Houdini Apprentice HD: No More Watermark!!

[Ollarin]

*Drool*

Whoa...Awesome move by Houdini. This will definetely bring in a lot more Houdini Artists in the future! :D

[oktawu]

let me say this out loud.
WOW.
now thats a brilliant initiative. wish the others did the same. (one can only dream).
in a business soaked industry like this one such moves are rare and scarce.

again congrats guys!

[Venkman]

HOLY SMOKES.

Looks like Side Effects threw down the guantlet. That appeals directly to someone like me.

[Ollarin]

Hmm...I was thinking. Would this mean we'll get the Houdini forums back here on CGS? (It was here for a month, and then removed. About 2 years ago. )

[-Sai-]

SESI got my money.This is a real deal for a guy like me who like to do presonal project.

[benytone]

best news of the year ^^
(houdini only need support of fbx ...:D houdini -> cinema4d / cinema4d -> houdini)




.

[ngrava]

Okay this is pretty cool. But do you think you could make a version for Mac now? Please make a version for OSX. Thanks!

[ColinCohen]

Truly excellent deal.

Do you get access to HDK with this version?

[inguatu]

Okay this is pretty cool. But do you think you could make a version for Mac now? Please make a version for OSX. Thanks!

alll the cool kids dual boot

[arctor]

Truly excellent deal.

Do you get access to HDK with this version?

I'll just say yes...
Apprentice HD is the same as Apprentice in almost every way...
here are the FAQ's for both >
Apprentice FAQ:
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=141&Itemid=246

Apprentice HD FAQ:
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=146&Itemid=267

[icedeyes]

ordering as i am typing... cool move SESI :thumbsup:

[JamesMK]

What a brilliant move.

This is going to be extremely hard to resist...

[IanBlackford]

incredible move sidefx :buttrock:

yet another amazing annoucement. can't see many reasons as to why people won't just snap this up.

it will be very interesting now to see how many people do indeed get on board and in turn how the community will evolve...

interesting times.
regards

[mummey]

alll the cool kids dual boot

Actually, the 'kool' kids use VM's or API translation.

This is going to be extremely hard to resist...

Hmm... Houdini renders without the watermark... or a Keg of Hefeweisen... (ponders.)

[ThirdEye]

Actually, the 'kool' kids use VM's or API translation.

yeah, and the zkool ones use parallels

[JamesMK]

Hmm... Houdini renders without the watermark... or a Keg of Hefeweisen... (ponders.)

OK, it's admittedly a tough call... But I've already had a couple of Staropramen. So... it's a no-brainer.

[ngrava]

yeah, and the zkool ones use parallels

Oh pooh! I'm neither cool, nor kool and especially not zkool. So all I can do is wait until SESI figures it out. ;)

I really do wonder what the issue is. I happen to do little Mac development now and then and I'm constantly having to compile things that where written for Linux in OSX. Just about anything that will compile under BSD will work on OSX and nost of what compiles under BSD also compiles under Linux. I'll admit that it's not always possible but you might be surprise what will just what will compile and run. You usually have to run down a bunch of dependencies in order to compile but once you get most of that stuff on your system it becomes a lot easer to do.

Now, from the looks of it, Houdini seems very linux centric. even on windows. You can see it in things like file dialogs and OS related things and how the GUI seems like a custom cross platform library. This makes it a lot easer to port. Unlike Softimage, where they have basically re-written most of their old Unix code using windows specific libraries. So much so that they actually have to use a windows translation layer in order to port to linux. In their case, I can totally understyand why you wont be seeing an OSX version of XSI any time soon. But for SESI, I really don't think this is the case. But, I could be wrong of course. ;) Do any of you CORE guys know what the real deal is? It would be nice just to know. :)

[ngrava]

Sorry, double Post!

[ngrava]

EEK! triple Post!

[DimitrisLiatsos]

Didn't resist ..not even a sec...payed ...downloading...getting ready my coffee to play...

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :bounce:

[bluecanvas]

Brilliant move. Kudos to SideFX for doing this.

[SoulVector]

This is damn cool, actually WOW! And from seeing that developing better interoperability with other apps is a high priority now this is a really smart move.

