How to Create a File Importing Tool for Houdini With Python

David Kahl shows how you can save time bringing in files by making a file importing tool using Python.

What if you wanted to bring a lot of files into Houdini? Is there a way to same some time there? There most certainly is using Python, according to David Kahl. “This is one way to solve it – a file importer tool written in python,” Kahl says about his latest tutorial. Taking things beyond VEX code writing, Kahl explores using Python scripting to create a pipeline tool. Why not use VEX? “One of the first things I found when starting to learn VEX was the lack of possibilities to work with external data,” Kahl mentions.

One example where VEX can fall short is when trying to load in cached geometry through file nodes. That is where Python comes in. Kahl shows how to make a file importing tool that displays the possibilities of working with Python and including Python code into your workflows. Kahl also mentions that the video is not an introduction of python in Houdini but an example of what is possible beyond the limitations of VEX.