Houdini particles are no more difficult than any other particle system out there. They do have the added benefit of working within Houdini’s procedural environment however. This means that you are able to create and get away with some pretty impressive things there.
a quick technique to turn particles into bullet rigid bodies once a condition is met
As an example, both Vimeo user Andrew, and Tim van Helsdingen offer some insights into working with Houdini particle systems and emitters, with a bit of a twist. What if you could emit particles, and then have them work with bullet physics?
Andrew recently showed how to do just that. He demonstrated how you can turn particles into bullet rigid bodies once an conditions is met. It’s a fairly quick technique and proves not to difficult. You can watch that demo below. Under the same premise, Tim van Helsdingen shows an easier set up, using fewer nodes. Tim also walks through it a bit more in-depth, working step by step.