The change means that all* of Houdini’s dynamics solvers are now available via SOPs, with rigid bodies, Pyro smoke and fire simulation, and Vellum soft bodies and cloth having been ported in previous releases.Īs well as introducing the new nodes necessary, and converting the relevant Shelf tools to SOP workflow, the release introduces new ways to control FLIP simulations.

Perhaps the best example of this is liquid simulation, where FLIP fluids – originally implemented as DOP (Dynamic OPerator) networks – are now available as more artist-friendly SOPs (Surface OPerators). Nevertheless, by the standards of most software developers, Houdini 19.5 is still a pretty major update – and one that does actually introduce quite a few new features in its own right.įluid simulation: FLIP fluids now available as SOPs “We’ve been going at top speed for what seems like a decade now, putting out lots of new … frameworks and architectures, so this felt like the right time to have a release where we just focus on quality of life.”

“Our self-mandate for this dev cycle was to cool our jets a bit,” said SideFX vice president of product development Cristin Barghiel. SideFX describes Houdini 19.5 as a “quality of life” release, focusing on improving the workflow and performance of existing tools, rather than on adding new ones. One of the biggest ‘quality of life’ releases you’ll ever see The new features were revealed at a live event this week, the recording of which is embedded below.

In addition, several previously experimental features are now production-approved, with Karma CPU now officially “ready to take over render duties” from the legacy Mantra renderer. Highlights include making FLIP fluids available as SOPs, a new Shallow Water solver, Pyro source instancing, an intelligent Look At system for crowds, new Solaris layout brushes, and the return of ‘Frankenmuscles’. game development and motion graphics.Īlthough SideFX describes it as a “quality of life” release, it features changes throughout Houdini’s toolset, from 3D modelling to character effects, simulation, the Solaris scene layout toolset and the Karma renderers. SideFX has released Houdini 19.5, the latest version of its procedural 3D software for visual effects.

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