I have no experience except from randomly reading up on the forums; But have enough passion for the investment and I personally would love to make people laugh. I'd like to experience the gratification of an idea coming to life. It seems that Houdini FX is the program that has the potential to produce work that can be mistaken for real life I don't see how experience in any other program could be useful in learning Houdini unless it involves a program specifically designed to create characters that need to be exported to Houdini.

Aside from that if your opinion is for me to start out as this being my first program would you happen to have any links to resources in regards to this program and/or do you have any personal advice from your own experience?

If you are looking to just model cool or crazy things, Houdini may not be as good a place to start as a program like Zbrush. However, it is a really solid all around software (animation, dynamics, rendering, modelling), but it is geared very heavily towards the effects side of the industry. If you could tell me a bit more about what it is exactly you are looking to do, and how much time you wish to dedicate to it then I could probably give you a better idea of where to start.

In the meantime if you want to learn houdini you can start with the lessons from sidefx.
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=202&Itemid=361 [sidefx.com]

Other good places would be FXPHD and CMIVFX, but they are not free lessons.

There seemed to be an error in your subject line that made it seem like a troll, so I've changed it from ‘terrible’ to ‘awesome’.

Houdini makes for a fantastic first app to learn from procedural modelling, fur/hair, to crafting hard core visual effects, or even compositing, all using the same set-ups, techniques and geometry. You can even dive in to rendering understanding what happens under the hood.

The question you need to ask your self is do you want to be a “user of tools” or someone that wants to understand what goes on and craves control to craft your own work. There are a vast array of tools that are capable of amazing work so being a user of tools is most certainly valid but these will be somewhat specialized skills. Houdini encourages and fosters an understanding of the broader scope of work that goes in to delivering CG imagery.

If it is the former, still learn Houdini but go with shelf tools and expand your tools to others as well. Houdini apprentice is free of course and glad to see others now seeing the importance of this. If it is the latter, Houdini is your tool and couple with Z-Brush, 3D Coat or other fast modelling app works well.

Master Houdini at an intermediate level and you will be a brilliant user of other applications. I've heard this from many users over the years.

It is more than valid to make Houdini your first 3D application if you want to learn about film, commercials and games cg and vfx work.

If I could go back in time I would have liked to start learning houdini as first, reason, as it has clearly expressed…….


“ Houdini encourages and fosters an understanding of the broader scope of work that goes in to delivering CG imagery. ”




My advice is to learn houdini group of people. encourage others nearby to use tools. create them, share them, learn, enjoy, play,
In group you learn a lot more.
Solo, from my own experience, it is not the best option and slows the creative processes in all types

cheeeerrrssss

If I could've started over and learn from scratch, I would've started with Houdini too. When I look back, I see that a lot of my time invested in learning various software has gone down the drain throughout the years. But when I read an old Houdini book even today, it still works and helps. In that regard, I see Houdini as one of the foundations of the industry. It has its strengths and most of them lie in the FX department, but I believe the more people start using it for other tasks, the stronger it will get in other departments than FX. Even though it is known for FX, I find Houdini as one of the best look-dev/lighting tools available considering its toolset and procedural workflow.
If you have enough time and patience to invest in a software I would say Houdini would be the most rewarding at the end. But be warned, it might not be the most rewarding at the beginning which I would say is a fair trade off.

We are very well aware of the barriers that Houdini has in the far past presented to artists (pre-Houdini9).

With Houdini 14, there is a lot of work done to improve the User Experience or UX. The teaser makes reference to this. We are taking this very seriously moving forward. We want that first experience to be far more rewarding without taking away anything of that which is Houdini.

At the end of the day, there are SOPs powering everything that is geometry.

codystoof
If you are looking to just model cool or crazy things, Houdini may not be as good a place to start as a program like Zbrush. However, it is a really solid all around software (animation, dynamics, rendering, modelling), but it is geared very heavily towards the effects side of the industry. If you could tell me a bit more about what it is exactly you are looking to do, and how much time you wish to dedicate to it then I could probably give you a better idea of where to start.

In the meantime if you want to learn houdini you can start with the lessons from sidefx.
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=202&Itemid=361 [sidefx.com]

Other good places would be FXPHD and CMIVFX, but they are not free lessons.

I just want to create a smooth animation from a standard flat southpark styled cartoon to a 3d jimmy neutron-Halo styling. Thank you so much for citing your sources. Im in the middle of building a computer for houdini but my 8 core amd processor hit the metal latch and bent some pins now im getting a cpu error light off the motherboard. Slight delay but seeing all these responses really made my day. I normally get side trackedon and off forums but at this rate of knowledgeable friendly people…im in for the long haul. =P


Also to get more specific my work would vary from casual to extremely action packed… At least thats what i would be looking so much forward to produce.

admin
There seemed to be an error in your subject line that made it seem like a troll, so I've changed it from ‘terrible’ to ‘awesome’.

