Instant Meshes Bridge

Instant Meshes is an open source Quad Remesher that works incredibly well.
In this video we cover a way to call Instant Meshes from inside Houdini and use it on a normal workflow. 
You will need to download the Instant Meshes executable and place it in your houdini16.0 directory, or select a custom path as shown in the video. 

Feel free to leave your opinion in the comments! 



Houdini 16.5 Update

Few updates to the Instant Meshes SOP to expose more control.

You can download the HDA from the Games Tools Github Page along with the rest of the Game Development Toolset

SIDEFX GITHUB

COMMENTS

  • copernicusmuffin 7 years, 2 months ago  | 

    definitely helpful. thank you!

  • Vasilis Triantafyllou 7 years, 2 months ago  | 

    This looks like a great way to auto retopologizing, is there a way to make it work on MACOSX ?
    Many Thanks

  • akvahouse 7 years, 1 month ago  | 

    Hi, unfortunately, this tool makes holes in geometry, maybe need add more options besides desired vertex count?

  • limbicnation 7 years ago  | 

    Thanks! Good Tool!
    However, does it have issue with AMD Ryzen TR processor?
    Meshes intersecting.

  • albehany 6 years, 7 months ago  | 

    , how can i point the sop_instant_meshes to the app if the app in the application folder. in mac OS X system. check the image. thank you

  • DASD 6 years, 2 months ago  | 

    The executable version indeed has far more features than the node version. One thing I could imagine doing would be to mark a few points on the high-res geo, turn those into curves (via shortest path), possibly smooth it out a bit and use the result to guide the orientation field. I suppose this could be automated with an array (multiparm) of group inputs.

    I am not sure the software has this feature, but it should have a way to paint/mark areas where you want more or less detail.

  • Simonv 5 years, 11 months ago  | 

    Ya it would be nice to be able to localize detail somehow.

  • 62665_M 5 years, 9 months ago  | 

    I don't known how to install

    houdini_user_pref_dir
    where is the location in windows
    can u pls help me

    • MrBrad 5 years, 6 months ago  | 

      C:\Users\<name>\Documents\houdini17.5

      just drop exe in there

      • chanson78 5 years, 4 months ago  | 

        Just downloaded this but there is no .exe file in the folder. I have a folder called instant-meshes-master but no .exe anzwhere in it.

        • madforce95 5 years, 4 months ago  | 

          You have to scroll down to Pre-compiled binaries in the github page. You will have Microsoft Windows and other operating systems listed there. this will give you the exe

  • HaagNDaaz 5 years, 4 months ago  | 

    Will the option to paint curves to the mesh to drive toppology ever be added to this?

  • courtneyjenkinson 5 years, 4 months ago  | 

    For those having trouble with installation, I’d encourage you to visit their Game Development Toolset Overview page

    That being said, since the instructions on how to implement this into Houdini is… hilariously vague on this page:

    1) Follow the download link

    2) Scroll down to ‘Pre-compiled binaries’ section
    -Note. Don’t download/clone from the github repository (that shiny green button)

    3) Download the binary applicable to your OS linked (under the 'Pre-compiled binaries' section)

    4) Extract the file
    -You will get an .exe
    -You can run a standalone with this .exe

    5) Place the file in <C:\Users\<name>\Documents\ Houdini[version number]>
    -Or whatever OS equivalent
    -You’d think it would be placed in <Program Files/Side Effect Software/Houdini[version number]>, this is not the case

    6) Launch Houdini

    7) In the Shelf, set your UI present to ‘Games’
    -Located to the right of the ‘Help’ dropdown

    8) Open ‘Game Development Toolset’ tab

    9) Open ‘Update Toolset’

    10) Choose ‘Update’ and restart Houdini

    You can now access GameDev Instant Mesh node within your geometry. Hurray.

    • peppy 5 years ago  | 

      thx!

    • yh920344 4 years, 4 months ago  | 

      Hello, after I click "update" during installation, Houdini has been in an unresponsive state. How can I solve this situation

    • yh920344 4 years, 4 months ago  | 

      Traceback (most recent call last):
      File "update_toolset", line 119, in on_updatebtn_press
      File "update_toolset", line 295, in on_dialog_close
      File "update_toolset", line 217, in download_url
      ValueError: Unable to download the package file :https://github.com/sideeffects/GameDevelopmentToolset/releases/download/1.220/SideFX_GameDevToolset_Houdini17.5_1.220.zip

  • XTT 5 years, 3 months ago  | 

    When can I support the direction of my own control wiring? Now there is almost no adjustability. In some cases, the calculated line direction is not very satisfactory. Thank you.