Just crazy :D

[Cronholio]

I really do wonder what the issue is. I happen to do little Mac development now and then and I'm constantly having to compile things that where written for Linux in OSX. Just about anything that will compile under BSD will work on OSX and nost of what compiles under BSD also compiles under Linux. I'll admit that it's not always possible but you might be surprise what will just what will compile and run. You usually have to run down a bunch of dependencies in order to compile but once you get most of that stuff on your system it becomes a lot easer to do.

But for SESI, I really don't think this is the case. But, I could be wrong of course. ;) Do any of you CORE guys know what the real deal is? It would be nice just to know. :)

I'm sure SideFX isn't opposed to doing an OSX version. They supported Solaris and Irix much much longer than was probably necessary. In this case though, unlike most of the applications you are dealing with, it's not going to be a simple recompile and run. Even if the libraries used are completely cross platform and compile cleanly on OSX there's the issue of getting it to run well and proper which would be difficult considering many Macs run sub par video hardware for this application and Apple's video drivers generally don't perform anywhere near as well as their Win/Lin counterparts. Supporting the OSX port could be a substantial undertaking and I doubt SideFX will do it unless a significant portion of their customers ask for it.

[vbvcvj]

Great news, thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

[Fede]

Wow this is awesome. looking forward to it.

Any recommendations for some DVD based training?

[unchikun]

Terrific!!! Excellent move.

Regarding OSX, please focus development on improving the software rather than doing a laborious port.

Going through a bunch of houdini tutorials is making my head spin but the versatility that no other package has is very evident.

[ngrava]

I'm sure SideFX isn't opposed to doing an OSX version. They supported Solaris and Irix much much longer than was probably necessary. In this case though, unlike most of the applications you are dealing with, it's not going to be a simple recompile and run. Even if the libraries used are completely cross platform and compile cleanly on OSX there's the issue of getting it to run well and proper which would be difficult considering many Macs run sub par video hardware for this application and Apple's video drivers generally don't perform anywhere near as well as their Win/Lin counterparts. Supporting the OSX port could be a substantial undertaking and I doubt SideFX will do it unless a significant portion of their customers ask for it.

Well, maybe you're speeking from expireience but to me, the issues with Graphics hardware/drivers on Mac, aren't any issue that I've seen. All the Mac's that I have used (running OSX) have either Nvidia or ATI cards in them and perform just as well as comprible cards in Windows. At the studio where I used to work, we ran Maya on Mac's and PC's and I never really noticed a difference GL speed. Actually, I can't really think of any way that Mac's could be seen as lacking graphics power more then PC's unless you are talking about Games where the support for pixel shading isn't that great. But, that's games. And Don't get me started with driver support in Linux. ;) I mean, really. ATI under Linux was a nightmare last time I tried. :D

Anyway, my point is just that I hope that's not as much of an issue as you make it out to be. And lastly, I'm sure you're right that they probably won't make a move without some paying customers demanding an OSX port. It's a shame really because I can't really see that happening. Most studios that I know of that use Houdini do it on custom Linux/PC boxes. Althought I do know a few people in Hollywood that "wish" they could do it all on Mac, they truth of the matter is that most jobs just don't pay enough to warrant buying up 20+ Mac's when you can hand build 35 Linux/win PC's. :)

[inguatu]

Actually, the 'kool' kids use VM's or API translation.



Hmm... Houdini renders without the watermark... or a Keg of Hefeweisen... (ponders.)


Actually, VM isn't always the best way to go with most of the apps we use.

Brew your own hefe! Can do a 5 gal batch for oooooh about $25.. more if you use extract. :)


All that aside, I'm curious to see what the import/export functionality is like. I'd be going to/from Maya/AFX/Nuke. I

[inguatu]

I just noticed on their faq:



Q. Can I mix Houdini Escape/Master and Houdini Apprentice HD in my project?

A. No, as the file format for Houdini Apprentice HD can only be used for non-commercial applications. If you load a file created in Houdini Apprentice HD in Houdini Escape or Houdini Master, you will be restricted to the Houdini Apprentice resolution and wordmark. For commercial work, you must use Houdini Escape and/or Houdini Master.




