Hi there guys. I've had Houdini for a while but I am now for the first time starting to use it seriously as I have 5 days a week doing nothing to do so. My interests lie in the FX field and I'd briefly learnt how to use the smoke, pyro and fluid tools but not to a large extent at all.

I thought I'd start in one area this time round and really knuckle down so I bought the Introduction to Particles tutorial from Cmivfx which is has been brilliant so far. The pace has been great and I'm learning more and more everyday and I feel like I can apply what I'm learning to projects I may want to do myself.

So, although I may not be at a level to start creating good quality pieces of work for a portfolio it's something I've wondered anyway, how exactly should I be making it?

I recently trawled through this thread: http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&p=105898&sid=8b1bcff293463212a92aa4804a27e70f [sidefx.com]

A few people there were suggesting that one can rather simply start creating work from live footage of there own so, should is that what I should be aiming for? Learning to render my effects to a high quality and putting them into my own footage or just rendering effects in a standard viewport?

I'm just not 100% clear in my head in concern with which direction to go. After I complete the intro to particles tutorial, should I switch my attention to learning about rendering? Will I need to learn about modelling for the sake of creating materials for a portfolio?

There's just so much than can be learnt but I just want to be learning it all in the best and most efficient order. Thanks.