In a post SoftImage world, Javier Meroño offers a Side FX Houdini orientation for Softimage ICE users. To me Houdini would be the most loci gal connection for the people left hanging by the news that SoftImage will no longer be made or supported After this latest version 2015. It would be the closest thing to SoftImage’s ICE environment, being that Houdini is a completely procedural application.

This is a project-based tutorial oriented to ICE users and following how they can adapt some of their techniques to Houdini

Here, Javier shows how to adapt some techniques that are ICE based and recreates then in Houdini. Javier goes through a brief introduction, and covers particle emission, Scale Attributes, Particle Orientation, Instancing in Houdini, and the Wiggler tool.

There is also a bit about how to optimizing performance in Houdini, and comparatively talking about groups versus ICE states, and Houdini Digital Assets versus ICE Compounds.

Javier notes that you can get the source files at this thread on Side Effects message board sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&t=31222

Ice To Houdini Project Covers

  • Introduction
  • Emitting Particles
  • Scale Attribute (pscale)
  • Particles Orientation
  • Instancing
  • Wiggler Tool
  • Monitoring and Optimizing Performance
  • Releasing Particles (Groups “Vs” Ice States)
  • Adding Forces to Particles
  • Angular Forces
  • Painting An Attribute (Custom Attributes “Vs” ICE Weight Maps)
  • Asset Creation (Digital Assets “Vs” ICE Compounds)
  • Quick Lighting, Shading & Rendering