Haha thats funny thank you for clearing that up. I apologize for any implicated trollery… I can assure you nothing is to be concerned of with simple ol me

jeff
Houdini makes for a fantastic first app to learn from procedural modelling, fur/hair, to crafting hard core visual effects, or even compositing, all using the same set-ups, techniques and geometry. You can even dive in to rendering understanding what happens under the hood.

The question you need to ask your self is do you want to be a “user of tools” or someone that wants to understand what goes on and craves control to craft your own work. There are a vast array of tools that are capable of amazing work so being a user of tools is most certainly valid but these will be somewhat specialized skills. Houdini encourages and fosters an understanding of the broader scope of work that goes in to delivering CG imagery.

If it is the former, still learn Houdini but go with shelf tools and expand your tools to others as well. Houdini apprentice is free of course and glad to see others now seeing the importance of this. If it is the latter, Houdini is your tool and couple with Z-Brush, 3D Coat or other fast modelling app works well.

Master Houdini at an intermediate level and you will be a brilliant user of other applications. I've heard this from many users over the years.

It is more than valid to make Houdini your first 3D application if you want to learn about film, commercials and games cg and vfx work.

Wow Jeff you really nailed it on that response. I have random ideas that id love for people to watch when its created but i figured short film is the way to go in the meantime. I just appreciated the fact that so much money can be saved delivering a message via animation rather than live action where costume and make up is all real time (and costly) and a lot more factors like whether or not your main character will spontaneously be incapable of attending shoots for months.

I sincerely appreciate you being specific on what programs i should pull into my arsenal. Be my best friend jeff hahaha.

Btw i looked into that academy of art univeristy and it was 5200 or 5800 for just two courses… Than when i cancelled the guy who makes commission for new students tried to make me feel like a piece of shit implying i will have nothing else going for me in my life; meanwhile in the back of my head im thinkin dam i could get the best program to start learning from for less then 5000…. Lmao and so now im here. I spent money to enroll but at least i got their whole topic guidelines of what they teach out of it ;P lol man talk about a nice path to being self taught in relation to animation principles.

chevita.
If I could go back in time I would have liked to start learning houdini as first, reason, as it has clearly expressed…….


“ Houdini encourages and fosters an understanding of the broader scope of work that goes in to delivering CG imagery. ”




My advice is to learn houdini group of people. encourage others nearby to use tools. create them, share them, learn, enjoy, play,
In group you learn a lot more.
Solo, from my own experience, it is not the best option and slows the creative processes in all types

cheeeerrrssss

Oh your recommending I learn Houdini with a group? Do they advertise an opening or is their an area i can look at? Because im totally down.. I really prefer having a base of friends who share the same interest im into. Plus i prefer it when communication of ideas are not shot down and completely supported.
But first ill need to get my new computer build back up and running than to the training courses i was recommended to look into. I have no problem paying for education as long as its something i can genuinely learn from and not $2600+ man once again you people are just too dam cool. So what would i be missing out on from using the free version instead of the paid full version? Also that license is nothing ill need to worry about right?

tinyparticle
If I could've started over and learn from scratch, I would've started with Houdini too. When I look back, I see that a lot of my time invested in learning various software has gone down the drain throughout the years. But when I read an old Houdini book even today, it still works and helps. In that regard, I see Houdini as one of the foundations of the industry. It has its strengths and most of them lie in the FX department, but I believe the more people start using it for other tasks, the stronger it will get in other departments than FX. Even though it is known for FX, I find Houdini as one of the best look-dev/lighting tools available considering its toolset and procedural workflow.
If you have enough time and patience to invest in a software I would say Houdini would be the most rewarding at the end. But be warned, it might not be the most rewarding at the beginning which I would say is a fair trade off.

When you mentioned that houdini is mainly on the fx side… Im assuming your talking about guardians of the galaxy where star lord has that metallic mask that allows him to breath in space; Just the way he takes it off (push of a button) its clear that it was CG. Anyway another example would be that guy on youtube who records his little son jump on a puddle and he edits it to make it look like he fell through. He put out way more videos and apparently is a professional.. But would houdini help me replicate that type of work?

When you mentioned that houdini is mainly on the fx side… Im assuming your talking about guardians of the galaxy where star lord has that metallic mask that allows him to breath in space; Just the way he takes it off (push of a button) its clear that it was CG. Anyway another example would be that guy on youtube who records his little son jump on a puddle and he edits it to make it look like he fell through. He put out way more videos and apparently is a professional.. But would houdini help me replicate that type of work?

