Houdini Community Blog

Um... Is this thing on?

2011-09-06T10:49:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, sorry it's been a while. Here in the LA office, we've been busy assimilating Houdini 12 before release. So much new, awesome stuff coming up in 12, I won't list it all here, but you're going to love it. Aside from that, we've had an awesome summer and a brilliant SIGGRAPH, and it's really good to see Houdini being noticed for its strengths beyond being "that particle package." Meeting with lots of different people during SIGGRAPH was a huge stoke, because the things they want to use Houdini for are so varied and amazing, it gave me project envy almost on a daily basis. So if you're always the one stuck doing dust puffs for the whole show, or debris, or sparks, or missile trails, take heart, because there's some really exciting work out there ready to challenge your skills, your intellect, and your artistic sense. And noobs, remember that the current crop of dust-puff people are looking to move up food chain, so I'm sure they'd be more than happy for you to take over that onerous task so you can get your feet wet.

With that in mind, I can't stress this enough: Now is a REALLY good time to be a Houdini user. Remember that old government PSA for reading? "Each one teach one." So pick it up, learn it, and teach a friend. In my perfect, blindingly nerdy world, we would have Houdini 'battles' at clubs, where users show off their skills, like a nerdcore version of 8 Mile or Step It Up. OK, maybe I'm a little too into this, or I've been doing it too long, but on a scale of 1 to awesome, it sure wouldn't be 1.

Happy Houdini Day

2011-03-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

There are lots of stories about how Houdini (the software) got the name. But we won’t get into that here today.

It is however, the 137th birthday of the man, and Google paid tribute. Here’s a neat little video about the life of a great magician:

By the way, CGTalk is now picking up a Houdini Forum if any of you are interested. We know there have been some in the past, but this one is going to stick!

cmiVFX Houdini Fractal Clouds & Terrains

2011-02-24T14:43:00.000-08:00

Our friends over at cmiVFX recently released another Houdini tutorial!

cmiVFX Releases New Houdini Fractals Clouds & Terrain Training Video from Chris Maynard on Vimeo.

cmiVFX Releases New Houdini Fractals Clouds & Terrain Training Video
High Definition Training Videos for the Visual Effects Industry

Princeton, NJ (february 23, 2011) – cmiVFX launches its latest full feature training video for Houdini based on highly advanced fractals for the creation of volumetric clouds and natural terrains. This video covers a detailed workflow within VEX nodes to allow the viewer to have a deep understanding on creating professional shots for such natural effects. The educational structure for this video, gears all users up to be able to follow its contents from beginning to end. This in-depth introduction to Fractals will add an essential knowledge to all Houdini artists wanting to move to the next level. The results produced by this video are truly superb, and near impossible to achieve any other way. With this revolutionary blend of artistry and technology, every user can have the ability to understand the roots and principles of constructing solid multi-fractal networks . At this same time, you will learn how to seamlessly create a digital asset to make your fractals accessible on any shot that you are working on. When you're finished with the video, you will have the opportunity to create very complicated cloud system, in very difficult scenarios like multilayering effects with complex design and anything else you can dream up.

Short Description:
In this course we will investigate all the details on creating a robust fractal network, so we can learn how to fix any issue that may arise or even prevent them from happening.

Here at cmiVFX we maintain a current training library for the latest versions of popular software titles. When it comes to high end CG and VFX training, there is only once choice… cmiVFX!

Don’t forget about the cmiSubscription plan! Get one today. cmiVFX launched the most affordable subscription plan in Visual FX Training History for only $299 USD, and if you were a subscriber, this New Training Release would already be in your account. This video is also available a-la-cart in our brand new HTML5 player system.

Houdini Fractals Clouds & Terrain Training Video
http://www.cmivfx.com/tutorials/view/280/Houdini+Fractals

Introducing Fractal Networks
In this chapter we will navigate through core VEX nodes and network workflows to create basic fractal images and animations, building up a ground knowledge for mastering fractal color extraction and animation. We then set rules for interaction between external images and your fractals.

Procedural Terrains
One of the first areas that fractals were used was on creating digital terrains. In this section, we`ll look from start to finish how to build a node system that provide us the power to create interesting and unique terrains with VEX, how to control them and also how to comprehend the idea behind a multi-fractal terrain.

"For Loop " VEX Node
One of the greatest nodes in VEX is the "for loop" node, it allows you to repeat the same sequence of code many times. however it has a very specific condition it needs to meet to work properly. Continuing with the effort to evolve the fractal system , we will delve into how to take advantage of the "for loop" to implement richness and a more natural look. Along side the "for loop", we will introduce a method to securely change the input parameters of the network.

Multi-Fractal Workflow
Once we understand what is behind a good fractal system, its time to start bringing to life a complete multi-fractal OTL. In this section we`ll cover every information you need to achieve a great , clean and efficient system.

Introducing Volumetric Networks
Working with volumetric nodes in Houdini is a delicate thing. It can be an intensive process if you don't handle it right. Our goal here is to present the viewer with a unique way to manage the intricate details within the volumetric process. How to properly set your scene to receive volumetric elements, how to render them, shade, understand definitions and set specific rules to achieve a believable result.

Custom Volumetric Displacement
In this chapter we will introduce the epicenter of our product. Combining all the knowledge we acquired until here to build our own custom volumetric displacements. We will use a simple system to create a pyroclastic cloud to understand the technique behind control vectors and how they can help us to properly add displacements.

Object Volumetric Setup
One of the most required option in a good volumetric system is the ability to apply it to any kind of source object. This can be extremely helpful to draw unique designs and to style clouds in any way we desire. Here we will explain extensively all the necessary steps to accomplish ultimate control on where your volumes will be applied. The only limit is your imagination!

Cloud Systems Workflow
Everything we have learned so far culminates in this outstanding Cloud System workflow. Utilizing our custom multi-fractal OTL and all the knowledge acquired through all the lessons, we will demonstrate how you can create unbelievable natural cloud effect and how to control it in any form your production demands, thus optimizing visibility and rendering to have a great viewport feedback together with great rendering results.

About The Author
Andreu Lucio is a spanish cg professional with more than 10 years experience and is 32 years old. After studying visual communication, he started working in international cartoon series in 1999, "The triplets", "Juanito Jones" and "Tom" as a Cg Artist for a company called Cromosoma. He become the Lead Cg Artist so learned a lot about light, colors, compositing, fx and how important they are for improving the final result. During his carrier working in some of the top spanish studios he has deeply use softwares like 3d Max, Maya, Houdini, Modo, Combustion, Nuke. Stuff like dynamics, expressions, maya mel and python had been present almost always in his long r&d sessions. Never stopped learning neither working so how to fit developed techniques in the real production its been the key goal for him. For the last 3 years he is working in Torsion Animation, a small Houdini based studio that has co-founded, creating motion graphics and visual fx for commercials. The studio is really small, so it has to use his skills from modeling to compositing and Houdini´s power in order to get the job finished within the tight deadlines and the high quality demanded.

This video is available today at the cmiVFX Store: http://store.cmivfx.com/

About cmiVFX
cmiVFX is the leader in High Definition Video Training for the Visual Effects Community. Register for FREE and receive hours of FREE content at the cmiVFX Video-on-Demand Player. ( http://store.cmivfx.com/login ) For additional information about cmiVFX, visit http://www.cmivfx.com. © 2010 cmiVFX | cmiStudios. All rights reserved.

more Houdini fur

2011-02-07T14:32:00.000-08:00

Our friends over at Method sent us a link to their recent work profiled on FXGuide. This commercial coveted some time during the Superbowl yesterday, so we’re happy to have Houdini artists showcased on such a stage!

