Hazoc Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 I was wondering how Houdini users are doing in their everyday job ? Do you enjoy your work ? Do you find it educating, inspiring and fun ? I've only got experience from small productions and I'm constantly thinking what it would be like to be a part of a Houdini team in some big house and big productions. Albeit small houses have a huge interest on Houdini, the biggest problem in small productions is that often you're the only Houdini user and therefore lots of problems are solely yours to solve. Getting data bridges to other parts of the pipeline operate properly is a huge task alongside all the other production realted stuff you're supposed to get done in time. On top of this you have one crappy work station to do heavy effects with. This has kinda given me a fear of small houses:D I'm currently unemployed and thinking should I keep moving towards the VFX industry or go back to realtime/game stuff I originted from. That's why I'd like to know, how you Houdniks are seeing you're job ? Just write anything that pops into your mind:) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_K Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 (edited) Hey Hazoc, I'm at a small-ish studio with 5 Houdini users in the VFX department and I have to say, I really love doing what I do. A really big part of that is using Houdini - it makes every day interesting and a challenge, and there's no task that I feel is impossible with Houdini. We have some nice pipeline tools - like getting data from XSI into Houdini and shot management tools, and it helps that we have an ace coder writing these for us. We do a lot of commercials with tight deadlines, and many unique problems to solve, and I can't imagine how we'd get it all done without Houdini. Our workstations are decent even though they are getting a bit old, with lots of ram and good graphics cards, and it helps that we have 2 guys in our IT department to keep them humming along. Our render farm makes a huge difference, with about 80 procs at present, and it's managed through Rush which is a rock-solid render manager. I guess if you can find a place in a reasonably sized studio, with a decent pipeline, then no matter what app you choose your daily work can be rewarding and fulfilling. But, add Houdini to the mix and it can also become a pleasure! Hope that helps, Matt. Edited April 4, 2011 by Matt_K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hazoc Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 Thanks for the reply Matt:) You're living the dream. Nice houdini team to share wisdom and solve problems with. And an ace coder supporting the projects. Now don't tell me it's also always warm and sunny there, and beer is cold and cheap:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopbin9 Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 It's horrible. My boss is an ass. He makes me work long hours, often on Fridays and weekends. He doesn't pay me overtime, and keeps accepting projects we shouldn't really be attempting. We have a render farm but it's never big enough for the project we're working. He keeps saying he's going to hire more help but never does, and he keeps leaving at odd hours to drive his wife and kids somewhere. Oh wait, I'm self employed! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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