Welcome to Volume 3 of Adam Swaab’s Learn Houdini Tutorial series.

In this volume, we are going to make things move with nodes and code. (A lot of code, so buckle up!) In particular, we are going to do a lot of work with particle systems, both the built-in one in Houdini (POPS), and our own particle system that we will write from scratch! We’ll cover how particle systems work, how to influence and control them, and how to get around some common problems that can make or break a simulation.

We are also going to look at procedural motion, using Solver SOPS and transformation matrices.

This volume is for those looking to better understand how code-based motion works, and also looking to deepen their understanding of particle systems. As mentioned above, there will be a lot of VEX coding, so please make sure you have a decent grasp of VEX basics before jumping in.