Maya vs Houdini | What You need to know

[@wywarren]

We main Houdini and UE in our studio and do all our animation in UE via control rigs which are more modular and less destructive in the workflow. We still have to take models/animation out of UE sometimes due to bugs or current version limitations but for the most part we can get it all done primarily in these two programs for games/cinematics. I do also code a lot of maya stuff for work as well but I try to stay away from it as much as possible. Although there are some (or arguably many) destructive workflows in Houdini, for the most part its proceduralism allows you to make mistakes and make them fast, accelerating the learning process. When running a monolithic script in maya, often things fail in between and it's incredibly hard to back trace to a specific point in time without constant saving and file versioning. With Houdini you and UE's proceduralness you can just drag out some stuff and experiment and go back to your last know good state in no time. With Houdini 20 and its new anim tools as well I'd recommend anyone to pick it up if they got the chance to. I do want to shift more of our toolset to blender to democratize things but foundationally blender currently is still more similar to maya even with geo nodes.

[@MichaelHalsell]

Awesome stuff. Yes, UE is making leaps and bounds in many traditional areas of the pipeline. UE has changed many workflow techniques. Its great you have an inside view of things.

[@carlosarangoVFX]

Hey, is your studio looking for Houdini artists?

[@jbdh6510]

@@wywarren do you think it’s ok to add Houdini to your toolbelt if you only used Blender for like half a year?

[@3DMVR]

@@jbdh6510 nothings stopping you im only 2 months blender, its just way harder to find tutorials for stuff or free courses for anything

[@3DMVR]

@@jbdh6510 it isnt actually harder than blender just imagine blender without any youtube tuts or quick discord help

[@restwiththetablet]

No Maya vs Houdini. Much Better Maya + Houdini!

[@ACES-BRAZIL]

What do you need to know? 3 lives at least...LOL

[@hound_of_justice]

Basically Houdini remains king of complex VFX and procedural workflow. Maya remains the king of animation and rigging. Smart and non sectarian people leverage both if needed.

[@NUCLEARARMAMENT]

Any complex and procedural VFX can be done in Maya's Bifrost. MPM gel simulation is not supported in Houdini, for example.

[@olexp9017]

The keyword here is APEX. Bye Maya.

[@hound_of_justice]

@@olexp9017 mhm yeah i guess APEX is okay but Maya doesnt even sweat against this one.

[@nosirve9458]

@@NUCLEARARMAMENT you don't have the same control as Houdini

[@4Ever-xy2uj]

@@NUCLEARARMAMENT Maya and Bifrost are crap. Guys, don`t trust this guy, he`s probably one of the numerous Autodesk shills on the net...

[@MichaelHalsell]

Imagine having to model in Houdini all day, everyday.

[@shaman4evah]

A dream come true

[@MichaelHalsell]

@@shaman4evah God bless you.

[@UlfricStromcloak]

SOP >> Any modeling tools Maya has.

[@MichaelHalsell]

@@UlfricStromcloak The response was less about the availability of Houdini modeling tools, but more about the human pain threshold required to achieve modeling efficacy. Each to its own. Enjoy.

[@NUCLEARARMAMENT]

Not just that, Houdini doesn't have parallel rig evaluation, so it will never match Maya for performance when dealing with character animation. Skinning and rigging is far more sophisticated in Maya. Hell, Modo is the only software package that competes with Maya as far as creating a character from scratch goes. I wouldn't bother with Houdini for that.

[@SuperMyckie]

How can you be taking over when you are already the boss!?

[@arsen_wasted]

Just watched the video, so it's time to read the comments 😃🔥

[@LowPolyPizza]

I have bought a few maya plugins over the years, they're pretty good but pretty niche and I usually end up removing them

[@keithtam8859]

as I recalled, Houdini, despite being expensive, have permanent license, Maya on the other hand is still subscription based

[@claudioferroni9810]

But maya too has indie licence model

[@Godkiller08]

200 bucks a year is not expensive

[@luizmihich2706]

Does Houdini still have a steep learning curve?

[@demianpelos]

Does. And every release new nodes appear. But once you know the basic ( take some times same as learning Maya) is a very fun program

[@rano12321]

it also has no limits to what you can do unlike maya

[@phoenix2gaming346]

best maya courses we probably missed. pls make a video on it.

