Cold Bay and The Bears – Module 3 by Diogo Guerreiro

This module focuses on the nitty-gritty of river dynamics using Houdini’s Flip solver. You’ll move past the basics and get into the real-world techniques needed for production-level water simulations. It’s a standalone course, but pairing it with the first two modules gives you a complete pipeline for tackling complex VFX shots.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Expert techniques for flip preparation and sourcing
• Advanced flip simulations for realistic water dynamics
• Cutting-edge custom meshing methods
• Exclusive upres meshing technique to enhance detail
• Comprehensive whitewater custom sourcing, simulating, and processing
• Creating dynamic wetmaps

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Basic understanding of Houdini and procedural workflows
• Tools: 3-button mouse
• Hardware: Minimum 16GB RAM, dedicated GPU

📝 Description

This isn’t just a button-pushing tutorial. Diogo Guerreiro walks you through the logic behind every step, from setting up your Flip solver to crafting those final, sellable shots. You’ll learn his exclusive upres meshing technique, which adds insane detail without bogging down your simulation. The course also covers whitewater sourcing and simulation, plus dynamic wetmaps that react to the water flow. It’s all about building a problem-solving mindset, not just copying steps.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• VFX artists looking to specialize in water simulations
• Houdini users who want to move beyond beginner tutorials
• Professionals aiming to add realistic river dynamics to their portfolio

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Diogo Guerreiro started in the industry in 2011 as a 3D modeler assistant at Deep Blue Films. He worked there for seven years, becoming VFX supervisor in 2016. In 2019, he founded CGimagine, a VFX house focused on TV series and documentaries. Since 2022, Diogo has been working as a Senior FX artist at MPC Montreal, bringing a wealth of real-world production experience to his teaching.

🏁 Final Result

• A portfolio-ready river simulation with realistic water dynamics, whitewater, and dynamic wetmaps