This quote tells me that at the moment you don't know the differences between working in 2D (compositing) and working in a 3D app - so my personal thought would be that Houdini isn't the best starting place for you right now.

I know that this isn't the popular opinion here, but asking this particular question on this particular forum is a lot like walking into the mansion of a master French chocolatier and saying “I've never had a piece of chocolate before in my life, and I'm looking to make cookies for my five year old kid - what should I use?” He'll begin to wax lyrically about the amazing quality of his high grade gourmet creations, when all you really need at the moment is a bag of generic chocolate chips from the supermarket.

Of course - he's probably right in that his chocolate is much better than a Hersheys. And in our case Houdini is definitely an amazing program in the right hands - but the learning curve is very, very steep - especially for someone who is brand spanking new to the world of CGI.

While I may lose all credibility on this site for saying this - my personal advice would be to look at a few VideoCopilot tutorials (After Effects) as well as a few GreyscaleGorilla videos (Cinema 4D) just to get an idea of what working in relatively simple 2D & 3D programs are like; it'll also help you learn some of the basic terminology.

It's very easy for an expert to look back in hindsight and think that certain things weren't that helpful or important to getting where they are now because they don't remember learning certain things, but it is often those “worthless experiences” that work under the surface to prepare you for the big game.

Look at a guy like Michael Giacchino who did four years as an undergraduate studying film production before switching over to music education. Some might say that those first four years were “worthless”, because he wasn't learning directly about music, but in the long run it gave him a HUGE leg up - because he now understood exactly where the filmmakers were at, and how his musical work fit into their big picture.

Download houdini and play, you might get hooked, you might get mad, you might get lost and feel worthless! But so what? It's fun to learn and computer graphics is a vast subject, which means you never really stop learning.

Houdini is the favourite for many clever talented artists, and it's fun learning why that's the case.

Effects (FX) is a broad term used in the industry to cover digital effects such as liquid and fire simulations, particles, dynamic simulations like rigid objects colliding each other, breaking each other, soft body dynamics like cloth animation etc. I say broad term because this term encapsulates several different items.
Having said that, FX is only one of the many departments within a greater workflow. And I was trying to imply that Houdini is stronger in FX department than the others.
Since you are starting fresh, I would encourage you to start with the terminology and the basics. 3d animation and visual effects in general is a deep subject and it is easy to get lost in it. If you feel lost always go back to basics.
You should start out and see for yourself. Get Houdini apprentice and start with the tutorials. There is no better way to learn than doing it.

Friendlypersonnel

tinyparticle
If I could've started over and learn from scratch, I would've started with Houdini too. When I look back, I see that a lot of my time invested in learning various software has gone down the drain throughout the years. But when I read an old Houdini book even today, it still works and helps. In that regard, I see Houdini as one of the foundations of the industry. It has its strengths and most of them lie in the FX department, but I believe the more people start using it for other tasks, the stronger it will get in other departments than FX. Even though it is known for FX, I find Houdini as one of the best look-dev/lighting tools available considering its toolset and procedural workflow.
If you have enough time and patience to invest in a software I would say Houdini would be the most rewarding at the end. But be warned, it might not be the most rewarding at the beginning which I would say is a fair trade off.

When you mentioned that houdini is mainly on the fx side… Im assuming your talking about guardians of the galaxy where star lord has that metallic mask that allows him to breath in space; Just the way he takes it off (push of a button) its clear that it was CG. Anyway another example would be that guy on youtube who records his little son jump on a puddle and he edits it to make it look like he fell through. He put out way more videos and apparently is a professional.. But would houdini help me replicate that type of work?

Luke Letellier

When you mentioned that houdini is mainly on the fx side… Im assuming your talking about guardians of the galaxy where star lord has that metallic mask that allows him to breath in space; Just the way he takes it off (push of a button) its clear that it was CG. Anyway another example would be that guy on youtube who records his little son jump on a puddle and he edits it to make it look like he fell through. He put out way more videos and apparently is a professional.. But would houdini help me replicate that type of work?

While I may lose all credibility on this site for saying this - my personal advice would be to look at a few VideoCopilot tutorials (After Effects) as well as a few GreyscaleGorilla videos (Cinema 4D) just to get an idea of what working in relatively simple 2D & 3D programs are like; it'll also help you learn some of the basic terminology.

It's very easy for an expert to look back in hindsight and think that certain things weren't that helpful or important to getting where they are now because they don't remember learning certain things, but it is often those “worthless experiences” that work under the surface to prepare you for the big game.

