Creating a Swamp & Mud Monster in Houdini
Procedural FX shot techniques with David Silberbauer
Description
Discover how to use Houdini to create a swamp monster emerging from an environment and dripping with mud. This 5-hour workshop by VFX Artist David Silberbauer is intended to be beginner-friendly but is also valuable for intermediate-level artists.
This workshop demonstrates how to manipulate attributes, discusses HeightField and MPM solver basics, explains how to use VDB processes to create sources, and covers the FLIP fluids basics, as well as HeightField scattering, Fluid Meshing, and how to use the MPM workflow. David’s guidance is particularly beneficial for artists wanting to dive into various techniques achievable within Houdini.
In this tutorial, David provides a wide range of workflows that benefit FX artists and those wanting an in-depth look at creating a full CG environment with animation, effects, and lighting/compositing, from start to finish. Artists can follow along to make a procedural setup entirely in Houdini – no other software is required. The process begins by setting up an animation and then describes how to modify it using simple and efficient methods and tools, such as the Point Deform and TimeShift tools.
Learn how a semi-procedural setup can simulate mud flowing down the monster and discover how to optimize the flow speed on the fly. David also details how the new MPM Solver can be best used to achieve the required results without getting stuck in iteration loops or hitting roadblocks. Since MPM can be very resource-expensive, David discusses the importance of what MPM is best for and what it’s not.
David demonstrates efficient workflows for building environments using height fields and shows how to scatter vegetation and process those elements using USD. Finally, he walks through the final scene assembly in USD and demonstrates helpful lighting and rendering techniques to create a polished CG shot worthy of your portfolio.
This workshop includes the Houdini file with the mud_monster setup as a downloadable project file.
Duration: 5h 32m
Format: HD 1920x1080
David Silberbauer
VFX Artist at Sunrise Animation Studio
David Silberbauer is, by nature, a procedural artist. He loves building systems in Houdini that can be manipulated and played with to achieve different and seemingly endless results. He currently works at Sunrise Animation Studio as a VFX Artist, and in his spare time, he likes to get lost in the massive world of Houdini. He is deeply inspired by nature and enjoys trying to replicate natural patterns and textures in his art and using Houdini. Follow David on Instagram @d_silberbauer and follow his career on LinkedIn.
