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Houdini Cookbook

all animation copernicus flip geometry lighting pyro rigging rigid body shading solaris vdb vellum vex
Basic Cloud

Very basic cloud setup

Aug 22, 2026 · 21.0.729 · vdb · by kif
Nail Polish

Nail polish instances with color from attribute for individual parts and different material per part. Set up in Solaris. Also show case of simple modeling and camera animation techniques.

Aug 20, 2026 · 21.0.729 · solaris · by kif
Cloth Shelf

Small example focused on simplicity showing how to make shelf with clothing. It show how to create points in VEX with necessary attributes for randomizing rotation around axis.

Aug 19, 2026 · 21.0.729 · geometry · by kif
Apex Graph With Time Input

This is the simplest example of APEX rig construction that also show how to pass custom inputs to the graph. This setup uses sceneinvoke SOP from Houdini 20.5 with extra animation parms input.

Aug 17, 2026 · 21.0.729 · rigging · by kif
Scatter Objects

Simple scatter setup with showing how to use Attribute from Pieces for random object picking. It also show how to set random rotation around Y, tilt and pscale.

Aug 17, 2026 · 21.0.729 · geometry · by kif
Panels From Curves

Zbrush like polygroup panels with extrude and beveled edges made proceduraly from curves.

Aug 17, 2026 · 21.0.729 · geometry · by kif
Save Cop Network As Apex Graph

Serialize COP network to APEX graph format where graph definition is stored on geometry point and can be save to disc. This can be used as a filter during rendering or pass to husk during command line render.

Aug 08, 2026 · 21.0.729 · copernicus · by kif
Camera Shake

Camera shake LOP rig using MotioFX noise.

Aug 07, 2026 · 21.0.729 · solaris · by kif
Animate Apex Rig Procedurally

Example on how to animate APEX rig procedurally using Time inside of APEX graph. It also show how to make it work with manual animation created by Scene Animate SOP. It also include several other examples on how to invoke APEX graph.

Aug 06, 2026 · 21.0.729 · rigging · by kif
Simple Kinefx Ik

Simple mechanical arm using KineFX IK and Capture Packed Geometry SOP.

Aug 01, 2026 · 21.0.729 · rigging · by kif
Cop Hex Pattern

Tillable hex tile pattern in COPs using tilepattern node. Based on Houdini Forum thread

Jul 18, 2026 · 21.0.729 · copernicus · by kif
Make Rigs Unique

Let say you have a skeleton and a skinned shape that you want to duplicate bunch of times and then control it as a single rig for example insect leg. This setup take packed duplicated kinefx rigs and make it unique by renaming bones according to packed rig names. See title image for clarification.

Jul 16, 2026 · 21.0.729 · rigging · by kif
Capture Packed Geo

Capture Packed Geo can be tricky to set up right since it does not display an error on attribute mismatch. This example show how to set it up using corresponding name attribute on rig and packed geometry objects.

Jul 15, 2026 · 21.0.729 · rigging · by kif
Apex Blendshapes

Setup of blend shapes using APEX

May 25, 2026 · 20.5.613 · rigging · by kif
Basic Flip

Basic flip fluid setup of water flowing from a window. This example also show how to generate and control source fluid velocity.

May 25, 2026 · 20.5.613 · flip · by kif
Smooth Geometry Motion

A CHOP-based setup for smoothing geometry motion. It can be used to reduce flickering on geometry surfaces and to smooth particle motion. The setup is intentionally simple, so adjust the parameters as needed for your specific use case.

Feb 06, 2026 · 21.0.440 · animation · by Tako
Smooth Object Motion

Setup to smooth the motion of any arbitrary rigid body geometry, no rig required. Our use case was to quickly smooth motion data coming from a tracking software.

Jan 11, 2026 · 20.5.584 · animation · by snay
Worm Rig
sop Worm Rig

Simple cartoon rig if you ever need a cute worm sliding across the screen.

Jan 02, 2026 · 21.0.440 · animation · by hugomorais
Animated Stitches

Procedural animated stitch setup. Stitches follow an initial base curve, and are projected onto a surface. The surface is deformed as the stitches progress, to mimic a swelling of the skin or fabric.

Dec 08, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vex · by snay
Starter Crowd Setup

This setup is a quick start to a crowd simulation. It supports custom characters as agents, layers for clothing, and motion path avoidance, and terrain adaptation. This snippet was stripped down from our crowd simulation work for the Cant Wait music video.

Nov 30, 2025 · 20.5.584 · animation · by snay
Differential Growth

Implementation of Differential Growth algorithm using Vellum and SOP Solver. Based on Junichiro Horikawa tutorial Differential Growth with Vellum Part 1

Nov 30, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vellum · by kif
Camera Focus Point

Dynamic camera focus point that can be animated or attached to an object so that it stays in focus when camera of object is moving. Based on Houdini Solaris | Focus Camera Recipe tutorial.

Nov 30, 2025 · 20.5.584 · solaris · by kif
Spaceship Cupola

Circular spaceship window that was build for our Onsen project

Nov 30, 2025 · · geometry · by kif
Vellum Guide Geometry

Setup for a vellum simulation that follows a guiding geometry. This is useful when you want to blend a geometry into its final form, while taking into account self or external collisions.

Nov 25, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vellum · by snay
Random String And Float Values For Materialx Shaders

n Solaris, you can randomize textures and material parameters per instance using Attribute Randomize. Assign string attributes for texture paths and float attributes for values, then duplicate the node with the same seed so strings align with floats, enabling sub‑materials in one master

Nov 20, 2025 · · shading · by Faitel
Simple Cyc

Simple cyc wall built from a grid and bend deformers. Includes controller null.

Nov 17, 2025 · · geometry · by klawdashia
Vellum Peel

Art direct the crack and peel of a surface geometry, using voronoi fracturing and a vellum cloth simulation.

Nov 09, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vellum · by snay
Gyroid Spherical Coordinates

Twist on the basic gyroid, using the formula on spherical coordinates instead of cartesian. This should conform nicer to spherical shapes. This is also an example on how to warp the gyroid shape and get more custom formations.

Nov 09, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vex · by snay
Gyroid Cartesian Coordinates

The gyroid is a geometry with a detail and a continuous surface. It is found in nature, contributing to the structural coloration of butterfly wings and efficiency of honeycombs. This example is done on basic XYZ cartesian coordinates, but it gets interesting when you start to warp the space that feeds the Gyroid.

Nov 09, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vex · by snay
Ship Fire Simulation

Quick setup for a pyro smoke simulation ready for VDB export. Includes nodes to control initial shape, density, velocity, wind force, colliders, openCL compute and VDB output settings.

Nov 09, 2025 · 20.5.584 · pyro · by snay
Vellum Leash

Vellum wire setup that supports animated soft pinning on the tip and tail of the wire. Useful setup for art directing a wire simulation.

Nov 09, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vellum · by snay
First And Last Point Group

Common vex snippet used for assigning point groups to the first and last points on a curve. Useful when needing a group to pin on a vellum hair sim.

Nov 09, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vex · by snay
Unfurling Flower Pod

Building up from the unfurling stem example, this snippet assembles the stems into a flower pod. The animation includes a rig attribute wrangle as the main control, and a kinefx secondary motion for extra livity.

Nov 08, 2025 · 20.5.584 · animation · by snay
Gradient Flow

Compute flow direction vector and propogate it along mesh. This is done without simulation by using ForEach.

Nov 05, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vex · by kif
Simple Petal

A few nodes to create a basic petal shape, with common masks, deformation, and UVs. This should provide a good base layer of detail to feed into a vellum simulation.

Nov 05, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by snay
Simple Water Material

Simple and fast water material for Karma. This material use metalness and doesn't use transmission to optimize for faster render.

Nov 05, 2025 · 20.5.584 · shading · by kif
Unfurling Stem

Create a plant like unfurling animation by converting a line to a KineFX rig and applying a compounding rotation.

Nov 05, 2025 · 20.5.584 · animation · by snay
Early Morning Lighting

LOPs lighting setup for early morning. This recipe just uses standard USD lights.

Nov 05, 2025 · 20.5.584 · lighting · by kif
Obstacle Avoiding Lines

Compute a line flow given a goal, starting points, and obstacles defined on a surface.

