Browsing Tag
SideFX Houdini
350 posts
Armature 2 automates character rigging
FabricatorStudio's Windows app combines local AI and geodesic skinning with manual rig tools, USD hand-off and a free indie licence.
Let’s talk to the Caddis developer.
Digital Production spoke with developer Mike Gaynor about the creation and implementation of Caddis.
Workshop: Building a Real-Time Location
A practical workshop on reconstructing real locations in Unreal Engine, using Sonagraf’s Yoyogi project to explain each production decision.
MoonRay’s First ASWF Release Adds MaterialX
MoonRay’s first ASWF release adds MaterialX map graphs, HdMoonRay integration and production-focused lighting, volume and stability work.
Volinga brings 4D Gaussian Splats to Unreal
Volinga converts animated PLY sequences into compact NVOL assets for real-time 4D Gaussian Splat playback in Unreal Engine 5.8.
RenderMan 27.3 Adds MaterialX to XPU
Pixar’s RenderMan 27.3 adds native MaterialX and initial Cryptomatte support to XPU, plus stylized-look, hair and volume updates.
Golaem opens Houdini and Unreal bridges
Autodesk has published Golaem’s Houdini and Unreal cache bridges under Apache 2.0, with procedural loading, Layout edits and no geometry bake.
SideFX Teaches KineFX in Houdini 22
SideFX’s Max Rose presents two free Houdini 22 sessions on KineFX animation, Motion Mixer, secondary motion and retargeting.
AutoRemesher Final Goes MIT
AutoRemesher reaches its final release under MIT, adding target quads, CLI operation and builds for Windows, macOS and Linux.
Hurricane puts multiphysics in Blender
Hurricane brings fluid, fabric, soft body, sand and grain simulation to Blender, with paid tiers, support and future GPU plans.
Houdini 22: How Right Were We?
Houdini 22 arrived earlier than expected and confirms nearly all our keynote findings, with two experimental features carrying caveats.
Adonis 2.1 Gives Digital Anatomy a Machine-Learning Layer
Inbibo’s Adonis 2.1 splits the digital anatomy framework into AdonisFX and AdonisML, adding machine-learning deformation, SmartTissue dynamics, topology-independent anatomy transfer and cleaner solver output for Maya and Houdini.
Real Clay and Digital Ice Cream at Uber Eck
Clay sculptures, photos, Houdini MPM and Redshift made Kayak’s Greek ice cream statues melt on cue. Real dairy was less cooperative.
Houdini Rigging: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Start Loving APEX
For anyone tired of character setups held together by hope, version notes and one dangerous checkbox, Houdini 21 promises a paradigm shift. By decoupling mesh, rig logic, animation and execution through KineFX and APEX, SideFX is taking another run at the holy grail of procedural rigging. But can it deliver a fast and intuitive workflow?
Arnold 7.5.2 Adds Gaussian Splats
Arnold 7.5.2 renders Gaussian Splats, adds relighting, NPR nodes and Flow Render tweaks. Nice, but test before splats bite.
Here comes Houdini 22
2 hours and 18 minutes. That is almost exactly the runtime of the first Matrix film, and exactly the duration of the Houdini 22 release keynote. So yes, this promises a rather chunky package of new features and improvements.
Sneeze Brings a Browser Engine to Spatial 3D
Sneeze applies the browser-engine model to spatial services, combining multi-origin 3D scenes, WASM isolation and proximity discovery.
Free Komodo Rig for Fun
Free Komodo rig for portfolio work, plus paid tiers for commercial pipelines. Big lizard, small invoice, careful license.
Houdini 22 Teaser Fuels Guesswork
Houdini 22 looks ambitious, but the teaser is maddeningly brief. Treat every feature reading as informed fan speculation, not documentation.
Lux Aeterna rebuilds ancient humans
LiDAR caves, rigged skeletons, photogrammetry casts, and millimetre checks against research. Historical VFX gets very literal.
PFTrack gets Hero Cloud
PFTrack 26.05.19 adds Hero Cloud for single shot point clouds, plus COLMAP export to Postshot and better USD point cloud export. Try it, then trust it.