[@Kagara]

why learn maya? its useless will be replaced soon

[@Vicky-v1k9p]

Hey is bifrost good if I don't want to use any other software

[@rano12321]

no

[@Vicky-v1k9p]

@@rano12321 then what should I use

[@jbdh6510]

It is, they made Avatar 1 with it. But it’s complex and missing good resources like tutorials

[@tillgiermann3796]

@@jbdh6510 yeah 15 years ago...time has changed

[@jbdh6510]

But on the other hand they created Avatar 2 with Houdini. I think the majority of VFC studios now uses Houdini

[@YpsilonLinus]

5:55 what a great scene, if its a movie i would watch it for sure xD

[@afromixstudios]

What is your education in CGI..??

[@superfluffypunch]

LMAO good question. He makes alot of weird clickbait videos.

[@sridharan5172]

​@@superfluffypunchhe is blender g a y 🌈🏳️‍🌈

[@quasaranimationstudio7972]

And he just used other people works like training videos or showreels and put them in his videos like he know them. I bet he never used any tool or really knows any 3d tools. Wasting his time editing other people videos with some blog posts from google. I wish people understand that and not support this kind of clickbait channel.

[@rano12321]

youtube videos probably

[@attilakovacs8329]

Houdini the best, 1000 tips for same, and complex result..

[@evolgenius1150]

Well, Houdini is a node based procedural system. Not really the tool to reach for to model "things".

[@demianpelos]

Well maya/autodesk hasn't put resources for developing the software as side effects... Latest big maya thing was buying and integration biofrost... After that... Bug fixes and just little things... Houdini got huge with ringing tools. Character fx. Hair and so on. Karma render. Solaris and so on

[@HoriaBlanda]

Anyone use houdini for archviz? Procedural building/architectural modelling? I'm thinking to learn houdini for procedural building modelling, and afterwarda learn some vfx

[@restwiththetablet]

I work with procedural modeling in Houdini more than 7 years. When PDG comes true, no other program can compete with Houdini.

[@mastkr75]

Let's talk about character workflows because FX is not everything CG. What about Maya + Ziva dynamics + marvelous designer for character works? Can Houdini topple that workflow no matter what it does, even in the future? It looks like studios are already set up with Maya for character modeling and animation, and they might not have a particular reason to make the switch for Houdini for character works even if Houdini becomes capable of providing the same level of character works. You know, it costs to make the switch... BTW, I have been trying Blender and find its sculpting workflow far superior to ZBrush's or Mudbox's simply because you can sculpt right in EEVEE and immediately test in Cycles. It's like playing with final product. However, I am switching to Maya for all else because Blender is so weird and (in my opinion) imprecise and inefficient with modelilng and rigging--esp. if you do not use addons.

[@zurt20]

True the character workflows is a great reason for use Maya, obviously, ziva was sold, actually Houdini has better musculature system, just because it is a simulation too, today is pretty clear Houdini have as good rigging system as Maya, and the integration of physics in animation is so usable, but is difficult than the industry make the switch in that domain, mostly the riggers, but in the other hand, Houdini is not only usable in fx, the system of lighting and render, Solaris, is used in a lot of facilities of vfx and animation, Maya in that domain don't have anything like that, and of course the procedural modeling is a big thing in some industries, when is necessary a lot of content in few time, looks like the case of a lot of games today, the use of Houdini in the video games industries grow up.

[@bUildYT]

damn so blender is older than maya and houdini, thats cool!

[@NUCLEARARMAMENT]

Maya was in beta back in 1995, but didn't release officially till 1998. Houdini was released officially in 1996, but it's based on PRISMS, which dates back to 1987 on the Amiga. Blender officially debuted in 1995, but it dates back to a program called TRACERS on Amiga in 1987.

[@craigbaker6382]

Just a comment on your sentence structure/ grammar. : you begin your video talking about ONE of the best things being [and then you list 2 things] Illegal! Among the best are 2 things Or One of the best is EITHER thing 1 or thing 2 Or among the best software ARE 2 things. Do you follow?

[@abhilashwolffxartworks9592]

Doubt it. People need both. Later on people might say Blender vs Maya. But in my view Blender + Houdini + UE

[@HoomanBhr]

If you are starting this journey and like programming a bit go ahead and start the Houdini, if you wanna be a freelancer and time is your priority go for Maya or blender. if you wanna learn deep in a specific field and work in a big studio the Houdini is your go to

[@Andres-wq6cz]

Thanks

[@olexp9017]

"Is Houdini taking over?" was the question of 2005 or so.

