Tutorials Poll

[Marc]

Hey all

Obviously there's a need for more tutorials out there in the world. With that being said though, what's vexing you the most at the moment (no pun intended ). This poll is really intended more for the beginner or intermediate user, however feel free to respond no matter what level you're at.

Also please reply and give some details to your answer so that if there are spcific areas that keep cropping up then we can focus on those.

Thanks

Marc

P.S. Anyone coming from another software. If you have any examples of well done tutorials from other packages that you would like to see us handle from a Houdini standpoint, then let us know too.

[andrewlowell]

I chose advanced DOPs stuff because I know this stuff is probably working very well in the R&D stage. I just don't have enough info on things like fluids, and object interaction to get anything to work without tons of my own R&D most of the time. So, I don't need shelf tools, I need solid workflow and usage guidelines.

Basically, something equivalent to the gnomon DVD for non-RBD's

[rdg]

I chose intermediate "Shading/Rendering" because it's the closest match to lighting.

I must admit that this is one of my weak points - which I in max I tried to cover using vray or other low-click-count-brute-force-approaches.

Following posts on the mailing list and in the sesi forum I often even don't understand what people are referring to if they talk about "hidden aperture geometry stuff like lighting HDA templates with barn doors".

Georg

Edited February 19, 2008 by rdg

[jason_slab]

hey

i voted for DOPS and character advanced!

for character i'm more interesd in secondary motion (muscles, jiggle, skin sliding) and hair/fur.

js

[whalerider]

I too give priority to shading/rendering and lighting (don't know if it should fall under S/R).

[primzahl]

I voted for modelling and beginner. I'm new to the world of 3D, working over 10 years with AutoCAD and now ACAD MEP is getting very boring. I guess to learn model is the first thing I should do, before I go one to create amazing, geile und abgefahrene 3D Images or Videos.

[cellchuk]

My vote is for Advanced DOPs (Fluids)....

[JDenker]

i voted for rendering. i'm coming from mental ray (maya, XSI) and im pretty amazed by mantra's capabilities so i want to learn more. also its pretty close to lighting which is very important to me.

cheers

Edited February 19, 2008 by JDenker

[symek]

Interesting enough the most votes are for advanced stuff. This makes me happy. I voted for DOPs, Character and Shading/Rendering.

BTW Do you think compositing tutorials are really on demand? I could prepare some but I have no clue what makes people trouble. Actually compositing in node based application is quite straightforward. Specially if it never does come to tracking, keying, rotoscoping

sy.

Edited February 19, 2008 by SYmek

[Marc]

I'm intrigued by the number of advanced tutorial requests too. I wonder if that's because we're not getting any newcomers voting, or that there's enough beginner stuff out there that everyone feels like it's enough to get them moving past the initial learning curve.

Looks like there's a clear winner so far though. Out of the current 29 votes, 21 of you voted for shading/rendering (or lighting ) tutorials.

M

[zasid]

I'm intrigued by the number of advanced tutorial requests too. I wonder if that's because we're not getting any newcomers voting, or that there's enough beginner stuff out there that everyone feels like it's enough to get them moving past the initial learning curve.

Looks like there's a clear winner so far though. Out of the current 29 votes, 21 of you voted for shading/rendering (or lighting ) tutorials.

M

Hello Mark after reading you post.I think I would be more interested in Basic Vex builder shader and In Rendering would be PBR related tutorial. Thank you for supporting the community !!

[andrewlowell]

I'm intrigued by the number of advanced tutorial requests too. I wonder if that's because we're not getting any newcomers voting, or that there's enough beginner stuff out there that everyone feels like it's enough to get them moving past the initial learning curve.

Looks like there's a clear winner so far though. Out of the current 29 votes, 21 of you voted for shading/rendering (or lighting ) tutorials.

M

I would suspect that as in all surveys, the people who "do" respond have a lot more to do with the results than the people that "could" respond. Same as in fashion magazines etc where you get statistics like "most teenagers enter rehab before they get their drivers license" etc. I'm guessing mostly intermediate and advanced user frequent odd-force daily; and the people that actually know what they want to see more of, have probably gone through most of the available resources already, or at the very least worked with other apps before.

