Archive notice: This article was originally published on April 29, 2014. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Thanks to Maxon’s cooperation with Side Effects, the Houdini Engine plug-in gives artists direct access to Houdini Digital Assets in Cinema 4D.
The Houdini Engine for Maya has already been in testing since November 2013; it is expected to enter beta for Windows, Linux, and OS X on May 1 and then be released in mid-July. During the open-beta phase, artists do not need a Houdini Engine license, but can create assets with Houdini Apprentice for testing purposes. Once the software has been released, only assets created in the commercial version of Houdini can continue to be used, meaning a Houdini Engine license will be required from that point onward.
The Houdini Engine plug-in for Unity will remain in the testing phase for the time being. But further information on this is expected later this year once Unity version 5 has been released.
Artists who already own a Houdini or Houdini FX license can also use the Houdini Engine plug-in with their software key. A single Houdini Engine license will cost 495 US dollars per year, while a floating license will cost 795 US dollars annually. The engine is intended to be usable simultaneously in different applications, allowing floating licenses to be organized better.
For anyone who wants to create custom plug-ins for the pipeline, the Houdini Engine API and documentation have been made available to all Houdini customers. The source code for the Maya and Unity plug-ins is now also available on GitHub.
All further information about Houdini Engine for Cinema 4D and Maya is available here.
Houdini Engine Update from Go Procedural on Vimeo