Plus you have to love the beaver…

in dire need of Houdini artists

2011-02-04T11:35:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, and happy belated new year!

We’re currently in need of many, many Houdini artists in various regions such as Los Angeles, Vancouver, Australia, and London.

Many of you may have spoken to myself or other Side Effects staff regarding hiring, and right now we’re looking to help several of our clients find this talent.

Our website now boasts a full page of facilities looking to hire people using Houdini, so please check it out through the Community Tab HERE.

In the mean time, if you are a freelancer, and would like us to keep a copy of your CV and demo reel for consideration when speaking with clients, please email them to freelancer@sidefx.com.

Please also remember that you’re always encouraged to post about hiring gigs on our LinkedIn Group.

a blast from the past

2010-12-16T12:13:00.000-08:00

Thanks Greg!

December roundup

2010-12-14T12:26:00.000-08:00

Hello Houdini folks! We've had a very busy winter season. Early this month we held an LA Networking event with recruiters from Motion Theory and R&H. We had over 100 attendees, old and new users alike, gathering to meet and greet and enjoy an evening of Houdini talk and catching up.

And on another note, we've recently done loads of new customer stories. Definitely check out the new one on the Katy Perry video done at Radium Reel FX.

Lastly, we're super excited about providing an all new user guide to Houdini. Lots of good stuff in there, and definitely worth a read even if you're an experienced user.

Best of luck and happy wishes to you till the new year!

Vancouver trip - November 2010

2010-11-22T15:55:00.000-08:00

Hey Vancouver, thanks for the snow. It was great to see all our users and meet with various clients in the area. We were there for the VES Vancouver CAVE event at District 319.

As usual, VHUG had a great meeting, and we learned a bunch of new applications for using Houdini’s proceduralism.

Here’s a few photos of the Vancouver users who meet every few months. Definitely check up on their Facebook page to learn more!

Some users: Leo Chan (head of VHUG), Peter Bowmar, Caleb Howard, Georg Duemlein, Greg Massie, Ivan DeWolf, Carlos Lemus

Hey - here’s John Courte (Senior Houdini Artist) and Richard Hamel (VP Sales/Mktg) in front of the famous Steamclock in Gaslamp District!

October Roundup

2010-10-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

Hey thanks to everyone who came out to the SF Usergroup at PIXAR last week. It was a great success and we had almost 100 attendees come see the presentations from Image Movers Digital and PIXAR :).

Here are a few photos:

Xray from Image Movers Digital presents his Houdini and Massive workflow

Bay Area users watch - and some came in from Vancouver and Utah!

Last week, Side Effects also sponsored the 2nd VES Production Summit in Marina Del Rey. Here's a link to a Variety article re-capping some of its highlights.

Houdini Usergroup in Northern California

2010-10-04T15:48:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

We'll be hosting a Houdini usergroup meeting with great presentations on October 20, 2010 at the PIXAR campus.

Please come here to RSVP!

od[challenge] 2010 is Live!

2010-09-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

Our friends over at OdForce have launched a new od[challenge].

Check out the details here!

Post SIGGRAPH 2010 Roundup

2010-08-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

We had an amazing time this year at SIGGRAPH 2010 in Los Angeles. Our Education Team had a booth on the show floor and met with loads of people eager to learn or teach Houdini at their schools.

We even held an education mixer at our Santa Monica Training space and had many attendees roll through to meet with various staff from Side Effects both LA and Toronto facilities.

All this was capped off by an amazing event to to launch our latest and greatest version of Houdini.

Lots of thanks again to our lovely presenters:

Marion Spates and Christopher Leone from Motion Theory presenting on World of Color (Disney commercial)
Jeremy Hampton from Digital Domain presenting on Percy Jackson
Spencer Lueders from Framestore NY presenting on Salt.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the Houdini 11 Launch event as well, we loved getting to hang with our talented users and fans. And the performance from Fire Groove made it all a wonderful celebration :).

Spencer Lueders presenting on SALT

mingling around and meeting other Houdini nerds

H11 and SIGGRAPH 2010!

2010-06-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, I know. I owe a major blog update.

But for now, let's get excited about the news around Houdini 11! Check out the sneak peak from Kim on our site as well as a list of all the new stuff in there.

We'll be going Gold with Houdini 11 just before SIGGRAPH this year in Los Angeles... which means we'll have to celebration as well :)

Come join us for a great event at the Cooper Design Building in downtown Los Angeles on July 27th (just blocks away from the conference center).

Here's more information on the Launch Event as well as details for our Education Booth and presence at SIGGRAPH this year.

Don't forget to RSVP!!

PS: If you're currently a commercial customer current on AUP, you'll be getting access to Houdini 11 Beta in just a few short days.

Leo Chan and Ziggy at GDX and SCAD

2010-04-22T18:40:00.000-07:00

SCAD Atlanta and SCAD and the GDX in Savannah all got a great dose of Houdini from EA's Leo Chan and SESI's Ziggy Ostertag, with Aliza covering both bases. Here's a synopsis:

Ziggy and Clark at SCAD Atlanta studio

SCAD grad students listening to
Ziggy's Intro to Houdini

Leo and Debra Fowler of SCAD field
questions at GDX

Leo introduces a whole new generation
to Brian Eno's
"Music for Airports",
via Houdini.

Colliding implied surfaces is cool!

2010-04-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

Learn how with this Thursday's class "Understanding Volume Primitives". Dave Koester will break it down for all DOPs fans.

Call us for class files at 310.319.9876.

Beginners to Experts

2010-03-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

Last week's training covered everything from "how to make a movie with special effects" (for Loyola Marymount students) and a "very gentle intro to Python in Houdini" with Igor Boshoer, to "Motion FX & CHOPs" with Gonzo Cababaca and "Python Tricks" with Houdini guru Luke Moore.

Is that snake charming?

Side Effects Welcomes Siegfried Ostertag

2010-03-11T17:34:00.000-08:00

Ziggy Ostertag has joined the Side Effects team as Houdini Trainer, and is shown here on his first day at work, right in the thick of it.

Ziggy began his VFX career in Germany at Computer Projects Unlimited, and at C.O.R.E. & Effectory as both trainer and VFX TD. He has worked at Rhythm & Hues, Imageworks, and Digital Domain in LA.

Come learn from the master!

Houdini Training at Graffiti School, Mumbai

2010-03-11T17:23:00.000-08:00

Andrew Lowell at Mumbai workshop with VFX trainers from Big Animation, Frameboxx, Foskia Graffiti and others.

Look for great Houdini effects coming out of Bollywood soon!

thanks VHUG!

2010-03-08T11:14:00.000-08:00

John Courte and I just got back from beautiful Vancouver. What a way to catch up, the post Olympics sentiments and Canadian pride were still going strong.

While there, we had the pleasure of joining up with the VHUG (Vancouver Houdini User Group) for their first community presentation, kicked off and led by Leo Chan of Electronic Arts Canada.

From VHUG Kickoff Presentation for 2010

Left to right (Leo Chan, unknown, Craig Zerounie, John Courte, Sean Lewkiw, Robert Kelly, Leyla Tirgari, Greg Massie, Paul Flanagan, Kashayar Khalkhaly)

VHUG Kickoff Presentation for 2010

2010-03-02T19:42:00.000-08:00

John Courte (Senior Houdini Artist) and myself will be in Vancouver on March 3rd for the first presentation from the Vancouver Houdini User Group (VHUG).

Come join us at CIS Vancouver starting at 7pm to hear from Leo Chan from EA!

View Larger Map

We'll be buying the first round of drinks over a few blocks at the Whip Restaurant and Bar afterward to chat, meet, and mingle with the local userbase.

Don't forget to RSVP for the event on the official Facebook page!