  • cushwa 5 years, 1 month ago  | 

    This is a very important functionality to have inside of Houdini. For modern modeling workflows this kind of retopolgy is essential. This seems to be a bare bones implementation of this kind of retopology tool. I think that at a minimum that Instant Mesh node needs to respect groups in Houdini. This would go a long way to being able to control edge flow of the retopologized mesh. Respecting Groups would be a much better way of controlling the surface than drawing curves! I have spend many hours in Zbrush working with the zremesher and I can honestly say that using polygroups is WAY better than drawing curves on the surface. I would love to see a full functioned and robust retopology tool in Houdini that would compete with zremesher. I would stay in Houdini much longer for modeling if such a tool existed. This is a fabulous start but is just scratching the surface of what is needed. IMHO

  • yanndrevon 5 years ago  | 

    Hi guys I am working in Linux, I could update my gamedevtoolset and have access to the IM node. But when created I have an error. "There were errors while matching the new node to its definition". Then when I press show details : "Error: Bad node type found: instant_meshes in /obj/geo1/sop_instant_meshes1.
    Warning: Unknown channel(s) "v_count, cr_angle, num_smooth_iter, traceLines, deterministic_parm" converted to spare parameter(s).
    [/obj/geo1/sop_instant_meshes1/instant_meshes]"

    I did dowload instan meshes from the gitub source and copy and paste it in the home/userName/houdini17.5 folder but nothing happened.
    I tried to move it to several other places but could solve the issue.

    Any suggestions ?

    Thank you

    • lkruel 5 years ago  | 

      The new version of the instant meshes node v2.0 is not currently supported on Linux.

      • pacrobots 4 years, 11 months ago  | 

        Hi,
        I have the same error on the Mac. Updating to the 307 branch (i.e., non-production) didn't help.

        Error: Bad node type found: labs::instant_meshes_core in /obj/geo1/instant_meshes1.
        Warning: Unknown channel(s) "v_count, cr_angle, num_smooth_iter, traceLines, deterministic_parm" converted to spare parameter(s).
        [/obj/geo1/instant_meshes1/instant_meshes_core1]

        • lkruel 4 years, 11 months ago  | 

          Hey there. Unfortunately Mac isnt supported yet. We've added support for Linux, Mac is next

          • hoang_anh_ 4 years, 9 months ago  | 

            Hi, I'm using Windows 10 and it still show this error everytime I try to use this node.
            Houdini 18.0.348 ( Indie Version )
            Error: Bad node type found: labs::instant_meshes_core in /obj/geo1/instant_meshes3.
            Warning: Unknown channel(s) "v_count, cr_angle, num_smooth_iter, traceLines, deterministic_parm" converted to spare parameter(s).
            [/obj/geo1/instant_meshes3/instant_meshes_core1]

          • rdurnin 2 years, 7 months ago  | 

            Hey @Ikruel, and has there been any update to this?

            r

  • Punkt 4 years, 11 months ago  | 

    I've just downloaded the new SideFxLabs utility for H18 but the "instant_Meshes" Node seems dosen't work. Any suggestions ?

    Thank you

    Paolo

  • kevinthebright 4 years, 10 months ago  | 

    As Labs gets more fragmented across OS'es, would be great to have OS icons at the top of the help page, similar to the social networks icons. I'm on a Mac and it would be an easy way to check if there's Mac version of Substance, Instant Bridges, etc yet. Thanks, loving the work you guys do.

    • lkruel 4 years, 9 months ago  | 

      Good suggestion. We'll look into what we can do.

  • Guillaume Werlé 4 years, 9 months ago  | 

    Hi Luiz,
    For info I have the same error message with H18 on windows.
    It looks like it's broken on every platforms.

