As many of you know, the Houdini Developer’s Kit is a comprehensive set of C++ libraries which give studios and third party developers access to Houdini's API. Instead of being limited to a subset of the API like most SDKs, the HDK provides virtually the same level of access available to Side Effects developers.
With the HDK, you can create plug-ins to customize virtually all aspects of Houdini. Some examples include:
- add custom expression functions
- add custom commands to hscript or hython
- add custom operators (SOPs, DOPs, POPs, etc)
- add output to 3rd party renderer, geometry or games engine
- add custom lighting or atmospheric effects
The new HDK docs were written with a practical philosophy in mind. First they identify the main task a programmer would encounter when customizing Houdini using C++, eg: data I/O, creating new operators, extending the UI, rendering. Next, each process is explained in-depth and well-documented sample code is provided to illustrate the application of key concepts. Node organization in Houdini is then discussed along with how to work with nodes and their parameters, and how to create new nodes in each of Houdini's operator contexts. The new docs also cover the main HDK classes such as OP_Network and SOP_Node, as well as, important utility classes such as Houdini’s very efficient Matrix classes, Multithreading classes and Vector Math (VM) classes.
Our developers have been working hard to make this material available and will continue to add to and enhance this material over time. With so many studios looking for ways to incorporate Houdini into their pipeline, these new HDK docs will play a key role in that process.
To access the new docs, visit http://www.sidefx.com/docs [sidefx.com]
Enjoy,
Robert
