CG Channel

heightfield

Big update to the formerly Windows-only terrain software adds support for new platforms - and for VDM-based 'true 3D' terrain.

Saturday, July 25th, 2026

Check out the latest features in Houdini, from a complete new 3D Gaussian Splatting toolset to major updates to KineFX and Copernicus.

Thursday, July 16th, 2026

See the new features due in the next major version of Houdini, from updates to Copernicus to tools to train, relight and rig Gaussian Splats.

Monday, June 8th, 2026

Upcoming Dragontail Peak updates will also bring the veteran terrain-generation software to Linux and macOS as well as Windows.

Tuesday, May 12th, 2026

Discover how to simulate sand and other granular materials in Houdini with The Gnomon Workshop's detailed beginner tutorial.

Friday, July 4th, 2025

Create a creature, environment and FX simulation entirely in Houdini with The Gnomon Workshop's beginner-friendly new tutorial.

Saturday, January 4th, 2025

Environment generation software gets highly multithreaded rendering, plus heightfield export to 16-bit TIFFs for Unity and Unreal Engine.

Friday, December 20th, 2024

New Gnomon Workshop tutorial reveals how Gaea's procedural terrain tools extend VFX workflows.

Monday, December 14th, 2020

New integration plugin will let Houdini process Substance height maps as well as material data.

Tuesday, August 13th, 2019

Major update to Houdini adds ground-breaking Procedural Dependency Graph, distributed fluid sims, updated Vellum solver.

Wednesday, March 13th, 2019

Terrain rendering times cut by up to 4x, plus new option to use a render as a projected texture on export.

Tuesday, July 24th, 2018

Hotly tipped terrain generation tool mixes powerful procedural features with artist-friendly direct sculpting.

Wednesday, February 28th, 2018

Updated: 'Largest ever' Houdini update adds autorigging, more simulation tools, terrain system. Now shipping.

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2017