MoonRay Renderer joins ASWF as hosted project
MoonRay lands at ASWF as a hosted project, keeps DreamWorks engineering support, and gets a July Open Source Days keynote slot in Los Angeles.
Simple Tree Tools 3.0 goes procedural
Simple Tree Tools 3.0 targets Houdini 20.5+ with procedural trees, scan extension nodes, and one-time licenses from free to $1,299.
PlayCanvas updates SplatTransform to 2.0
SplatTransform 2.0 brings sparse voxel grids, new GPU cleanup filters, URL inputs, and a new coplanar merge path. Less splat chaos, more control.
RISE: Fallout Destroys LA, Politely
Los Angeles gets procedurally wrecked, Area 51 gets sand-blasted, and the Caswennan gets treated like a flying film set. We play 20 Questions with RISE.
Theory Accelerated shifts Paradigm 1.0 for Houdini
Paradigm 1.0 lands for Houdini: faster GPU liquids, better emission, a Tank node for open water, and a very honest list of what is still missing.
Project Violet links Houdini and MetaHuman
SideFX drops Project Violet, a Houdini 21 tutorial series that mixes MetaHuman characters with Houdini rigging and simulation workflows.
KeenTools GeoTracker enters Houdini open beta
GeoTracker lands in Houdini as a SOP node for OBJ and Solaris, free in open beta. Geometry driven tracking, lens estimates, and quick sim colliders.
VirtuCamera 2: The Weird Byte goes Android
VirtuCamera 2 lands with Android support, refreshed UI, updated DCC plug-ins, and a Python API. Yes, your phone is still the camera now.
World Creator 2026.4 adds expressions and decals
World Creator 2026.4 brings expressions, decals, terrain normal blending, VRAM scaling, and a free Community Edition that lets you learn, not deliver.
Maxon ships Redshift 2026.5
Redshift 2026.5 spreads the night sky, grows texture displacement, flips Cinema 4D defaults to OpenPBR, and gets friendlier with Arm64.
Beeble adds CorridorKey green screen model
CorridorKey lands in Beeble Background Remover. Pick MatAnyone or CorridorKey before upload, then export RGBA or alpha for comps.
Natsura 0.6 adds effectors and Nanite export for Houdini Foliage
New growth controls, a new assembly workflow, and a long changelog full of speedups, warnings, and some very honest rough edges.
Cargo 3.0 merges two asset libraries
Cargo 3.0 folds two libraries into one app, adds smarter search, and hands you hundreds of free assets so you can start dressing scenes today.
FMX 2026 adds animation, lens talks and of course AI
New sessions span performance animation, AI workflow debates, and lens science, with cloud and software partners joining the mix. Just three weeks until FMX! Wuhu!
dy Install Libs adds Library Manager to Houdini
dy Install Libs ships Library Manager for Houdini, turning library installs into clicks instead of JSON wrangling.
FlippedNormals Marketplace closes March 31
The store stops taking orders March 31 and file access ends April 30. Download your library now, then expect a leaner reboot.
Pixel Lab drops free Blood Hit Alembic
Blood Hit is a free pre-simmed Alembic blood hit, built for drag and drop gore beats across lots of 3D apps.
AdonisFX 2.0 brings Houdini support, anisotropic muscles, and triangle-level self-collisions
AdonisFX 2.0 is a big structural release: Houdini support arrives as SOP nodes, core solvers pick up anisotropy and triangle-level self-collisions, paint maps gain non-linear remaps, and the toolset gets a practical layer of “pipeline hygiene” improvements.
MPC’s Cold Storage
MPC Paris delivered 575 shots on Cold Storage, from invisible fixes to slime, creatures and a nuclear finale. But how?
VFX School Closes and Leaves the Lights On
For those who don’t know the school: The VFX School was an online training platform focused primarily on…
The Grove 2.3
The Grove 2.3 adds direct drawing, subdivide and export improvements, Houdini Indie support and huge storage savings.
Redshift 2026.3 fixes displacement headaches
Redshift 2026.3 is a stability release focused on texture displacement, Hydra USD updates and host bug fixes.
SideFX launches central Houdini learning hub
SideFX consolidates Houdini tutorials into a structured Learning Library aimed at students and production artists.
Arnold adds lines, points and faster volumes
Arnold update adds NPR shaders and accelerates OpenVDB volumes up to five times in official tests.
Modeler 26 for Houdini released
Modeler 26 for Houdini introduces a significantly expanded PolyPen, Bezier-based deformation, curve-driven boolean operations, viewport card drawing, and a new object layer system.
Download IKEA furniture as 3D models, minus the trolley
A community script allows direct downloads of IKEA’s web 3D models, skipping the store visit and the measuring tape optimism.
GGro grows strange things in Houdini, for free
Free Houdini add-on GGro generates procedural organic growth forms via custom solvers and influence nodes.
InstaMAT Test: Painting, Procedurals and Pasta
InstaMAT merges painting, materials, and mesh editing into one node-based tool that connects Substance-style workflows with procedural control. Sounds great, so we'll get our hands dirty and test it!
Liquid Thinking: Paradigm Brings GPU Speed to Houdini
Theory Accelerated releases Paradigm, a GPU liquid solver for Houdini, now in open beta and free until February 2026.
HFF Munich seeks new mentor for 3D animation
HFF Munich is hiring a part-time 3D animation mentor for its VFX programme under Prof. Jürgen Schopper, starting 1 May 2026.
How I Spent Five Years Making a Solo 3D Film
Maxim Gehricke spent five years creating his solo 3D short film SEN. Here’s how he did it without funding, team, or sleep.
Rays Behaving Badly No More: MoonRay 2.34.0.1 Fixes the Path
MoonRay 2.34.0.1 lands with a light path visualiser, better macOS and Linux builds, smarter lightsets, and fewer crashes for your next render night.
Real-time Chaos: Vantage now inside Maya and Houdini
Chaos Vantage enters the DCC viewport. With V-Ray 7 updates, real-time feedback, volumetrics and AI materials now reach Maya and Houdini.
Checkpoint, fixed: Pixar ships RenderMan 27.1
Pixar refines RenderMan 27.1: better Lama layering, smarter checkpointing, memory savings, and fixes across Blender and Houdini bridges.
Rendering the Inferno at RiseFX: The Lost Bus
128 shots, 15 sequences, and GPUs on the brink: RISE FX’s Oliver Schulz explains how his team built the burning world of The Lost Bus.
Houdini Equinox 2025 HIVE Session Recordings Online
The session videos from Houdini Equinox 2025’s HIVE event are now live! Covering Houdini 21’s car-destruction RBD tools, CFX for creatures, ML workflows and major production case-studies.
Free “BranchK” toolkit for Houdini adds hierarchy-deformation features
The free BranchK toolkit for Houdini gives environment artists hierarchical capture and deform tools, download and test now.
Houdini 21: Like good wine (Part1, VFX & Geo)
Houdini 21 polishes the chaos: production-ready MPM, neural surfacing, smarter Pyro, and Vulkan viewport upgrades: all taste-tested for real-world use. (Part 1 of ???)
Pixar’s RenderMan 27.0
Pixar’s RenderMan 27.0 lands with final-frame XPU rendering, multi-GPU scaling, deep compositing, and a production-ready Stylized Looks suite.
When Annabelle Grew Up: The Digital Domain Horror Pipeline
425 shots, one terrifying doll, and a CG mill town: Digital Domain’s Alex Millet explains how his team built the horror of The Conjuring: Last Rites and kept it real.
Momo: Of Time, Turtles, and Technical Wizardry
VFX Supervisor Michael Wortmann on how RiseFX built the fantasy of Momo: almost entirely on location, with 280 shots and the best turtle in the business.
SideFX launches “How To Houdini” contest for Houdini 21
SideFX’s new “How To Houdini” contest rewards the best Houdini 21 tutorials with FX and Indie licences, merch, and "exposure" in the community.
