Episode 2- Basics of the Basics' Basics.

Before I start, I’d like to just say that despite having a convoluted setup process, SideFx , (the company that makes Houdini) has great customer service. They resolved my issue quick and got me up and running in no time.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled word-vomit.

First off-Houdini is just objectively beautiful. Not really in the UI and the way it looks, but in the way it’s designed. The layout for the program is incredibly open-ended and customizable depending on what you’re trying to accomplish at any moment. This will be awesome for setting up workflows and saving out user presets.

Seriously guys, it’s real dope.

Seriously.

It’s also deeply, DEEPLY confusing. Right now anyway. It’ll get used to it, but I’m not there yet.

I’ve been following along to a 7ish - hour long tutorial series on LinkedIn Learning called “Houdini Essential Training”. My Homie Scott Pagano is a wealth of knowledge. 10/10 would recommend the series.

So far, of the 10 different chapters he has it split into, I’ve nearly completed the second one. It’s broken up further into short little bite-sized chunks that are usually between 2 and 5 minutes long. Let me tell you though, each short video takes me 10-15 minutes to get through because I’m constantly pausing them and following along on my copy of Houdini.

It’s actually become kind of my fun afternoon/evening activity once I finish up working on things that’ll pay the bills.

Maybe someday this’ll be a skill I can use to pay the bills too.

But for now I’m still figuring out the optimal way to make a fucking sphere.

Jake- out.