Recording the learning process of the Houdini course series, including software fundamentals, procedural modeling, VFX creation, and node-based workflows. Organizing notes, practicing with case studies, and summarizing key techniques and insights to enhance understanding and application of Houdini.
02-03-2025
Grassroots Procedural Modeling
Create a grid and scatter some points on it. Use the N attribute to control the orientation of the lines copied to the points.
Create two attributes:
- pscale (a float attribute)
- benddir (a vector attribute)
Create a sphere and add animation. Set up object collisions to interact with the grass, simulating the effect of grass being flattened, with natural bending and elastic recovery.
The sphere’s position should not be too low—slightly above the grid. Its size should not be too large to avoid errors during collision calculations.
Use polywire to convert the spline into polygons. Extract pscale from curveu, then invert the curveu values by subtracting them from 1. Finally, apply the modified pscale to polywire.
Rain object collision
In Houdini, use the pop network to create a particle system that simulates raindrops. Set attributes like particle speed, size, and lifespan to ensure the raindrops fall naturally. Adjust gravity, wind, and other physical parameters to optimize the raindrop motion. Import a static mesh and enable the pop collision node to make the raindrops collide realistically with the mesh. By tweaking bounce, stick, or slide collision behaviors, ensure the interaction between the raindrops and the surface follows real-world physics, enhancing the overall realism and detail of the effect.
Vine Procedural Modeling
Issue log: While entering code, I encountered a problem where the Attribute Wrangle didn’t work. After thorough checking, I found that it was due to issues with the capitalization of attributes. Therefore, it’s important to note that if the Wrangle node doesn’t show any errors, you should check for attribute and spelling issues.