[@UlfricStromcloak]

Apart from Rigging & Character Animation Maya doesn't have anything over Houdini, Even there KineFX made a huge jump & in the future Maya will become irrelevant. Houdini has better muscle simulation, better modeling tools ( both direct & non destructive), better Fluid simulation, better RBD, Vellum Cloth & Hair thousand percent better than Ncloth & X-gen. Bifrost is like a childplay Infront of DOPs & Pops. Plus Maya indie costs acround $300 for a year, while a Houdini Indie license will cost you around $400 for 2 years, meaning $200 for a year. Why would anyone choose Maya. For Direct modeling if Houdini isn't your Jam then use Blender. Maya's Vanila UV & Retopo tool is better sure, But plugins like UV Packmaster, Retopoflow, Quadremesher makes that difference obsolete.

[@rubengrigorian1864]

Blender already can cover 90% of Maya’s stronghold while being free, opensource and actively developed. Making it a strong combo with houdini’s raw power.

[@hound_of_justice]

Reality is different than you describe it. Also forget Blender in such a workflow pipeline. Houdini with 3ds Max, Maya, Zbrush yes.

[@elconquistador3340]

kineFX is really slow it's only good for basic stuff, animation tools in houdini are a lackluster. Saying that Bifrost is like a childplay really showing that you don't know what your are talking about, while not as mature as houdini on the geometry side and RBD, the bifrost pyro solver is more advanced compared to the houdini one, it's like the Weta pyro solver, a true combustion solver. Also bifrost has an MPM solver, you don't have that in houdini, it allows you to create much more accurate snow simulations and other stuff. Regarding blender, UVs are not just about packing so with this addon it's not on part with maya uv tools, the overall performance of blender are also a joke in general for heavy duty. also the whole industry is shifting to USD, blender is completely on his knees and they are not planing to really support USD, and i'm not talking about just importing and exporting usd files, i'm talking the real jam, authoring USD data. You can do that in maya, also Bifrost fully support authoring USD, so you can do procedural stuff in USD with Bifrost, it's a complete new world that blender people don't understand. So things are really not like what you are describing here, you clearly don't have the full picture bro.

[@phoenix2gaming346]

@@elconquistador3340 👍 👍

[@NUCLEARARMAMENT]

Maya is the only commercial package with parallel rig evaluation; SHAPES and AnimBot are also only on Maya. What are you smoking? Houdini requires you to program, you can do anything in Maya using the UI alone. Why do you conceal this information? Not everyone wants to be a technical artist. Some people just want to navigate the menus and everything in Maya is accessible under the hood that way. You can't say the same with Houdini.

[@suhailabdulla3075]

Will embergen be next houdini? Because simulations in embergen is real-time!!!!!

[@asr59]

As far as I know, embergen is only for fluid simulation, Houdini can do way more than that

[@olexp9017]

Embergen is lacking 10e6 features Houdini already has.

[@suhailabdulla3075]

@@asr59 fluid simulation😂😂😂, it's fire simulations, ember means fire🤗

[@suhailabdulla3075]

@@olexp9017 that's true🤩

[@Geometrynode]

No

[@saoir28]

I tried to learn it, it's not for me, too complex and convoluted. I've wasted 6 month for nothing.

[@AlexNguyen_Design]

blemder is the best because it is freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[@quasaranimationstudio7972]

And he just used other people works like training videos or showreels and put them in his videos like he know them. I bet he never used any tool or really knows any 3d tools. Wasting his time editing other people videos with some blog posts from google. I wish people understand that and not support this kind of clickbait channel.

[@Shepherd1234]

what about Maya vs Blender?

[@diethermanicat]

Houdini is the boss. Blender is a right hand man. Maya is just a secretary.

[@parsa475]

... what

[@twoblocksdown5464]

cringe

[@soulcatch]

An easy choice, Maya is owned by Autodesk. I'd never support Autodesk.

[@nosirve9458]

Same. SideFX has proven they care about new features and providing 3D artists with extremely good features. The same with Unreal Engine, Blender, Plasticty and Embergen. I don't get Autodesk fans tbh, it's a company that literally kills innovation with their business model, puts high prices and doesn't use that money to develop and maintain new software, etc; When they understand how these companies operate maybe they change opinion. Because thinking autodesk cares abouts us, 3D artists, is a big fkin joke.