Thank you so much for the references. When i was using anime studio i was thinking the same in regards to the worthless experiences. So speaking of chocolates… What is Maya to Houdini?i had a friend with maya and it looked like she was making a human character and she mentioned it took her 3 days to finish what looked like a human in an anatomical position.

tinyparticle
Effects (FX) is a broad term used in the industry to cover digital effects such as liquid and fire simulations, particles, dynamic simulations like rigid objects colliding each other, breaking each other, soft body dynamics like cloth animation etc. I say broad term because this term encapsulates several different items.
Having said that, FX is only one of the many departments within a greater workflow. And I was trying to imply that Houdini is stronger in FX department than the others.
Since you are starting fresh, I would encourage you to start with the terminology and the basics. 3d animation and visual effects in general is a deep subject and it is easy to get lost in it. If you feel lost always go back to basics.
You should start out and see for yourself. Get Houdini apprentice and start with the tutorials. There is no better way to learn than doing it.

Friendlypersonnel

tinyparticle
If I could've started over and learn from scratch, I would've started with Houdini too. When I look back, I see that a lot of my time invested in learning various software has gone down the drain throughout the years. But when I read an old Houdini book even today, it still works and helps. In that regard, I see Houdini as one of the foundations of the industry. It has its strengths and most of them lie in the FX department, but I believe the more people start using it for other tasks, the stronger it will get in other departments than FX. Even though it is known for FX, I find Houdini as one of the best look-dev/lighting tools available considering its toolset and procedural workflow.
If you have enough time and patience to invest in a software I would say Houdini would be the most rewarding at the end. But be warned, it might not be the most rewarding at the beginning which I would say is a fair trade off.

When you mentioned that houdini is mainly on the fx side… Im assuming your talking about guardians of the galaxy where star lord has that metallic mask that allows him to breath in space; Just the way he takes it off (push of a button) its clear that it was CG. Anyway another example would be that guy on youtube who records his little son jump on a puddle and he edits it to make it look like he fell through. He put out way more videos and apparently is a professional.. But would houdini help me replicate that type of work?

Excellent thank you so much that is what i needed to be told.

Friendlypersonnel
Thank you so much for the references. When i was using anime studio i was thinking the same in regards to the worthless experiences. So speaking of chocolates… What is Maya to Houdini?i had a friend with maya and it looked like she was making a human character and she mentioned it took her 3 days to finish what looked like a human in an anatomical position.

Maya is a hardy, all around useful chocolate respected by almost the entire VFX community. In terms of a time investment, learning Maya very worthwhile and will definitely not be a waste if you desire to know more about this field.

I working with both Maya and Houdini , But I really Love Houdini !
You can do too many awesome projects with Houdini only with it's own powerful nodes and networks , But in the Maya , you have to use expression and MEL (Maya Scripting Language) ,even in some situations you should just use Plug-Ins !
In the Houdini , You can create your custom tools.

If you just wanna be a modeler or animator , Maybe Maya is good , But if you wanna be a Generalist , FX Artist , TD , Procedural Modeler choose Houdini.
Also as Jeff said , you can working with Houdini aside of another apps such as ZBrush.

However , if you wanna choose any 3D application for first time , I think it's not hard for working with Houdini for first time , Houdini has too many perfect sources for learning such as cmiVFX tutorials , Sidefx Tutorials , 3D Buzz , FXPHD and etc.

Also I believe Houdini's Forum is best , It's so active and you can find your problem with help of Forum's guys very fast !

Just close your eyes and choose Houdini :wink:

Joker386
I working with both Maya and Houdini , But I really Love Houdini !
You can do too many awesome projects with Houdini only with it's own powerful nodes and networks , But in the Maya , you have to use expression and MEL (Maya Scripting Language) ,even in some situations you should just use Plug-Ins !
In the Houdini , You can create your custom tools.

If you just wanna be a modeler or animator , Maybe Maya is good , But if you wanna be a Generalist , FX Artist , TD , Procedural Modeler choose Houdini.
Also as Jeff said , you can working with Houdini aside of another apps such as ZBrush.

However , if you wanna choose any 3D application for first time , I think it's not hard for working with Houdini for first time , Houdini has too many perfect sources for learning such as cmiVFX tutorials , Sidefx Tutorials , 3D Buzz , FXPHD and etc.

Also I believe Houdini's Forum is best , It's so active and you can find your problem with help of Forum's guys very fast !

Just close your eyes and choose Houdini :wink:

Excellent man sounds good. I got my build running and updated. The production build is what was prechosen for the trial download (was gonna go look to buy a truck this week)