Snow Simulation Workflows in Houdini by Diego de Mendizabal

This 6-hour workshop from Diego de Mendizabal is a straight-to-the-point guide for intermediate Houdini artists who want to stop fighting their simulations. You’ll learn how to use Vellum to create realistic, art-directable snow interactions, moving beyond basic setups to production-quality results. Diego shares the exact troubleshooting and optimization tricks he uses as a Lead FX TD at Sony Pictures Imageworks, covering everything from initial setup to final rendering in Solaris and Karma.

🎯 What you’ll learn

• Set up and configure Vellum grain systems for realistic snow simulation.
• Art-direct snow behavior using constraints and custom attributes.
• Troubleshoot common simulation problems and optimize for performance.
• Create secondary dust and particle effects using Pyro and POP networks.
• Implement professional shading and lighting in Solaris and Karma.
• Use Houdini’s compositing tools for final post-processing.

✅ Requirements

• Skills: Intermediate knowledge of Houdini and basic simulation concepts.
• Tools: Houdini (any version that supports Vellum).
• Hardware: A computer capable of running Houdini simulations (16GB+ RAM recommended).

📝 Description

This workshop skips the fluff and gets straight to the practical problems you’ll face when simulating snow. Diego starts by showing you how to study real-world references—because snow isn’t just one thing. It’s a mix of fine particles and cohesive chunks, and your simulation needs to handle both.

The core of the course is about building an art-directable setup. You won’t just be pressing play and hoping for the best. Diego teaches you how to use constraints and attributes to control exactly how the snow behaves, from a soft powder to a heavy, wet pack. He spends a significant amount of time on troubleshooting, showing you why simulations explode and how to fix them, and how to optimize your scene to keep simulation times manageable.

In the second half, you’ll add secondary elements like dust and flying particles using Pyro and POP networks to sell the impact. Finally, you’ll take everything into Solaris and Karma for shading, lighting, and rendering, and then finish it off with a basic compositing pass—all within Houdini. The project files include the main .hipnc file and high-res textures, so you can follow along exactly.

🧑‍🎓 Who this course is for

• Intermediate FX artists and TDs who want to master Vellum-based snow simulations.
• Junior artists looking to level up their Houdini skills with production-proven workflows.
• VFX, animation, or game developers who need to create believable environmental effects.

🧑‍🏫 About the Author

Diego de Mendizabal is a Lead/Senior FX TD at Sony Pictures Imageworks with over 15 years of experience. He has contributed to major blockbusters including Dune (Part 1), Avengers: Infinity War, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and How to Train Your Dragon. His expertise lies in creating complex FX for both live-action and feature animation, making his workflows battle-tested for real production pipelines.

🏁 Final Result

• A complete, production-ready snow simulation setup in Houdini, including a main Vellum simulation, secondary dust effects, and a final rendered and composited shot.