    • Guillaume Werlé 4 years, 9 months ago  | 

      Error: Bad node type found: labs::instant_meshes_core in /obj/geo1/instant_meshes1.
      Warning: Unknown channel(s) "v_count, cr_angle, num_smooth_iter, traceLines, deterministic_parm" converted to spare parameter(s).
      [/obj/geo1/instant_meshes1/instant_meshes_core1]

      • lkruel 4 years, 9 months ago  | 

        What version of Labs are you running? Can you try the latest daily build?

  • hoang_anh_ 4 years, 8 months ago  | 

    Error: Bad node type found: labs::instant_meshes_core in /obj/geo1/instant_meshes3.
    Warning: Unknown channel(s) "v_count, cr_angle, num_smooth_iter, traceLines, deterministic_parm" converted to spare parameter(s).
    [/obj/geo1/instant_meshes3/instant_meshes_core1]

    I'm using Houdini Indie 18.0.348 and the build of SideFX Lab is 401. Still got this error message when dropping out instant meshes node.

  • Edrobin82 4 years, 7 months ago  | 

    I tried with Windows (Hou 18.0.348 // SideLabs 348) and it works. Tried with iMac (Hou 18.0.348 // SideLabs 391 & 425) and it doesn't. As the iMac version unlocks auto the asset, tried to figure out what is happening and apparently is something related with the parameters: they are marked as toggle but it doesn´t look like a toggle... looks like there is something wrong with the 2 of them (output flowlines and deterministic) and Hou re-parametrize them.

  • monikahedman 4 years, 6 months ago  | 

    I am having the same error as all of the above comments. Any updates on this?

  • ShadowFireSage 4 years, 6 months ago  | 

    Houdini 18 labs 468 Error: Not Enough Sources Specified. I have had instant meshes since before i got houdini, i was using with blender. There is no place to specify location of exe like shown in video. If i attach any geometry to the node Houdini crashes

  • Thomas M 4 years, 6 months ago  | 

    I tried to make it work on macOS for a couple of months without any success I quite gave up on this, I really wish there is a quad remesher supported natively in Houdini, pardon my french.

  • mrmowgli 4 years, 4 months ago  | 

    I am also getting the error:

    Bad node type found: labs::instant_meshes_core in /obj/testgeometry_crag_object1/instant_meshes1.
    Warning: Unknown channel(s) "v_count, cr_angle, num_smooth_iter, traceLines, deterministic_parm" converted to spare parameter(s).
    [/obj/testgeometry_crag_object1/instant_meshes1/instant_meshes_core1]

  • Poliigon 4 years, 3 months ago  | 

    I am also getting this error:

    there were errors while matching the new node to it's destination.

    Error: Bad node type found: labs::instant_meshes_core in /obj/RockProcessing/instant_meshes1.
    Warning: Unknown channel(s) "v_count, cr_angle, num_smooth_iter, traceLines, deterministic_parm" converted to spare parameter(s).
    [/obj/RockProcessing/instant_meshes1/instant_meshes_core1]

    I Am using Windows 10 version 1903 build 18362.959 and Houdini Core 18.0.348

    in Houdini 18. the instant meshes node does not have a file path for the executable from instant meshes website, but I have placed it in Documents>Houdini18.0 anyways.

    Is there a solution for this problem? I need to use this node in one of my pipelines, and it is no longer working :\ has anyone found a solution?

    • lkruel 4 years, 3 months ago  | 

      That looks like some things may be out of date, can you check if you have a newish Houdini build and Labs build?

      • Poliigon 4 years, 3 months ago  | 

        Ah, Thank you Luiz. Updated Houdini to 18.0.532 and Labs version to 532. Everything is working smoothly now. Cheers for the fast reply.

  • GSO 4 years, 2 months ago  | 

    Hello, does anyone know whether the Instant Meshes integration is currently working on MacOS (18.0.566, sidefxlabs 566) and how to properly configure it?

    I dropped "Instant Meshes.app" into the Houdini preferences folder / on the SOP parameters there's no option to set the source path location.

  • rdurnin 2 years, 7 months ago  | 

    Hello,

    I have recently installed Houdini 19.0.578 and am getting the same error mentioned above (Bad node type found). Can I ask for a status update or a workaround for the issue? I would like to use the GameRes node, and have downloaded an OSX version of Instant Meshes to install.

    r

  • Pete_Matterfield 1 year, 9 months ago  | 

    Pretty sure the guide curves for this node doesn't work. Please provide a tutorial on using guide curves. Thanks!

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