[@s.patterson5698]

​@nosirve9458 I finally ended my Autodesk license this month when it expired. Had the full version of Autocad for years. Then Autodesk started playing games after the 2018 release by disabling the FBX import export feature, thus trying to force you to get Maya if you needed your 3D models exported. This has saved me $2,000 /year. With Blender, UE5, CC....not missing that hole in my pocket. I just couldn't justify having a personal Autodesk anymore.

[@Fluck_Flutch]

I'm sure you are making a huge blow against this big corporation's revenue. I can't imagine how they'd ever recover without your support

[@nosirve9458]

@@Fluck_Flutch I'm just awarea of how things work, because I did my research. And now I have my opinion. But hey, feel free to disagree, I'm also sure you autodesk thanks you for being a defender.

[@Fluck_Flutch]

@@nosirve9458 Was I replying to you?

[@dalalramtane-nf8gl]

First. This video is fire. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@xSupaire]

You didn't say anything special except basic stuff

[@rano12321]

houdini has already taken over a long time ago, the only reason why studios still use maya is because of modeling, rigging, anim and for modeling blender is far superior to maya, for rigging and animtion, a new animation system for blender has been under development for sometime now.

[@demianpelos]

Blender and houdini will kill maya in a few years

[@ChRW123]

Agree on Houdini. But I've been hearing this about blender for years now. Ever since I entered the VFX industry about 7 years ago and still I've not seen the predicted shift in most of the big studios.

[@demianpelos]

@@ChRW123 because studios still believe you need to pay to get something good. And most of the studios that are still standing started with Maya and did pipelines around it sinks hard for them to change their brains. But the studios go under so fast and new ones comes along, and cycle repeats. The new ones been smart are using blender. Even if is just for modeling, but is a step in the right direction

[@bUildYT]

blender > maya

[@hound_of_justice]

in your dreams

[@gorkemuzun7451]

For a hobbiest well yes but for a professional no.

[@hound_of_justice]

@@gorkemuzun7451 not even then if you have the budget and want the top tier package

[@22cine]

Have you ever created a big scene in Blender? Just try, and share your experiences.

[@rano12321]

@@22cine using both everyday, maya has hands down the worst viewport i've ever used.

[@MarquisDeSang]

Maya does not run on modern OS like Linux and macOS, only legacy CPM os like Windows

[@Nukepie]

Maya runs on all systems, Max only works on Windows

[@elconquistador3340]

what are smoking bro? it runs everywhere

[@MarquisDeSang]

@@elconquistador3340 does not run on Windows or Linux ARM and it does not run on Linux Risc-V

[@elconquistador3340]

@@MarquisDeSang yeah doesn't run on my gameboy too

[@MarquisDeSang]

@@elconquistador3340 But I bet it runs nice on your mother.

[@ApexArtistX]

No blender is taking over

[@NUCLEARARMAMENT]

Blender's viewport is so garbage it chugs with more than a few polygons on screen. Even a 20-year old version of Maya can handle more polys animated, skinnee, and rigged in realtime on hardware that old as well.

[@olexp9017]

It doesn't, unfortunately. It does look like the Blender devs want to make Maya rather than Houdini.

[@22cine]

Blender always crashes on big scenes without providing any error code. Just guess. It never will be an industry standard tool with this behavior.

[@nosirve9458]

@@NUCLEARARMAMENT Just two weeks ago I had to do retopo of a character that had 20 million polys. I spent all morning doing it in maya, and then he didn't open the file. I started again that shit, try to do it again, and it crashed. Then I went to Blender, and woah, surprise, I could finally work. No crashes and better perfomance.

[@NUCLEARARMAMENT]

@@nosirve9458 Listen, Maya is a general 3D suite that excels in one aspect above all else: rigging. I don't think anyone is going to attest that if they know anything about the industry. When it comes to specific parts of the CG process, I believe in striving to use the best tool for the job, which is why round-tripping back and forth between software isn't just a good practice, it's desired. When it comes to doing retopology, I use Topogun as that I feel is the best standalone tool on the market for it; otherwise, Zirail in Maya and even the standard Quad Draw toolset included has served me well. But, as always, it depends on what you're doing.

[@zurt20]

At this moment isn't true a lot of parts, a set dressing in Maya or max is a waste of time, Houdini is a procedural tool, the best in that, set dressing is procedural action, you can do it easily with less effort but more control, the same think about lighting, currently is in another Ligue, because the rendering system of the majority of 3d generalist programs is based on shot but Houdini bring a scene assembler, like the foundry katana, based on complete scenes even more , too flexible and powerful, Solaris, even break up the competence, like Clarisse, is a crazy thing.