Houdini 20 | State of Modeling 

Thank you! ☺️

Hi there and thanks for being interested. I am not sure will I be able to help you as primarily I am not environment modeler, for the most part I pretty much enjoy hard surface modeling. Now, if you could be a bit more precise or share with me some kind of example, I might give it a try. Simon Houdini should have few of those you might need.

@@polymarvels ah I should have been more specific sorry ☺️ I am thinking particularly modular buildings, like Soviet apartments or brick temples - there are tutorials on basics of these but I find they often rush the theory or don’t explain why an approach is a good idea. I have checked out Simon Houdini, he is great also!

But no worries either way ☺️

@@miadoesvfx Ahhh, I understand now. That I might actually do. Interestingly enough, I am yet to try modeling a building in Houdini. So its a good challenge.

THanks Billy, if you would give me some kind of example of what you are referring to, that would be great or be a bit more specific. Then I might be able to do something about it. Importing files is never fun in Houdini, especially if they come from CAD software.

Also, thanks for Patreon suggestion, I might actually do it as I have tons of files to share.

@@polymarvels Hi Igor, I will see if I can get you some useable info tomorrow (Wednesday, PST). Tough work day today, and it turns out Revit (my primary architectural modeler) is not exporting FXB with mat id's or any info (everything comes into Houdini as a single grey clay model, which is fine if the file is small, but what I'm importing into Houdini is a 3500 square foot home for a set of exterior renders, and so the filmbox file directly from Revit comes in with hundreds of nodes/list tree with nothing but grey clay on everything. (It turns out there is no option to preserve mats in a Revit export FXB, with the exception 3ds max can recognize revit assigned mats, but Revit hides these same mats/id's to all other DCC's)!!!! So I wonder if it is counter productive to start a project in Houdini from an FXB with a list tree with hundreds of elements with all the same material, VS. importing one with at least basic mat id's? At a minimum, even if I don't assign textures or mats, I do like to assign unique colors (easy and fast) so mat id's are assigned upon export/import when moving between apps, provided those colors are preserved. But Revit won't even let me do that, so I'm thinking about exporting the clay FBX file to Sketchup, then placing simple colors on the similar elements (like glass, wood doors, etc) so at least we have some way of differentiating poly's/elements (window glass from window frame, for example) so I can get some kind of mat id's into Houdini? So, if you tell me it's ok to import an arch model into H with a single material, along with the simple naming conventions which Houdini assigns, I'll be happy to go from there and I'll start asking questions which pertain to a potential archive workflow.... The alternative would be assigning at least some basic mat id's, and importing that into Houdini, so to begin, perhaps you could advise me on this issue? Also, if this gets heavy, I am not expecting free advise. I know you mentioned lessons in your video, so don't hold back if this is not appropriate, and will negotiate with you. Most, thank you again for being a mentor, and all around kick-ass dude to the community :). I completely appreciate what you are doing here. THANKS! Bill

@@BillyCoopDraws Bill, thank you and no worries. I am not doing this for money anyway, and I am always glad if I can help. So if you could send me a Revit model example that would help me out to help you. I would need to see exactly how the file looks like before telling you any kind of suggestion. But I am sure we could find a good solution that will work for you. I have some ideas. So if you can send me a model from Revit on email that will do and then we can go from there.

@@polymarvels Thank you very much Igor. I will be in touch via the emails. You kindness and participation is beyond appreciated :)

Hey Bob, I am really glad to hear that. I hope this time you stick to it and find a way to enjoy it. If you have any questions please let me know and good luck. ☺️

@@polymarvels I do have a question about Houdini and PC specs. I won't be doing any particle work, what specs do you think would be required for modeling only?

Anything average, decent will do for modeling. I assume it also depends what kind of things you would like to model but the way we do things, which doesn't create huge networks should also make things easier for your PC. Exception can be when working with booleans, which can create huge networks, but then again, freezing or caching networks can help. I would buy good keyboard and mouse. In my case MX Keys and MX Master 3 mouse are unbeatable when it comes to Houdini.

@@polymarvels thank you very much, this is most helpful

That sounds like an interesting combo, would like to see how that could be setuped to your advantage. I never used 3D Space mouse.

@@polymarvels the mouse lets you move the mesh as you want , without losing focus

Yes, I use it with Maya, 3xs Max Zbrush. Substance Painter

Tom, I am using only mouse and keyboard for hard surface modeling. Only time I would use tablet is if I am sculpting. Tablet and pen makes my hand tired very quickly.

Ill probably avoid that to keep videos free, but Ill probably put scene files to Patreon as cheaper option for everyone.

Simples answer is I don't need it. More complicated is that I am 3D software QA and I tend not to use any plugins due to testing, so instead in this case I decided to see if there is more than it meets the eye. All in all, I trained myself to use Houdini like any other 3D software so I really do not need it. Would be nice to have all those tools inside for sure. :)

Well its hard to say for sure. But it was really not that long. Most time went into actually figuring design as I wanted to make something that makes sense and looks good. Many of the parts are not visible, but in terms of flow and ease of modeling, it wasn't any harder then modeling this robot. What really makes it easier is the fact that every piece is a different object container, pretty much same principals like in any other DCC. Its way more easier to model like this and to keep your networks easy to understand. It also helps with performance. So when it comes to shear modeling, it really didn't took much time.

Ill keep that in mind, thank you! :)

3DL? ....;)

@@rd-cv4vm Oh, we talked to you at Discord!) I remember the job, great lighting and atmosphere, a legendary job for me))

Can someone explain a bit what we are talking about? 😁

@@cgyogii 👍, i ll see you around there

Thank you my friend. Your comment is much appreciated as usual! 😎

By the way, new video is out, probably most fun and easiest to understand how Modeling works in Houdini.