Game Development Community

Is Houdini better than 3DSmax

by Gary Roberson · in Artist Corner · 04/21/2010 (3:46 pm) · 5 replies

For $99 houdini is a deal compared to something like $495 for Lightwave and $2000 for 3DsMax.

I'm looking for someone that has actually worked with Houdini to tell me about your experience with the product.
What type of Models have you made with it?
How do you export them to torque? Do they export to other engines? (Blitz3d, Unity, 3DGamestudio to be specific)
Is the learning curve simple or not?
How does it compare (if you know that is) to programs like 3dsMax, Lightwave, Maya, TrueSpace?
if your purchased Houdini, do you regret your decision?

#1
04/21/2010 (4:27 pm)
There is a free version, which as far as i can tell is fully the same as the $99 aprentice version apart from DTS export function, so you can try it for yourself, i downloaded the trial/free version and am still not sure if its the package for me
#2
03/12/2011 (5:25 am)
I know this is an old thread but if anybody else is wondering about this. 3DS Max is more for the artist. It does get a bit technical in 3DS Max but it is easier to create characters and vehicles in Max if you are Art minded.

Houdini is a procedural approach and if you like math and programming then this is for you. 3D Buzz.com has some free tutorials about Houdini that may help you get started. They can explain the basics of Houdini in a nutshell. Good Luck.
Glen
#3
03/12/2011 (1:17 pm)
$2000 for MAX? Where to buy?

Here is the Prize 7000$
#4
04/27/2012 (4:23 pm)
I'm looking for someone that has actually worked with Houdini to tell me about your experience with the product.

What type of Models have you made with it?
faces and furniture

How do you export them to torque? Do they export to other engines? (Blitz3d, Unity, 3DGamestudio to be specific)
Since I'm using 12 now, I suppose I'll export through the dae format. If I have problems, I'll probably find a converter that does the job.

Is the learning curve simple or not?
the learning curve is a lot simpler when you drop a bit of past experience. being able to remove any mistake from any point without affecting everything else is a different way of thinking. but more than that, you can disconnect something you did and see what it looks like if you had never done it, then you can reconnect it where it was or somewhere else... it's just a different way of thinking.

The biggest difference from everything else is that very thing... it's nodal throughout the entire application.
#5
05/05/2012 (11:39 pm)
Houdini is a great tool but the $99 version (apprentice HD) does not allow any exporting at all (although versions 10 and 11 used have DTS plugins for Torque but 12 doesn't seem to have that). So you definitely need the commercial versions (escape or master) for doing anything useful with game engines.