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Starting out Modelling in Houdini - Experiencing basic issues


Snappy_Darko

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Hello,

I've started to experiment with modelling in Houdini and have encountered some roadblocks almost immediately. That may have to do with my settings, but i'm not certain. I'd appreciate any tips if you have a moment

 

1) When I  Ctrl + Create object (Sphere, Box, Tube etc) it creates the geometry at object level, rather than at SOP level.  Thus i'm forced to create each new piece of geometry  by manually putting down a node, which renders pointless the shortcuts from the pop up radial menu and the Create menu tab.

 

2) When I'm trying to do a Boolean operation I cannot select the second object (using the select arrow).  Again, I have to create a node.

 

3) Boolean just won't work on my model, whcih is just a very simple bit of box modelling, here's the file https://drive.google.com/open?id=1pau6l2cnVcn3NstddBiKEbLasKjdQPjb 

 

These very simple things are very frustrating, but i am very new to Houdini so they could be straightforward oversights.

 

Help would be hugely appreciated.

Edited by Snappy_Darko
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hi,

1) this is what Create in object level / Create in context is doing (dropdown menu in the top right corner of your viewport window, right next to the question mark icon)

2) bummer. don't know, I rarely use shelf tools or viewport selecting. it's odd.

3) not sure what the end result should be but this is principally not working. first of all, your groups selection are not intersecting so it is doing nothing, as expected. also, your meshes are quite messy with some bad topology issues. not good for booleans. if I converted to vdb meshes then it works. check the attachment.

PC_response.hip

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Thank you, the create in Context was very useful andyou're right the topology wasn't good, that's definitely the reason. I'm coming from Zbrush and some things I took for granted (like the subdivisions) I'm now remembering that I have to strengthen the mesh.   Really appreciate your help here.

 

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I just bought those this morning! They look really great, can't wait to get using them.

Yes, the VDB is very similar to Zremesher or Dynamesh. Modelling feels so weird on Houdini, I kind of like it. The node string piling up on your right is pretty strange. I'm hoping with that new toolset plugin I can get some real hard surface modelling going that I could eventually get straight into UE4, Houdini plays nicely with that.  

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it may feel overwhelming looking at a ton of nodes in your scene and more complex work definitely needs some more planning than what's usual. great advantage thou is that you can go back anytime to any stage of your modeling and change things, and those changes will propagate through the network. with some practice it is a very powerful thing, offering a great deal of flexibility. although at first, this behavior can be quite infuriating... but hey, that's the same feeling like first weeks in zbrush! :)

 

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That's a nice reminder about Zbrush, it was the first 3d software I tackled. I'm more of a hobbyist and have chosen Houdini over the Autodesk packages, just seemed more interesting (though everyone keeps telling me I should learn one of them).

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the more you know the better for sure but if you're mostly hobbyist, you don't have to care much. just do what you like :) houdini is my no.1 choice too as it is most open, most innovative and seems to be the most future proof general purpose 3d software today.

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Hey Davp, just curious have you got those modelling tools?  Like i mentioned I bought them the other day and have installed them, but for whatever reason some of the tools (teh mesh tools mostly) in the package just aren't showing up in the menu box. Ive contacted the guy and he's kindly sent me an older version to use, but that doesn't work either.  It must be me as there are many happy customers commenting on his vimeo pages.  Just wondering if you've encountered any issues with it (if you indeed own them yourself)?

Edited by Snappy_Darko
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On 05.05.2018 at 1:47 PM, Snappy_Darko said:

Hey Davp, just curious have you got those modelling tools?  Like i mentioned I bought them the other day and have installed them, but for whatever reason some of the tools (teh mesh tools mostly) in the package just aren't showing up in the menu box. Ive contacted the guy and he's kindly sent me an older version to use, but that doesn't work either.  It must be me as there are many happy customers commenting on his vimeo pages.  Just wondering if you've encountered any issues with it (if you indeed own them yourself)?

 

1. Old menu - 44 tools. Can have maximum 44 tools

2. New menu - 42 tools, 48 max

So the new menu just optimized for six future DM tools and have another cells geometry (48 cells)

 

Again. Last DM update should work well with not old Houdini 16.5 build.

Edited by Alexey Vanzhula
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Hey, worked it out.  I was looking at the functionality for the old menu. Sorry for the trouble Alexey, i got confused with the old tutorials that have slightly different functionality.  I was just wondering how you programme Flatten on Horizontal and Vertical access like you have in the New Menu - I thought it came pre-programmed like that, but i think you customized it.  Thanks for all your help and support, it's an incredible plugin you've made!

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Without a video, it is easy to explain one obvious issue. If one selects the DM_menu tool and clicks on any box, (like "smooth"), the smooth node gets created and the DM_menu disappears. The parameters cannot be changed without pushing the escape key. The space key doesn't work either.

Edited by Isleofgough
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Hi Isleofgough, just curious, in the menu are you getting the option to flatten Vertical and Horizontal (H & V)? - mine doesn't display the H and V buttons like the videos do, only displays Flatten button and I have to then adjust the parameters separately (in the edit points SOP).

Edited by Snappy_Darko
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Flatten doesn't seen to do anything (in scene view). Opening up the DM menu does weird things with the mouse (changing position, making it unresponsive, etc.). For me, this slowed up modeling. The geometry library however was a bit helpful. Supposedly these issues are unique to Macs.

Edited by Isleofgough
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