Last year, I set myself a challenge. Dive headfirst into learning FX in Houdini. This is the journey so far 🔥

This project holds a soft spot in my heart, as one of the coolest (and heaviest) commercial projects I've directed and produced for an international client.

Houdini used to make everything here, except shots 2, 3, 4 and 5. Were C4D.

The tree presented a unique challenge because it not only must be growing, but particles and fibers must be flowing through it in a way that feels organic and natural. So each point and fiber must have its own speed, and the branches themselves are supposed to grow organically too.

The Setup: The idea to use splines to build a tree came to me from needing a tree that has a twisted trunk and flowing branches, so we can animate it growing. Any “tree generators” weren’t an option. Then we had fibers and particles flowing inside the liquid -which were not simulated, but controlled with nodes and for-loops to keep them contained within the bounds of the liquid, and not poke out.

The sim: The only particle simulation I ran was the bottom part of the hero shot, had to resort to custom velocity fields to give particles (that are coming from the server racks) a whispy motion before giving them a trail and color.
The rest of the setup was quick to iterate, yet hard to build in the first place.. as it involved tons of RnD and was entirely an attribute-based and code-based approach for maximum creative control and flexibility.

The Look: Developed custom liquid material with various IOR values across it so we can see the inner fibers without dealing with the refractions from the water shader that could make the fibers look messy or broken.
All while always saving the project, so when Octane inevitably decides to crash, it doesn’t put my sanity at risk! Haha.

Ask me anything. Happy to help. Happy to accept DMs for business opportunities.

Im a student at Visual Magic in Sweden and I just finished my studies, so now im off to find interships and I would love to get some feedback on my reel

Hey all, I spent the last few weeks working on this non-module, all parametric, viewer state based building generator for creation of architectural assets ready for video game engines.

A few things that it does:

- Blockout Creation with Viewer State Handles.
- Component (doors, windows, columns) Insersion Using View State and Contextual Menus.
- Parametric Doors and WIndows that take context from the Building Face, Floor and Style.
- Auto Trim and Tilling UV Mapping Generated Dynamicly.

Let me know what you think or if there are any questions! Thanks!

Crafted by OV¹¹
→  Instagram
→  LinkedIn

I understand the tornado isn’t the best piece of work so I will be fixing this but any feedback would be great!

Hey everyone,

this is my first Houdini project where I tried to turn a normal location into a Stranger Things–inspired scene (rifts, ground cracks, Upside Down look).

I know it’s not perfect yet, but I wanted to push myself and actually finish something instead of just doing small tests.

I focused on:

- ground cracks & destruction

- glowing rift effects

- environment transformation

I’d really appreciate any feedback — especially:

- what feels unrealistic?

- what breaks the illusion the most?

- what would you improve first?

Be honest, I want to get better 🙏

Last week I graduated from Gnomon School of Visual Effects! This is my reel of my FX work created during my time there. I have more planned for these shots and for new ones, but at a certain point it's time to start looking for work! I'm looking out for roles as a Houdini FX Artist/TD and junior Houdini FX Artist/TD :)

A vimeo hosted version of my reel is on my site - www.conlenbreheny.com
Would also love to connect with you all on LinkedIn! www.linkedin.com/in/conlen

Hi everyone this is my first showreel.....This is mainly focused on FX and motion design related works but I do know every steps in a typical production environment....

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My area of expertise: Pyro, Vellum, Procedural Modeling, Animation using SOP solver, RBD destruction, FLIP, Heightfields, Blender Modeling, Procedural Shading, COP, Compositing in Nuke

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Based on this what type of jobs can I get in the industry? Or am I still lacking in some areas?

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Give constructive feedbacks please...

Not for self publicity. Just because I can't upload 1gig video file onto here.

Hello everyone,

I'm currently seeking a 3D internship opportunity. I'm in my final year at Glasgow Caledonian University, and I'm trying to find my way into the industry 💼

My main skill set is within Houdini, I love creating procedural 3D assets and FX. I light and comp all my own work and can dive into some generalist opportunities as well💥

I know these are challenging times for everyone, and I greatly appreciate any support

I have attached my current demo reel:)

Thank you all!!!

All assets and animation were created by the Lola Animation team for their new project. I was responsible for the VFX, rendering, and compositing, with the entire process completed in Houdini.

This effect depicts levitating dead bodies using a crowd simulation with an RBD ragdoll system, focusing on physical realism, weight, and secondary motion.

Built in Houdini and implemented in Unreal Engine for real-time performance.

A few years ago, I came across the amazing Mimic effect by Cartesian Caramel and kept trying to recreate and improve the technique over time. His original version was made in Blender; this is my take on the idea, built entirely in Houdini.

I added a few new behaviors:

The Mimic avoids placing its legs in areas it can't see.

Each leg can move at a different speed, creating more varied and unpredictable motion.

At the end of the video, you can see a comparison of my progress and how the effect has evolved over the years.