Guess that means that freelancers can't use it for a business... just portfolio/personal use.

[erebos]

i sincerely hope that all the other major apps can follow suit and match something like what houdini has done here. for the hobbyists here, the pricing of the top end programs is largely unfeasible... i know that when i finish uni and am no longer eligible for student discounts, i certainly can't afford XSI anymore.

The notion of extremely cheap non-commercial use 3d apps would be a good thing for the industry as well; it would be like artists having continuous access to educational discounts, and thus adding to the flexibility of artists. Houdini's $100 for a full-featured version of its top-of-the-range app is also a lot cheaper than most educational software offers.

c'mon softimage, follow suit!


cheers,
erebos.

[Venkman]

Erebos-

Doesn't SoftImage offer a $500 version of XSI that is pretty comparable to the features in Houdini HD? Plus, you could use it for commercial products.

Here is the comparison chart of XSI versions:

http://www.softimage.com/products/xsi/pdf/XSI_6_x_ComparisonChart.pdf


From what I can tell, SoftImage is the only one competing on some level with the offer that Houdini has going. I would love to see the major apps target the hobbyist market again.

[Robert Magee]

i sincerely hope that all the other major apps can follow suit and match something like what houdini has done here. for the hobbyists here, the pricing of the top end programs is largely unfeasible... i know that when i finish uni and am no longer eligible for student discounts, i certainly can't afford XSI anymore.

Erobos,

It is our hope that rather than waiting for the other companies to follow suit you give Houdini a chance. It is capable of producing work for the complete pipeline and offers a pretty strong platform for all kinds of projects. And if there are features from XSI that you miss then submit a bug or offer us feedback in one of our forums.

Robert

PS - there are lots of studios looking for Houdini talent. If you build up a strong foundation of knowledge in Houdini there are good job opportunities out there.

[R10k]

I use everything I buy for commercial work sooner or later so... although it's nice they've dropped the price for people wanting to learn without a watermark or add to their portfolio (etc), I'll give it a miss.

[bluecanvas]

Doesn't SoftImage offer a $500 version of XSI that is pretty comparable to the features in Houdini HD? Plus, you could use it for commercial products.

The Houdini 9 apprentice edition I looked at is a lot more powerful than the $500 version of XSI. The L-system, fluids, Mantra physically based rendering and built in Renderman support sort of put it in a class of its own.

The node-based UI takes some getting used to because its a pretty complex 3D app.

[Venkman]

Robert-

Thanks for the post about Side Effects plans!

I just wanted to to stress how important I think it is to offer this to people. It is a brilliant marketing move and a great, inexpensive way to get people into software that is otherwise too expensive for small studios (who don't focus on 3d), or even students wanting some experience in a high end app.

The "limit" of 1080p resolution isn't something I feel is really a limit anyway. I think it is incredibly generous, as is the unlimited size of still renders.

For $40 more than an Xbox 360 or PS3 game, high school students could spend their time on something that could lead them into something much more lucrative - actual production proven 3d software and job skills! I wouldn't be surprised to find schools adopting it at this price. It is extremely important for our students to stay knowledgable and competitive.

Bravo to side effects.

[arctor]

The Houdini 9 apprentice edition I looked at is a lot more powerful than the $500 version of XSI. The L-system, fluids, Mantra physically based rendering and built in Renderman support sort of put it in a class of its own.

The node-based UI takes some getting used to because its a pretty complex 3D app.


please be sure to read the FAQ's on the SESI site...
the Apprentice versions of Houdini DO NOT allow rendering with third party renderers (renderman compliant, mental ray, etc)

but any way you slice it...Houdini Apprentice and Apprentice HD are the best bang for the buck out there.

[Venkman]

The Houdini 9 apprentice edition I looked at is a lot more powerful than the $500 version of XSI. The L-system, fluids, Mantra physically based rendering and built in Renderman support sort of put it in a class of its own.

Are Fluids, particles, cloth, and dynamics in the HD edition?

[bluecanvas]

Are Fluids, particles, cloth, and dynamics in the HD edition?

