Following several teasers and a sneak peeks, SideFX recently released Houdini 18 with a new procedural lookdev system Solaris for layout and lighting. Solaris is based on the USD standard and integrates with the other big feature of this release, a new Karma Render engine based on Hydra. Many other improvements are included including SOP-based tools for configuring Destruction and Pyro FX shots and improved UX and optimizations. To see the announcement in full, watch the launch on Vimeo and read about it on the .
Houdini 18 now available
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So much snacks! Hard to know where to even start. The new sparse solvers are a blast! Incredible fast and efficient, and so easy to set up.
I like the RBD on SOPs now, its really making it easier having all the setup in one single graph. RBD material fracture, is also a nice way to have condensed a lot of tools easily accesible.
The pyro and rbd SOP tools are a awesome! … plus the other 5738 things they added of course 😉 .
Also, daily builds are available now, the first one fixes some annoying issues and I’d recommend to start with that one.
An avalanche of new features and, also, an avalanche of new tutorials; good combination . . . although getting buried under the weight of it all is a possibility. Constant innovation in their software, SideFX labs to push new and experimental features that directly and immediately impact users, constant release and promotion of new and in-depth training material, and singular focus on a single core product and making that product great. What’s not to like?
Looks like it’s time to download Houdini again, dedicate a week to it, and revert to Blender.
same story when blender gets an update, a week on blender and back to houdini
Remeber kids, most significant thing in H is perpetual license 🙂 yet…
SideFX…
..still offering perpetual licensing for their commercial product.
..actually updates their software and innovates in our field.
..support is a beast with issues being directly fixed by their support team in a timely matter, reflected in daily builds.
..on top of all the great things that the company does, offers a two year rental of their software for Inde users for only $400!
..does not seem to be a sellout company in the least!
I like my memory.
http://web.archive.org/web/20081031031131/http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1401&Itemid=316