Is there a way to add thickness to a geometry in Houdini?

[magneto]

Something like Max's Shell Modifier:

Is there a SOP for this or another way to do this in Houdini?

[ehsan parizi]

I don't know MAX's Shell Modifier, but try Poly Extrude SOP

Edited November 16, 2011 by ehsan parizi

[magneto]

I don't know MAX's Shell Modifier, but try Poly Extrude SOP

Thanks Ehsan, I will try it at home. Normally for apps that don't have this feature though the extrude never works because of intersecting geometry and other issues, and the ability to thicken the inner and outer, etc.

[3dbeing]

The great thing about houdini is that if a tool doesn't work like you want it too, you can just build one that does...

[magneto]

The great thing about houdini is that if a tool doesn't work like you want it too, you can just build one that does...

Yeah that's why I love it But didn't want to do this if there is an OP that does this already, etc.

[Leon Amion]

If I understand you correctly the downside of using extrude is that if the faces transforms along the normals the distance between two faces becomes either too small or big and they will eventually intersect? And what you want is to preserve the shape so even if the "shell" is inwards or outwards the shape remains intact? I think you can get by using ehsan parizi suggestion but instead of using the regular transform handle for offsetting the faces go in to the "Global" tab in the PolyExtrudeSOP and tweak the "Scale" parameter.

Edited November 17, 2011 by SoulVector

[magneto]

If I understand you correctly the downside of using extrude is that if the faces transforms along the normals the distance between two faces becomes either too small or big and they will eventually intersect? And what you want is to preserve the shape so even if the "shell" is inwards or outwards the shape remains intact? I think you can get by using ehsan parizi suggestion but instead of using the regular transform handle for offsetting the faces go in to the "Global" tab in the PolyExtrudeSOP and tweak the "Scale" parameter.

Yeah, here you can see the normal extrude distorts the corners:

I will try what you suggested now.

Edited November 17, 2011 by magneto

[magneto]

The Global Scale seems to fix the distortion. This might actually work. Thanks for this trick

[edward]

I think that you probably have to adjust the settings depending on your geometry. It works for the few simple cases I tried. In my case, adjusting the Keep Shared Points option did the trick.

polyExtrudeShell.hipnc

[magneto]

I think that you probably have to adjust the settings depending on your geometry. It works for the few simple cases I tried. In my case, adjusting the Keep Shared Points option did the trick.

Actually I realized the Global Scale doesn't work on things like a grid.

Thanks Edward, your sample is pretty good. I think you are right, it doesn't seem like one setting would work for any geometry. Maybe an opportunity to make a DA

[Leon Amion]

What would be the end result of having the "Shell modifier" and will it solve every situation? I don't have Max and it would be interesting to see a couple of examples output.

[dangerweenie]

Have you been able to emulate Max's "Shell Modifier" successfully using the existing parameters in the Extrude and PolyExtrude SOP?

[magneto]

What would be the end result of having the "Shell modifier" and will it solve every situation? I don't have Max and it would be interesting to see a couple of examples output.

I posted one example in the first post but I should post more, though I found out Max's shell modifier still have some artifacts in certain cases so it's not perfect.

Have you been able to emulate Max's "Shell Modifier" successfully using the existing parameters in the Extrude and PolyExtrude SOP?

I tried a few using the existing nodes but just like Edward said, it doesn't work for every geometry. So have to adjust case by case. I think implementing one maybe like in blender could be interesting:

http://www.blender.org/development/release-logs/blender-256-beta/solidify-modifier/

[SirClarks]

The Thicken SOP, from Labs is great for this, in case anyone stumbles onto this old thread, especially since it the second google result (for me at least) when searching "houdini thickness". if you don't have labs installed you really should there are some neat tools in there that are super useful outside of gamedev.