Houdini FX : Creating An Avalanche Rig

Name: Houdini FX : Creating An Avalanche Rig
Rating: 4.9 (18 reviews)

Learn all the steps needed to setup a High resolution Avalanche VFX rig in Houdini and create a final comp.!

Created byEric Ebling

Last updated 10/2022

English

What you'll learn

We will cover all the steps needed to create a high resolution Avalanche simulation down the side of a mountain.
We will review a trick to turn a still image into a moving sequence for use as our Background and discuss parallax and why it is important.
We will use grains and meshing to create the mass bulk of our setup and regular particles for additional FX elements.
We will use the sparse solving method to create parts of the Avalanche Simulation.
We will cover setting up render layers and using Redshift to render out our passes.
Mantra versions of the shaders will be supplied for students without access to Redshift.
We will create a final comp using Natron, or you can use Nuke if you like.

Course content

4 sections • 28 lectures • 5h 25m total length

Introduction to the course4:24
In this lecture we will do a general overview of what this course is going to cover.
What is Parallax...?2:12
In this quick lecture we will go over what parallax is and why we need it to make our shot look real.
Preparing the Background Image15:41
This lecture is going to explain how the 2D Background image was processed to fake a 3D environment to allow us to have a sim that looks like it is in real footage.
Shader setup Overview6:36
In this lecture we will briefly look at the basic structure of the shaders that wee used to render our background layer.
Note on where to find the initial file download0:45
Scene layout Overview4:10
In this quick lecture we will check out the node layout that was setup to create the 3D scene from a 2d Image.

Setting up the Source Points32:23
In this lecture we will start setting up the foundation of this entire rig by creating the source points that will emit our grains.
Setting up the Grains - Part 118:14
In this lecture we will start using our source points to begin the setup of the grains simulation.
Setting up the Grains - Part 223:01
This lecture continues on with our setup of the grains and shows how to extract 3D tree shapes from our texture mapped tree planes to use as collision geo.
Setting up the Grains - Part 315:49
In this lecture we finish up with the grains setup and create a thin shell version of our sim data to help speed up working with the grains sim.
Creating leading edge particles19:18
In this lecture we are going to use our source points to create a "leading edge" particle sim that emits snow flakes up into the air around our grains sim to add extra detail.
Isolating the Grains Edge - part 116:03
In this lecture we will start a setup that isolates the leading edge of our grains so we can have powder snow emission from the front of the grains sim.
Isolating the Grains Edge - part 210:18
This lecture will continue the setup from the previous and get us ready to start the sparse simulation setup for out snow powder.
Snow powder setup - Part 113:21
In this lecture we will begin the actual setup of the lower snow powder rig.
Snow powder setup - Part 217:38
In this lecture we continue on with our snow powder setup and dive into the dop net to start creating the simulation nodes.
Snow powder setup - Part 35:40
In this lecture we finish up this setup by copying what we have done for the lower area and modifying it to work for the upper area.
Adding tree snow34:14
In this lecture we will be covering a trick to add snow clumps to out textured tree planes and create dynamic snow flakes taht rise up as the avalanche gets near.

Meshing the Grains5:38
In this short lecture, we finally mesh out grains sim to create a render-able surface of our Avalanche snow.
Setting up the Lights8:51
In this lecture we will be creating the lights needed to start rendering our scene.
Render geometry nodes - Part 18:29
In this lecture we will start creating the bulk of the geometry nodes needed to put together our render output nodes.
Render geometry nodes - Part 211:45
In this lecture we will setup the rest of the geometry nodes we need to complete our renders.
Redshift shader review13:45
In this lecture we will check out the redshift shader nodes and see how they were all created. There is no need to download a hip file for this lecture.
Note about the BG render sequence available for download0:18
A little info about the rendered images.
Rendering the Background8:30
In this lecture we will setup the Redhsift render node to write out the Background Image. You can use the included render when comping if you have any issues getting the shaders to work for you.
Rendering the Dynamics6:23
In this lecture we will setup the render layer that contains all of our Dynamic simulation data.
Rendering the shadow pass5:35
In this lecture we setup our shadow pass and render out the last sequence needed to start our FX comp.
Creating our comp8:54
In this lecture we put all of our render layers together in Natron to form an FX comp.

Requirements

You should have some experience with Houdini before starting this course. This is not a course for total beginners.
A recent release of Houdini(18+) with Sparse solving tools. You can still use the old (dense) method if you wish
A powerful enough computer to run Houdini and a good internet connection for 1080HD streaming.
This course will be using Houdini 18.5.499 on a windows 10 based system throughout the videos.

Description

Hello Houdini Artists.! This course will show you all the steps involved in setting up an Avalanche FX rig.
There are over 5 hours of lecture videos going over the process of creating this setup.
You should have working knowledge of Houdini before enrolling in this course. If you have done my previous Houdini course “Master Houdini FX”, you will have all the Houdini basics needed to be able to follow this course with ease.
This course is “Fast paced”, which means I will not be explaining every function of every node I use on screen. I will explain what is necessary, but basic nodes will not be explained in detail, this is to try keeping this total course time to a minimum and to not bore those that have a working knowledge of Houdini's core functions and nodes.
All lectures will have Houdini hip files for you to download and any other necessary assets. There are two sets of files for students to download. Files for those rendering in Redshift, and files for those rendering in default Mantra. The rendered output of the Redshift render will not be exact to the Mantra output since they are different engines using different shaders and lighting, but they will be pretty close.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I encourage you to watch the intro video and watch some of the “free” videos so you can get a sense of what the course is like.
This course will be using Houdini 18.5.499. If you have any version of Houdini that has sparse solving, then you should have no problems following along with the lecture videos. You can still do the entire course if using an earlier version(as long as it has grains), you would just have to use the dense solver for our snow powder sim.

Here is the basic breakdown of the course:

We will start by examining the still image I used to create a "2.5D" scene for us to create our Avalanche Effect in.

We will discuss what parallax is and why it is important and how to "fake it" to create what looks like moving footage from any still image.

We will show how to use grains to create a large volume of particles that stick together like a body of snow moving down a mountain side.

We will see how to do many tricks to add additional FX elements like small particles flying up from the leading edge and use sparse solving to create volumetric snow powder.

We will see how to create 3D geometry from a textured plane to generate Tree collision geometry.

I will show you a trick to get the volumetric snow powder to trigger emission of particles to act as a wind force.

We will then go into rendering and I will show how to create all the renders necessary for a full comp.

We will be using Redshift in the course and on screen, however you can use Mantra if you do not have the Redshift Plugin. There will be scene files for you to download that are setup for Redshift shaders, and another set of scene files that are for rendering with Mantra shaders.

Once all the renders are done, we will assemble a full comp using Natron, or you can use Nuke if you have access to it.

I will be presenting a very straight forward and approach to creating an FX shot like this. We will break it down into smaller sims and go through it step by step progressively building new sims from previous sims until we are done with the shot.

If you have been using Houdini for a little while, you should have no problems following this course. If you need a refresher or are just starting to use Houdini, I recommend doing my first Houdini course “Master Houdini FX” as a primer to this course.

Who this course is for:

Anyone interested in seeing to create a Large scale Avalanche VFX shot inside Houdini from an FX artist with 20+ years experience in post production.
Aspiring FX artists and current working professionals looking to learn new skills or see another approach to rig creation.

Houdini FX : Creating An Avalanche Rig

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

General Overview of the scene setup6 lectures • 34min

Creating Our Simulation Rigs11 lectures • 3hr 26min

Setting up our Render nodes10 lectures • 1hr 18min

Wrapping up the course1 lecture • 8min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: