Introduction to World Building in Houdini with CAVE Academy

Course Profile:

This course will introduce students to SideFX Houdini through a series of practical exercises, where we’ll create, shade and light an environment.

Working from the ground up, we’ll first introduce students to Houdini, covering the interface, navigation, Networks and Operators. Following on from this, we’ll look at procedural and non-destructive workflows to build a full CG environment.

Course Schedule

Classes will take place online from Wednesday, 5th November to Monday, 15th December.

• Wednesdays:
  19:00 – 21:00
  (Main class sessions)

• Mondays:
  19:00 – 20:00
  (Dedicated to assignment feedback and Q&A)

Week 1: The Houdini Interface and Navigation, Networks and Operators

We’ll kick off the course with a breakdown of the Houdini interface and how to navigate in 3D space., We’ll then look at building Networks and the different Operators in Houdini.

Week 2: Nodes, Components, Attributes and Groups

For lesson 2, we’ll dive into a number of nodes and look at how we can manipulate objects, points, vertices and primitives.

Week 3: Working Procedurally

Now that we have a foundation of how to create and manipulate nodes, we’ll look at what makes Houdini so powerful; its proceduralism.

Week 4: Creating a Procedural Environment

For lesson 4, we’ll take all our learnings from previous sessions to build a procedural environment whilst still allowing for artistic control.

Week 5: Shading in Houdini

With our environment blocked out, we’ll look at adding some materials into our scene to bring our environment to life.

Week 6: Lighting in Houdini

And for our final lesson, we’ll look at some of the lighting tools in Houdini, allowing us to create a cinematic series of shots.

Course Objectives:

The core objective of this course is for students who are new to Houdini to become comfortable working within an environment that thrives on proceduralism and non-destructive workflows. Houdini can be overwhelming, so by the end of the course, we hope you feel more confident to work in the application and have control over your intentions.

Expected Outcomes:

Students who complete the course will be expected to create, shade and light a full CG procedural environment. From the learning, students will then be able to make more complex setups.

Participants Profile:

This course is aimed at those who are familiar with the basic concepts of 3D and computer graphics.

System Requirements:

• Access to a workstation with a strong internet connection
• A three-button mouse (or optionally a graphics tablet)

For further information: https://www.sidefx.com/Support/system-requirements/

Application Procedure:

Applications are now closed.

To be eligible to apply, you must be resident in Ireland.

Limited to 12 places

For technical difficulties with the online system, please email vfx@nationaltalentacademies.ie

National Talent Academies courses are open to all regardless of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.

Reasonable accommodations: We aim to accommodate all attendees to help ensure they can successfully participate in our programmes.