Nov 04, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vex · by snay
Lop Time Offset Instances

This example shows how to time offset animated point instances in LOPs using point attribute.

Nov 04, 2025 · 20.5.584 · solaris · by kif
Lops Transforms To Sops

Extract names and transforms from USD objects and apply it to point attributes in SOPs. This allows for rebuilding the same layout in SOPs. This could be useful for converting manual layout to point instances or efficiently importing layout from external application trough USD format.

Nov 04, 2025 · 20.5.584 · solaris · by kif
Hair Guides

Create curves within guiding geometry volume.

Nov 04, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by kif
Winding Curves

Duplicate curve with random offset noise and scale. Useful for quick simple cable generations.

Nov 04, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by kif
Equidistant Edge Inset

Takes the boundary edge of a surface geometry and insets copies of it towards the center with equal spacing between iterations. Works best on Convex shapes. This was created because the built-in copy and transform with scale of 0.9 creates uneven spacing as the iteration progresses.

Nov 04, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vex · by snay
Geometry Parent

Parent one object motion to another in SOPs. Useful for attaching things to animated geometry that comes from Alembic cache.

Nov 04, 2025 · 20.5.584 · animation · by kif
Embedded Object Edge

Adds a raised edge to an embedded object, mimicking swelling of the skin.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by snay
Tearing Cloth Simulation

Art direct seams in a base geometry, and use them as tearing points in a vellum simulation when under stress. Can be used for skin tears as well, ex. thorns growing out of skin.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vellum · by snay
Seraphic Blade

An array of abstract feather like shapes reassembling Seraph's wing.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by kif
Phyllotaxis Flat Operator

Creates a flat phyllotactic spiral pattern using the golden angle. Points are distributed in a natural spiral formation commonly found in plant structures like sunflower seed heads and pinecone scales.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vex · by snay
Solar Panels

Split and offset mesh polys with random value making them to catch plesant highlight. Userful for mimiking solar or other panels.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by kif
Breathing Chainmail

Converts a surface geometry into a moving, breathing, chainmail fabric. Apply this modifier to any clothing element that needs extra BLING. This pattern was inspired by 3D printable fabric prototypes.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by snay
Ventral Ridges

Embellishes the simple sweeped curve with ridges inspired by the underbelly of some reptiles or worms.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by snay
Assign Materials By Name

Assign materials to geometry with the same name.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · solaris · by kif
Backdrop
sop Backdrop

Simple geometry backdrop for product rendering.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by kif
Soft Pin Constraints

Guide a vellum simulation by softly pinning part of the geometry to an animation. Control the softness of the pin over time with an attribute.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vellum · by snay
Inside Body Fluid Particles

Various particle shapes scattered in volume. Useful for adding details in macro scenes bio scenes. This recipe also show an example on how to randomly copy different geometry to points base on name attribute.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by kif
Morph Sdf
sop Morph Sdf

Smoothly morph one SDF volume into another.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vdb · by snay
Phyllotaxis Sweep Operator

Distributes objects along a curve using phyllotactic spacing principles. Creates organic, natural-looking distributions for scattering elements like leaves, flowers, or other organic features along paths.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vex · by snay
Points To Surface

Manually art direct the position of multiple points, while still having them snap to a surface. Each point can be manually rotated, scaled, and positioned using Rig Pose.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by snay
Sweep With Cliff Detection

Separate polygons on sweeped line which angle change rapidly. Practically allow for profile cliff detection which is userful for creating cool looking shapes like outer ring of space station.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by kif
Spider Web

Creates a spider web from guiding surface geometry. Recommend to do a few frames of vellum simulation, and then tweak the web to your taste with the vellum brush.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by snay
Bake Point Attribute To Texture

Bake point attributes to textures in COPs. Doing vex calculations inside of COPs allows for smooth textures that can scale to any texture resolution. Geometry obviously will need UVs

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · copernicus · by snay
Glass Shatter

Simple base setup for a shatter effect. Uses Voronoi fracturing and rigid body simulation. Can be applied to any starting geometry.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · rigid body · by snay
Animated Rest Length

Animate and update the rest length parameter during a vellum simulation. Uses vellum constraint properties inside the vellum solver.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · vellum · by snay