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Houdini Cookbook

all animation copernicus flip geometry lighting pyro rigging rigid body shading solaris vdb vellum vex
32 recipes by "kif" Clear
Basic Cloud
sop Basic Cloud

Very basic cloud setup

Aug 22, 2026 · 21.0.729 · vdb · by kif
cloud basic vdb volume
Nail Polish
lop 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
instance lops solaris model nail polish materia color randomize glass liquid market animation camera pivot parent motion blur
Cloth Shelf
sop 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
modeling simple sop copy furniture closet vex randomize vector rotation market
Apex Graph With Time Input
sop 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
apex graph custom parameters time pass simple basic invoke
Scatter Objects
sop 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
scatter alligh surface terrain orient randomize instances
Panels From Curves
sop 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
modelling geometry zbrush curves polygroup group from attrib boundary edge_smooth vdb
Save Cop Network As Apex Graph
sop 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
APEX COPs save geo bgeo graph slap comp invoke
Camera Shake
lop Camera Shake

Camera shake LOP rig using MotioFX noise.

Aug 07, 2026 · 21.0.729 · solaris · by kif
camera shake lops anim rig parent
Animate Apex Rig Procedurally
sop 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
apex IK procedural animation kinefx time frame graph invoke
Simple Kinefx Ik
sop Simple Kinefx Ik

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

Aug 01, 2026 · 21.0.729 · rigging · by kif
ik kinefx mechanical rig arm ikchain animate
Cop Hex Pattern
cop 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
pattern tile hex cops texture
Make Rigs Unique
sop 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
kinefx rig duplicate skeleton unique rename
Capture Packed Geo
sop 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
rig rigid packed robot insect pieces kinefx capturepackedgeo
Apex Blendshapes
sop Apex Blendshapes

Setup of blend shapes using APEX

May 25, 2026 · 20.5.613 · rigging · by kif
apex rig blend shape
Basic Flip
sop 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
flip basic water flow window velocity
Differential Growth
sop 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
algorithms growth plants organic biology bio
Camera Focus Point
lop 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
camera animation layout lops solaris usd
Spaceship Cupola
sop Spaceship Cupola

Circular spaceship window that was build for our Onsen project

Nov 30, 2025 · · geometry · by kif
window port onsen cupola circular glass
Gradient Flow
sop 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
fx effect grow infection propogation direction flow vector
Simple Water Material
vop 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
water shader mtl mat material pond lake
Early Morning Lighting
lop 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
light lighting usd solaris scene morning scenario
Lop Time Offset Instances
lop 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
solaris lops instances offset time animation
Lops Transforms To Sops
sop 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
instancing layout blender kkf copytopoints copy transform orient
Hair Guides
sop Hair Guides

Create curves within guiding geometry volume.

Nov 04, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by kif
hair guides curve uv
Winding Curves
sop 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
curves cables generator noise wires
Geometry Parent
sop 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
sop animation parent constrain alembic attach kkfrag
Solar Panels
lop 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
geo modeling scifi power solar panels random space
Sweep With Cliff Detection
sop 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
geo modeling vex group ring shapes profile sweep scifi
Backdrop
sop Backdrop

Simple geometry backdrop for product rendering.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by kif
backdrop layout product packshot turntable geo
Assign Materials By Name
lop Assign Materials By Name

Assign materials to geometry with the same name.

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · solaris · by kif
materials shading lighting lop solaris name
Seraphic Blade
sop Seraphic Blade

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

Nov 03, 2025 · 20.5.584 · geometry · by kif
wing seraph angel abstract shape greek blade array
Inside Body Fluid Particles
sop 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
particles details biology fluid macro cocoon copytopoints randomize scatter