If you’ve ever watched your pyro sim clip through a collider and thought, “Physics has left the chat,” this update is for you.
Headline Features
The big one is collisions: animated colliders and narrow geometry now hold up better, with smoke and fire retaining density and velocity instead of evaporating into numerical limbo. On top of that, the sourcing workflow has been redesigned, so setting up emitters feels less like solving a puzzle box and more like… well, just setting up emitters. The interface has also gone through a detox. Parameters are now sorted into sensible tabs, with advanced options politely tucked away, which means less scrolling and more simming. Performance has had a small but noticeable bump too, with simulations running between 5 and 15 percent faster depending on scene complexity. On the CPU side, fallback multithreading now relies on Intel TBB, giving more stability when GPU memory runs dry. And yes, it’s time to check your Houdini version: Axiom 4 supports Houdini 20.0, 20.5, and 21.0, with 19.x officially stamped “legacy,” which is dev-speak for “upgrade already.”
What It Means for Artists
The gist is simple: smoke looks better when it interacts with geometry, simulations tick along faster, and you’ll spend less time digging for hidden parameters. For artists cranking out pyro in production, Axiom 4 is less about flashy new features and more about shaving off headaches per day.
Pricing
Nothing has changed here. The commercial license stays at $199, the indie license at $99, and if you’re running Houdini Apprentice you can keep setting digital buildings on fire for free.
Outlook
Axiom 4 isn’t about reinventing the solver wheel but about refinement. With sturdier collisions, smoother sourcing, and faster turnaround, this release makes it easier to trust that your smoke won’t ghost through a wall. For production artists, that’s often the only feature that really matters.
