Mastering Houdini Muscles: A Studio Level VFX Workflow (Trailer)

Welcome to Mastering Houdini Muscles: A Studio Level VFX Workflow.
Learn More Here - bit.ly/3XzRuM3
30 MINUTES OF FREE LESSONS - • Mastering Houdini Musc...
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Simulating Muscles in Visual Effects has been a Long, Expensive, Frustrating Process.
THIS CHANGES NOW.
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Chapter Breakdown -
I. Course Overview (FREE): 30 minutes
II. Intro to Simple Muscles in Houdini: 3 Hours 33 Minutes
III. Reconform Muscles Easily To Characters: 3 Hours 31 Minutes
IV. Intro To Complex Muscles in Houdini: 1 Hour
V. Automatic Preroll Generation for CFX: 8 Hours
VI. Studio Level Pipeline and Simulation: 15 Hours 30 Minutes
In this Training Series, You'll learn the secrets behind Advanced Visual Effects Muscle Simulation. While other training series make the mistake of teaching a slow, high resolution asset, we're going to make most of our time using simpler mesh for faster iteration.
We'll learn how to reconform muscles efficiently to any character and how to procedurally solve intersections so a Human Artist doesn't have to manually touch things up. We're going to cover simple and complex muscle examples, a variety of resources, and discuss real world physics, properties, and how certain values affect behavior.
We'll set up an efficient, reusable pipeline including large networks with multiple file checkpoints so you can easily jump in at any point along the way. We'll create a baseline character where we can adjust attributes that can be inherited to all of our future characters to get you up and running in a fraction of the time.
We're going to look at the advantages and situations where we can leverage Franken-Muscles and Multi-Muscle setups and create a switch so we can easily blend between them. We're going to discuss how we can use only our asset to procedurally generate the Tissue and Skin volumes and learn efficient ways to store data so we can easily change topology or point count order any time we like.
The next section is all about tuning muscle behavior. How To Flex, inflate, and jiggle exactly the way we want. Then we're going to discuss how we can procedurally create masks to blend our simulation back onto only certain parts of our character.
One of the most valuable chapters in this training series discusses Automatic Preroll Generation. For years this has been a Manual Human process. We're going to learn how we can procedurally generate and adjust this with simple sliders.
Not only are we going to learn how to retarget animation from differently proportioned characters to any asset, but we're going to learn how to start our simulation from any part of the animation using the Automatically Computed Best Rest Pose, Ramp up, and Pre-Animation Momentum.
This means if you have a shot that's 2000 frames long, you can now start at any point and choose where and how to blend in your simulation throughout the whole shot.
We'll also discuss Neutralizing and Restoring Locomotion to fix Super-Hero-like movement that moves too far and too fast over the course of our timeline.
The best part is this network can be used for Cloth, Hair, or any of your Character Effects needs.
This is a valuable introduction series to programming and tooling in Houdini covering Python, Vex, VOPs, HScript, and UI Design.
Then We'll dive into topics that bring this workflow from Independent Artist to Studio level. We'll cover SubNets, Automated TOPNetworks, FileCaching, Wedging, and Logging with User notification.
Next we'll look at Optimizing our Simulation Speed by integrating Deadline Renderfarm submission.
We'll look at solutions to possible problems, pitfalls, and errors so you don't have to waste time solving them yourself.
At the end of this training series, you'll be able to simulate any Animation from any Part of the Animation with the click of a button.
No more Messy Manual Setups.
No more frustration
No Plugins Required.
We're going to create all this just with Houdini.
My name is Noah Schnapp and I've written and optimized multiple Studio Pipelines and I'm happy to share with you the industry secrets I've developed and perfected over the years.
Let's jump in and get our Flex on with over 33 hours of video material in this training course.
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Main Takeaways:
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Build a flexible, reusable muscle pipeline from scratch.
Learn to reconform muscles and assets efficiently.
Optimize simulation speed using parallel processing and render farms.
Create fully procedural setups without extensive coding.
Understand advanced Houdini tools like TOP networks and automated caching.
Apply the pipeline to games and VFX projects at a studio level.

