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View Full Version : Houdini versus dedicated 3d apps

^Abe^
06-16-2005, 05:27 AM
I'm curious, do you think it would be a better to use programs that have a quick workflow for modeling and animation (like Zbrush and Messiah) and then port what you've made into Houdini or that it would be better to do everything in Houdini thus making it easy to change things later.

I'm wondering because I want to make my own indepedant projects but I'm not sure which would be a better trade off. Quick but harder to change or slow but easier to change later on.

The reason I'm wondering this is because I figure if I want to use Houdini for everything I should just leave Zbrush and Messiah out of the picture and focus on learning Houdini really, really well. That way I'll eventually be able to do things reasonably fast in Houdini.

I can't figure out which would be the better trade off.
pnoland
06-16-2005, 11:25 AM
There really is no right way of doing it. Your workflow is your workflow so really you'll have to experiment and see what works best for you. Try using the free version of Houdini for a while and see how you like the modeling tools and animation tools. Then use the demos of some programs and just see what tools click with you. Zbrush is something that I feel every seriuos modeler needs to have...It's amazing for detailing/texturing models or just modeling from scratch so eventually that's an app you will definatly want to look into. Houdini seems like a powerfull application when it comes to particle effects but I'm not sure how it's modeling and animation tools compare to other packages...
vrljc
06-16-2005, 08:08 PM
If you are quicker and more efficient at modeling/displacing in Zbrush or Messiah, keep using those packages. If for some reason you need to integrate those models into Houdini to do some prodedural work such as particles, you can always bring those into Houdini through a file SOP. I have found Houdini to work well with at least Maya and Lightwave.

As long as you can export .obj poly objects outa ur package, you are all set to incorporate them into Houdini. You can also move camera data between Houdini and Maya and Lightwave as well.

-jon
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06-16-2005, 08:08 PM
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