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TOTAL DURATION: 2h 45m 21s

Learn how to rig, animate and add fur to a two legged character named Fur Dude. Starting with existing geometry, draw the skeleton, capture the geometry then build rig controls for an animation rig. Next keyframe a walk cycle and add fur to the surface of the creature.

This lesson uses KineFX, Houdini’s new SOP-based procedural rigging tools. While these tools are used primarily for retargeting workflows they also include tools for rigging characters and creatures. These tools are still evolving and this lesson offers a taste of what will be currently possible. In future releases, you will see the KineFX and animation workflows expanded and refined.

Houdini Foundations for Houdini 19.5 is now available as Downloadable PDF and a Print-on-Demand book through the Lulu Ebook company. This 224 page book contains 9 chapters designed to help artists take their first steps into Houdini.

Research for this lesson by Marcia Utama. She developed a version of Fur Dude available in the Content Library which was rigged at the Object level. Also thanks to Keith Acheson for creating the original Fur Dude animation.

CREATED BY

rmagee
ROBERT MAGEE

Robert Magee is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at SideFX who has been working with Houdini for 20 years. He has created lots of learning material and demos designed to help artists understand how going procedural with Houdini can benefit their work.

More from Robert Magee

COMMENTS

  • 1h8g9s5 1 year, 7 months ago  | 

    wow KineFX videos updated! I'm diving right into it

  • zero_expectations 1 year, 7 months ago  | 

    Hurray! It's here!
    Thanks Robert!

  • AlfredoSMC 1 year, 7 months ago  | 

    Thanks Robert,
    it is completely excellent,
    I had already followed a large part of this tutorial with skeleton, but now you incorporated the hair, and I already have some experience in hair, but (guide simulate is amazing) it has vellum incorporated.
    thanks again!

  • AlfredoSMC 1 year, 7 months ago  | 

    but to be honest, I prefer the guide process, it is very very complete.

  • jimr@sidefx.com 1 year, 6 months ago  | 

    Is there supposed to be audio on 13?

    • rmagee 1 year, 6 months ago  | 

      It was missing from the video - it has been re-uploaded with sound.

  • BunglebeetTV 1 year, 6 months ago  | 

    How do you select Spacebar to the right view? Thanks in advance.

    • Michael_Mietz 1 year, 2 months ago  | 

      Ctrl+4 or Cmd+4 to go into Four Views
      Then hover over the view you want to make full screen and hit Space+B.
      Space+B again to go back to Four Views

  • li la 1 year, 6 months ago  | 

    Can I get the completed houdini file?
    I'm facing a problem where I can move but can't rotate, and I want to see the difference from the correct node.

  • reductioabsurdum10 1 year, 2 months ago  | 

    Thank you 100 times for keeping this video up to date!!!

  • reductioabsurdum10 1 year, 2 months ago  | 

    Can you make a tutorial on how to model fur dude?

  • jamalsb176 1 year, 2 months ago  | 

    Weldone Robert !

  • 0ldsl0 11 months, 3 weeks ago  | 

    When attaching the capture geometry, i get a warning saying that it needs a valid rest_transform attribute and when I check the skeleton it needs does not have one. It only has a local transform attribute and I'm fairly certain I've been following along exactly...

    • arekrataj 11 months ago  | 

      You need to uncheck "Rest Pose Attribute" option under "Add Shapes" tab of "Attach Capture Geo" node.

  • Ela_Eichu 9 months ago  | 

    There is no fur_dude folder in the opdef:/sop/ directory. I'm using Houdini apprentice 20, what did I do wrong?

    • Ela_Eichu 8 months, 4 weeks ago  | 

      I found it- Houdini 20 adds a few fields when naming a HDA, so the folder had my personal name as part of the Author field.

  • alesia_karchevskaia 8 months, 1 week ago  | 

    Great series, learned a lot so far!
    However, when I promote the parameters to the top of the HDA andsave it, the control geometry doesn't show up on the test rig. I can use the parameters but do not see the controls themselves. What have I missed?

    • rmagee 8 months, 1 week ago  | 

      I would have to see your rig - send me your asset (rmagee@sidefx.com) and I will take a look.

  • mtea9152 7 months, 3 weeks ago  | 

    Adding the "IK Chains" node will twist the knees.
    The character's knees twist inward.
    If you move the knee joint outward with "Knee_offset", the knee will face forward.
    When the character bends down, his legs become crab-like.

  • ROGA_high 4 months, 4 weeks ago  | 

    Hi-Hola, it is indeed a great series. I also have that issue. I cant see the CTRLs of the rig. I also ccan use the parameters but cant see the CTRLs. Did you two found a solution for this issue?

  • Damon_lavenski 2 months ago  | 

    Assistance Needed with Step 7 in Houdini 20.5

    Hi all

    I’m having trouble with step 7. I’m using Houdini 20.5 and have noticed that after adding the extra files as instructed in the video and the PDF, the folder for the fur dude hasn’t been created in the “opdef/sop” directory. Since the UI is new and different, is there something I need to name differently to make it work?

    Additionally, in the “Edit Output Properties” UI, the “Save to Library” field is pointing to the OneDrive folder. I’m not sure why it’s doing that. Is this part of the new features?

    Lastly, I’ve noticed that the file type extension is not showing up when I go into one of the other folders. I think the extension should end with “.sc”. Is there any way I can fix this as well?

    I would appreciate a step-by-step explanation on how to resolve these issues. This is a wonderful tutorial, but this is the first time I’ve really gotten stuck.

    Thanks in advance for all the help! :)

    Best regards,

  • Damon_lavenski 2 months ago  | 

    It's step 7 on the PDF. But it's video 9 the headline for the section is"Create Capture Rig Digital Asset"

  • Damon_lavenski 2 months ago  | 

    I finally figured it out. Here’s what to do if you’re using the new UI for creating assets. In the video and the PDF, the instructions clearly dictate how to name the asset. The difference in the UI is the internal name field, which is segmented into three parts: author in blue, base name in yellow, and version in pink.

    There’s also a drop-down list for more options to control adding the author namespace. You have two options at this point: name the author in the blue field, or in the “Add author to namespace” option. You can choose to uncheck the box if you prefer.

    Now, regarding the path: as I mentioned above, the path that was created for me by default was not the one I needed. There is also a drop-down list for the “Save to” field, where you can choose the location you wish to save your asset (e.g., the $HIP directory). You might get a couple of errors telling you that the path may not be a Houdini pipeline path, but if you want to follow this tutorial, you can change it to match it.

  • rmagee 2 months ago  | 

    If you are working with Houdini 20 or 20.5, there is a new rigging workflow - I am working on updating the lesson to include that - no timeline for release but I would suggest waiting and exploring other Houdini 20.5 lessons in the meantime. Also check out the Content Library examples. In the new workflow digital assets will not be required to set up and share the rig.

    • AimSouthSideFX 1 month, 4 weeks ago  | 

      Love you, man... We're waiting for your new rigging tutorials!

  • toonafish 1 month, 3 weeks ago  | 

    Thanks for the nice tuts.

    Been trying to wrap my head around KineFX / Apex rigging and so far nothing but crashes, bugs, Python errors and frustration.

    Try using the Joint Capture Paint Spreadsheet and adjust the weights of some selected points, it will crash Houdini to the desktop every time in 20.0 + 20.5. And when it doesn't the auto normalizing of the weights is completely broken. Looks like its limited to only manually painting the weights, all other roads seem to be a dead end.

    Does anyone know how to refresh the Joint Capture Biharmonic manually ? Because when I add or remove some geo from the Rest Geometry, the rig often breaks.

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