[@erichocean8746]

I bought and completed this course. Would 100% recommend. The beginning 1/3rd is a bit disjointed, but in the end everything is covered and I though the approach taught was really adaptable. Definitely "studio"-this is a real approach useful not just for one shot, but for thousands across many different characters.

[@WilliamNoahSchnapp]

Thanks Erich! I'm sure the large price tag deters a few Artists, but really happy you took the plunge and arose on the other side a Master of Muscles with a Vast Toolset to handle your projects. Really appreciate the kind words and hope to create more training series in the future for you. Noted about the beginning of the series, Will make that adjustment in future ones!

[@behrampatel4872]

INSANE ! Noah this outdoes the CG circuit Ziva course by you. So you have topped your own record ! 💯🚀

[@WilliamNoahSchnapp]

Behram, Thank you so much for your Support and Kind words! It truly means So Much every time I hear how these training series have helped Artists and their Teams with their projects. Excited to see what you create with your new muscle skills- You will be 10x happy with Houdini compared to Ziva. Happy Simulating my Friend!

[@mikkelmelby]

omg this is amazing

[@WilliamNoahSchnapp]

Thanks Mikkel! Hope to see you in the Course and see what You create with it!

[@phalhappy8612]

what is prerequisite for newbees to Houdini?

[@ohSchnapp]

Hey PhalHappy8612! Thanks for your interest and great question. General Houdini knowledge is good, but we approach every step initially as a Houdini beginner. There's lots of helpful UI, hotkey, navigation, foundational concepts discussed early on that we build upon over the course. I've been using Houdini for about 2 years now and have been using Maya for about 20 years- so we compare all of Houdini concepts we discuss to general 3d concepts and logic. You should be able to understand and master the course with very basic 3d knowledge. Hope this helps and look forward to seeing you in the course and what you produce with the knowledge!

[@WilliamNoahSchnapp]

Hey PhalHappy8612! Thanks for your interest and great question. General Houdini knowledge is good, but we approach every step initially as a Houdini beginner. There's lots of helpful UI, hotkey, navigation, foundational concepts listed early on that we build upon over the course. I've been using Houdini for about 2 years now and have been using Maya for about 20 years- so we compare all of Houdini concepts we discuss to general 3d concepts and logic. You should be able to understand and master the course with very basic 3d knowledge. Hope this helps and look forward to seeing you in the course and what you produce with the knowledge!

[@blackspear217]

Hi Noah, This course looks fantastic! I just have a few questions before committing, as the price point is higher than most Houdini courses. My main concern is ensuring that it aligns with my specific needs-I'd rather not invest in something that won’t be fully applicable to my workflow. That said, I see value as a form of self-investment, and from what I’ve seen so far, the course appears incredibly thorough and in-depth. I'm genuinely excited about the possibility of diving in! Application to Barebone Animations: Would this course still be effective for characters that don’t have a pre-set muscle or intra-skeleton system? I often receive character animations as standalone assets with no additional muscle or skeleton setups. Will the course provide enough guidance to create convincing muscle and skin behavior with just the base animation? Compatibility with Fantasy Creatures and Complex Characters: You mentioned that your system can apply to any organic character. Does this extend to non-humanoid creatures like those with multiple legs, tails, or wings? In other words, does the course accommodate characters with a variety of anatomical structures beyond bipeds? And if so, would the workflow be also automated or would I require to make manual changes? Relevance for Freelancers: While I noticed a focus on studio production pipelines, I’d love to know whether the techniques and workflows taught also enhance efficiency for individual artists working independently. As a freelancer, this is a key consideration for me. Thanks for your time, Noah! I’m really looking forward to hearing from you.

