I know this has been asked 10^100000 times but do you think its worth the TIME and INVESTMENT to learn this software.

My background: I have a VFX degree and I work as a TD. I am familiar with coding (JS and python) and feel pretty confident. I am certainly going to give it a shot but for the long term I want to know how beneficial learning Houdini is say for a year

Its either this or unreal engine.

Yes!

You may only get biased opinions here, it's a Houdini dedicated forum, after all.

Your self description sounds like Houdini fits your profile exactly, though.

quick non-answer: study both
I'd personally suggest going with UE, but knowing Houdini will definitely be very beneficial, these two go together very well

You don't really say what you want to do with it. For instance, if you're interested in merging into FX creation and rendering like pyro or fluid sims then yes. However if you're mostly interested in going toward real-time development then UE might be a better option.

It really depends on what you're interested in doing. Learning for the sake of learning can be rewarding, but it's also a substantial time commitment and life is short...so learn wisely!

Hi again. This topic is a bit interesting so I’ll just keep it going. I did work as some kind of generalist for broadcast appx. 10 years ago after finishing animation/generalist university with mainly Maya and Adobe software, as well as some traditional subjects.

A generic question get a broad answer.

There are a bunch of job roles in the industries (game, broadcast, advertisement, film etc). They sre all different in some way.

For a couple of years ago I taught Blender character pipeline. My impression is that you can quite quickly learn that software in about a year or less if you have a good guide (not the average Joe on Yt). To simply do modeling or just animation probably a skilled, and open minded, person need a week or less to be productive.

However, the artistic and technical skills needed to use the software is a totally different topic. I’d even say if you want to be animator don’t start learning software but rather something traditional like acting or theatre. Maybe sketch things on paper if you can. Learn to act things out using your own gestures and expressions.

For software like Zbrush the basics is the same. However since the U.I. is not conventional it take time to learn the craft of using the more or less ”magic” features that can help you save time.

Software like Maya and Houdini however are so developed in depth that you can’t really learn the entire thing so quickly. R. Magee (sidefx) make some serious effort with books and tutorials, but is right when he uses the word ”Foundations” (I bought the book).

With Houdini, after learning the basics in a year or so, you will still see people who use the software rather differently than you. My guess would be that a full time professional will learn the part he or she uses, but will likely still be a beginner with other roles or areas. The generalist will have wider knowledge but probably lack the depth or expertise.

Some parts of Houdini is quicker to learn. In your situation maybe ask yourself: ”What is Houdini really good at doing and what would I like to specialize in?”.

If you just want to learn for ”fun” I’d learn something outside of computers instead.

Midphase
You don't really say what you want to do with it. For instance, if you're interested in merging into FX creation and rendering like pyro or fluid sims then yes. However if you're mostly interested in going toward real-time development then UE might be a better option.

It really depends on what you're interested in doing. Learning for the sake of learning can be rewarding, but it's also a substantial time commitment and life is short...so learn wisely!

You're right. At the moment Im learning for the sake of learning without a goal in mind. I want to try out UE but my PC struggles to run it so im settling for houdini now. I will try and have a goal in mind for houdini before I give it my all

SWest
Hi again. This topic is a bit interesting so I’ll just keep it going. I did work as some kind of generalist for broadcast appx. 10 years ago after finishing animation/generalist university with mainly Maya and Adobe software, as well as some traditional subjects.

A generic question get a broad answer.

There are a bunch of job roles in the industries (game, broadcast, advertisement, film etc). They sre all different in some way.

For a couple of years ago I taught Blender character pipeline. My impression is that you can quite quickly learn that software in about a year or less if you have a good guide (not the average Joe on Yt). To simply do modeling or just animation probably a skilled, and open minded, person need a week or less to be productive.

However, the artistic and technical skills needed to use the software is a totally different topic. I’d even say if you want to be animator don’t start learning software but rather something traditional like acting or theatre. Maybe sketch things on paper if you can. Learn to act things out using your own gestures and expressions.

For software like Zbrush the basics is the same. However since the U.I. is not conventional it take time to learn the craft of using the more or less ”magic” features that can help you save time.

Software like Maya and Houdini however are so developed in depth that you can’t really learn the entire thing so quickly. R. Magee (sidefx) make some serious effort with books and tutorials, but is right when he uses the word ”Foundations” (I bought the book).

With Houdini, after learning the basics in a year or so, you will still see people who use the software rather differently than you. My guess would be that a full time professional will learn the part he or she uses, but will likely still be a beginner with other roles or areas. The generalist will have wider knowledge but probably lack the depth or expertise.

Some parts of Houdini is quicker to learn. In your situation maybe ask yourself: ”What is Houdini really good at doing and what would I like to specialize in?”.

If you just want to learn for ”fun” I’d learn something outside of computers instead.

Thank you for sharing, I will now think of a particular goal to have in mind going forward as previously I was learning just to learn and expand my skillset. I do have some tech skills as well as modelling so maybe procedural modelling is something I will look at, or maybe ill look into maya/unreal as I am very confident in maya above all.

Mentioning procedural modeling what you could do is develop assets called HDA. These you could sell on Orbolt. Although there is many opinions about it the benefit is that you can use Apprentice or Indie license and the service will open up the limitations. Either you charge for it or just share for anyone who want it (i.e. ”goodwill and marketing for you).

Then the Asset can be used in both Unreal and Maya. On your behalf you do not have to buy an expensive license as you get going as long as your ”business” meet the EULA.

With Houdini I also like to develop productivity code that is compatible with any Houdini version, because at the moment I can not commit to a full FX license.

The features I see SideFX has added to allow people like me to both learn and use the software from a technical point of view is great.