Houdini Essentials with Andrew Lowell

2010-03-02T09:46:00.000-08:00

Andrew Lowell, straight from Massive/Houdini TD on Invictus, is at Side Effects, Santa Monica to teach Houdini Essentials Over 2 Days this Thu Mar 4 & Fri Mar 5, 10 - 5pm.

Vancouver's Ray Corbett Teaching at Sidefx

2010-02-23T10:53:00.000-08:00

Houdini and Nuke Artist
Raymond Corbett
will be in LA this week to teach 2 workshops at Side Effects:

Houdini and Nuke Workflow on Friday the 26th from 2 to 4:30
and
Working with Trail Effects on Saturday the 27th from 9 to 5

Dr D Recruiting in London!!

2010-02-12T12:23:00.001-08:00

From Blogger Pictures

Face tracking with OpenCV, Python, and Houdini

2010-02-11T12:05:00.000-08:00

OK, I know I promised you something else in my last post regarding how to animate the real-world data given up by DOPs on the Interceptor, but I got a little sidetracked instead. Today's exercise is how to make strange data talk dirty to Houdini.

I give you the humble PipeIN CHOP. The PipeIn CHOP has been around since before some of you could legally buy a beer, and its primary purpose is to take in data from external apps and sources. Oh great! Awesome! Now I can connect my Lego Mindstorms to Houdini and terrorize the cat! Not so fast, hoss. It's a little like the secret knock to the after-hours rave. Unless you send it exactly the bytes it needs, in exactly the right order, in exactly the right format, you ain't gettin' in. Houdini's PipeIn CHOP likes to get its data in very specific ways. You can't just blow bits at it and expect it to assemble you a pony at the molecular-genetic level.

The PipeIn CHOP gets its data from a named pipe, which is a temp file specifically created and written to for that purpose.

The docs are a bit terse, but what you need to know is this: You poke the PipeIn Chop with commands, the four most useful being 'reset,' 'send current sample,' 'send channel names,' and 'upload.' This is not very far from the ancient Commodore 64 cassette drive. Maybe some of your parents have one in the attic, put there when they had to make room for you.

The point is, once you can make that work for you, the rest is pretty much cake. Watch the video. Afterwards, I'll post some of the code that makes it happen.

Here's the python code for the reset command:

## reset command
def send_reset(fifo):
p = pack('cccc', chr(170), chr(0), chr(170), chr(0))
fifo.write(p)
fifo.flush()

The reset character is 170. We like it so much, we send it twice.

Here's the python code for the 'send current sample'

def send_single_sample(fifo, numchans, val):
cmd_type = 1
num_channels = numchans
vals = val
p = pack('>ii', cmd_type, num_channels )
fifo.write(p)
for i in range(numchans):
v = pack('>f', vals[i])
fifo.write(v)

The '>' character signifies the endian-ness of the data. If any of you have the misfortune to be running Houdini on IRIX, change this to '<.' Tongue firmly in cheek, of course. The 'ii' is part of the 'struct' module in python that formats the data as in, two integers, followed by as many floats as there are channels.

Obviously, this is part of a much bigger script, which I'll post as soon as I can figure out where to put it and link to it.

Free Lunch!

2010-01-28T12:10:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's free, one hour Intro to Houdini class provided a great way to get Going Procedural, with beautiful work files from Goncalo Cabaca and great snacks as well! Keep an eye on Side Effects Training for more classes to come.

Look At That!

2010-01-25T11:40:00.000-08:00

Hi all.

My name is John Courte and I'm the senior Houdini Artist at Side Effects Software Los Angeles. I've been using Houdini and a lot of other stuff for a very long time, and now I have the opportunity to share that experience with you, the user community. Whether you're a seasoned Houdini vet (with scars), or a complete noob to CGI, I hope I can share with you some things that will make your days easier and get you home before you get that 'last person to leave the building' feeling.

First one is one I bumped into today, and that's camera lookats and dynamic objects. This is geared more towards a newer user, but i'll pose it as an option for the multi-year guru as well.

Handing off from Objects to DOPs happens in a number of ways, usually by animating something, then telling DOPs to make that something 'active' at a predetermined frame. Let's say you animated a car, and at frame 120, it gets hit by a train, flinging it across the Walmart parking lot and into the row of coin-op bouncy rides. You want to see this action from your camera, because a car going airborne and flying into a Walmart is awesome.

Easy. You just drag the path of the handoff (/obj/car) object from the tree-view into the lookat field of the camera. And then guess what? It doesn't work! The camera looks at the object until the handoff frame, then stops.

OK, well, you're smarter than the average bear, so you go "Aha!" Then you drag the RBD object in question from under /obj/AutoDopNetwork to the lookat field. This time, the camera doesn't even follow the car before the handoff.

This is where the gotcha happens. Instead of /obj/AutoDopNetwork/car, you need to make it /obj/AutoDopNetwork:car. That ONE little ascii character is the difference between simplicity incarnate and a long, drawn-out tea ceremony involving CHOPs, expressions, and a long night of rapidly graying hairs.

If you'd rather your camera just look at a real object, use a Fetch object and reference the dopobject, using the same syntax as the previous example in the lookat.

What if that's not an option, for some reason? Then you pull out the hammer. Create a rivet object and pick a point on /obj/car/dopimport1 or whatever you've called your dopimport SOP. Set the camera to look at the rivet object and you're done.

Full House for Python In Houdini

2010-01-20T09:45:00.000-08:00

Lots of interest in this topic led to a full house for our first class of 2010. Oliver Palmer will be teaching Python in Houdini II tonight to another sell out crowd. For more 2010 workshops (including John Courte's RBD Survival Guide) check out the Side Effects Training page.

Goodbye 2009

2010-01-13T13:33:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! We've had a great wrap up for the last of 2009, Loads of great events, super training through our Santa Monica office, and wonderful customer stories we loved to share with our readers.

Rounding out the year, a few of us went to SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 in Yokohama, Japan. There, Senior Houdini Artist John Courte gave several Houdini technical talks about the workflow in Houdini.

To start off the new year, please check out our latest customer story about the new Clint Eastwood movie, Invictus!

SCAD's Houdini Bootcamp

2009-12-16T11:09:00.000-08:00

Savannah College of Art and Design's Visual Effects faculty signed on for a custom "Houdini Bootcamp" this month and came through with flying colors. Veteran Side Effects trainer Peter Robbinson put the educators through their paces. Kudos to bootcampers Bridget Gaynor, Kenneth Huff, David Kaul, Malcolm Kesson, Joe Pasqual, Stuart Robertson, Clarke Stallworth and John Rauh.

Fall 09 Training Recap

2009-11-25T12:17:00.000-08:00

Wow! 13 classes and 2 bootcamps in 3 months. Time for the Holidays!
Your ideas for 2010 training are welcome. Please contact aliza@sidefx.com.

Houdini and Nuke Synergy

2009-11-25T12:02:00.000-08:00

Brian Burke and Dan LeTarte of Method Studios teamed up to show how Houdini and Nuke can work together to create a highly flexible procedural system. This class filled very quickly and brought up many great areas to explore, so we plan to have another soon.

Training For Trainers

2009-11-25T11:26:00.000-08:00

Side Effects Production Consultant Judith Crow shares her special techniques in this workshop designed to help studio training heads and educators learn how to get their teams and students going procedural in Houdini quickly and effectively.

In the Clouds!

2009-11-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

We've had to keep a really cool thing tight under wraps at Side Effects for the past few months. And now we're allowed to talk about it!

Check out our HQueue Cloud Computing for Artists using the Amazon EC2!

Beta testing has officially begun and we're already getting tons of great input. Make sure you check out the really expansive Userguide on the link above and learn more about it!

Great Houdini 10 Event in UK

2009-11-18T16:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all of you who turned out to see Jeff Wagner and Janet Fraser at the Canadian High Commission on November 17.

We had a great turn out, a great overview on new Houdini 10 Features, and a wonderful presenter, Jacob Clark from Framestore showing off some new work.

Here are a few photos from the event, kindly provided by our friend and FX artist, Alvin Yap.

Janet Fraser, Sr. Account Executive and Jeff Wagner, Snr. Technology Consultant

Jacob Clark, from Framestore London

Janet Fraser talks to local UK users.

Jeff Wagner continues to discuss Houdini 10 with presentation attendees.

Houdini in London on November 17th!

2009-11-11T09:38:00.000-08:00

We will be hosting TWO Houdini Sessions on November 17th in London.

Afternoon Session: 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM

In this session Senior Technology Consultant and Houdini guru Jeff Wagner will cover working with grid based Fluid systems. The various ways of setting up a distributed and up res fluid simulation will be covered. Interaction with fluids and other dynamic objects will be investigated. Advanced concepts like adding advection stages to existing solvers to create custom fluid behaviour are explored and are a good step to understanding how extensible the fluid system is in Houdini. Many particle effects are now driven by volume primitives. Particle advection of various extracted volumes from the fluid simulation will be demonstrated.

Evening Session: 5:30 PM - 9:00 PM

In this session In this session Senior Technology Consultant and Houdini guru Jeff Wagner will be working with grid based Fluid systems. General set up and adding other Dynamic objects that interact with the fluids will be covered.

Many particle effects are now driven by volume primitives. Particle advection of various extracted volumes from the fluid simulation will be demonstrated.

Guest presenter FX Technical Director Jacob Clark will join us to present some examples of the work that Framestore has assembled for the upcoming feature film Prince of Persia. He will demonstrate how Houdini was used to create specific effects within the film pertaining to the "Sandroom" sequence.

For more details on the EVENING session and to register click HERE

** Please remember to use the appropriate link and RSVP for this event as space is limited.

Houdini Boot Camps In Santa Monica

2009-11-10T11:01:00.001-08:00

In our training room, close to the beach, but no laps involved! These pictures show veteran Side Effects trainer, Peter Robbinson, at our September bootcamp. Attendees were from Idaho, Atlanta, Vancouver, Philly and Singapore. Our next bootcamp is next week, a rare class with our senior consultant, Judith Crowe. Keep an eye on sidefx.com for more classes to come.

Triggering Sounds and Virtual Audio Recording

2009-10-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

The house was rockin' with Andrew Lowell as he walked the standing room only crowd through the making of a virtual sound track.

Porsche Spot

2009-10-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

Asylum Visual Effects in Santa Monica just recently wrapped this spot for Porsche.

Millimeter magazine posted a recent story on the spot featuring a few of our friends on the credits list, mainly Zach Tucker - CG Sup.

Lead Technical Designer: Jeff Willette

Effects Animator: Jens Zalzala

Great work guys!

VES Production Summit 09

2009-10-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

A gang of us attended the VES Production Summit last Saturday. It was a great event, attended by several hundred industry members and senior management folk convening to discuss various issues affecting production and post production.

We had several executives from Toronto come join us, including our President and Co-founder, Kim Davidson.

He was also kind enough to give me the photos below, which turned out far better than those taken on my iPhone.

Upcoming Events! October 2009

2009-10-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

A quick post to let you all know about a few upcoming events.

First off, this Saturday the 24th we'll be the Featured Speaker and Luncheon Sponsors for the VES Production Summit 2009.

Come join us to meet and greet a few Side Effects Staff, including our Founder and President, Kim Davidson.

Later next week, we'll be offering a Mantra Class by our ex-wonder intern Brian Burke from Method Studios in the Santa Monica training center.

We look forwarding to seeing you all!

Side Effects looking for a Houdini Trainer in Los Angeles

2009-09-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

The successful candidate for this position will be responsible for specialized effects animation training. Responsibilities include hands-on large and small group classroom presentations of Houdini software tools and techniques.

* Intermediate to advanced experience with Houdini.
* 3+ years experience as a TD specializing in FX production.
* Ability and enthusiasm to develop and conduct training classes.
* Excellent interpersonal and communications skills required.
* A passion for staying up-to-date on latest software versions.
* Committed to education and the visual effects industry.
* Available to travel both domestic and internationally
* Possibility for flexible schedule
* Recent experience using Houdini in production
* Must be based in Los Angeles

DESIRED ADDITIONAL SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

* Training experience for feature film production or broadcast media
* Experience in public speaking for small to large groups
* Working knowledge of at least one other major 3D app
* Familiarity with the curriculum development process
* Experience creating, designing, and maintaining training documentation and tutorials.

Applications should be submitted to recruiting@sidefx.com by e-mail in Word, OpenOffice, PDF, or plain text format. Please add HOUDINI TRAINER to email subject line when responding

While we thank all candidates for applying, only successful candidates will be contacted for an interview.

HOUPLA Presents: Mantra 10

2009-09-24T10:07:00.001-07:00

Thanks for everyone who came out last night to our event in the Santa Monica office. Andrew Clinton had a great time meeting all the users and chatting about new features in Mantra 10.

Also, thanks for those of you who showed me how to properly pour from a keg. It's the little things that seem to matter.

The room was packed, and the corridors filled with people and cups of Fat Tire. A great way to help the local users meet one another, catch up, or explore Houdini for the first time ever.

A few photos from the evening:

Nordin Rahali points at old co-worker from Framestore, Dan Seddon.

James Kirk and Ken Ibrahim in the standing area checking out the presentation.

John Courte (AKA, St John), showing how it's done while spinning the tunes.

R&H TD, Victor Grant reviews Houdini intern Dan Letarte's latest work.

Soaking up the knowledge with a brew :).

** Please let us know if you're interested in teaching any classes in Houdini or doing an Houdini Intern Mentorship program. All inquiries can be sent to Aliza Sorotzkin, aliza@sidefx.com.

Mantra 10 Focus Week

2009-09-21T14:55:00.000-07:00

HOUPLA Presents: Focus on Mantra
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
6:30pm - 9:00pm

Side Effects invites you to join us for an evening with 3D Graphics Programmer, Andrew Clinton and learn about some key feature enhancements (such as IPR and PBR) in Houdini's world class renderer, Mantra version 10.

The evening will follow with refreshments, and music spun by Side Effects' own John Courte, Senior Houdini Artist.

**Space is limited, please RSVP **

Time:

6:30 - 7:00 Registation
7:00 - 7:30 Presentation
7:30 - 9:00 Social Hour and Music

**Also be sure to attend Andrews training class on Thursday, Sept 24 from 7pm - 9pm. Volumetric rendering will be discussed - including an overview of the volumetric rendering pipeline in Mantra, how to render fire and smoke, and optimization techniques for volume renders, and much, much more.**

LA Event: HOUPLA Presents Mantra 10

2009-09-16T13:42:00.000-07:00

We're going to have our developer Andrew Clinton, in charge of Mantra, down from Toronto in a few weeks.

To celebrate, we'll be throwing a small social gather, following his presentation on the latest and greatest in Mantra.

Check out the link to RSVP for this event. Space is limited, so we can't let those not on the list enter.

Also, Andrew will be doing a master class on Volumetrics in Mantra the following day!

Tokyo Roundup - September 2009

2009-09-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

Just got back from our visit with the Houdini users in Tokyo and IndyZone, the Japanese reseller of Houdini for almost 2 years now.

This was my 3rd time going to the Land of the Rising Sun, and John Courte's (Senior Houdini Artist) first.

Our primary purpose there was to meet with several long time clients and to get together with the Houdini Gurus in the area, many of whom were long time devotees and users of Prisms.

