Good Destruction/Fracture Plugin for Maya

#1

Any ideas which destrustion plugin is widely used in studios.
Pulldownit or FractureFX or anything else ??

#2

https://vimeo.com/79715550

#3

Good GOD … Awesome, I cant wait to get my hands on this
Didn’t knew about it at all

Thanks for the info :slight_smile:

#4

Any info about this topic ???

#5

Lol! I was just about to say Houdini.

#6

does this Houdini plug-in work similar to other destruction plug-ins ??
I mean does this Houdini plugin has all the features … for example: RayFire

anyone here worked on Houdini for Maya plugin already ??

#7

I’ve used FractureFX extensively in production. I used it to blow up a giant Samurai in 47 Ronin. It’s complex, but very robust.
Craig, the guy who writes it, is some kind of genius.
They do a demo version.

#8

Yep, no need to mess with plugins now that ther’s a $199 Houdini and a $99 Houdini Engine. (Indie) version. You don’t even need Houdini Engine if exporting to alembic or rendering within Houdini does the job for you.

I don’t know the plugins you mentioned, but Houdini can do pretty much anything you can think of. There’ll be a learning curve but once you get the basics, you can build your own reusable digital assets. Those are plugin like tools that consist of a group of nodes. They can be reused within Houdini then, or you can use them in Maya with the Houdini Engine.

You’ll have the best fracturing/dynamics tool in the world, and when you go the extra mile to learn your way into Houdini, you may as well ditch maya entirely.

#9

thanx for the replies,

but i would like to see some video which explains more in details about houdini engine for Maya
the ones which are available in houdini channel in vimeo and youtube does not show anything, its just how to install houdini engine and importing the asset, i’ve tried by installing houdini engine, but did not see anything apart from the object falls and breaks, no other features included.

someone could please share some info or video about the destruction of objects using houdini engine in Maya.

#10

I believe you still have to create the simulations in Houdini. It’s just an easy way to import those simulations into maya.

#11

Nope. You setup the ‘sim engine’ in Houdini, but use it in Maya. So you can basically create a RB system and use it within Maya. You can then tweak the parameters for different results within Maya.

Its pretty freaking amazing! :wink:
[VIMEO]80015868[/VIMEO]

#12

so I must know Houdini first in order to get the required simulations done ???
i can then get the asset into Maya and do some minor tweaks for the sim,
strange :confused:
what is the fun in writing a plugin ??
it means i should learn Houdini first, and if i learn Houdini why would i want to get the sim into Maya ???
this might be a good solution for the people who are in Maya pipeline and want to use Houdini for destruction sims, they can do the sim and get it into Maya do some tweaks and get the render

so, u guys say its better to get into learning Houdini than struggling with searching for a destruction plugin for Maya ??

#13

You do not necessarily need to learn Houdini. In the fracture object asset in the first video, the user never leaves Maya. This asset (and 100s more) is on orbolt.com. Houdini assets are just Houdini procedurals wrapped up in a Houdini asset that someone created in Houdini and put on orbolt.com.

There are a lot of controls on all of the assets, but if there is something more you need to achieve, then yes, you or someone will have to create, or modify, a new Houdini asset in Houdini that you can run in Maya (or other). Whether it is a new tool or a new procedural object, etc.

You just need the Engine to try out any of the Houdini assets already available. With a large Houdini community and a growing Houdini Engine user base, I suspect the number of public Houdini assets will grow steadily.

#14

Hi there

If you want stay within maya, try this : http://www.fracture-fx.com/

Best in the market imho :wink:

/risto

#15

I agree with Risto. :wink:

Fracture FX is production-proven, procedural and comes with world-class customer support, and, relevant here, no need to learn Houdini :wink:

Free trial here: http://www.fracture-fx.com/fracture_demo

Fracture FX 1.7.3 was just released, have a look here:

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?p=7873140#post7873140

#16

There are a lot of controls on all of the assets, but if there is something more you need to achieve, then yes, you or someone will have to create, or modify, a new Houdini asset in Houdini that you can run in Maya (or other).
Exactly, and most shots involve “something more” than fracturing a torus. And then we are not even talking about addressing notes from supes.

That’s exactly why Houdini is known in the industry as “20 nodes to set up an effect, 200 additional nodes to address the first notes.”

#17

hey guys,
thanx for the replies,
I have downloaded Fracture FX demo version, gonna check it now
Also am planning to check out some Houdini tuts , i need only the destruction workflow, if anyone can share some tuts of Houdini which concentrate more on destruction only, it will more helpful :slight_smile:
Thanx for all the info :slight_smile:
Cheers

#18

There are a ton of Houdini tutorials. CMI VFX have a ton on fracturing. I believe side fx website have a bunch of masterclasses and tutorials on the topic which are free. Cg workshops here have an amazing course for Houdini destruction if it is still going on. Digital tutors have one as well where they break a statues face and sim it.

You want to look for Houdini 13 tutorials though because the packed primitive workflow in it is amazing and fast.

I was watching the fracture fx and pulldownit demo videos yesterday and it is no problem to put together a node network that does everything those plugins do and more in houdini. The difference is instead of learning to click a couple buttons you will actually learn why things work the way they do and get a better understanding. That is why I love houdini.

#19

to put together a node network
and therein lies the rub…

It’s impossible to bang out something quick and production-worthy in Houdini, unless you have years of experience in Houdini, or somebody with a lot of experience sets up an OTL for you. Or maybe I am just not clever enough for Houdini.

#20

It is not that bad. Most of the stuff that would require heavy scripting in maya is doable with nodes in Houdini. The main challenge is getting used to the sandbox workflow coming from Maya.

That said I do agree it is not an option if you are on a schedule and have to deliver a shot and you are a Houdini newbie. I am glad we have plugins like Fracture FX and DMM for those moments. :slight_smile: