HOUDINI
VEX COURSE

Here you will get a brief introduction to VEX code in Houdini, and you will learn about the basic interactions between attributes and geometry. At the end of this class, you will have a good understanding of the basic syntax structure of VEX and frequently used VEX expressions.

This second session will teach you how to start manipulating geometry in overly complex ways using Laplacian and Taubin methods. We will be using VEX to create complex mathematical formulas that will help us to come up with an easy solution to implement a very efficient workflow when dealing with seeded image segmentation algorithms.

This session is all about explaining how to manipulate two of the most used scenarios when running a Houdini Simulation. In this session, you will learn how to deal with velocity forces using quite simple but efficient little pieces of VEX code. Learn how to control parameters and attributes of your particles like color, opacity, size, etc.

This second session will continue developing our VEX skills, but we will be mainly focusing on understanding how simulations work inside Noise is one of the principal attributes available in VEX. This part of the course will be devoted to understanding how noise can be applied to using and comparing different VEX functions. After that, you will need to start implementing more complex functions that will help you to create interesting procedural effects like an objective target.

Let’s talk about different options for controlling your shader using VEX code, textures, functions, and other useful tools. In this class, you will learn how to work with materials and create different textures using what you have learned so far.

Reaction-diffusion systems are mathematical models that correspond to several physical phenomena. In this class, we will get deep into how these kinds of effects can be achieved using the VEX code inside Houdini. At the end of this part of the course, you will be able to recreate effects simulating chemical reactions in a more efficient way than using fluid simulations.

Flocking is the natural performance of a group of birds. Yes, we can call this a flock or say that the birds are foraging or in flight.
Houdini simulations and mathematical models allow us to simulate birds flying or any other species’ behaviors (flocking). Use of “flocking” systems is often utilized, in computer graphics, to create all sorts of effects with species other than birds.
Using VEX in Houdini we will be creating our flocking systems taking advantage of the powerful and efficient high-performance expression VEX language. You will experiment with actions like separation, alignment, cohesion, and wander while creating instanced geometry using points to multiply a flock of organic spaceships.

Vegetation, growing veins, lighting effects, magic powers, and many other visual effects can be generated using Houdini VEX code with space colonization algorithms. Visual modeling of tree architecture began with the work of Honda. He proposed modeling trees using a recursive branching of structures characterized by a small number of geometric attributes: branching angles and length ratios of consecutive branch segments (internodes).
This system can be replicated in Houdini using the power of VEX. Learn how to create your very own ecosystem of alien-like growing plants in other to take over a city.

Now it is time to start dealing with more advanced volume scenarios. At this point in the course, you will be learning how to deal with advection, velocity fields, and implementing volume displacements to create more interesting and detailed cloud effect shapes, and how to replicate points to extend the detail of geometry at render time procedurally and efficiently.

Once at this point in the training program, you will understand that the VEX code can generate any kind of effect requiring the manipulation of geometry. But at the same time, you will be familiar with the manipulation of shaders and procedural textures. Using some of the previously mentioned concepts we will be creating landscapes that can be used in video games or different kinds of VFX’s scenes, either for animation and visual effects or even to be sent to game engines.

The last session of the VEX course will be dedicated to building a procedural tool, and then the new tool can be used by other artists.
The main objective of this class is to understand how important it is to test and debug your assets before exporting high-quality Houdini tools ready to be used in production.