I just need to know the differences between the two.Also since I am in the process of creating an animation…I need to know whether some of features in houdini fx are available atleast in different form in houdini(dynamics,oceans,fluids,rain effect,skies and such).Please let me know…I don't want to spend 2000 dollars with these crucial features missing

I think it is possible to create assets in HFX and use them in non-FX version.
Still you need FX version to create them…

http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=219&Itemid=382 [sidefx.com]


this simple answer is no, Houdini does not have the FX features (Dynamics, Fluids, Cloth etc) that Houdini FX has…

Is it for you or for your company?

When you are a indie below 100k$ income per year you could use the indie version of houdini. that has all the features of houdini fx.

company with over 100k$ income well the houdini fx is you key for the effects.