HS-201 – Procedural Geometry (Dec, 2021) by Debra Isaac

Ready to get a solid grip on procedural geometry in Houdini? This course is your ticket to building a fully procedural chandelier, giving you a deep dive into attributes and geometry creation tools. You’ll walk away feeling way more confident and with a much clearer picture of how to build your own procedural systems.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Build a fully procedural chandelier from scratch.
• Understand the anatomy of attributes in Houdini.
• Master essential SOPs for curve and poly-based geometry.
• Learn to use different types of noise and copying/instancing.
• Get an introduction to VEX and VOPS.
• Create interconnected systems for iterative design.

✅ Requirements

• Skills: No prior Houdini experience needed, but a basic understanding of 3D concepts is helpful.
• Tools: A computer with Houdini installed (Apprentice License is free).
• Hardware: Please check SideFX system requirements. A second monitor is recommended.

📝 Description

This course dives headfirst into SOPs (surface operators) to guide you through creating a completely procedural chandelier in Houdini. You’ll get hands-on with the latest Houdini features, covering both curve and poly-based geometry creation. Understanding SOPs is super important for setting up good dynamics later on, and this course makes sure you nail it. We’ll break down the anatomy of attributes, which is key to understanding pretty much everything else in Houdini. You’ll explore a bunch of tools and concepts, including using various types of noise, mastering copying and instancing, working with for-loops, and getting a basic intro to both VEX and VOPS. The first session focuses on building the core structure, defining the main shape, and learning how to create interconnected systems for iterative designs. You’ll also touch on concepts like gradients, conditional statements in VEX, and controlling points with functions. The second session ramps things up by introducing details and using more advanced curve-based modeling techniques, emphasizing the importance of planning ahead in a procedural workflow.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Beginners looking to understand Houdini‘s procedural workflow.
• Artists who want to build complex geometry systems from scratch.
• Anyone interested in learning attributes and SOPs for dynamic and iterative design.
• Students aiming to create portfolio-ready procedural assets.

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Debra Isaac, the founder of Houdini.School, is a seasoned visual artist and animator with over a decade of experience teaching Houdini. She also instructs at UCLA in the Design Media Arts Department. Debra is passionate about community building, hosting regular Houdini Battles, and co-organizing The Los Angeles Houdini User group (LAHUG). Her expertise spans scientific visualization, motion graphics, and emerging technologies, with past clients including Intel, Mattel, and The UCLA Art|Sci Center.

🏁 Final Result

By the end of this course, you’ll have a fully procedural chandelier model that you can easily modify and iterate on. This project will serve as a strong example of your ability to create complex geometry using Houdini’s powerful procedural tools.