Particle FX in Houdini & Nuke by Rez (Razvan Ciobanu)

This workshop is all about building cinematic particle FX from the ground up. You’ll work through four distinct projects, each one tackling a different challenge: magical energy trails, explosive shockwaves, swirling flame vortices, and a massive tornado. It’s a hands-on, project-based approach that teaches you the real production workflows behind these effects.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Build advanced particle trails with custom solver logic.
• Animate procedural ground cracks and evolve them into RBD simulations.
• Set up post-simulation deformation systems for particle trails.
• Composite complex particle and pyro elements in Nuke.
• Use Solaris and Karma for look development and rendering.

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Solid understanding of Houdini fundamentals (SOPs, basic POPs).
• Tools: 3-button mouse.
• Hardware: Minimum 16GB RAM, dedicated GPU.

📝 Description

This isn’t a theory-heavy lecture. It’s a practical, step-by-step walkthrough of building four distinct, portfolio-ready shots. You’ll start with the Bankai – Shockwave, learning how to animate procedural ground cracks and drive them into a full RBD simulation with debris and energy bursts. Then, you’ll move to the Demon Blast, where you’ll set up a swirling flame vortex that wraps around a character, using advanced advection and post-sim deformations for real-time control.

The Judgement Cut project is where things get really interesting. You’ll build custom solver logic to create advanced particle trails and a massive tornado mixing both particles and pyro. Finally, you’ll tackle the Blade Erosion FX, a complete shot from scratch where a blade peels away through dark, high-tech energy. Throughout all of this, you’ll be compositing everything in Nuke, learning the specific tricks that make these effects feel magical and cinematic. The course includes all project files, HDAs, and textures, so you can follow along and then adapt the setups for your own work.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Intermediate Houdini artists looking to specialize in particle FX.
• VFX artists who want to bridge the gap between simulation and compositing.
• Artists aiming to build a strong, cinematic FX reel.

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Rez (Razvan Ciobanu) has been working professionally in CGI for 12 years. He’s collaborated with teams on projects for League of Legends, Valorant, Puma, and Final Fantasy. His experience in high-pressure production environments directly informs the practical, efficient workflows taught in this course.

🏁 Final Result

• Four complete, cinematic particle FX shots ready for your portfolio.
• A deep understanding of procedural workflows for particle and pyro simulations.
• Practical compositing skills in Nuke for integrating FX elements.