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Try to play with stitch vellum_hair_to_prim_v02.hipnc

Thanks! This is very weird. I deleted my pref folder. I added only Documents\houdini21.0\config\NodeShapes where I copied the bone.json and renamed it to rect.json. Then turned off Use Custom Shapes. This is the result: It uses the default rectangle but not the shape I put there.

thanks for the setup! , I wasn't attach in it to the colliding geometry ,that was the problem, I was trying to attach it to a vellum object on the same simulation so I can have a two way interaction, is there a way to do this?.

Yes if you have custom node shapes under HOUDINI_USER_PATH/config/NodeShapes Then it will work. Make sure to turn off "Use Custom Shapes"

Constraint should do the job. vellum_hair_to_prim_v01.hipnc

How can I attach curves to the primitive location of a deforming vellum object ?.. I'v only manage to do it with point locations using the glue constraint. Maybe there is no need to do it since this should be used as hair guides at the end, but I had the doubt, just to know if it's possible. I try all contraints and non worked.

Is this still working in H21? I can't seem to find a working combination.

Anyone know why custom collections don't seem to work in the Renderpass Node? Is that a bug, am I missing something, or is this a "feature" (collections within collections)? Often in large scenes we use collections in lighting to create complex groups of prims. It would be useful to pass those into various render passes, but although they show up in some of the drop down menus once created, they don't seem to do anything. Any suggestions?

I found they had been very helpful and contributes greatly to research and study for my workflow. It allows me to quickly adjust my workflow in a hands-on way, avoid repeated mistakes, build more meaningful tools and methods, explore different frameworks, and gain clearer product definitions. I use NotebookLM to systematize my documents and notes, while employing GPT to explore frameworks and clarify scope, architecture, and pipelines. I also use Grok in a more conservative way, which I really appreciate. It helps me stay grounded and realistic by engaging with real-world data, surveys, audits, and measurements before moving into project planning. In that sense, Grok helps challenge assumptions and debate scope and definitions. Meanwhile, Claude is very useful for quietly assisting with hands-on tasks and helping produce practical tools that I can apply directly in manual workflows. I’ve also noticed some mismatches online when people discuss AI in the context of VFX and animation. Many conversations confuse generative AI (for images or video) with AI used for automation, reasoning, or workflow support. These are very different applications. In production environments, AI is often more useful for speeding up processes, reducing repeated mistakes, and helping frame the correct scope of a project. For technical and visual production, it’s important to clarify what type of AI we are actually referring to before discussing solutions. Doing so helps align both the questions and the answers, ensuring everyone is on the same page. This kind of clarity creates the constructive and energetic discussions that I always appreciate when engaging with the Houdini/Technical Art community. These things remind me of the Houdini community when I first tried to break in from scratch. There were many mysteries and untold details, sometimes things people preferred not to share, especially when there was no clear commercial benefit. Over time, I realized that sharing knowledge is actually a way for me to learn more myself. In reality, only a small number of people will truly understand these ideas and extract what is useful for their own workflows, allowing them to evolve. Meanwhile, AI is advancing rapidly, often faster than major corporations can fully realize. Because of that, I feel comfortable sharing new discoveries, while still valuing the importance of revisiting old topics, practicing fundamentals, and digging deeper into the foundations. In the end, strong fundamentals are what improve real understanding, not hype, marketing scam, or FOMO driven trends that produce flashy ideas but vanishes within weeks.

I've recently set up a full feather groom for a chicken character, I've been looking into the deform nodes - point deform, guide deform and feather deform and I'm struggling to get the feathers to follow the animated mesh. I have been following parts of https://www.andreaskj.com/creating-and-animating-a-bird-in-houdini-solaris-feather-export-hda/ as well as the eagle example on side FX but I dont quite understand the workflow as it seems to be mostly for simulating the feathers themselves on a static mesh. I'm having most trouble understanding the procedurals, with the above link he uses a HDA which has been very helpful but then mentions reimporting it back into sops animating and then importing back to LOPs, I dont quite understand this process and any insight would be super helpful! If anyone could help I would be much appreciated

i wish, more people would join this discussion just to see the houdini arists perspective on it

KUVA is looking for a Senior Houdini FX TD and a 3D Layout Artist for a 3–4 month project starting immediately. FX TD Looking for a senior Houdini artist comfortable working in production pipelines. Required: Strong particles / pyro / volumes Experience creating stylised or magical FX Solaris / USD workflow Rendering with Karma or Redshift Pipeline-friendly approach to scene organisation and optimisation Bonus: Fulldome / immersive formats Gaussian splatting / point rendering workflows Layout Artist Required: Excellent 3D camera animation Strong cinematic composition Experience preparing scenes for lighting/render Bonus: Fulldome / immersive formats Remote friendly. Please send reel + day rate + availability to: steve@kuva.io

Hey Nicholas, I have a method for creating an texture sheet using the contact sheet node. Its a bit manual at the moment but could be automated with a bit of python. I go through the whole process of getting an fx texture sheet to a game engine but the bit your looking for is at around 18mins. The next section is probably worth a look as well, I want to sanity check the texture sheet/atlas in houdini which also has a few small caveats. so probably from around 18mins to 27mins. Hope it helps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAFlnx8YVjE&t=1565s

max might be cheap method v@Cd = max(prev_col, v@Cd); vop colormix or lerp seems more correct but requires a bit different approach of mixing with masking or so

I'm using a Solver SOP to transfer colour over time from a single point to a grid: When the coloured point moves back over previous positions, the colour is additive. What method can I use to 'paint' the current point colour to the grid non additively? The issue is obviously my current vex inside the solver, because it uses additive math: vector prev_col = point(1, "Cd", @ptnum); v@Cd += prev_col; I just can't wrap my head around an alternate technique to "paint" these colours over top of itself. .hip file attached. transfer_colour.hiplc

@fencer You are too kind sir!! Thank you again. I was correct in my reasoning by creating a separate align off of the root normal. but was over complicating everything in the mix. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, this is wildly helpful!!

I really want a nice setup for this as well.

wire_align_connections_v02.hipnc

Thank you again for this reference. Wondering how I might get this alignment from both ends? I've tried a few things within the for loop, like lerping between 2 different P's, but have kind of hit a wall. Again, very greatly appreciated.

Holy Cannolli!! This is a brilliantly elegant real world solution! Much better that the 'fix it in post' hack job I was thinking. This gives me a tremendous amount to work with. Let me try and implement some of this and I may return with more questions. Thank you so very much for taking the time to build this out. Greatly appreciated!

Myabe this one. wire_align_connections.hipnc

The real world

Thank you so much! Fortunately, Houdini is not the real world, it's vector math magic. What I would like is to understand is the linear algebra behind moving a group of simulated points to align to a directional vector. I apologize if that wasn't clear from the above. Any assistance with the math involved in this would be greatly appreciated.

Think how it works in the real world. If you need to align ends with the columns, maybe it must be so initially before doing wire sim?

I also just figured out something... In Character Creator to Houdini, if you don't check "Delete Hidden Faces" it will retain the expressions properly... I've already opened a conversation to Reallusion about this, but that's the work around if you use FBX Character Import.