That I'm not sure about. The watermarked apprentice edition had the big daddy version of Houdini included, so I assumed that it would be in the new apprentice HD as well.

What I liked most about Houdini 9 was Mantra's physically based rendering mode and the good motion blur quality of the renderer. Didn't get a chance to test out the Renderman side of Houdini but the option is in there.

[Venkman]

That I'm not sure about. The watermarked apprentice edition had the big daddy version of Houdini included, so I assumed that it would be in the new apprentice HD as well.

What I liked most about Houdini 9 was Mantra's physically based rendering mode and the good motion blur quality of the renderer. Didn't get a chance to test out the Renderman side of Houdini but the option is in there.

I sent sales a question about the features of Apprentice HD. I'll post here with their answer when I get it.

My god, if they do indeed have all the features in the HD version... I know it doesn't allow the use of renderman but for $99 I can more than live with that.

[Robert Magee]

Are Fluids, particles, cloth, and dynamics in the HD edition?

Yes. All of Houdini Master's features except for the ability to render to third party renderers like RenderMan or Mental Ray.

[unchikun]

Well, maybe you're speeking from expireience but to me, the issues with Graphics hardware/drivers on Mac

When Maya was ported to OSX there were several years of version lags and the versions had significant bugs. It was not only driver issues but making sure libraries worked well and now you have scripting languages like python that you have to make sure are compatible.

Apple tends to pull off things like complete switch to universal binary which is another strain on development.

It takes a significant amount of resources that SESI would be better served improving houdini rather than tracking down OS incompatibilities.

OSX is great for what it is but from users there is definately a disproportionate signal to noise ratio. The vast majority of 3D apps still run on pc win/linux.

[Venkman]

Yes. All of Houdini Master's features except for the ability to render to third party renderers like RenderMan or Mental Ray.

Damn you! I have to spend $100 now! ;)

[Mazer]

Just out of curisity, would a short movie doing a festival run be a non-commercial project ? And if the festival run is good and I want to sell the DVD later ?

[Benr]

It's a great offer, but it's the particles and dynamics that are most interesting to me. So as a freelancer if I wanted to use it in a commercial project, I'd still need to spend $8K for Master.

[Robert Magee]

It's a great offer, but it's the particles and dynamics that are most interesting to me. So as a freelancer if I wanted to use it in a commercial project, I'd still need to spend $8K for Master.

Yes. The idea is that you do your learning in Apprentice HD and develop your skills for $100 then move on the the $8K version when you have real projects with paying clients.

[Robert Magee]

Just out of curisity, would a short movie doing a festival run be a non-commercial project ? And if the festival run is good and I want to sell the DVD later ?

As long as your original goal was non-commercial in nature this won't be an issue. Of course, if your project is successful at the festival then be sure to mention Houdini in interviews and maybe give us a story for our website and everything would be fine.

If you are working for a client getting a fee then for sure the commercial version is required.

Robert

[Bliz]

Hey Robert, great deal, awesome idea.

Just had a quick 5minute look at the sidefx website. I couldn't really find a gallery of [mantra rendered] stills? Most of your competitors have a gallery of eye candy stills. I want to see what sort of effects and looks are capable with mantra.
I would have thought that seeing as the commercial versions of houdini exports to renderman and mental ray, that sidefx would have a side by side comparison of a houdini scene rendered with the three different renderers?

Also, in the rendering blurb, it mentions mantra uses point cloud to achieve subsurface scattering. This sounds a bit of a bruteforce hack. Is it easy and straightforward to get controllable SSS out of mantra?

My main rendering combo is mental ray for maya. I like the final result but it's so convaluted and complex to get decent results. Would you say rendering with Mantra is easier (Well I suppose you'll say yes but I just want some to see it in writing :) )

[-Sai-]

hey Bilz

This one is not offical but Jason from digital domain did a some comparison test between mantra and renderman using houdni 8 mantra a long time ago.
http://forums.odforce.net/index.php?showtopic=3555

[jiversen]

Just had a quick 5minute look at the sidefx website. I couldn't really find a gallery of [mantra rendered] stills? Most of your competitors have a gallery of eye candy stills. I want to see what sort of effects and looks are capable with mantra.
I would have thought that seeing as the commercial versions of houdini exports to renderman and mental ray, that sidefx would have a side by side comparison of a houdini scene rendered with the three different renderers?


