YCDIVFX releases Nyx Sidekick
Originally posted on 27 March 2017. Scroll down for news of the commercial release.
Plugin developer YCIDVFX has released Nyx Sidekick, its new interactive bridge between 3ds Max and Houdini, as a free open beta.
Live linking turns Houdini into a “very advanced co-processor” for 3ds Max
Based on the same underlying technology as the firm’s existing Nyx Voltron, which does something similar with After Effects, Nyx Sidekick creates a live link between 3ds Max and Houdini.
Any changes made in one package are automatically propagated to the other, making it possible to create source geometry in 3ds Max, apply procedural effects in Houdini, and import the results back into Max.
YCDIVFX describes the net result as to turn Houdini into a “sort of a very advanced co-processor for Max”.
Data is transferred back from Houdini to 3ds Max in Alembic format for geometry, OpenVDB for volumetrics, or Krakatoa’s PRT format for particles.
Updated: particles are actually transferred via Alembic too. See the comments at the foot of story for details.
Updated 7 May 2017: Nyx Sidekick is now shipping for 3ds Max 2017 and Houdini 16. The MSRP is €90 (around $116), but it’s available at a launch price of €60 until 20 May 2017.
According to YCDIVFX, the software “will work partially” with the free Houdini Apprentice edition: while it can’t export Alembic files, you can still get volumetrics back, if not updated geometry.