We also attended the CEDEC conference in Yokohama as part of the SGI presence. SGI was kind enough to have over all the way from Amsterdam, Paulus Bannink, Lead Technical Director at Guerrilla Games. He was kind enough to re-present his talk at SIGGRAPH 2009 in New Orleans on using Houdini for Games in Killzone 2.

Just wanted to thank everyone who helped organize another wonderful trip while we were there. Especially the folks at SGI for not just our attendance at CEDEC, but hosting the Houdini Usergroup Meeting at the beautiful Yebisu Garden Place, home of SGI.

Here are a few photos of our time in Tokyo:

Hanging out with Daniel Ferreira, now at SEGA Sammy. He helped us build the Houdini 10 Crumpling and tearing tools while working on GI Joe at Digital Domain.

Paulus' presentation at the CEDEC conference in Yokohama.

American tourists in Tokyo. John and I on a photo-taking journey of Yokohama.

SGI slide showing a legacy of machines just before the Houdini Usergroup Meeting at Yebisu Gardens.

Ichiro Tanaka of IndyZone introducing John Courte.

Explaining some new UI enhancements in Houdini 10

Japanese users gather.

After party. Here I am with Abe-san from Square!

Japanese users eating and drinking!

We'll see you again in December Japan, for SIGGRAPH Asia!

Houdini 10 Review on VFX World

2009-08-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

Not sure if you checked this out already, and sorry for the tardy post. But Dean Grubb over at Digital Domain recently wrote a review of Houdini 10 on VFX World.

Thanks for the positive review Dean !

SIGGRAPH 2009 Wrap Up

2009-08-10T15:08:00.001-07:00

Thanks everyone who came to our Education Booth at the show and said hello! We had a great turn out for Go Procedural t-shirts and Learning DVDs.

Here are a few pictures of our week at SIGGRAPH in NOLA this year.

Having drinks with Rhythm & Hues (Mark Elendt, David Horsely, Lucio Flores, Jeff Lait). These guys did a great technical talk on "Land of the Lost".

Houdini and Side Effects sponsor Thursday's SIGGRAPH Reception at Mardi Gras World.

Side Effects Team: Richard Hamel, Peter Robbinson, Aliza Sorotzkin, Jeff Wagner, Janet Fraser, Leyla Tirgari

See you in New Orleans!

2009-07-29T15:13:00.000-07:00

We'll be at SIGGRAPH 2009 soon and promoting Houdini Education at our booth.

Even though we won't be doing any public presentations ourselves, do check out some stuff from our clients!

Our friends at Rhythm & Hues, Lucio Flores and David Horsely will present on using Distributed Sims on "Land of the Lost"

Guerilla Games' Paulus Bannink talks about how to use Houdini in Games Pipeline (as done in Killzone 2).

Houdini at 50% off!

2009-07-16T10:32:00.001-07:00

We don't do them that often, so take a look at the promotion we have going for Master licenses right now!

GO|Procedural and save 50% on a Master Bundle where you get one year AUP included!

wall flowers

2009-07-10T10:33:00.001-07:00

Once again, we've been surprised by a new way of using Houdini. This game never gets old, really.

Handmade Wallpaper done by Alex Stephan based in Toronto. Here's a little blurb about how it's all done, but you can't get too technical with everyone :).

Houdini Education at SIGGRAPH 2009

2009-07-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

Join us this SIGGRAPH in New Orleans at our Houdini Education Booth!

We'll also be sponsoring the Thursday reception, so we hope to see you all there!

You can contact us for personal demonstrations or meetings through community@sidefx.com.

See you all there :)

Transformers and Houdini Mentions from DD

2009-07-02T09:43:00.000-07:00

Matthew Butler, a long time Houdini user and VFX Supervisor at Digital Domain has been mentioned in today's LA Times!

No green screen or motion capture was used when shooting actress Isabel Lucas. But it took seven months for a team of 20 to create countless layers of effects, devised with complex equations and meticulous rendering with the software Houdini to create the six-second shot.

An even more in-depth look here on the LA Times Blog!

Nice work Matthew!

More nerdery can be found in Millimeter here from Paul Palop.

“I think we did 30,000 CG ball bearings,” Palop say. “We had to develop a crowd system in [Side Effects Software] Houdini to be able to control their behaviors. Houdini can assign a charge to a particle and you can set up rules that define how that charge changes over time depending on what’s happening around it. We could define, based on the reference from Michael’s photography, what these guys needed to do to make it to seem like they had some level of intellect. The approach we took was to simulate particles, give them a behavior, and stamp prebaked animation cycles from our library onto those particles. Our system chooses—depending on the action required—which animation cycles we would stamp on the particles.”

Special thanks to Tim Enstice over at DD for giving us props :)

Terminator Salvation Case Study Posted

2009-06-30T20:50:00.001-07:00

Check out the great case study on Terminator Salvation recently posted on the Houdini site!

Great thanks to Asylum Visual Effects for helping us bring public the great techniques utilized through Houdini to make a great FX film.

PS: Trivia for you kids out there. John Courte, recently hired as our LA based Senior Houdini artist just recently wrapped at Asylum before joining us back in March!

John Courte, Jeff Lait, Jenny Blacklock, Silvinna Rocca, and Martin Sawtell at the Side Effects headquarters office in Toronto.

New York Pics and event highlights

2009-06-22T08:02:00.001-07:00

Thanks to everyone for coming out during the rain for our Houdini 10 Launch at NYU's Cantor Theater!

Spencer Lueders, FX TD, did a wonderful presentation on the Framestore NY Pepsi spot below:

Then Andy Boyd, Head of 3D at Method LA, showed us his latest commercial work and highlighted uses of Mantra's PBR.

Then Jeff showed the crowd the newest things in Houdini 10.

Later, we all enjoyed a drink at the reception down the street.

(Andy Boyd and Jeff Wagner)

(Janet Fraser and Andy Boyd)

(Spencer Lueders and David Mellor from Framestore, me from Side Effects)

NYC Houdini 10 Reception Location announced!

2009-06-12T09:52:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone, I just wanted to make you all aware of the location we're holding our cocktail reception at for the Houdini 10 New Launch event!

After our presentaion, please join us at Bar 13's rooftop for some drinks and bites from 9pm to 11 pm.

Please note, this portion of the event is 21 and over only and you will be ID'd at the door.

See you all there!

NEW YORK EVENT: June 18th

2009-06-04T15:23:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone in the NYC area, we're happy to announce an event at the NYU Cantor Theater on Thursday, June 18th!

DETAILS:

Thursday, June 18, 2009
6:30pm-10:00pm

With the recent announcement of Houdini 10, Side Effects is pleased to announce a special presentation at NYU's Cantor Film Center on Thursday, June 18th. Houdini 10 is designed to make artists more productive while equipping studios with the most powerful tools in the industry.

The evening begins with two presentations by Houdini artists Spencer Lueders, Technical Director from Framestore NYC and Andy Boyd, Head of 3D from Method Studios in LA. They both have some amazing work to show you along with a look behind the scenes.

Next is an overview of Houdini 10 which will take you through new features such as Pyro FX, distributed simulations, crumpling and tearing, Progressive IPR, Motion FX and Stereoscopic 3D. This is a feature-rich release and there will be a lot of info packed into the presentation.

There will be a draw for a license of Houdini Apprentice HD followed by a cocktail reception at a soon-to-be revealed location.

Come on down and learn what Houdini can do for you!