It's true - due to Mantra being so tied to Houdini, it attracts few hobbyists compared to the more traditional software combo's like Max/VRay. Also, mantra has come a long way since Mantra 8 even - so neither time nor exposure hasn't been on it's side.


Also, in the rendering blurb, it mentions mantra uses point cloud to achieve subsurface scattering. This sounds a bit of a bruteforce hack. Is it easy and straightforward to get controllable SSS out of mantra?


The nature of pointcloud rendering is to accelerate SSS calculations by being able to share illumination information across many samples - it's not a bruteforce hack. It's actually pretty damn fast, I think. The SSS shaders supplied with Mantra incur a couple of minutes of set-up time to get the point-clouds exported and from there it's Easy Street. The SSS algorithm is very controllable and, because it appears as a VOP node, can be combined with any other shading functions you desire. (ie, it's not a closed box). The source shader-code for the scattering is also provided so you can modify it's fundamental behaviour too, if you know how.


My main rendering combo is mental ray for maya. I like the final result but it's so convaluted and complex to get decent results. Would you say rendering with Mantra is easier (Well I suppose you'll say yes but I just want some to see it in writing :) )

Personally I cannot comment - although I've heard that Maya -> Mental Ray interface is not the easiest to use. I find the Houdini one pretty easy, but then I've used this software for years:)


The tests I did above were for Mantra 8 and not Mantra 9. There are a ton of improvements in Mantra 9 that might make that post kinda misleading.

[Venkman]

The nature of pointcloud rendering is to accelerate SSS calculations by being able to share illumination information across many samples - it's not a bruteforce hack. It's actually pretty damn fast, I think.



I think Renderman introduced point cloud ambient occlusion in Renderman for Maya 2.0. From the videos I have seen on Digital Tutors and such, they loved the new point cloud method. It was significantly faster than ray based (is that right?) occlusion. It gave different results, but it still looked great.

I believe they also used point cloud SSS for Davy Jones, but don't quote me on that.

[Cronholio]

I think Renderman introduced point cloud ambient occlusion in Renderman for Maya 2.0. From the videos I have seen on Digital Tutors and such, they loved the new point cloud method. It was significantly faster than ray based (is that right?) occlusion. It gave different results, but it still looked great.

I believe they also used point cloud SSS for Davy Jones, but don't quote me on that.

It's a method that's been around for more than a few years now. It was used on the first Pirates movie and both Pixar and ILM presented sketches on the method at Siggraph that year (2003 I think). It's not a hack by any stretch of the imagination. Basically it allows you to precompute some data and have very granular control over sampling and sample area when computing SSS. Plus there's the added benefit of it being ridiculously fast to render. It how SSS is done on many films and it's starting to creep it's way into games.

If anyone is interested, here's a great thread from a few years back on odforce with some very smart people hashing this method out in Houdini.

http://forums.odforce.net/index.php?showtopic=2262&hl=subsurface&st=0
(http://forums.odforce.net/index.php?showtopic=2262&hl=subsurface&st=60)

[jiversen]

I think Renderman introduced point cloud ambient occlusion in Renderman for Maya 2.0. From the videos I have seen on Digital Tutors and such, they loved the new point cloud method. It was significantly faster than ray based (is that right?) occlusion. It gave different results, but it still looked great.

I believe they also used point cloud SSS for Davy Jones, but don't quote me on that.

Subsurface Scattering information in Houdini and Mantra:
http://odforce.net/wiki/index.php/SubsurfaceScattering

Just a couple of simple images to illustrate it:
http://odforce.net/wiki/index.php/VEXPointCloudGallery

[R10k]

Just on the topic of commercial work... what I'd like to see is the ability to use a version like this for a certain amount of commercial work. The idea of using something (for someone like myself) 'for the fun of it', and then wacking down a massive amount like 8 grand is just too much a financial leap, in my mind. People in my position just don't have that kind of cash for a program that, as cool as it'd be to use, might not make back that kind of money within a reasonable period of time.

