The point about this is to make use of Houdini's procedural workflow in game development. One artist creates an configurable asset which has a ton of settings and then the level artists can quickly create variations of the asset in Unity by tweaking the exposed settings without having to go back to the 3D software, alter it by hand and export it again. Houdini Engine is now available for free for Unreal and Unity game developers. Houdini is a popular long running 3D application from SideFX software that is known for it’s procedural approach to basically the entire 3D process.
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SideFX has made Houdini Engine for UE4 and Houdini Engine for Unity free to all users.
The plugins enable users to import edit procedural assets created in Houdini into Unreal Engine or Unity and edit them natively inside the game engine during game development or virtual production work.
Fitbit software download mac. The functionality was already free for artists or indie studios with revenues under $100,000/year via a Houdini Engine Indie licence.
Import and edit Houdini .hda assets inside other DCC applications and game engines
Houdini Engine enables artists to import procedural assets created in Houdini into other DCC applications, and edit them inside the host app.
SideFX develops connection plugins for 3ds Max, Maya, Unity and Unreal Engine – the one for Cinema 4D is no longer listed on its website – and studios can create custom plugins via the Houdini Engine API.
Unity and UE4 plugins can now be used free by large studios, not just indie artists
Today’s announcement makes it possible for larger studios to use the Houdini Engine plugins for Unity and Unreal Engine for free on their commercial projects.
To use the plugins for 3ds Max, Maya or proprietary software, or to batch process Houdini renders or simulations on a render farm – another function of Houdini Engine – studios still need commercial licences.
Studios will also need a commercial licence of Houdini itself. Smart adobe cc blocker v1.0 app download mac.
According to SideFX’s FAQs, this “will be called upon ‘under-the-hood’ when the plug-in is processing assets. And then you need your licenses loaded into the license manager to make them available”.
Pricing and system requirements
Free licences of Houdini Engine for UE4 and Houdini Engine for Unity can be accessed by installing Houdini 18.5.499+, which runs on Windows 8+, macOS 10.13+ and many Linux distros.
Studios can then get up to 10 free global floating licences online via the SideFX store; further licences are available on request.
Use of Houdini Engine with other software requires a paid licence, which costs $499/year for a node-locked licence, or $795/year for a floating licence.
Houdini itself costs between $1,995 and $6,995 for a perpetual licence, depending on which edition of the software you buy, and whether you need a node-locked or floating licence. Find full pricing here.
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Special groups and attributes are used when marshalling data between Houdini and Unity.
Certain standard Houdini attributes are used when marshaling data between Houdini and Unity.
| Attribute Name | Description |
|---|---|
| p | position |
| rot | rotation |
| Cd | color |
| Alpha | opacity |
| N | normal |
| uv | uv |
| uv2, uv3 | additionnal uv channels |
| instance | For object-level instancing, See Instancing |
This table lists special attributes which will be recognized when marshalling data from Houdini to Unity. Setting up those attributes on your asset will allow you to control and override some properties of the generated Unity geometry.
| Attribute Name | Owner | Type | Topic | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unity_instance | point, detail | string | Instancing | Path in Unity project of an Asset to instance at the given owner transform. Should be relative to the project Assets folder (eg. 'Assets/Prefabs/Hero.prefab'). |
| unity_material | prim, detail | string | Materials | Path in Unity of a Material asset to apply to a part. Should be relative to the project Assets folder (eg. 'Assets/Materials/HeroMat.mat'). |
| unity_tag | prim, detail | string | Unity tag to set for generated GameObjects. Note that tag must already exist in Unity Editor scene. | |
| unity_static | prim, detail | int | Set to 1 to make generated GameObject static, or 0 for non-static. | |
| lod_screensizes | detail | float array | Level of Detail | Transition screensizes for LOD levels (range should be 0 to 1 or 1 to 100). |
| unity_layer | prim, detail | string | Unity layer to set for generated GameObjects. Note that the layer must already exist in Unity Editor scene. | |
| instance_prefix | point, detail | string | Instancing | Prefix to append to instance objects (eg. 'City_Instance1' where 'City' is the prefix). |
| unity_mesh_readable | point, detail | int | Readable Meshes | Generated meshes will be marked as readable if this is 1. By default, generated meshes are non-readable. |
The following table lists special attributes which can be set on the height heightfield layer to specify an existing TerrainData asset file to used. A copy of the TerrainData asset file will be created on generation in Unity.
| Attribute Name | Owner | Type | Topic | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unity_hf_terraindata_file | prim | string | TerrainData | Path in Unity project of a TerrainData asset to set as the Terrain Data. Relative to project Assets folder (eg. 'Assets/Terrain/terlayer.asset'). |
| unity_hf_terraindata_export_file | prim | string | TerrainData | Path to write the generated or copied TerrainData asset to. |
The following table lists special attributes which can be set on heightfield layers in order to set the corresponding Terrain Layer properties on the generated Unity Terrain. Note that height and mask layers are ignored when creating Terrain Layers, so these attributes must be set on other heightfield layers.
