In nuce: At SideFX Labs you can click on two tutorials worth learning that show you how to create animations with the VAT tool.
The basics: Vertex Animation Textures 3.0 is part of the Houdini open source toolset called SideFXLabs. With Vertex Animation Textures, even complex animations can be created – in real time. The highlight: Vertex Animation Textures rely more heavily on the GPU to create animations; this significantly reduces the load on the CPU.
Availability: You can find the two tutorials from SideFX Labs here and here.