No doubt someone will say, "Well don't use it then." and that's cool. But, I think it'd be good to see some of the bigger apps like Houdini being used by people who won't earn 'the big bucks' with it. I know there's game development middleware which allows the use of it for a small price, until those using it earn over a certain amount with it... so something like that here, in my mind at least, doesn't seem that much an unreasonable request.

[jiversen]

Just on the topic of commercial work... what I'd like to see is the ability to use a version like this for a certain amount of commercial work. The idea of using something (for someone like myself) 'for the fun of it', and then wacking down a massive amount like 8 grand is just too much a financial leap, in my mind.

AFAIK, Side Effects provides a plan to rent licenses (and I think maybe a rent-to-buy plan, too) so you're not immediately commited to a ton of money. This would seem like a perfect way to go, no?

Learn on Apprentice.
Buy the $99 HD version, make a reel.
Win work.
Rent a license for the duration of the job.
Win more work.
Rent, perhaps totalling enough to buy.
Win more work.
Profit!


Also, if you're doing character work or lighting work (and possibly only need simple effects you can achieve with the Particle SOP) you only need the $2k version called Houdini Escape. Not many smaller/commercial jobs really end up in the territory of complicated FX and RBD anyway. And just rent a Master when you need that, since you can learn on the Apprentice (as not to waste time learning Dynamics while renting).

Cheers,
Jason

PS. Love your nickname... takes me back (sniff)

[R10k]

Thanks jiversen... it's sounding more tempting...

[erebos]

Erobos,

It is our hope that rather than waiting for the other companies to follow suit you give Houdini a chance. It is capable of producing work for the complete pipeline and offers a pretty strong platform for all kinds of projects. And if there are features from XSI that you miss then submit a bug or offer us feedback in one of our forums.

Robert

PS - there are lots of studios looking for Houdini talent. If you build up a strong foundation of knowledge in Houdini there are good job opportunities out there.

hey rob, thanks for the response. I fit into the "hobbyist" category and so i'm not so concerned about job opportunities etc. I tried houdini apprentice a while back (more out of curiosity than anything else) and my low-end system simply couldn't handle it. Not a criticism of your product, i know houdini has steep requirements and i need a new computer, just that houdini's probably not for me (plus i'm head over heels for xsi :) ).

anyway, i'm sure that you guys will make a huge profit off this initiative, this sort of affordability is inspired customer relations ($100 can get you a full functioning copy of the "highest"-end software around, or a 4-month trial of modo), and there'll no doubt be a lot of converts to the big mysterious world of houdini.

cheers,
erebos

[Benr]

AFAIK, Side Effects provides a plan to rent licenses (and I think maybe a rent-to-buy plan, too) so you're not immediately commited to a ton of money. This would seem like a perfect way to go, no?

Learn on Apprentice.
Buy the $99 HD version, make a reel.
Win work.
Rent a license for the duration of the job.
Win more work.
Rent, perhaps totalling enough to buy.
Win more work.
Profit!



$2K per month for rental of Master. I wonder if there is a "rent-to-own" option.

Ben

[Nero F. Martin]

Looking around I found a sort of FAQ on 3dbuzz about Apprentice that said that if a user bought the commercial version of Houdini that Side Effects would do a one time conversion of all of that users work in the Apprentice file format to the commercial version's file format (don't remember all the extensions involved). Does anyone know if that is still the case or the case for Apprentice HD? If so, is that true whether you purchase Escape or Master? Thanks for any help.

[fahr]

As of Siggraph, SideFX was saying that they would still convert apprentice files to Master with purchase. Really, this is a truly fantastic offer, and I will defintely take them up on it... as soon as it runs on OSX. :)

[whalerider]

Intro: Garman's DVDs - 1 sold by thegnomonworkshop.com, 4 more DVDs you can buy on his website - vizyacky.com
Dynamics: Craig Zerouni's DVD sold by thegnomonworkshop.com, as well as lessons sold by gnomonology.com
Procedural modeling, L-systems, VEX: cmivfx.com


Wow this is awesome. looking forward to it.