HFF Munich Hiring: Two Half-Time Heroes Wanted
HFF Munich’s VFX department wants two new tech minds—one for the pipeline, one for IT. Expect creative chaos, cool people, and excellent surroundings!
Trees in Autumn: SpeedTree Controller 3.0 Falls for Houdini 21
SpeedTree Controller 3.0 lets Houdini artists break, regrow and shade trees with Karma: new features, same procedural roots
Sharper, Faster, Smokier: FumeFX 7.1 for 3ds Max
FumeFX 7.1 delivers faster warps, Alembic point clouds, and smarter VDB handling in 3ds Max. Less waiting, more burning.
RenderMan 27: XPU graduates, RIS retires
Pixar ships RenderMan 27: XPU is ready for final frames, RIS is being phased out, MaterialX joins the toolset, and Stylized Looks evolve.
RiseFX on Heads of State: Explosions, Statues, and Digital Diplomacy
500 shots, one exploding limo, and statues aimed at helicopters: Rise FX brings high-stakes action to Heads of State with a new Riseflow pipeline.
Axiom 4 for Houdini: Faster GPU Pyro With Better Collisions
Theory Accelerated has dropped Axiom 4, the GPU-driven Houdini solver for smoke and fire that promises fewer artifacts, more speed, and a UI that doesn’t feel like it was designed during a caffeine shortage.
KitBash3D Cargo 2.0 lands with Houdini Solaris importer and 350 free assets
KitBash3D Cargo 2.0 ships with Houdini Solaris USD importer and 350 free assets. Free for personal use, commercial rights require paid plans.
Python for Artists Cohort starts soon
Repetitive tasks kill time. Python kills repetitive tasks. DP author Alexander Richter teaches scripting for Maya, Houdini, Nuke, and more.
EVE Turns Houdini’s VEX Pane Into a Rainbow-Bracked Autocomplete Powerhouse
EVE revamps Houdini’s VEX panel: autocomplete, error‑tips and rainbow brackets, because coding shouldn’t hurt (in theory).
3D Gaussian Splats Officially Added to glTF Standard
Khronos Group, in collaboration with OGC, Niantic Spatial, Cesium (Bentley), and Esri, has formally added 3D Gaussian Splats…
MetaHuman Meets Houdini
TL;DR: Epic’s free “MetaHuman for Houdini” brings rigged, textured MetaHumans and procedural hair grooms into Houdini, with seamless Alembic export to Unreal Engine.
Houdini 21 Finally Lands: The Buzz Is Over, Time to Actually Use It
SideFX has released Houdini 21, adding rigging, CFX, VFX, lookdev, terrain, and Copernicus updates. The hype is over; time to test in production.
USDSkel: Optimized Character Rigging
USDSkel is an OpenUSD component that supports scalable, manipulable, and interchangeable skinned characters. Wanna know more?
Axiom 4.0 Sneak Peek for Houdini
First preview of Axiom 4.0 shows improved collisions, redesigned sourcing, and faster GPU-driven simulations for Houdini.
Zibra AI Frees ZibraVDB for Indie Artists (Briefly, Because Less Is More)
Zibra AI now offers ZibraVDB free to indie creators earning under $100,000/year for use with Houdini and Unreal Engine 5.3.
These Are the Clones You’re Looking For: Hoplite VFX Fires Up ‘Star Wars: The 212’
Hoplite VFX trades stormtrooper aim for clone trooper precision in Star Wars: The 212. Producer Maurine Fauvert reveals how a two-artist side project turned into a full-blown studio production, complete with Move AI mocap, Blender’s GPU power, and some very unlucky troopers.
VenkysTurbulenceMicrosolver: Finally, Your Smoke Can Stop Looking Like Blobby Soup
VenkysTurbulenceMicrosolver adds adaptive, detailed turbulence to Houdini Pyro, cutting manual noise setup.
Houdini 21: SideFX pushes for production readiness across the CG pipeline
SideFX releases Houdini 21, promoting Apex, Vulkan, Otus, and major animation and rigging upgrades to production-ready status.
No need to water flowers in August: grow them in Houdini instead
FLOPs is a free, KineFX-based HDA toolkit for creating and animating realistic flowers in Houdini, released by Danny Laursen.