Agenda:
6:30 - 7:00 p.m. Registration
7:00 - 8:00 p.m. Framestore/Method Presentations
8:00 - 8:45 p.m. Houdini 10 Overview
8:45 - 9:00 p.m. Houdini Apprentice HD Drawings
9:00 - 10:00 p.m. Cocktail Reception (location TBD)

Location:

Cantor Film Center
Theater 101
36 East 8th Street
NY, NY 10003

This event is by RSVP only, so please register on the event page here.

And while we're mentioning Framestore ... please check out the Fireflies Ride benefiting Leuka and their Leukaemia work. Don't forget to support our Framestore friends Dave and Kevin and donate to a great effort.

EVENT: Toronto Technical Evening on Crumpling and Tearing

2009-06-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

Come join us in Toronto this week :)

Crumpling and Tearing in Houdini 10
Thursday, June 4th, 2009
7:00pm - 9:00pm

This technical evening will cover the new crumpling and tearing features that are available in Houdini 10's physically-based cloth solver. These include support for plastic deformation, dynamic tearing and changing topologies. The presentation will include direction on basic workflows, and fundamental physical properties of cloth objects. Many of these concepts will be supported by working example videos including smashing cars, cutting fabric and collapsing buildings! Presenters for this event will be Side Effects Developer Michiel Hagedoorn, and Side Effects intern Martin Sawtell.

Come along for an informal and interactive evening to see what Houdini 10's cloth simulations tools have to offer.

The evening will conclude with refreshments.

Please register on the event page here.

Freelancer wanted for Motion Graphics design company

2009-05-29T12:55:00.001-07:00

Must have at least 3 years experience and be familiar with:

-Particles and dynamics
-Voxel and particle fluids
-VOPs
-Mantra shaders/rendering
-Digital asset creation and management
-Basic rigging skills
-Workflow between other apps (such as Maya or Cinema 4D)
- Scripting knowledge a plus but not necessary.

Serious applicants with showreels only need apply.

Please submit resume and reel to design@prologue.com

Jeff Wagner Presentation at FMX - Lighting and Rendering in H10

2009-05-07T08:21:00.001-07:00

Just a quick post to show you the most recently published video of Jeff's Fire and Smoke presentation from yesterday.

Once again, sorry for the TERRIBLE video quality and editing. Still nice to hear him talk a bit and show some new stuff from Houdini 10.

Thanks for all those who attended :)

Fire and Smoke in Houdini 10 at FMX 2009 from Houdini Nerd on Vimeo.

Axis Animation and BlackMountain VFX presentations at FMX|09

2009-05-07T05:22:00.000-07:00

First day presentations are up on Vimeo. Please pardon the lack of proper lighting, editing, and all other things you serious quality control visualists normally have. Remember now, I recorded on my clunky Canon SD and edited in iMovie ... ON THE FLY.

Axis Animation Houdini Presentation at FMX 2009 from Houdini Nerd on Vimeo.

BlackMountain VFX Houdini presentation at FMX 2009 from Houdini Nerd on Vimeo.

FMX Day 1

2009-05-05T03:55:00.000-07:00

Hey ... this place is pretty nice. If you're looking for chez Houdini on the show floor, come by List.Saal 2.3.

That's German for Exhibit booth (ich denke), but we're right next to the Autodesk, ;).

As you come in, we'll be on the left of the main double doors.

Today, we're having our clients from Axis Animation and BlackMountainVFX present on using Houdini at their facilities.

Workshop: Houdini in Production
Tuesday, May 5th
17:00 - 18:00 in Raum Reutlingen
Instructor: Jeff Wagner, Senior Technology Consultant, Side Effects Software

Black Mountain VFX and Axis Animation share their local experiences in Europe with Houdini.
Join us for an hour long presentation and gathering to discuss how Houdini has been implemented and leveraged to create ground breaking 3D animation at two local European companies; BlackMountain VFX in Stuttgart, Germany and Axis Animation, in Glasgow, Scotland.
Houdini artists and production managers will share what made Houdini an efficient and integral part of their pipelines, and be available for a casual Q&A session. This workshop is a great opportunity for 3D artists to learn about Houdini recruitment around the world as well from the SESI team.

BTW - you can follow our FMX Tweets at the new Houdininerd Twitter page (http://twitter.com/houdininerd)

**Please remember to contact Janet Fraser if you want a private meeting set up while we're in town. Her UK mobile number is +0 44 7946 01933 (janet@sidefx.com).

Houdini 10 Launch Event in Tokyo!

2009-04-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

Our friends over at IndyZone (our Japanese Reseller) are throwing an event in Tokyo on April 27th.

Please check out their blog for the event details for the launch of Houdini 10 in Japan!

Houdini 10 is OUT!

2009-04-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome our newest baby, Houdini 10 is now out for public download.

Here's a video overview of the new key features on the Houdini 10 Launch SideFx page!

Don't forget to give us any feedback on the forums or Support if you are currently on AUP.

Side Effects at FMX 2009

2009-04-08T13:33:00.000-07:00

Side Effects is pleased to announce its participation at FMX 2009 in Stuttgart, Germany.

The conference dates are from May 5 - May 8, and we will be present all four days, running 3 workshops and available to demo from our booth , 2.3 List.Saal.

Below is a listing of all the Houdini workshops, but please feel free to book a private demo or discussion in advance with Janet Fraser, Senior Account Executive (janet@sidefx.com).

We look forward to seeing you!

(FMX 2008 with Jeff Wagner, Janet Fraser, and me)

(Jeff Wagner teaching a workshop last year)

WORKSHOPS:

Tuesday May 05
17:00 - 18:00
Raum Reutlingen

Black Mountain VFX and Axis Animation share their local experiences in Europe with Houdini.

Join us for an hour long presentation and gathering to discuss how Houdini has been implemented and leveraged to create ground breaking 3D animation at two local European companies; BlackMountain VFX in Stuttgart, Germany and Axis Animation, in Glasgow, Scotland.

Houdini artists and production managers will share what made Houdini an efficient and integral part of their pipelines, and be available for a casual Q&A session. This workshop is a great opportunity for 3D artists to learn about Houdini recruitment around the world as well from the SESI team.

Wednesday May 06
18:00 - 19:00
Raum Reutlingen

Fire and Smoke in Houdini 10
Jeff Wagner, Senior Technology Consultant, Side Effects Software, www.sidefx.com

In this presentation, Jeff Wagner demonstrates recent advances in the creation of realistic fire and smoke using Houdini 10’s new Pyro tools. Bringing together an artist-friendly interface, production-ready shaders and the ability to distribute fluid simulations over the farm, Jeff will show how Houdini 10 is a must-have for VFX artists serious about their craft.

Jeff Wagner has been an integral part of the technical support department for over fourteen years and has amassed a wealth of knowledge about Houdini. Wagner has consulted on numerous visual effects and CG feature work and often travels the world teaching people about Houdini's procedural way of working.

Thursday May 07
16:00 - 17:00
Raum Reutlingen

Lighting and Rendering in Houdini 10
Jeff Wagner, Senior Technology Consultant, Side Effects Software, www.sidefx.com

In this presentation, Jeff Wagner demonstrates recent advances in lighting and rendering found in Houdini 10. Jeff starts with the new progressive Interactive Photorealistic Rendering (IPR) tools, then moves on to new advances in Physically-based rendering (PBR), production-grade render pass workflows and the addition of Stereoscopic rendering, Jeff shows you how Houdini 10 helps you become more productive while achieving the highest-quality renderings.

Jeff Wagner has been an integral part of the technical support department for over fourteen years and has amassed a wealth of knowledge about Houdini. Wagner has consulted on numerous visual effects and CG feature work and often travels the world teaching people about Houdini's procedural way of working.

(complete schedule for FMX can be found here)

Sincerely,
Side Effects FMX Team

interesting Houdini projects - April 2009

2009-04-06T10:28:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to post some work on here that used Houdini but not in the traditional big Hollywood blockbuster ways.