Still, it's good to know what there is a professional demand for! I would see these results as clear indicators as to where Houdini is growing in professional pipelines.

Edited February 20, 2008 by andrewlowell

[Marc]

Yeah I thought of that too.

Well if you're reading this and you're a guest with an interest in Houdini tutorials, we encourage you to register and vote. It will make life better for us all .

M

[Netvudu]

I consider myself a relatively beginner as I

[Vormav]

Add one more to DOPs. There's tons of new features that could use some more love.

What has begun to bug me a bit lately is that many of the DOPs tutorials in the docs now consist of instructions to the tune of "hit these buttons in the shelf in this order." And although I'm sure that's great for beginners - which I'm not - it sure is annoying when you're trying to dig into the node networks. If tutorials start having too strong a focus on the shelf-oriented workflow, what do the new guys do when the magic shelf buttons don't work as expected?

Edited February 20, 2008 by Vormav

[andrewlowell]

Add one more to DOPs. There's tons of new features that could use some more love.

What has begun to bug me a bit lately is that many of the DOPs tutorials in the docs now consist of instructions to the tune of "hit these buttons in the shelf in this order." And although I'm sure that's great for beginners - which I'm not - it sure is annoying when you're trying to dig into the node networks. If tutorials start having too strong a focus on the shelf-oriented workflow, what do the new guys do when the magic shelf buttons don't work as expected?

I couldn't agree more ... I HATE THE SHELF! .. there, I said it.

I've never liked Maya, I switched from Maya to Max before I got into Houdini, and I don't like Maya features popping up in Houdini. Maybe it's just my unfamiliarity with the self, but I already prefer to put python code on DA's that have ... a UI ... and are easily versioned and ported .. instead of depending on the shelf for those non-DA tasks.

I think it's even worse from an education standpoint, because to me the rampant use of the shelf really robs beginners of Hoduini's node-based, network context-based, and expression based workflow. The word in 3D education for using buttons in place of theory is "buttonology."

Before I get flamed, please understand this is just my opinion.

[Marc]

... or maybe big production houses using Houdini, all have their own volumetric (and sprite shaders) stuff, but it happens.

In my experience this is almost certainly the case. However having some volume shading tutorials would definitely help.

What has begun to bug me a bit lately is that many of the DOPs tutorials in the docs now consist of instructions to the tune of "hit these buttons in the shelf in this order." And although I'm sure that's great for beginners - which I'm not - it sure is annoying when you're trying to dig into the node networks. If tutorials start having too strong a focus on the shelf-oriented workflow, what do the new guys do when the magic shelf buttons don't work as expected?

I think that's the intended goal. You follow the 'hit this button' tutorial until you familiarize yourself with the layout/workflow of the particular thing you're doing and then you attempt to branch out on your own. But sure, the tutorials you're referring to are probably 'beginner' level, whereas an intermediate or advanced tutorial would be a far different beast.

Keep em coming.

M

[Leon Amion]

I voted Shading/Rendering and Advanced. It would be nice to see some juicy in-depth Mantra stuff.

[eetu]

Rendering and rbd fluids, advanced.

If someone's taking suggestions: advecting the rest position along with a volume and rendering the volume using that.. Seems to be a current topic

eetu.

[Matt_K]

I would love to see more advanced shading / rendering tuts.

I have been really blown away by the quality and features of Mantra - I'd love to learn to leverage it properly!

Some real-world examples of setting up a scene with texturing / lighting /rendering would be a real help.

Also some more production hints & tips in the vein of Craig Zerouni's 'Houdini on the spot' would be awesome.

I find the basics in Houdini are actually pretty easy to come to terms with - it's bringing it all together in a meaningful way that I'm currently getting to grips with.

Working in XSI is like second nature to me, and I'd love to get to that point in Houdini!

Matt.

Edited February 22, 2008 by Matt_K