Side Effects Software Release of Houdini Engine for Maya

Side Effects Software has release the Houdini Engine for Autodesk Maya, which offers Maya users deep integration with Houdini’s procedural technology. With the Houdini Engine for Maya, you can load and use digital assets from Houdini and use the power of Houdini’s procedural workflow directly in Maya.

Interoperability is a key issue for studios working in a mixed pipeline

The premise is that Houdini Digital Assets can be easily created by artists and technical directors using any number of Houdini’s elements including geometry, particles, FLIP fluids, Pyro FX, volumes and finite elements, and can be then handed off to Maya artists working in the software they are most comfortable in.

Side Effects Software, an industry leader in 3D animation and visual effects software, is proud to announce the immediate release of Houdini Engine for Maya. This plug-in provides animation and game studios with deep integration of Houdini’s procedural technology into Maya scenes and pipelines.

Interoperability is a key issue for studios working in a mixed pipeline. The Houdini Engine brings the power of Houdini’s procedural workflow right inside Maya. Houdini Digital Assets can be easily created by artists and technical directors using geometry, particles, FLIP fluids, Pyro FX, volumes and finite elements, that are then handed off to Maya artists working in the software they know best.

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Houdini Engine For Autodesk 3DS Max And Unreal

Also included in the announcement is that Side Effects have also announced their plans to release Houdini Engine plug-ins for 3DS Max and Unreal in late 2014. These two plug-ins will join am ever growing list that also includes applications such as Cinema 4D and Unity, which are also in the works.

The Unreal plug-in is being developed by Side Effects while the 3DS Max plug-in is being created by independent developer Hideki Suzuki who began coding right after the release of Houdini Engine plug-in source code on GitHub in April.

 

Availability

Houdini Engine for Maya is available today on OSX, Windows and Linux using the same installer you use to install Houdini. The Unity plug-in is available for experimental testing and the planned plug-ins for Cinema 4D, 3DS Max and Unreal will be released for testing by late summer.

Artists with Houdini or Houdini FX licenses can run the Houdini Engine using their existing licenses. Artists who only need to work in Maya can use a dedicated Houdini Engine license which comes with a 15 day free trial. Houdini Engine workstation licenses are available for $499 annually while floating licenses for use in a single facility start at $795 annually. Volume pricing is available for large numbers of floating licenses.