Hi there,
I am an artist and am used to node/object based programming such as Max MSP and Touch Designer - code I do not like, I can do a little bit of it, but I am messy, I hate staring at letters and I find syntax errors frustrating, I have the kind of brain that works better with images and visuals - than maths. I’ve been enjoying learning after effects recently. My main goal is to make more interactive installations once lockdown is over as well as the occasional online animation and perhaps some VR stuff. Which of the above would you find most suitable to go with alongside touch designer for content creating - I hear Touch Designer and Houdini are cousins? I find Touch Designer very intuitive, theres loads of good tutorials online and when I do need to do a bit of Python, its usually easy enough to copy or adjust from the tutorials. Is Houdini as easy to learn as Touch Designer? I didnt get along with Blender.
Is Houdini as easy to learn as Touch Designer?
I was a Houdini user first and now am having fun with TD. The workflows are very similar – you connect things together and data flows down the chain to your ultimate output. They definitely are cousins: TD was forked off from Houdini v4.1, thus they share things like SOPs and CHOPs, but (for example) you won’t find DATs in Houdini. Both extend functionality via Python, but I find that I do a lot more Python scripting in TD – Houdini’s node palette is more comprehensive and thus requires fewer forays into scripting.
In addition, Houdini places an emphasis on simulations which IMO are less clear than strictly procedural animation. Whereas TD is about realtime display of imagery and being interconnected with a world outside itself (e.g. TCP networking, displays, user interfaces, external apps), Houdini is more about generating the ultimate image regardless of how long it takes (within your tolerance).
But if you know one, learning the other is a lot easier as it’s a similar skillset that drives both.
I get you - so Houdini is less realtime - more of let it render and go and have a coffee type of thing. I really want to make some animation stuff and it might be nice to export some stuff to touch - though I realise realtim stuff will have to be a bit simpler sometimes