cmiVFX Launches Houdini - Empowering Digital Assets with Python

Curitiba, PR, Brazil December 22th, 2009 — cmiVFX | cmiStudios launches a brand new Houdini video called Empowering Digital Assets with Python. We have dedicated ourselves to completing training for one of the most flexible workflows in Houdini. Python! Rigging a Rubik's cube is a challenge by itself and our goal is to get an animation ready Rubik's cube rig using the power of Python as the core of our asset. It takes experience to do either one of those things and we showcase our experience to you here with this fantastic release. This video is available today at the cmiVFX store. cmiVFX Video Player Online Store http://cmivfx.com/store/Browse.aspx?Category=11

BUILDING THE SCENE WITH PYTHON

Python scripting could be of a great help, especially when it comes to redundant things that if done manually would take ages. In this part you are going to learn how to use python, inside the python shell, to automate the creation of the Rubik's cube and all the necessary nodes from scratch. By the end of this part you will have built, using python, the geometry of the Rubik's cube with the materials attached to it and with nulls parented to the cubes that will serve later in the code.

INTRODUCTION TO DIGITAL ASSETS

Digital assets are a very important brick in any workflow built around or using Houdini. In this part you will be introduced to digital assets and you will learn, by transforming the Rubik's cube into one, how to transform a bunch of existing nodes into a digital asset.

PYTHON INSIDE THE DIGITAL ASSET

Since digital assets are entities that can live by themselves, it is crucial to be able to include the scripts they use inside them. There are many methods to do that and in this part you are going to learn one of those methods. By creating a simple python function inside the Rubik's cube digital asset and then adding a button also to the digital asset to be able to call this function.

RUBIK'S RIG CORE CODE

All is ready now to begin building the core code of the Rubik's cube rig. In this part you are going to go deeper into the python code that will drive the behavior of the rig. You are going to learn about the functions and how to pass parameters from the buttons to these functions, to be able to drive a multitude of conditions that will determine what cubes belong to which faces, which faces will rotate, how they are going to rotate ... etc

KEYING AND ANIMATION

Up until now all the work done so far, allows only to play with the Rubik's cube, no keys were set and therefore no animation. To bring the cube to life, in this part, you are going to learn how to create the code that will allow setting key frames on the rotations to get an animation!

CUSTOM GEOMETRY

What if the user needs to use custom geometry instead of the default cubes? In this part you are going to see how to make this possible and how to allow the user to define a custom geometry or not, in which case the default cubes will be used.

FINISHING TOUCHES

Resetting the cube to its initial state is important because not everyone knows how to solve it! :) In this part a reset button will be created as well as making the rotate function more flexible by allowing it to take the angle in as a parameter.

About the Author:

Georges Nakhle is 25 years old, Lebanese and has a master's degree in mechanical engineering. He began his art steps with traditional painting and sculpting then gained a diploma in dramatic monologue (acting -singing). He has worked as a writer and performer in radio and TV. Combining arts and science led him to CG, where he mastered many tools including Maya and Houdini among others. George is also a programmer; he's currently working for Dassault-Systemes in Paris-France and he has also worked in combination with Dassault-Systemes and Mental Images, the makers of mental-ray.

About cmiVFX

cmiVFX is the leader in High Definition Video Training for the Visual Effects Community. To test drive the new cmiVFX TVOD © system, visit http://www.cmivfx.com/cmi_vod.html For additional information about cmiVFX, visit www.cmivfx.com. cmiVFX is launching a live training tour in 2010, to find out more information about dates and locations, email to info@cmivfx.com © 2010 cmiVFX | cmiStudios. All rights reserved.
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