Archive notice: This article was originally published on 28 November 2019. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
A few weeks after the launch event, the time has come: SideFX has released Houdini 18. Among other things, the latest version of the DCC tool integrates USD in the new Solaris LOPs context and offers new destruction FX as well as Pyro, FLIP fluid and modelling features. Production Build 18.0.287 can be downloaded here now for Mac, Windows and Linux. These are the feature highlights:
Houdini 18 Feature Highlights
Solaris: LOPs Context for USD
Houdini’s new framework “Solaris” for creating and editing USD combines look-dev, layout and lighting. The new features include a new network type (LOPs), new layout and lighting tools, an improved Scene Viewer and a new renderer, Karma (beta), which renders USD files natively. You can find an overview of all Solaris features in the documentation and on the SideFX website.
RBD Destruction
Houdini 18 also offers improvements to destruction workflows with Guided Destruction, improved Chipping, destruction in SOPs and custom Fracturing to provide more art-direction options. More here.
Pyro, FLIP Fluids and Vellum
The entire Pyro FX pipeline is now available in SOPs. For Pyro simulations, a new Sparse Solver can now be used to restrict simulation calculations to the active area. With new adaptive FLIP fluids, simulation details can be reduced to relevant areas of the surface. In extreme cases, render times can thereby be reduced by 50%, as SideFX shows in this example. Vellum has also received several updates, including improvements for resolution, collisions, constraints and more.
New Modelling Features
Houdini 18 contains not only improvements to existing functions but also several new tools for interactive and procedural modelling. The changes include the Bend Tool with new viewport handles, new Local-Space Editing for primitives, a new Fuse SOP in the Point Weld Tool, more realistic results with Heightfield Terrace 2.0, as well as Poly Bevel SOP improvements for interactive polygon modelling and more. Points, edges and faces can now also be moved with sliding options in interactive tools such as Edit. You can examine all the new tools here in detail.
Further Changes
Alongside the named features, Houdini 18 also brings several improvements to the viewport and interface, including a new Paint tool as well as 2D pans and zooms from 3D cameras. For all administrators and TDs who want to move their pipeline to Python 3 in accordance with the VFX Reference Platform, an initial test build is now available for Houdini 18 (select “Houdini Python 3” in the tab. But be careful: according to SideFX, it is not production ready!).
- SideFX Labs for Houdini 18 now includes more than 150 tools intended to make everyday tasks easier. Download
- PDG and TOPs with USD Solaris, Shotgun asset-management support and more
- Soft Bodies with a new, more realistic model for the FEM Solver.
- Characters and Crowds includes blendshapes for agents, USD skeleton export, procedural clips and further additions
Further information: SideFX website
