Hi. I'm new to Houdini. I used Softimage for 20 years then went to Maya but am giving AD the bird and learning Houdini. Something I haven't found is a clear definitive guide on how to set up different render passes in Houdini. I see a few different approaches but none seem like the THE definitive way it should be done. Is there a tutorial or video or something about the best way to do render passes in Houdini?

Thanks!

Lawrence

Lawrence you can check Houdini Passes Master Class from cmivfx.
There you should find all relevant info, I know I do.
Mantra is super powerful and custimizable. Specialy look techniques for generating custom AOVs.

https://cmivfx.com/products/368-houdini-passes-master-class [cmivfx.com]

Cheers,
blackCircle.

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!

Hi Lawrence,

Ex-Softimage user as well, see the following Guides by Jordi as they will answer some other questions you may have:

https://archive.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2711&Itemid=166 [archive.sidefx.com]

Hi,
My founding are than you can't make use of Houdini like Softimage.

Using multiples ROPs in conjunction with Bundles used in the Object list of the ROPs are a good start and cover 90% of cases

But you definitely can't override materials as easily.
You can ObjMerge to override materials but this takes times.

And about the takes “way” my advice is to don't waste too much time with it, it's usefull for lookdev but not enough visual and you'll end up with sort of a mess.

PS:If you use mantra I think you can definitely use the material spreadsheet, but again that's not really linked to the ROP as far as i know.

As I try to find an elegant solution that works for me, It does seam to me that in testing Houdini as an option for our primary DCC this aspect needs more love… Has there been discussion or talk about creating a more complete or standardize way to do this in the future?

NNois
definitely can't override materials as easily.
You can ObjMerge to override materials

NNois
Hi,
But you definitely can't override materials as easily.
You can ObjMerge to override materials but this takes times.

PS:If you use mantra I think you can definitely use the material spreadsheet, but again that's not really linked to the ROP as far as i know.

You said it - material style sheets give you potentially ultimate flexibility, overriding any attribute.