Game Jam 2020 | Houdini Contest Winners

Global Game Jam celebrated its 12th year in 2020 and once again claimed the title of “Biggest Game Jam Ever”! Teams had 48 hours to make a game based on the theme of "Repair" and over 48,000 game jammers participated to make thousands of games at 934 sites in 118 different countries. SideFX sponsored Global Game Jam for the fifth year in a row and made Houdini Indie licenses available to the game jammers for their game development.

Embedded Licensing for Studios

There are situations when studios do not allow internet usage. Can we still use the studio version of an asset without having connection at our workstations? The answer is Yes! Embedded Licensing for Studios provides the ease of use without the need to authenticate when unable to.

Studios version can be used for all purposes and allows usage over multiple machines.

Copy protected Studio versions do not need to be logged in when using the asset.

Houdini HIVE GameDev - GDC Online

If you haven't checked it out, SideFX brought the GDC HIVE Online via Youtube. The first two days were filled with educational and inspiring presentations by both SideFX technical experts and industry professionals.
Watch the videos here
Image Courtesy of DANTE METAPHOR

COVID-19 Update

To the Houdini Community,

Like all of you, we’ve been monitoring the evolving global impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). We are taking the situation very seriously, and have taken steps here at SideFX to safe-guard our customers, staff and partners. Our team is well-equipped with online systems and processes to continue to service you throughout these unprecedented times.

Regarding the use of Houdini, we want to make sure that everyone’s use and enjoyment of it stays as smooth as possible during these challenging times. Here are a few of the ways we’re making sure that happens:

Building a Procedural FX Pipeline for Age of Empires II

Ever since its humble beginnings, Virtuos has relied on a comprehensive set of tools to provide art, animation and game development services to clients worldwide. Houdini is one such tool that has seen extensive use in the making of both games and film.

Virtuos first began using Houdini to animate scenes in TV series, often in tandem with 3D rendering programs such as Maya or Mental Ray. One prominent example can be found in Star Wars Rebels, with various VFX such as the molten metal effects caused by lightsabers being made in Houdini. The software is also primarily responsible for creating the laser and ship destruction effects found in the space battle section at the end of Season 3.

A Real-Time Journey into Houdini

Matt Workman is a cinematographer and founder of Cinematography Database who in recent times has used game engines to help previs and plans shots. He also developed Cine Tracer (https://www.cinetracer.com), a real-time cinematography simulator made in Unreal Engine.

Confident in the power of real-time rendering to help imagine scenes and for virtual cinematography, Workman, however, wanted to do more procedurally in terms of building assets for these scenes. So in just the past few months he has dived into Houdini for the first time and been sharing his progress. We checked in on where he is up to.

Global Game Jam with Houdini Contest 2020

Welcome to the 4th Game Jam with Houdini Contest! Any Global Game Jam 2020 team that uses Houdini to make their game jam game is eligible to enter the contest. Last year, SideFX held their third Houdini Contest which resulted in some awesome winning games. We are excited to return in 2020 with another contest. Read the instructions below on how to get a free temporary Houdini Indie license and how to enter on the Global Game Jam website.

Houdini 18 Released

TORONTO | SideFX is pleased to announce the release of Houdini 18. This release introduces SideFX Solaris, a USD-based context for lookdev, layout and lighting that brings procedural tools to this important part of the pipeline and SideFX Karma Render (beta), a new HYDRA-based renderer that integrates into the Solaris environment. This release also includes SOP-based tools for configuring Destruction and Pyro FX shots and a focus on UX and optimization throughout the software.

Houdini HIVE at SIGGRAPH Asia 2019

Houdini HIVE is back at SIGGRAPH ASIA with a full day of educational sessions and studio presentations featuring SideFX product experts, and professionals from top studios from around the world. We look forward to seeing you!
Read more about it here
Image Courtesy of Drew Parks | NEON JUNKYARD

Houdini 18 Launch Presentation

Check out the latest additions in Houdini 18 - including Solaris - Houdini's layout, lookdev and lighting platform. Plus learn about the latest features in Vellum, fluids, pyro, destruction, modelling and more.