Large-Scale Cinematic Destruction in Houdini

Procedural Houdini FX Workflow with David Silberbauer

Discover how to build a fully scalable cinematic destruction shot in Houdini using professional procedural techniques. Recommended for intermediate-level Houdini artists, this 8-hour workshop by David Silberbauer guides you through how to manipulate attributes in Houdini, covers terrains and height field basics, and details how to compile blocks. You’ll see how to randomize attributes, how to set up a fracturing system and build custom constraints. You’ll also learn how to set up a DOP Network to handle RBD destruction setup and review the important TBD basics in SOPs. From there, David guides you through customizing velocities for use in POP networks and then using POPs for debris, as well as how to manipulate debris to use it as a volume source.

This workshop details how to build from a volume source to create dust with the Pyro Solver, moving on to handling a large-scale simulation. You’ll learn how to not only work in a procedural way but also how to think procedurally, helping all artists feel empowered to build their own large-scale scenes. While this workshop is intended for intermediate users, it also offers an interesting insight for anyone with basic Houdini knowledge looking to learn more about professional industry workflows. 

A Houdini apprentice file with a basic cinematic destruction setup is provided with this workshop.

Special thanks to SideFX and Dell Technologies for supporting this workshop.