Houdini 21 : Otto, Otis, Copernicus and 300+ New Features. No, Really
Houdini 21 sneak peek: SideFX previews 300+ features: Otis solver, Otto rig, Copernicus, Vulkan viewport, full rigging and CFX overhaul.
GSOPs 2.6: The Swiss Army Knife for Gaussian Splatting in Houdini
GSOPs 2.6 delivers free 2D/3D Gaussian Splatting editing, viewport rendering, mesh export, Karma and Solaris integration for Houdini 20.5.
Procedural Village People: SideFX Lets Houdini Users Play Skylark Architect
SideFX publishes Project Skylark’s Houdini assets and eight snappy tutorials: procedural tools for clouds, bridges, bottles, and a healthy dose of fantasy architecture.
Modeler 2025.2 for Houdini Lands: Hard‑Surface Modelling Makeover
Alexey Vanzhula’s Modeler 2025.2 rebuilds hotkeys, shading presets and moves to Qt6, offering a smoother hard‑surface workflow in Houdini.
WeFX Saddles Up for “1923”
From pristine scans to viscous blood foam: how 50 artists spent six months on 20 shots that make one horse’s final tumble painfully believable.
Fibric: Stitching Curves into Cloth—Procedurally
Fibric introduces a Houdini SOP-based toolset for procedural clothing creation using curves, featuring UV-ready, quad-based geometry and real-time rendering with Karma XPU.
Digital Domain vs. the Nether Horde: Behind the VFX of Minecraft
When Warner Bros. enlisted Digital Domain to tackle the final battle in Minecraft: The Movie, they weren’t just signing up for blocks and shaders...
Pawn to VEX: Chess Comes to Houdini’s Viewport
Play chess in Houdini’s viewport using VEX-driven logic - no simulation needed, no rendering required.
Rise FX saves christmas?
When Red One dropped last this year, audiences got get a holiday cocktail of Jumanji-style action (The director…
Fusion 20: a deep look at the core
With its latest release, Blackmagic Fusion is positioning itself more aggressively than ever as a powerful and cost-effective complete package for node-based compositing and motion graphics. We check whether Fusion 20 lives up to the high expectations.
UDIM Planet: Free Globe Toolset Orbits Blender, Max, Maya, Houdini, Unreal and C4D
Free add-on "Figments UDIM Globe" maps UDIM textures to globe objects—UVs are auto-generated, PBR-ready.
SideFX Extends Houdini Labs: Free Procedural Bridge Tool Arrives
SideFX updates the free procedural bridge tool for Houdini, offering customizable, animatable bridge assets – ready for download on SideFX Labs.
Free Mech, Fully Armed: SideFX Drops Rigged & Ready Model for UE5
SideFX releases a free, fully rigged and animated mech model, optimized for Unreal Engine 5 and ready for animation, rigging and FBX workflows.
Marine-Snow-Simulation in Houdini
Join our workshop and discover how to simulate marine snow and oceanic particles for VFX - Master underwater simulations, ocean effects, and particle-based systems. Perfect for VFX artists and anybody who tripped over the phrase "Ocean dandruff".
FMX 2025: AI, Arcane, and a Light Stage Walk into a Conference
FMX 2025 unleashes Arcane secrets, Houdini hocus pocus, and a swarm of AI panels onto Stuttgart. Turquoise flags and login buttons now live!
ZibraVDB: Shrinking Volumes, Expanding Possibilities
ZibraVDB compresses OpenVDB files up to 100x, enabling real-time volumetric effects in Unreal Engine and Houdini for virtual production and game development.
The Grove 2.2: Cutting-Edge Tree Tech Goes Cross-Platform
The Grove 2.2 brings a radical tech boost with a new Skeleton tool, optimized simulations, and unified naming for Houdini and Blender.
Cinema 4D 2025.2: Feature Dump, Incoming
Cinema 4D 2025.2 delivers a host of new features—from enhanced camera modes to particle controls and Rocket Lasso Capsules—with extensive bug fixes.