Here's a project done in Montreal for a low-budget, multi-media, one-man adaptation of Paradise Lost.

If anyone is in Montreal around April 12, you should go check it out!

Jed Schwartz Productions in New Hamshire recently did some beautiful earth-map shots locating Chytrid fungus and regions of frog declination in this interesting PBS program called "The Thin Green Line".

Thanks Jed for letting us know!

Monsters vs. Aliens story

2009-03-31T11:05:00.000-07:00

DreamWorks Animation released Monsters vs. Aliens last week. Box office earnings were quite good, reporting a $60M opener last weekend for the film.

And yes, Houdini was a part of the technology utilized. Take a look at our most recent customer story which talks about the usage of Houdini at DreamWorks!

The LA Office Opens House!

2009-03-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to our local LA community for coming out to the Side Effects Open House to see our new digs!

Here are a few pics of the space we now reside in ... filled with terrific people we like to keep around :).

(the long corridor between our kitchen and training room, looking down to our staff offices)

(our lobby entrance with art provided by Kevin Mack)

(front: Kim Davidson talking to Houdini artist John Courte, back: Greg Hermanovic)

(David Robert , Account Manager in SF - dangerously walking past more sweets)

(Moylene & Andy Boyd, Producer and 3D Head at Method with me saying goodbye and come again!)

Customer Highlight: Loki Visual Effects

2009-03-26T14:16:00.000-07:00

Check out the amazing work our clients up in Toronto did using Houdini 10 fluids. Who said using beta in production was a bad idea?

Full Press Release
Watch "WenJun".

Toronto’s Loki Visual Effects combine 1000fps Phantom footage with pristine CG for a LVMH Group (Moet Chandon Hennessy) concoction called WenJun. And just in case you think the 3D liquid is all just stylish refraction – according to legend, Chinese poet Sima Xiangru was totally smitten with the widowed lady Zhou Wenjun but afraid to reveal his love. So the poet went down to the lake and played his guqin (a form of zither) so beautifully it caused the water to rise up in fanciful shapes. Agency: Bravo Asia, Director/Cameraman: Steve Gordon @ Sons & Daughters, Production Company: Cheers Films, Shanghai, VFX: Loki Visual Effects, Editor: Bob Kennedy @ Rooster, Music: Mike De Eyre @ Tin Pan.

Framestore UK Hiring!

2009-03-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

Our longtime customer and friends over at Framestore in London are currently recruiting some Houdini FX TDs.

If you're interested, please contact ben.owen@framestore.com or look at http://careers.framestore.com/ for more information.

Also, Janet Fraser, Senior Account Executive and account manager to Framestore is available at janet@sidefx.com.

Weekly News - March 24, 2009

2009-03-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

WE'RE HIRING!

We at Side Effects Software are currently looking for a Houdini evangelist, to work full time out of our Santa Monica offices, in California. The essence of the role is to meet with our prospective and existing customers to explain and demonstrate Houdini’s capabilities and strengths as they pertain to the production environment. Sometimes this takes place in small group meetings. It can also involve presenting to large 3D community groups. Most of interactions will take place in LA, and as such we are looking to hire someone who is already based within commute distance of Santa Monica. This person will be working very closely with the locally-based Account Manager, who will be driving the priorities.

If you are well versed in CG production and understand pipelines, enjoy and can explain technical concepts easily, and are a big fan of Houdini, this opportunity may be of interest to you. Apart from working with a great group of people, this is a stimulating role combining the visually creative with industry-leading technology and the business of production, without the demanding overtime that is so commonly found in production. Your knowledge of Houdini will grow measurably, and your understanding of CG production will be honed by a wide variety of artists and management from the “A-list” of Hollywood film studios and the cutting-edge visual effects boutiques.

Side Effects Software is one of the pioneers in the field of 3D animation and visual effects. Our software has been used in more than 300 feature films and has twice been formally recognized by the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences. The company’s success comes largely from its employees who are bright, thoughtful, and passionate about what they do. As an independently owned company, we foster a culture of innovation and long-standing customer relationships. We’re dedicated to making the best products to help our customers deliver superb digital content.

If you have the desired skills and experience for this position and are interested in applying please send your resume, with reference to Houdini Evangelist – Santa Monica, to recruiting@sidefx.com for consideration.

We want to fill this opening as soon as possible therefore we are only considering candidates who have permission to work in the US.

Only successful candidates will be contacted for an interview.

Peter Robbinson visits Singapore and China!

2009-03-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

Our Senior Houdini Instructor, Peter Robbinson went on a whirlwind visit with our Asia Pacific Rep TK Ng to train classrooms in Singapore and China a few weeks ago. Here are a few highlights from his time at Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP ), where SESI has an Asia Pacific Headquarters in Singapore and Crystal Institute of Digital Education in Beijing, China.

Peter on his first day of training at NYP:

.... I focus on two main themes, the procedural workflow and how data is handled and shared thorough out houdini. The later point is not something that can be appreciated right away but needs to be upfront right from the beginning; "why are there different editors...". The data structure and hip files are essential elements that explain channel referencing and de-mystifies the syntax. Proceduralism is a bit harder to grasp at first, but they do see the potential and it usually stimulates quite a bit of "what if I want to ..." questions. Here's a quick panorama of the classroom, with the teachers on the left and in the center and some of the students who will be travelling to the LA office to become interns. TK is standing, in the blue shirt, on the left.

Peter with the ITE School of IT & Electronics and their staff:

The director of the school is on the right, Ms. Yeo Sock Tin, the young woman in the center with the white shirt is Ms. Zhou Yi Nan (she took my course last week) and teaches game programming. The young woman in the black dress is Ivy Liong Choi Yin is the Section Head of this department (oh my god I'm getting old), and the woman on the left is Ms. Wong Kim Booey, the Course Manager. The Director is very keen on adding Houdini to their curriculum and certianly Ms. Zhou did well in my class.

Peter arrives in Beijing and teaches at Crystal Institute:

I could already tell by the energy in the classroom and the attendance that this training session was going to be a good one. My worries about language problems were also dispelled. Many in the class, more or less, could follow along with my talk and TK was doing a great job with translation. He used a dictionary on his Ipod to help with words he was not familiar with and referred to the class for their examples.

Thanks Peter and TK for bringing some Houdini skills to Asia Pacific :)

Peter Robinson - Senior Trainer
TK Ng - Asia Pacific Houdini Rep (TK@sidefx.com)

Kim responds to the CG Genie Support Survey

2009-03-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

A few weeks back someone from CG Genie posted an interested survey and article on the state of maintenance and support from various 3D applications.

We were very happy to come out with such results and feedback with satisfied customers and users, and we thanked our community for their continued support.

As a follow up, the author of this article decided to do a brief interview with our President, Kim Davidson.

A note from our Prez

2009-03-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

Kim Davidson posted a great blog today about Houdini turning 10. There are some great videos there as well to check out about new H10 features!

fan mail

2009-03-12T11:36:00.001-07:00

We get a lot of interesting mail sent to us at Side Effects. While most is pretty generic, every once in a while a great piece of fan mail comes in that makes us smile. Thought I would share one from someone I'll keep anonymous.

I love you guys. Seriously. (I'm not intoxicated.) Your software kicks
ass, but it's the small things that count...

