Master volumetric effects in Houdini
The Gnomon Workshop has released Creating Volumetric Effects With Houdini, a detailed guide to creating clouds, smoke, haze and fog in SideFX’s procedural 3D software.
The workshop, which comprises over three hours of video, is the latest in a series of Houdini training recorded for Gnomon by Psyop veteran Robby Branham.
Master fast, flexible Houdini workflows for creating volumetric effects
During the workshop, Branham discusses the principles of creating volumes, using a range of techniques including VDBs, metaballs and Houdini’s Cloud FX shelf tools.
The training covers both static and animated volumes, and reveals fast, efficient workflows for creating volumes using both geometry and SOPs, and for adding details to the results using Volume VOPs.
Branham demonstates how to create a cloud set-up that can be used as a template to generate a library of VDB files for use in other scenes.
He then discusses how the cover artwork for the workshop was created, including terrain layout, atmospheric elements, lighting, rendering and compositing.
The tutorial covers how to export volumetrics from Houdini to Maya, and rendering set-ups for both Houdini’s Mantra renderer and Redshift.
Branham’s own VDB library of static cloud, haze, fog and mist volumes is available for download as part of the workshop, along with the Houdini project files.
About the artist
Senior 3D generalist and compositing artist Robby Branham began his career in entertainment production in 2009. Since then, he has worked for firms including Psyop, Digital Domain, Pixomondo, and Zoic Studios.
His work can be seen in film, commercials and game cinematics such as Microsoft’s ReCore and Supercell’s Clash of Clans. He also teaches at leading Hollywood-based CG school Gnomon.
Pricing and availability
Creating Volumetric Effects with Houdini is available via an online subscription to The Gnomon Workshop, giving you access to over 300 tutorials. Subscriptions cost $49/month or $490/year.
Read more about Creating Volumetric Effects with Houdini on The Gnomon Workshop’s website
Full disclosure: CG Channel is owned by Gnomon.