michael Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 wow... right after a 4 page review of max there is a two Page 'review' of Houdini 10...that is, essentially, an overview of some of the features... then the verdict: Features : 8/10 Ease of Use : 7/10 Quality of Results : 9/10 Value for Money : 4/10 Final Score : 7/10 ( 3D World regularly give 9/10) in Issue #4 > LINK TO SITE it's pretty clear that the unidentified person who wrote this has never used the software, or talked to anyone about it... a shame...Houdini has it's issues, like all software, but this is just stupid...what's the point of theis review? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bhaveshpandey Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 (edited) haha.. but this is just stupid...what's the point of theis review? agreed! I guess people undermining Houdini are actually intimidated by the fact that they are hardly capable of Logical thinking. Maya, Max etc can also be handled with conditional learning (just learn which button is for what blah blah blah) but Houdini has a totally different wavelength..( this results in poor Resonance) hehe PS: not that I'm Houdini Guru of sorts(started pretty recently)..but thats just a personal opinion. Edited July 29, 2009 by bhaveshpandey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaJuice Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 "Reviews" for 3d packages are a silly idea in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 I'm intrigued though.. what were the Max scores? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LEO-oo- Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 @Michael it's pretty clear that the unidentified person who wrote this has never used the software, or talked to anyone about it... It seems you are right! A reason for all the editors: Have an author who knows the specific package (better if the author works with a few packages) and let him write. The editor have to check the text and cross-check the facts. @DaJuice "Reviews" for 3d packages are a silly idea in general. You are right. We have test-sheets for all kind of reviews - one day the editor in chief came and requested a sheet for 3d-applications. I had a hard time to explain: It is not possible to have one sheet for all the 3d-applications Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnus Pettersson Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Value for Money : 4/10 Haha that's just plain ridiculous, did they miss the fact you can learn and use the FULL version off Houdini for FREE? i dont know what max has for learning (if they even have a learning version?) , maya got their PLE but thats stripped of features.. and right now with the 50% off for master license + annual upgrade plan it should land on something like 34/10 if i do the math correctly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pclaes Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 If you add the cost of plug-ins to do specific tasks in max (afterburn, thinking particles, fumefx, krakatoa, realflow, extra rendertokens) - you will end up with the same price tag if not higher and a much less integrated solution. On top of that some of these plug-ins are black boxes with little extra control besides the parameters provided, they are nowhere near as accessible as Houdini's open architecture. Considering the level of control of all of this I would have given houdini a Value for money around 7-8/10. Because yes, for smaller studios it is objectively more expensive to have one Houdini license instead of a maya or max license - it is probably also more expensive for smaller studios to hire (& find one first) a skilled houdini artist that can make great stuff instead of finding a cheaper maya artist that can make good stuff. If good is "good enough" then the time & financial investment for houdini does make less sense. The reviewer seems to be closer related to smaller shops - so from that point of view he might have a point. However most studios want to grow bigger and make higher quality stuff, so sooner or later they will need to make great stuff, need a lot of precise control and be able to make changes fast, perhaps when a studio has matured to that point the investment for houdini seems right and they probably have more funding to afford it. Just a shame that the studio across the street that made the initial investment in houdini now already has their pipeline completely set up and does not need to retrain artists to learn houdini. Location is still crucial to all of this as you need to houdini talent pool to draw from, but a Cg supervisor can also have a lot of influence of where things are going and with what software. Proliferation is required, not just through marketing discounts, but through consulting done by senior houdini artists. The tutorials/masterclasses are doing a great job at this but might not help studios that have really specific needs. I really believe the price for Houdini is right, the 50% off is a nice bonus incentive to get studios started with Houdini and making that initial investment more appealing (smart marketing move!), but the real investment is the time investment to train artists and of course the annual upgrade plans once a studio is hooked. The money that is payed for houdini goes to development and support which can have direct impact on problems during productions on a day to day level. I wonder if that reviewer took some of the results from that survey about customer satisfaction into account at all - there must be a reason why houdini artists are overall quite happy with the way sesi is handling things. Reviews for 3d packages might be silly, but I personally still like to read them more as summaries of "new features" lists. Those reviews (if done well with proper argumentation) can help studios decide which software is "good enough" for their needs & budget. I doubt that review will really have an impact on any serious decisions to go with Houdini or not, for that money and time investment you would "shop around" and read several reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Netvudu Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 I loved the "quality of results" score field....of course, that depends entirely on the software, not on the artist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Kirby Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Houdini did better in a broader poll of "upgrades value for money" Houdini was number 2 behind blender. CGenie poll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nico D. Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 I would love to see who is paying more $$$ in advertising inside the magazine ? Autodesk ? There is the answer why the review in that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafal123 Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 how they tested it? made some underground 3D production? I mean all those test are fakes, make for money man heh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 who reads 3d world mag anyway ? r Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnus Pettersson Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 who reads 3d world mag anyway ? r it wasnt 3d world it was 3d Artist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edward Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 3D World (issue 118), on the other had Jacob Clark do a Houdini review that gave it 8/10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abvfx Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Respectable score. (Jacob's Review) But as for "3D Artist", guess you cant get too hung up on it. Sometimes reviews say more about the reviewers than the subject. One example is i just did an upcoming episode for cgRoundup, (but it wasn't planned as one) we were talking about the current state of Houdini and where we think its gonna go, where do we want it to go, features to focus on, features to leave as is, what we like what we don't like etc. and although we didnt plan for it to be an episode, listening back to it there are a few areas i know where im punching above my weight. But that point very clear. But reviews are still helpful if not to critique but to discuss and inform people about certain issues and new features. The score at the end of any review is the part i take with a pinch of salt. (even if its a 10 across the board) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 (edited) I think there's a medical condition that explains my lacking of being able to read Edited July 30, 2009 by rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EzequielM Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 who reads 3d world mag anyway ? r touchè Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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