bobthebuilder Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Hello everyone. I have some years experience working as a generalist and decided to focus my career on VFX, specifically becoming an FX TD. Since Houdini is the natural tool of the trade, I have decided to learn it the best I can, plus focusing on developing my Python skills as well. But since Maya is still predominant on most pipelines, I am a bit unsure about the best way to structure my "self taught curriculum". Is it wiser to jump straight into Houdini and learn it to a proficient level or learn the dynamics/fx in Maya instead before jumping into Houdini ? As a second question or follow up of the first, if one becomes proficient in Houdini, besides mere pipeline dependency habits, is there any other reason to also dive into Maya's fx part? Will Hou allow me to become self sufficient on a project from start to end? Thank you for any advice, hope to become an active part of this community. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tar Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Cool, good choice! I can't advise in regards to Maya, but, I am noticing that there seems to be a lot of people calling themselves TD's without much apparent computer science knowledge. I would highly recommend including some on-line CS courses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandrake0 Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 to know the fx tools in Maya is surely not bad because you know Maya pretty good. but when you get a hang out how houdini works and how you can reach your targets then you try to avoid Maya fx surly. :-) everything depends on your Time frame and knowledge. the best thing is to make at least 2-3 test projects and get to know houdini try different concepts and learn VEX(VOP's) you will feel it when the time is right. :-) Older Tutorials but they give you good starts: http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=14&Itemid=132 Masterclass: http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=134&Itemid=344 also a nice post of the internal concept of houdini: http://forums.odforce.net/topic/17105-short-and-sweet-op-centric-lessons/#entry104263 i wish you good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthebuilder Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diego A Grimaldi Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 It's is a question very much related to the studio you work in, or if you do freelance, based on your client base and delivery turnaround. Learning Houdini is definitely a great choice as it is without any discussion the best tool for FX. That said, it can be a bit messy/convoluted to setup a great pipeline to go from one software to the other, not impossible, just not a smooth process, even though it's getting easier with VDB and Alembic. Diving into Maya FX would not be a bad idea either, if you are working in a maya house and need a very fast turnaround of some easy particles/cloth or whathaveyou fx you can just quickly dump it out. The more you know the better Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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