directed simulations and proceduralism. He is self-taught with over a decade of experience working in computer graphics, and a strong passion for teaching others.

11:00 AM CST
The Art of Computer Graphics

Computer graphics plays a huge role in the world we live in today. From blockbuster movies to video games to virtual reality experiences, computer graphics are a big part of many artist-based professions. Learn where this art form came from and how it is being used today. Equally important are the ways that traditonal skills like drawing, painting, sculpting and photography can make better computer graphic artists. In order for the virtual worlds to be as immersive as possible, computer graphics needs to be a language everyone understands. 

Robert Magee is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at SideFX who has been working with Houdini for over 20 years. He has created lots of learning material and demos designed to help artists understand how going procedural with Houdini can benefit their work.

12:00 PM CST
Go Procedural with Houdini

Over the years, Houdini and its node-based procedural workflow have contributed to Academy Award winning movies, AAA video games and much more. Learn how this unique software allows artists to use networks of nodes to support the creative process. Whether you are a single artist or a team of artists, Houdini can streamline how you work and make it easier to create quality results. For students, Houdini skills are becoming a must-have and can open up doors when looking for a great job. Take your first steps into the world of Houdini as you learn how it works and how you can build a strong base of knowledge.    

Robert Magee is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at SideFX who has been working with Houdini for over 20 years. He has created lots of learning material and demos designed to help artists understand how going procedural with Houdini can benefit their work.

2:30 PM CST
Musical Workflows Powered with
Houdini’s 3D Graphics

Houdini is the most powerful 3D graphics and simulation program. Many don’t know that its powerful node based, geometric architecture provides an ample playground for many enthusiasts and mad-scientists exploring varied sciences and arts. Andrew Lowell is one such enthusiast and an expert in some of these lesser known areas; he’s recently designed the Houdini Music Toolset, a node based approach to music design and composition using geometry based proceduralism. This session will introduce and explore these features and the toolset, for an imaginative, out of box session with exciting 3d music workflows.  

Andrew Lowell has worked professionally in visual effects and sound engineering for decades. He is well-known in visual effects circles for authoring a book on the generation of sound with Houdini’s 3D tools, and maintains heavy involvement in creating workflows and software tools to combine visual and musical spheres such as the Houdini Music Toolset. He frequently delivers lectures on both his technical as well as artistic developments, and his continuing goals are to bridge visual and aural phenomena, while pursuing personal work in generative music and 3d graphics.