Any recommendations for some DVD based training?

[jasoniversen]

Looking around I found a sort of FAQ on 3dbuzz about Apprentice that said that if a user bought the commercial version of Houdini that Side Effects would do a one time conversion of all of that users work in the Apprentice file format to the commercial version's file format (don't remember all the extensions involved). Does anyone know if that is still the case or the case for Apprentice HD? If so, is that true whether you purchase Escape or Master? Thanks for any help.

I'm pretty sure that they would do the conversion from Apprentice(HD) to any of the commercial license types, yes.

[Venkman]

Intro: Garman's DVDs - 1 sold by thegnomonworkshop.com, 4 more DVDs you can buy on his website - vizyacky.com
Dynamics: Craig Zerouni's DVD sold by thegnomonworkshop.com, as well as lessons sold by gnomonology.com
Procedural modeling, L-systems, VEX: cmivfx.com

For those wondering, Garman's DVDs are located here:

http://store.vizyacky.com/hotrdv1.html

Edit: updated with correct link. Sorry!

[chow-mein]

I wonder if you still need to renew the license every month after purchasing the Apprentice HD edition.

[Cronholio]

I wonder if you still need to renew the license every month after purchasing the Apprentice HD edition.

It's a permanent license; you never need to renew. If you ever need to reformat your machine you can go to the online license manager at the sideFX site and copy and paste your keys into the license manager manually once you reinstall Houdini. I think my HD license is valid until 2037.

Mind you, once Hoduini 10 is released you'll need to shell out money to upgrade to 10. If SideFX continues handling licensing the same way they have for the past few releases, your HD license *should* work with Houdini 10 betas until Houdini 10 goes gold. That's just me speculating, though. Of course, the license will work for Houdini 9 as long as you choose to use it.

For those wondering, parts of Hoduini HD are mutlithreaded and it will take advantage of all the processors in your machine. Mantra, for instance, will use all 4 cores on a quad processor with a single token. If you want to do distributed rendering over a network, you need to buy additional HD licenses. Also, unlike many other special offers such as XSI Foundation, the 64bit version of Houdini for Windows or Linux can be used with this offer.

[chow-mein]

Thanks for the info cronholio. I'll try out the free Apprentice edition on my machine and see how well the application runs. If all goes well I'll be eager to try out the HD edition.

[Wizdoc]

How useful are those Gnomon DVDs with the current version of Houdini? I'm sure the core functionality remains the same, but I recall reading that they heavily reworked the interface recently so I've got to ask.

Also, a while back I followed a link from CGTalk to a blog where a Houdini guru went through the interface and talked about all the fiddly bits of the software. I've since lost the link to it, anyone has it?

[theotheo]

Wizdoc , maybe its one of these? http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=14&Itemid=132&limit=10&limitstart=10

-the0

[whalerider]

The core is the same (except for the new features that were added).
The transition to the new GUI is easy - there's a tutorial on transition from H8 to H9 in the help file.

How useful are those Gnomon DVDs with the current version of Houdini? I'm sure the core functionality remains the same, but I recall reading that they heavily reworked the interface recently so I've got to ask.

Also, a while back I followed a link from CGTalk to a blog where a Houdini guru went through the interface and talked about all the fiddly bits of the software. I've since lost the link to it, anyone has it?

[digitallysane]

Just on the topic of commercial work... what I'd like to see is the ability to use a version like this for a certain amount of commercial work. The idea of using something (for someone like myself) 'for the fun of it', and then wacking down a massive amount like 8 grand is just too much a financial leap, in my mind. People in my position just don't have that kind of cash for a program that, as cool as it'd be to use, might not make back that kind of money within a reasonable period of time.
No doubt someone will say, "Well don't use it then." and that's cool. But, I think it'd be good to see some of the bigger apps like Houdini being used by people who won't earn 'the big bucks' with it. I know there's game development middleware which allows the use of it for a small price, until those using it earn over a certain amount with it... so something like that here, in my mind at least, doesn't seem that much an unreasonable request.
Even without dynamics & fluids, Houdini Escape (which is 2K for a node locked license, or 2.8 K with support and upgrades) is absolutely excellent as a generic 3D package. We use 2 licenses for commercial work and the workflow is very flexible. If the need for fluids would arise for some project, I'd just rent Master for a month. Escape, like Master, comes with unlimited Mantra licenses which is an *incredible* deal.
Also, is good to know that Escape can open and render Master files. So you can develop a fluid sim in Master, save the file and then open and render it with Escape even if Escape doesn't have dynamics! This makes possible to have only one Master license in a studio with quite a number of seats.