[@WilliamNoahSchnapp]

Hey BlackSpear217, All great questions. Happy to speak further on LinkedIn if you want- might be a faster turnaround- but I'm happy to answer your questions here for everyone. Thank you for the kind words! I understand with the high price point, it's only fair to have all the information before making a decision. Yes, the course is very in depth and we cover simple muscle systems (the tubes example) to understand how properties and constraints work before tackling a whole body. This helps with evaluation and simulation time for Artists that possibly do not own the studio level performance workstation. The course is broken into chapters focusing on different areas from reconforming muscles between assets, procedurally generating pre roll animation, simulation optimization, delegation, and automation. Application to Barebone Animations: This workflow will be applicable to any character with any body type whether we want to use a mesh skeletal muscle system underneath or simplify it with a unibodied skin simulation with material maps- ie the difference between Franken Muscle and Multimuscle. Franken muscle works best when we can generate the muscle material weights on the skin from proximity of muscle meshes underneath. However, We dont need to have these bones and muscles underneath and we could always paint the different muscles maps manually and still adjust per-muscle properties of how the skin would move. It's important to know there are certain body areas that require the skeletal-muscle structure underneath to look correct- example on a human - the chest/underarm/bicep area- the bicep/chest are connected and form a bridge when the arm flys/rotates forward. If this is not simulated under the skin we won't get this result on the skin. With that said, there are lots of skeletal muscle meshes systems available for purchasing on websites like turbosquid/etc and this Training Series will provide a method to drag and drop and do minimal tuning to transfer attributes and properties. A human biped skeleton/muscles mesh is provided with this Series for your projects. We do not cover creation of muscles but I provide links to other Training series that cover this. In all of the previous Studios I've worked at, The Character Art/Modeling department will always provide this for biped/creatures/etc and we will work with them to finess/help them sculpt to create. Compatibility with Fantasy Creatures and Complex Characters: To add to the details mentioned above, in this workflow you would probably need to do every type of system once (tail, hind leg, each limb type) and then you would be able to reuse and transfer attributes/maps/params between characters in a way of geometry compositing. It would be very hard to go from an arm to a tail, but you could go from a bear leg to a squirrel or mouse leg. Relevance for Freelancers: Great question! This is a flexible powerhouse pipeline that will allow for one click multistep simulations/logging on your personal computer as well as a render farm of machines. This is the technical level of optimization you would expect to see at Feature Film Studios, Commercial Firms, and Video Game companies all packaged up in a Houdini project you can use in your own commercial projects. This workflow will scale from one Freelancer at home to a studio with Rig/Cfx teams with 30+ people. ie. DNeg, MPC, Scanline Hope these responses answer your questions and look forward to seeing you in the series! When you decide to jump in, please support me by clicking this link to CGCircuit, it will help with the royalties and allow me to create even more awesome content for Everyone. bit.ly/3XzRuM3 FREE Lessons from the Training are also available here to help you make the decision- kzbin.info/aero/PLxnZzcW-q3vLwjyADpILUC3wBITs7Ibru&si=WZr2d4tRaf4vlO8Z

[@blackspear217]

@@WilliamNoahSchnapp Thanks Noah, that's all I wanted to know and I am very appreciative of your in depth response. I've just purchased your course and very excited to dive in immediately . I agree, I don't want to spam your YT page with questions, I'd be happy to connect with you on LinkedIn for any possible follow ups or just to see any future course releases and updates. again, much appreciated and extremely looking forward to this! Cheers!

[@WilliamNoahSchnapp]

@@blackspear217 Oh wonderful! Looking forward to see what you produce with it. Feel free to reach out on linkedin to chat more! www.linkedin.com/in/wnschnapp/

[@Bolaway]

$1000 for a tutorial with basics is a lot expensive. Some seniors said to me, you`re also using things from Sidefx, so, reduce the price.

[@WilliamNoahSchnapp]

We also offer the first section of the Training Series for $99 here which comes with additional content: bit.ly/3ZFoSAZ