You provide emails without having to resort to using 350 image slices
or 95 HTML tables. You provide intelligent hyperlinks which contain
the URL in your emails instead of the usual "click here". You provide
cryptographic checkums for file downloads. You don't spam the hell out
of me. Your file links are actual file links, rather than JavaScript
wrappers which would prevent the usage of GNU wget(1) or BSD fetch(1).
You don't use the exclamation character in extraneous ways like most
companies, e.g: "New Product!!!!!!" You guys know the correct way to
use an apostrophe. (You'd be surprised.) You provide daily software
builds. Your website isn't, last time I checked, caked with the latest
industry buzzwords like "technology" or "2.0". You provide packages of
your software for non-officially-supported platforms. Your hyperlinks
work without JavaScript.

I have no corporate agenda. I'm not sucking-up for free gifts. It's
just nice to see that there are companies who don't completely ruin
even the simplest things.

Autodesk killed Maya PLE. I'm jumping ship.

Houdini in the Watchmen

2009-03-10T09:55:00.000-07:00

Watchmen opened this weekend in the box office at $55 million.

We've posted a terrific story on this on our homepage explaining how Intelligent Creatures used Houdini on the project.

CGSociety also did an article explaining how long time Houdini customer Sony Pictures Imageworks did the Glass Palace.

“Once we got that idea, we found we could procedurally animate them, instead of using traditional keyframe animation,” explains Travers. “We relied heavily on Houdini for the Glass Palace. It was easy to do two rings intertwining; but as soon as you add a third ring and a fourth ring it got more complicated, and when a fifth was introduced, the math just got crazy.”

Weekly News - March 5, 2009

2009-03-05T09:44:00.000-08:00

Weekly News for the Houdini Community

SHOUT OUT: A thanks to Craig Zerouni who recently posted a story in 3DWorld Magazine talking about Side Effects in light of the recent Softimage purchase - predicting we'll be around for a long time. (I'd provide a link, but they're not on the web yet). Look for it in Issue 113 for the month of February titled "Standing Up to Goliath" on page 31.

MORE GALLERY: Check out the nice student work being produced and posted over at OdForce.

HIRING HELP: A local boutique here in Los Angeles is looking for a Houdini Fur artists. Please contact community@sidefx.com if you're interested.

Houdini use at Guerilla Games

2009-03-04T09:51:00.000-08:00

We just posted a great story on how Houdini was used on Killzone 2 at Guerilla Games in Holland.

Check it out!

Coraline story on Side Effects site

2009-02-26T12:14:00.000-08:00

We just posted a great story about how Houdini was used in the almost entirely hand made stop motion project Coraline at LAIKA in Portland.

Great job to the LAIKA team and big thanks for helping us get this story out for the Houdini Community!

Side Effects visits Mumbai and Pune India!

2009-02-25T14:13:00.000-08:00

Janet Fraser, Senior Account Executive from our Toronto office headed over to India a few weeks back with Jeff Wagner, Senior Technology Consultant and Richard Hamel, VP of Sales and Marketing.

(Richard, Janet and Jeff in India with the official red dot welcome)

They made it out to FICCI Frames 2009 in Mumbai on a trade mission with the Canadian government. At FICCI, Side Effects met with a number of studios and schools and were able to rub shoulders with some famous Bollywood stars and directors.

(Jeff and Janet at the FICCI Frames Ontario Booth)

(the SESI team with Part of the Canadian trade commission in front of the Taj)

Later, the SESI team traveled to Pune and met wtih the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce where they were invited to local studios and schools to present to and talk with Jeff Wagner.

(Janet and Jeff at Phoebus in Pune)

We hope to further help with education and training at studios in India.

thank YOU for the support

2009-02-24T09:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday an interesting link was getting passed around online and through IM conversations virally. Imagine our excitement when we found our name mentioned all over it!

The CG Community Survey for Upgrades in 09 mentioned Houdini and Side Effects as one of the better providers of technical support and maintenance amongst its sample size of prevalent 3D animation tools.

Hey now allow us to thank YOU our users and customers for being so open and favorable in your kind words about Houdini and Side Effects!

**minor typo:

XSI: The fact that daily builds are available, and the support staff is almost perfect, makes Houdini a great value. Even though annual support seems pricey, it is worth being able to contact SideFX any time with questions, and have access to major releases, not just daily, minor updates and bug fixes (which they're constantly working on!)

Slight company name overlook ;). But kudos to all the developers who work diligently to provide those daily builds and the Support staff who are so reactive to customer needs!

Great win for the DD Bacardi Sundance team!

2009-02-23T10:15:00.000-08:00

(Charles-Felix, Nikos, and Phillip from Digital Domain pose with their statue)

David Robert and I attended the 7th Annual VES Awards this past Saturday. It was a great chance to see our nominated Houdini artists and support them at such a wonderful event.

Congratulations to Digital Domain's Bacardi Sundance team for their win of Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial!

Nikos Kalaitzidis, Zsolt Kajcsik, Phillip Prahal, Charles-Felix Chambert, Alex Thiesen, Jay Burton.

(Zsolt Kajcsik )

(With Nikos and Phillip after their win)

cmiVFX releases new DVD

2009-02-19T11:15:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to let you all know that cmiVFX has added yet another Houdini Tutorial DVD to their arsenal of learning tools.

We've posted an article on our homepage describing the curriculum and outline of the course that you might find handy.

Please visit www.cmivfx.com for more information!

Congratulations to all the VES nominated Houdini folks!

2009-02-18T13:44:00.000-08:00

We'd like to announce that we are very proud of the following artists for their nominations at the 7th Annual Visual Effects Awards!

(please note: we have only mentioned names we are familiar with and know from the community. If you are a nominee in the Houdini community, we'd love to hear what project you worked on! Feel free to comment or write to community@sidefx.com)

Andy Boyd from Method Studios
Christoph Amman from Double Negative
Dan Seddon from Framestore London
David Mellor from Framestore NYC
David Hulin from Framestore NYC
Nikos Kalaitzidis form Digital Domain
Jack Zaloga from Method Studios
Jason Iversen from Rhythm & Hues
Sho Hasegawa from Rhythm & Hues
Spencer Lueders from Framestore NYC
Zsolt Krajcsik from Digital Domain

David Robert (Account Manager for the Bay Area) and myself will be attending this year's ceremony to help support our users. Look for us in formal attire, and let's have a toast!

Stephen Tucker in LA

2009-02-17T12:01:00.000-08:00

We have another visitor in LA from the great North (our Toronto office).

(Stephen Tucker and I posing for the blog)

Stephen did a fantastic Fluids tutorial a few months back, if you're interested see his infamous Shattered Glass work on the Side Effects Gallery.

Please remember to join Stephen and us up for a drink this Thursday at the HOUPLA Meetup in Los Angeles if you're around.

He will also be teaching a Workshop on Saturday, Intro to Variables + Expressions.

Local Event: Toronto

2009-02-12T12:49:00.000-08:00

(Janet Fraser and some Houdini peeps at the Overdraught in Toronto)

If you're in the Toronto area don't forget to go meet up with the local Houdini Community with THUG at Overdraught restaurant!

date: Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
time: starting at 6pm EST
place: Overdraught restaurant and pub

156 Front Street West
Toronto, ON M5J 2L6, Canada
(416) 408-3925
map

Please note: A few key members of the Side Effects Staff are currently in India with FICCI Frames. Please contact us at community@sidefx.com if you'd like to organize a meeting.

Welcome to the Houdini Community Blog!

2009-02-10T12:03:00.000-08:00

(from left to right: Georg Duemlein, Richard Hamel, Matt Welker, Rob Vinluan, Rachael Campbell, Cristin Barghiel, Leyla Tirgari, Jeff Lait, Graham Clark)

This is a place where the community of Houdini users can turn to see frequently updated information and links on all things related to Houdini software and the artists in the community using it.

Please check back regularly or subscribe to the feed to keep up with Side Effects events and participation in your local communities of interest.

If you have any information, news or links you'd like to submit for this blog, please contact community@sidefx.com.