Dragos

[HoserHead]

The Side Effects price chart (http://www.sidefx.com/images/stories/products/pricing/houdini_pricechart.pdf) mentions that you can apply 75% of your rental fees to a buyout of the rented software (if you buy it within 6 months of the rental). Sounds like a fair "rent-to-own" plan.

[Rhs_CG]

I've sent SESI an email about this, but was never replied to. Does anyone know if the workstation license will allow you to tie the license to a USB drive like a dongle, or are there provisions for one person changing to a different computer if necessary?

[HoserHead]

You can "return" your license a limited number of times (usually 3), so if you switch computers, you return the license, then redeem it on your new computer. There's no way to tie it to a physical gadget so you can switch from computer to computer -- for that, you'll need to buy a network license. (Which isn't available for Houdini Apprentice HD.)

[Wizdoc]

Wizdoc , maybe its one of these? http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=14&Itemid=132&limit=10&limitstart=10

-the0

Close. I missed it earlier, but it was at the SideFX site. I was looking for the Old School blog:

http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=115&Itemid=216

There's some heavy TD kung fu involved, but it's definitely worth the look if you're interested in Houdini. The download speeds for the Quicktime files are pretty sucky, though.

[circusboy]

The Houdini 9 apprentice edition I looked at is a lot more powerful than the $500 version of XSI. The L-system, fluids, Mantra physically based rendering and built in Renderman support sort of put it in a class of its own.


However you could say Softimage aimed Foundation at the freelance and the small 'start-up' markets. The difference (from SideFX) being you *can* do commercial work with the $500 Foundation package-its just not as feature complete as the more expensive options. So for a small shop or freelancer this is often enough. And starving artists could take advantage too of course-but for them this may look expensive now.

But nice one SideFX! If I get this for home I swear I won't have any time to do professional work on it. And thats the truth. :thumbsup:

[Cronholio]

You can "return" your license a limited number of times (usually 3), so if you switch computers, you return the license, then redeem it on your new computer. There's no way to tie it to a physical gadget so you can switch from computer to computer -- for that, you'll need to buy a network license. (Which isn't available for Houdini Apprentice HD.)

I'm not so sure you can return the HD licenses. I was curious about this and checked; the return option is ghosted on my Apprentice and HD licenses. Anyhow, I'm pretty sure you can move the license from one machine to another with some effort, but I'm not going to go into that. It's not the solution people would want, more for the situation where you are upgrading to a new machine.

[calilifestyle]

this sounds great but i dont see anyinfo on what you get with this flavor. i see what you dont get .. renderman and no water marks.. does this mean that for 99 bucks you get everthing .that is listed on there websit for their product listing or am i missig somehting.

ok i see it now. they had it at the very bottom
"Both versions of Houdini Apprentice include all of Houdini Master’s features except for the ability to render to third party renderers. Each copy of Houdini Apprentice comes with one Mantra render token."

[Venkman]

calilifestyle - This was my answer from Side Effects when I emailed their sales dept:

"Yes all the features of Houdini Master are included in the Apprentice HD version except support for third party renderers."

That's pretty cool. :)

[Garibaldi]

Best deal I've heard of in a long time.

I wonder if I can get some one in my family to pay for it for me for my birthday......?:thumbsup:

[Kentaro]

Awesome


works great.

[Robert Magee]

Digital Tutors has just posted some free Houdini lessons to their website:

http://www.digitaltutors.com/digital_tutors/tutorials.php?cat=houdini

This is just the beginning. They have more are coming.

Enjoy

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