Introduction to Houdini [US TIMEZONE]

software used in this course:

Houdini

Introduction to Houdini for VFX [US TIMEZONE]

$600 USD per person

Classroom: 6 seats

6x 2h sessions

Course start date: TBD

Sessions run every Wednesday

at 19:00 PT

Albert Szostkiewicz

Description

Step into the captivating world of visual effects with Introduction to Houdini. Whether you're an aspiring artist aiming to break into the film industry or a hobbyist looking to enhance personal projects, this course offers comprehensive guidance on leveraging Houdini, one of the industry's premier FX software. This course will cover everything from understanding Houdini's core functionalities to mastering the art of creating a range of effects.

By the end of the course, not only will you have a basic understanding and beginner level at using Houdini, but you'll also understand the underlying principles of creating engaging and realistic visual effects. Take the plunge into the vibrant world of visual effects and bring your creative visions to life.

You will gain exclusive access to our internal Slack channel to send any pressing questions, anytime!

All sessions are live, not pre-recorded, and you can always contribute to the session.

Curriculum

Week 01:

First look at Houdini
UI and Navigation
Nodes and Parameters
Object Space and World Space
Geometry Attributes
Assignment #1

Week 02:

Geometry SOP
Deformations
Groups and Attributes
Assignment #2

Week 03:

procedural thinking
point and primitive VOPs
creating masks
Modifying geometry using VOPs
Assignment #3

Week04:

Packed Geometry, Poly soup
Vector Math 101
Copying and Instancing
Assignment #4

Week05:

For each loops
Introduction to Solaris
Material X
Assignment #5

Week06:

Cameras
Lights
Karma and Mantra Rendering
Compositing
Final Assignment

Class Prerequisite

Basic knowledge of 3D Graphics and VFX in general
Basic knowledge of any 3D package
Installed copy of the Houdini software. You can download Houdini Apprentice for free from the SideFX website
Installed ZOOM software with working camera and microphone for online classes

Mentor - Albert Szostkiewicz

FX, Scripting, Coding, General VFX

Albert Szostkiewicz is a VFX Supervisor with over 20 years career started out as a 3D generalist, working on computer games, TV commercials and directly with film crew as on-set supervisor. Later in his career he focused on FX and Lighting aspects of post production, working on high profile Hollywood movies in companies like Weta Digital, ILM, Sony Pictures Imageworks, DNEG, Rising Sun Pictures and others. His passion is to combine knowledge gained at the Academy of Fine Arts together with math, physics and programming skills to deliver the finest quality of visual effects. Albert’s filmography portfolio has over 20 credits and is known for his work on movies such as ‘DUNE‘ receiving VES award for the 'Outstanding effect simulations in a photoreal feature', ‘Spider-Man No Way Home‘ nominated for the oscars for best Visual effects,‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’, ‘Man of Steel’ nominated for the VES 'Outstanding effect simulations in a photoreal feature', ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’, and many more.