SideFX Labs

What is SideFX Labs?

Tools for digital artists

SideFX Labs is a testing ground for more than 150 tools designed to help you get started faster. SideFX Labs tools terminate and release common workflows and create close integrations with the software you use every day. The tools are developed outside the regular Development Cycle of Houdini, which makes them more accessible for testing and feedback.

Originally published as Gamedev tools, this initiative has been renamed SideFX Labs to recognize that artists from different industries generally share the same workflows and that these tools can benefit the entire Houdini Community.

A FX

Houdini is known for its strong FX tools and SideFX Labs has tools to process results for use in a real-time environment for gaming or virtual production. Labs has a variety of tools to help optimize and export your sims to textures, fbx, csv.

MESH PROCESSING

There are several steps to get quality meshes in your games - photogrammetry, topology cleaning, mesh reduction, UV layout, cooking maps. Lab tools allow you to simplify this process with grouped workflows and integrations with popular software.

WORLD BUILDING

Digital worlds are becoming larger and more complex and it is important to have an efficient workflow in world construction. Whether you want to recreate New York City, cultivate a dense forest, or add interior details to your science fiction adventure, there are lab tools for you.

INTEGRATIONS

A software can't face all the challenges you face in a day. Houdini can be the backbone of your pipeline, allowing other packages to send and receive assets to optimize your pipeline. SideFX Labs provides integrations that include support for photogrammetry, lookdev, texture generation, and more.

ADOBE SUBSTANCE

Stay based on us and procedural for more of your process. The Substance plug-in creates a close relationship between texture generation and Houdini's powerful procedural tools for modeling.

ALICE VISION

Take a set of images and convert them into a highly detailed color mesh using the AliceVision plug-in. A node for simplified processing or break each step to create a custom pipeline.

INSTANT MESHES

Convert your polygon soup into a clean, fluid mesh composed of quadruple topology with the Instant Meshes plug-in. Redirecting the flow is as easy as establishing a brushstroke with this retopology tool.

LABORATORY TOOLS IN ACTION

SEA OF THIEVES

Valentine takes a comprehensive look at Houdini's adoption by Tech Art while working on Sea of Thieves. "While we have begun to learn and apply Houdini in the middle of production, it has proved to be an invaluable tool in tech art's tool belt.  kraken tentacles and clouds."

CANDY CRUSHING

We've connected with Peter Ridgway, global CG supervisor, and Miguel Mendez, a technical artist, on how KING has developed a global platform of modular tools that allows artists to develop 3D environments for any KING game. Using Houdini Engine, they can create and deploy Houdini tools to target applications such as Maya, 3ds Max, Unity, and their own proprietary engines – so artists can use Houdini procedural technology in software they already know how to use.

KOMBAT MORTAL

Immerse yourself in the techniques and production lessons learned during the development of Mortal Kombat with Houdini. Let's focus on our geometry cache pipeline that has enabled us to leverage Houdini's fluid simulation tools to generate our unique cinematic blood effects. As a new studio for Houdini, we'll take a behind-the-scenes look at some of our assets and share some of the wisdom we've gained by hone Houdini over a two-year development cycle.

System requirements:

CPU: 1.8 GHz dual core processor

RAM: 2 GB

HDD / SSD: 50 GB of free space on the main drive

Operating system: Microsoft Windows 8 32-bit, Microsoft Windows 7 32-bit and Microsoft Windows Vista 32-bit

Resolution: 1024×768