GCharb
You don't create shader networks in Houdini, you work with shader nodes, you can drag and drop images/movies in shader nodes texture slots no problems!

dropping an image file into shader network of blender automatically assigns a required node. no additional steps-substeps-whatever. super handy and fast, for iterative approach it's the way

also, "You don't create shader networks in Houdini" - how are you even shading then...
anyway - movie files dont work all the same. requires some mumbo jumbo explained elsewhere on forums (it was about animated image sequence, no idea if it will even work with .mp4 or .mov) - with virtual production on the rise this is so whacky to not "just work"

thankfully i am doing this ^ in UE nowadays, but the point remains

SO anyone have been in Soho yesterday on key-note. Or it is just theoretical thread with just guesses?

When I work with the Type Properties Window and I find myself screaming each time I have to resize some inner section, where should I direct my rage, at the bad UI or the bad UX?

I mostly scream using houdini, 15 years in and I scream more now than in the beginning.

I did a breakdown of the UX/UI tool<->selection switching-pattern once when trying to implement a custom python state. Wish i still had the flowgraph around (was whiteboarded only). but it was a total mess. I compared it with Blenders pattern and lo and behold, no wierd and complex intermediate pathways through multiple states with changing tool panels and overlapping hotkeys.

There are core parts on houdini with flat out bad design patterns…

Frankly there are issues with all software, OS and also hardware. Nothing can be a swiss knife. Use what works and post-pone or skip what does not work for your case.

There is something called a SWOT analysis, maybe try that for a change to get a bigger picture.

Enjoy the coffee!

Edit: If you really want a change maybe bring some proposals, i.e. some prototypes that are possible to implement.

lol yeah, i should just redesign the houdini selection pattern and submit it as a RFE. thanks for the advice

making prototypes and proposals on unpaid basis

what could possibly go wrong

osong

GCharb
You don't create shader networks in Houdini, you work with shader nodes, you can drag and drop images/movies in shader nodes texture slots no problems!

dropping an image file into shader network of blender automatically assigns a required node. no additional steps-substeps-whatever. super handy and fast, for iterative approach it's the way

also, "You don't create shader networks in Houdini" - how are you even shading then...
anyway - movie files dont work all the same. requires some mumbo jumbo explained elsewhere on forums (it was about animated image sequence, no idea if it will even work with .mp4 or .mov) - with virtual production on the rise this is so whacky to not "just work"

thankfully i am doing this ^ in UE nowadays, but the point remains

Again, you do shading by assigning a shader node to the 3d model, there is no shading network like in Blender, there are no nodes that needs to be assigned, it's all within the shader node, and yes, movies work if you put them in a texture slot, have you ever shaded anything in Houdini? 🤔

GCharb
Again, you do shading by assigning a shader node to the 3d model, there is no shading network like in Blender, there are no nodes that needs to be assigned, it's all within the shader node, and yes, movies work if you put them in a texture slot

uhhh... what? 🫥 have you not seen shading network in blender? in Houdini?
this is my screenshot of blender network

this is my screenshot of solaris material network

GCharb
have you ever shaded anything in Houdini? 🤔

why i am glad you've asked, i have the highest rated Mantra videos on the youtubes



BTW, you inserted the old principled shader in the Solaris space, it will not evaluate in XPU 👍

Houdini Fan Club is so sweet

osong
BTW, you inserted the old principled shader in the Solaris space, it will not evaluate in XPU 👍

We're talking about textures here, and those are usually assigned inside the shader nodes, not in a network, but you could use them in a network if you wanted, I just don't see the use, so my guess is that your original complaint is about not being able to drag and drop textures in the VEX builder, is that it, and the old Principled shader works just fine in XPU here!

GCharb

osong
BTW, you inserted the old principled shader in the Solaris space, it will not evaluate in XPU 👍

We're talking about textures here, and those are assigned inside the shader nodes, not in a network, and the old Principled shader works just fine in XPU here!

you are wrong. XPU does NOT understand vex shading definitions - more on that here https://www.sidefx.com/faq/karma/ [www.sidefx.com]
a simple test can be performed as such: apply VEX triplanar. It will run on Karma CPU but will fail on XPU


it must be done in mtlx nodes in this fashion


the way you are doing this is wrong, and will not work in XPU

Anyone who complains about Houdini UI/UX should spend 5 minutes in 3dsMax and Unreal

One thing more users take for granted, as they should, is that the UI is technically quite sound. It's all based on Qt and from a developers point of view it's a very nice and easy way of creating UIs. A lot of the UIs are auto generated based on the parms and a few hints on basic layout. That sort of gives you consistency by default. The foundation is sound, that's important. And sure, what's actually in the users face can use a bit of glitter.

Compared to 3dsMax for example, where it's a mix of Qt, WPF, dotnet and what not is just a mess and it shows, it can take take 10..20 seconds to open the render dialog!

In Unreal on the other hand is technically quite good as well, but consistency wise it's all quite organically grown and all over the place.

So for me Houdini's UI 'problems' are mostly UX based and I can imagine it's a bit of a hurdle if you're starting out.

osong
the way you are doing this is wrong, and will not work in XPU

I just showed you a pic where I made a very simple setup with the old principled shader, and it rendered in XPU, so I am not sure what the problem is here!

GCharb

osong
the way you are doing this is wrong, and will not work in XPU

I just showed you a pic where I made a very simple setup with the old principled shader, and it rendered in XPU, so I am not sure what the problem is here!

i think you are joking right now. like i said, apply triplanar, ramp, anything - it will fail. surely you cant be serious

osong
making prototypes and proposals on unpaid basis

what could possibly go wrong

There is a QT upgrade for 2024, it would make sense to give now input to SESI.

https://vfxplatform.com/ [vfxplatform.com]

My brother made a RFE with some text and a mockup image how he wants it and 3-4 days later it was in a daily build. When it is a small task they could add it quickly.

Regarding Qt. Let's take Maya as an example, where every element of the interface is indeed translated to Qt.
1. In Houdini, it is not the same, and the problem is not that we can't do whatever we want with UI, but that errors related to Qt periodically appear in the console.
2. Why is there still no possibility to take the QWidget of the viewport? It is so convenient, considering that interactive tools using the Qt event system work slightly faster than buggy Python States.
3. Or here is an example with Python Panels that allow embedding the Qt interface. For example, if you start navigation in the viewport using Alt+RMB and release the mouse over the python panel, the navigation gets distorted. This does not happen if you release the mouse over the standard Houdini panel. It may seem like a minor thing, but it actually isn’t.

That's just the first thing that came to mind.

osong
i think you are joking right now. like i said, apply triplanar, ramp, anything - it will fail. surely you cant be serious

What you are saying is that XPU is still in beta and not everything works, is that it, I am shocked! 😉

GCharb

osong
i think you are joking right now. like i said, apply triplanar, ramp, anything - it will fail. surely you cant be serious

What you are saying is that XPU is still in beta and not everything works, is that it, I am shocked! 😉

i explained it above - you are using wrong material definition, and your example is incorrect. i am not sure what exactly you don't get

osong

GCharb

osong
i think you are joking right now. like i said, apply triplanar, ramp, anything - it will fail. surely you cant be serious

What you are saying is that XPU is still in beta and not everything works, is that it, I am shocked! 😉

i explained it above - you are using wrong material definition, and your example is incorrect. i am not sure what exactly you don't get

People talking with authority yet are ignorant on the most basic of Houdini features...

Not to do the name calling, but osong knows what they is talking about very clearly . If you disagree with them perhaps you need to re-read what they said.