LogInFind out how Houdini was made and conquered the visual effects industry in films and games production.
Sonic Workflow shared a video full of interesting insights, telling the history of Houdini and the SideFX company.
The video goes from the very beginning when the founders of SideFX, a rocket scientist Greg Hermanovic and architect Kim Davidson met at Omnibus and developed a stand-alone set of tools for computer graphics called PRISMS. Later on, after the bankruptcy of Omnibus, Greg and Kim founded Side Effects Software, the predecessor of SideFX, and fought for the leadership in the VFX industry.
Besides the powerful possibilities of the software and its integrated tools that come in handy for game dev, there are explanations why Houdini isn’t used as broadly as it could: the pricing and the complexity of the workflow. When Houdini was first released, the price was $9,500 which is $16,000 in today’s currency. Houdini is also known for its complexity since it requires the knowledge of node-based procedural workflow.
To find out more about workflows in Houdini and ways to use it, check out Roahith Rajendiran’s interview where he shared his experience in the software, creating new tools, experimenting with lighting, and other ideas as well as faced challenges.
The cover image is by Corentin Wunsche.
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