Houdini Apprentice HD Now Available!

#21 With the current FBX Import portal, most existing assets can be brought into the HD environment, rigged and ready to animate & export. Collada reading is another 'target' Import option that, I believe, may get some improvement with time. FBX Import is seemingly a high priority and continuous work is being done to improve it, almost daily.

A great amount of effort was put into the ROP[renderOperator]/GUI parameters that take the building of the DTS 'hierarchy' away from the base--start schema. The GUI/parameter Tab has all the needed feature options, with either radio boxes or navigation/browse entry fields for input.

Auto LOD's are generated as well thru the dialog.

Perhaps I'm biased, because of my work involved, but I do think that HD/TorqueROP is the best available, lowcost solution for the formats and this is but one direction GG need to head. I see nothing wrong with attempting to provide as many solutions as possible, at the lowest price point. Derek is to be commended for securing Houdini as a source.

I have at my disposal, several programs that will produce the required formats for this engine. I evaluated Max[~5], and at the price point; it didn't fit my requirements. At the time, I found the Modifier stack to become unstable with moving and rearranging things as I workflowed. I moved on...to other programs. I'm not telling any purchaser of Max that it was a mistake or wrong for them to spend $3500 for DTS/DSQ format output, it[Max] can certainly be used for other 3D graphics projects an artist chooses...so no loss there. I use whatever program necessary[I'm licensed to drive...btw], that will get any particular job done. Perhaps I just enjoy 3D graphics so much; it doesn't matter to me what program I need to learn, to continue doing what I really enjoy!

I try to always keep one eye on the 'future' as it were; to keep just with the bubble of what's possible constrained against what is affordable. I see HD, at the modified EULA, as a very good example of the 'future' of what is affordable/possible.

I think it really boils down to the native platform formats and their constraints of building the DTS shape. Apparently the procedural schema of Houdini is more 'affable' to the DTS build than these other programs, and if so; why not move towards a more harmonious parse? And to visualize your features in the UI, is a priceless.

I was amazed at how complex HD is, and yet; how easy it was for me to work my way thru it towards the production of a DTS shape or animated DTS shape. In practically 1 hour, I had a dancing KORK touched up on the weights and exporting as a dancingFOOL....

#22 Just out of curiosity has anyone from GG tried to get the the same co-operation from Autodesk "Maya/Max" or Avid "XSI" ? The Softimage Website has many game engine exporter available directly on their website and are Well know for working with game engine developers to make the types of exporters? Autodesk may be a bit harder to get any co-operation out of but Avid/Softimage are well know for giving their support to these types of things.

I just want to say that despite the way it may have come across I'm very happy about the Houdini thing. It will be a blessing to many in this community. It is just not for me. Our studio is all Maya and we have long running maintenance contracts and people that have been using and customizing it for a very long time. And I don't feel like taking animated characters in to another pack and having to redo things just to get them exported to the engine.

#23 @James

It all comes down to which application developers feel that they are desperate enough to want to spend the money on a possible high risk - low reward scenario. Obviously SideEffects are desperate to get their claws into the games market and as such theyre more willing to expend resources on making Torque support as opposed to spending it on their app. This is their choice and while I appauld them for being forward thinking, I personally doubt they will get much from effort in the long run except for some positive PR.

Keep in mind Alias did this with Maya, in fact they were one of the first companies not to tell GG to go somewhere else in regards to getting a free copy of their software in regards to supporting their application. But we all know where Alias is now.

SoftImage in the past has supplied some support to guys like Matt Summers so they are certainly paying attention and giving what I would assess as a proper level of support for the initiative, but until the community reciprocates it more I would guys they will just stick with making their XSI Game Mod for Valve engines to be honest.

Autodesk on the other hand really doesn't need to do much, without breaking any NDAs I know they are doing some things to support the Indie initiative here at GG, though it is certainly the least supportive in comparison to what Side Effects, XSI or others have delivered. With that said Autodesk is spending the most at this time on R&D for 3D development on Max and Maya, so to be brutally honest, I would rather see resources spent on making the core app bigger and better than I would on supporting grass roots projects that like I said have a high risk - low reward payoff.

#24 ok so there is some support that these other companies are giving to GG at some level? then why are the other export solution in the state that they are in? are things at GG so tight that they cannot afford a couple guys to work on this full time? Max and Maya are prolly 90+% of what is used to make todays video games. GG can't take the time to make sure 90% of the artist int he games industry can have a pleasant experience getting their art in to you engine?

hmm. maybe i am using the wrong engine and have been waisting my money and time with GG.

#25 Collada Importer, need it quickly.

#26 @James

Yes, though I think you are assuming that these companies are giving support as in man power and not just a resource or two (aka think "inside" the box).

I agree that Max and Maya (and even XSI to a lesser extent) should be the big focus for GG to support with their art tools. Sure these tools might be out of reach for the hobbyist indie with a small budget, but they are still used by the majority of the teams that use the engine for their day to day work, and as such rel on it to be feature complete as possible for them to earn a living. Nevermind the fact that these same teams are the ones who are making the games that are truely making people stand up and take notice of Torque.

#27 no demo, no videos...

...this is falling a bit short 'before the gate even opened' IMO.
- I can't buy anything because someone says it is better.
-> Prove it is a better exporter than the max9 exporter and I will buy.

#28 Is the pictured dragon included in the download to play with / experiment on?

#29 So, where is the actual exporter? I installed the HoudiniHD (Version 9.5) but I don't see any usable export option.

#30 @eb & @Idelfix125

Derek metioned that over in the developement snapshot gallery..

Quote: "As far as trial versions there is nothing that includes the exporter. You can however download Houdini Apprentice from www.sidefx.com which is free and everything that HD is except it won't let you render in HD or export to Torque, it is also non-commercial. It will however give you a good idea of what the Houdini workflow is like. I am going to try to get a video up sometime soon that shows the actual export process."

I think I would have just one or the other (blog or snapshot) , when it comes to things like this as everyone either has to jump back and forth or just misses something..

I have downloaded the trial and am trying to decide whether I should jump on board. I have been making some decent progress on Blender for a while..

#31 In line with Houdini's node-based workflow, the Torque exporter is implemented as a Render Operator (ROP). Instead of a generic File > Export > torque that would take out the whole scene, you can use the Render Operator to either export the whole scene or pick and choose specific elements. You can also have several different ROPS in a scene exporting different parts.

When you first launch Houdini, you will see the network editor in the lower right. Click on the path bar that says "obj" and from the menu choose "out." Move your cursor down into the network area and press the tab key and then start typing torque. When it shows up select it and the place the node into your scene. That is your exporter. Of course there is more to it that this but at least you know where it is now.

Now in the parameter pane above the network editor, you can find the Torque node's parameters. Click on the ? next to right of the name and the help comes up. In the help there is an "Example Files" tab. click on this and you can open up some Houdini files that show you the exporter in action.

Robert Magee
Product Marketing Manager
Side Effects Software Inc.

#32 If you buy Apprentice HD right now you are given a Houdini 9.5 license so that you can help us test the new version. That license will continue to work when the product goes gold. You can also run Houdini 9.1 using your 9.5 license if you wanted to.

The version sold on our site is the same as the GG version.

Robert Magee
Product Marketing Manager
Side Effects Software

#33 I love Houdini v10 so far, but getting the mechanics down on how to interwork with T3D is a large hill to climb. We really need a video on how to leverage all the non-Torque features in Houdini, then bake them in for us in T3D. I am happy to be a tester!

For now our team will be a dedicated Houdini shop. We really like howw smoothe the testing is. We can export directly to a T3D directory and it takes all the textures with it. Then load them up in Show Tool all within seconds.

It would be nice to do the following:

1. Add normals, reflection, light and other maps in Houdini and get them to export out just like the base texture does.

2. Have a dedicated Torque tool-bar. I made my own and love it.

3. Learn how to apply multiple collision meshes to an object.

4. Auto-triangulate on export like the XSI exporter does.

5. Find some faster method to tab in a UVTexture node and a Material node at the same time. Or have a magic button go through all the objects and add these. Then we just need to go in and assign the material file from the SHOP we want. I found this to be very repeatative.