Houdini 18 - Procedural Prop Modeling - Chinese Knife

Explore Houdini 18's user interface, core UI elements, and navigation across panels; customize the desktop, install side effects labs shelf, and learn to create a project to streamline workflows.

Navigate the Houdini 18 main menu to create new scenes, open hit files, save work, import assets, and export. Customize preferences, hotkeys, colors, and windows while accessing help resources.

Explore Houdini's shelves to quickly create geometry and learn node connections. Use gizmos to translate, rotate, and extrude, and inspect geometry notes in the network view.

Navigate the Houdini scene view by orbiting, panning, and zooming with the mouse. Enter edit mode with the pointer to manipulate gizmos, then frame with F or group with G.

Explore Houdini 18 scene view configurations by switching between single and four-split viewport layouts, selecting top, front, back, right, and left views, and toggling ortho and perspective.

Explore the Houdini toolbox in the user interface to control selection and snapping. Use object and component selection and transform handles for translate, rotate, and scale, and inspect primitive details.

Explore the Houdini 18 operation toolbar and its context-driven controls for object and component modes, including wireframe toggles and polygon parameter adjustments like radius and orientation.

Explore Houdini's display options, from geometry display modes and hotkeys to grid, camera lock, lighting, materials, and visualization tools, to optimize your procedural prop modeling workflow.

Explore the Houdini 18 network editor: create nodes via the tab menu and tool pallet, navigate geometry containers, set up subnets and notes, and adjust grid and display options.

Master the parameter editor in Houdini's network editor to adjust node parameters such as translate X Y Z, scale, and rotation using the increment ladder and sliders. Learn that each node has its own parameters, switch geometry types from primitive to polygons, and control density, connectivity, and orientation with rows, columns, and various triangulation options.

Explore Houdini's play bar to control animation playback, set keyframes, adjust frame ranges, sync audio, and enable real-time playback for precise timing.

Learn Houdini cook controls by building a simple network: a sphere to volume with iso offset and a scatter node, and compare auto update and manual modes.

Customize your Houdini desktop by arranging panes, hiding shelves, and saving named layouts; switch between desktops for different workflows, using the geometry spreadsheet and Python scripting.

Install and update the side effects labs toolkit in Houdini using the shelf, choose the latest release, then restart Houdini to access labs nodes and ambient occlusion features.

Create Houdini projects using the project browser, name the project, and let it generate a folder structure. Set the home variable and dollar job path to keep work organized.

Explore Houdini contexts, including SOP geometry, COP compositing, CHOP channel operators, SHOP shaders, stage USD workflows, ROP rendering, and PDG for procedural dependencies.

Explore the Houdini 18 user interface basics, navigate the seeing view, network editor, and parameter editor, customize the user interface, and install the side effects labs shelf for enhanced workflow.

Create a metal reinforcement piece for a knife handle using Houdini 18. Bevel hard edges, split geometry, and manage groups with poly extrude and poly bevel to refine the component.

Create ridges on the handle by sizing a circle to the handle using the bounding box, then subtract grooves with a boolean for a non-destructive procedural workflow.

Review the basics of node-based modeling in houdini, wire geometry from node to node, and establish procedural relationships; add details with the boolean node, then create the handle.

Learn to model a blade by mastering complex grouping of primitives, points, and edges; create subnets for readability, add vertex colors, and apply boolean notes to refine details.

Procedurally model the blade, starting from a box, sizing with the box function, extruding by normals, grouping, and fusing for a clean blade.

Learn procedural blade modeling in Houdini 18 by beveling hard edges, creating a reusable digital asset, and adding a blade hole with a tube and boolean subtract, using subnet workflows.

Learn to refine a blade by adding a bend with a new bend node, set capture length with a box operation, and apply subtle taper for a procedural prop.

Master complex groupings with group combine and group by range, practice adding and subtracting groups. Create subnets for reusability, copy and reuse them to save time and apply vertex colors.

Prep high rise geometry for the Chinese knife asset using a voxel mesh, UV mapping, and a high rez handle, then add vertex colors for quick masking in Substance Painter.

Generate a reliable UV layout for a Houdini model using the labs shelf, focusing on texel density, seam management, and unwrap methods to speed up bake-to-texture workflows.

Set up blade and handle groups, simplify the scene, convert the low-res knife into a high-res blade using voxel mesh and polycarve, and optimize bounding box settings for baking.

Explore building both low-res and high-res handle geometry in Houdini 18 using Luras Knife, voxel mesh, and subdivisions, while managing groups and normals.

In Houdini 18, procedural prop modeling, assign vertex colors to aid masking in Substance Painter: red blade, green handle, blue metal, and prepare meshes for i.d. map bake and export.

Export your high and low knife models from Houdini 18 using ROP geometry output for obj and fbx, noting vertex colors are lost in obj and apprentice restrictions apply.

Conclude by using the voxel mash note in the VTB workflow, consolidating tools into a single node. Unwrap UVs automatically, build a high-res handle, and add vertex colors for texturing.

Texture the Chinese knife in Substance Painter, create texture maps and materials for the handle and metals, use stencils and masks, switch with Houdini, and export final textures for Unity.

Launch substance painter through the launcher, import the knife SBX, and set up a Unity project. Bake texture maps from the high-res mesh to drive the smart materials.

Apply blade materials in substance painter using smart materials, tweak roughness and height to convey wear, then layer steel bases with edge peeling textures using masks, levels, and generators.

Apply wood material to the handle and a darker metal cap, then refine UVs with try planer and rotate textures for alignment. Mask with color selection and IDs.

Learn to create a better uv layout for a handle with procedural seams, cylindrical projection, and uv visualize, then optimize texel density and coverage for a clean, professional result.

Re-import the model back into the painter to preserve layers and materials, using project configuration to import a new model, and adjust texture sets and mesh maps to reduce seams.

Add a stencil detail to a knife prop by importing a symbol, applying a stencil mask, and adjusting roughness and height for a burned-in aged look.

Export all textures from the project as 2k targa textures with alpha channel for Unity five standard metallic materials, including roughness and transparency.

Review texture baking, materials and masks in Painter, and how stencils add detail. Update the UV layout to fix seams, export textures for Unity, and set up in Unity.

Import models and textures, set up lighting using an HDR from Substance Painter, configure materials, and enable post-processing and GPU-accelerated baking in Unity for a cohesive one to one look.

Import the Houdini knife prop into Unity, assign textures and materials, create a ground plane, organize assets, apply environment map and skybox, and bake a reflection probe.

Install Unity post-processing, create a global post-process volume, and tune ambient occlusion, bloom, color grading, and linear color space for cinematic visuals.