| Attribute Name | Owner | Type | Topic | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unity_hf_terrainlayer_file | prim | string | Height Field Layers | Path in Unity project of a TerrainLayer asset to set as the Terrain Layer. Relative to project Assets folder (eg. 'Assets/Terrain/base.terrainlayer'). |
| unity_hf_texture_diffuse | prim | string | Height Field Layers | Path in Unity project of a Texture asset to set as the terrain layer's diffuse texture. Relative to project Assets folder (eg. 'Assets/Texture/sand.png'). |
| unity_hf_texture_mask | prim | string | Height Field Layers | Path in Unity project of a Texture asset to set as the terrain layer's mask texture. Relative to project Assets folder (eg. 'Assets/Texture/sand.png'). |
| unity_hf_texture_normal | prim | string | Height Field Layers | Path in Unity project of a Texture asset to set as the terrain layer's normal texture. Relative to project Assets folder (eg. 'Assets/Texture/sand.png'). |
| unity_hf_normal_scale | prim | float | Height Field Layers | Terrain layer's normal scale (float of size 1). |
| unity_hf_metallic | prim | float | Height Field Layers | Terrain layer's shader's metallic value (float of size 1, with value between 0 and 1). |
| unity_hf_smoothness | prim | float | Height Field Layers | Terrain layer's shader's smoothness value (float of size 1, with value between 0 and 1). |
| unity_hf_specular | prim | float array | Height Field Layers | Terrain layer's shader's specular color (float of size 4, with values between 0 and 1). |
| unity_hf_tile_offset | prim | float array | Height Field Layers | Terrain layer's texture's tile offset (float of size 2). |
| unity_hf_tile_size | prim | float array | Height Field Layers | Terrain layer's texture's tile size (float of size 2). |
This table lists special attributes which are created by the plug-in when marshaling data from Unity to Houdini.
| Attribute Name | Owner | Type | Topic | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| unity_material | prim | string | Materials | Path in Unity of a Material asset to apply to the mesh. Should be relative to the project Assets folder (eg. 'Assets/Materials/HeroMat.prefab'). Automatically set when using an input mesh. |
| unity_input_mesh_name | prim | string | Inputs | Name of mesh's owner GameObject. Automatically set when using an input mesh. |
These attributes will be available in Houdini when using Inputs to marshall data from Unity to Houdini.
These Standard Houdini Attributes will generally also be available: position (p), vertex colors (Cd, Alpha), normals (N) and UV sets (uv, uv2, uv3).
You can easily see these attributes and their values by troubleshooting the internal Houdini Scene (File > Open Scene In Houdini) after initializing your asset's Inputs.
Houdini Engine For Ue4
Houdini Engine Unity
Some special group names have naming schemes which specify generation behavior when marshalling data from Houdini to Unity.
| Group Name | Topic | Description |
|---|---|---|
| collision_geo_* | Colliders | Prefix used for collider geometry generation (invisible) |
| convex_collision_geo_* | Colliders | Prefix used for convex collider geometry generation (invisible) |
| convex_collision_geo_trigger_* | Colliders | Prefix used for convex trigger collider geometry generation (invisible) |
| collision_geo_simple_* | Colliders | Prefix used for visible simple collider geometry generation. Accepted values are _box, _sphere, and _capsule. |
| collision_geo_simple_trigger_* | Colliders | Prefix used for visible simple trigger collider geometry generation. Accepted values are _box, _sphere, and _capsule. |
| rendered_collision_geo_* | Colliders | Prefix used for visible collider geometry generation |
| rendered_convex_collision_geo_* | Colliders | Prefix used for visible collider geometry generation |
| rendered_convex_collision_geo_trigger_* | Colliders | Prefix used for visible trigger collider geometry generation |
| rendered_collision_geo_simple_* | Colliders | Prefix used for visible simple collider geometry generation. Accepted values are _box, _sphere, and _capsule. |
| rendered_collision_geo_simple_trigger_* | Colliders | Prefix used for visible simple trigger collider geometry generation. Accepted values are _box, _sphere, and _capsule. |
| lod* | Level of Detail | Prefix used for defining mesh LOD level (e.g. lod0, lod1) |
Primitives that belong to collision groups will be separately created as Mesh Collider components and added to the output GameObject. The rendered_collision_geo groups will have MeshRenderer and MeshFilter components as well.
The Attributes Store feature allows to store attribute data in a script component (HEU_OutputAttributesStore) attached to the generated gameobject. This allows to bring in any supported attribute type (ints, floats, strings) from Houdini into Unity, to access them at a later point in time.
Indie Pixel
To use this feature for an HDA:
- Create attributes for points, primitives, or detail for a SOP geometry inside the HDA, with name and values set.
- Create another attribute with name hengine_attr_store of class Detail and type String.
- Specify the names of the attributes that you want stored, separated by commas (e.g. health,ammo,armor).
Now in Unity, when the HDA is cooked, the generated gameobject will have HEU_OutputAttributesStore script component attached. It will contain a map of attributes, which can be queried via script.
Houdini Unity Terrain
Note that you can also store Houdini native attributes such as P, rot, N, uv, etc.
Unity Plugin Folder
Optional, but as a follow up, you can also attach a script to be called back automatically that can query and assign values from the attribute store. Check out the example HDA provided in Assets/Plugins/HoudiniEngineUnity/HDAs/HEUInstanceAttributesStore.hda.