It supports heterogeneous constraints, including built-in Bullet physics soft constraints. Houdini's simulation toolsets also see some major new features, including a new material-based fracturing framework capable of generating unique fracture patterns for concrete, wood and glass in destruction sims.
Rigid body dynamics: new material-based fracturing framework Those include Nvidia's GPU-based, AI-driven OptiX render denoising system, also used in Arnold, V-Ray and Clarisse Light Path Expressions and layered Alembic files. In rendering, Houdini becomes the latest application to support a number of key industry technologies. Rendering: built-in OptiX GPU denoising, light path expressions, and acceleration motion blur
Supported in other DCC tools like Maya, pose space deformation fixes artefacts in skin deformation by applying corrective blendshapes according to joint angles in the character rig. UV Flatten has been updated, with a handy-looking option to straighten out UV islands to help optimise UV packing, and the UV Layout operator has been "completely redesigned", including new visualisation options.Ĭharacter animation: new full-body IK solver and pose space deformation toolsetįor animators, major changes include a new full-body IK solver and a pose space deformation toolset. The UV toolset also gets a significant update, including the new UV Autoseam operator: a heuristic seam detection system with the option to use a distortion tolerance slider to influence seam placement. UVs: automatic seam detection and improved UV packing
Houdini's procedural modelling toolset has also been extended, with six new or updated SOPs, including Falloff, Attribute Noise, Winding Number and Retime. In the modelling toolset, the major addition still looks to be PolyDraw, which attempts to bring Houdini's dirct modelling workflow more in line with that of other DCC software. Modelling: PolyDraw direct modelling toolset, new procedural modelling options The solver is OpenCL-based, so it should work on any manufacturer's GPUs, and integrates with Houdini's existing crowd simulation tools. Soft bodies can be pressure-driven, strut-based or tetrahedral and there are a few other interesting features, including plasticity - the image above shows grass staying flattened after being trodden down. There are also some neat visualisation options, including heatmaps for bend and stretch angle and stress. Cloth simulation includes what looks to be at least a basic clothing toolset - the video shows clothing panels being created from curves - and the feature list at the end notes that cloth can be multilayered. To judge from the video, the biggest single new feature in Houdini 17 is Project Vellum, a "fast unified solver for cloth, hair, soft bodies and grains" inspired by Nvidia's XPBD method. Project Vellum: a new GPU-based multiphysics solver
Highlights include Project Vellum, a new GPU-accelerated multiphysics solver, plus a new material-based fracturing framework, a new retiming operator for animations and simulations, and improved hair grooming. Unlike its Siggraph demo, which focused on the new PolyDraw direct modelling system, it shows what looks to be the entire feature set, including UVs animation hair, fluids and dynamics simulation and rendering.
SideFX has released a new sneak peek for Houdini 17, the next update to its 3D animation and FX software.