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Houdini Apprentice Overview
What is Houdini Apprentice?
Houdini Apprentice is a free version of Houdini FX, designed for learning purposes and the creation of non-commercial projects. It is tailored for students, artists, and hobbyists who want to develop their skills in procedural modeling, animation, effects, simulation, rendering, and compositing without the financial commitment of the full commercial version.
Key Features and Functionality
Access to Houdini FX Features
Houdini Apprentice provides access to virtually all the features of the award-winning Houdini FX, allowing users to leverage the powerful procedural workflows that Houdini is known for. This includes creating networks of interconnected nodes to manage complex tasks, such as procedural modeling, dynamic simulations, and advanced rendering.
Licensing and Usage
- The Apprentice licenses are valid for 30 days and can be renewed as often as needed. An internet connection is required to renew the licenses.
- These licenses are machine-specific and cannot be floated on a network or transferred between computers.
Restrictions
While Houdini Apprentice is feature-rich, there are some key restrictions:
- It is limited to non-commercial projects and cannot be used in the same pipeline as commercial versions of Houdini.
- Digital assets created in Houdini Apprentice cannot be used with Houdini Engine or Houdini Engine Indie.
- Rendering is restricted to a resolution of 1280×720, and files rendered to formats other than `.picnc` will have a watermark.
- Houdini Apprentice does not support third-party renderers and uses its own file format for saving scenes and assets.
Rendering Options
Despite the restrictions, Houdini Apprentice allows rendering to `.picnc` files, which can later be converted or rendered without a watermark using Houdini Education. This makes it a seamless transition for students working between home and a lab setting.
Integration with Houdini Education
Houdini Apprentice is designed to work in conjunction with Houdini Education. The `.hipnc` file format used in Apprentice is compatible with Houdini Education, allowing students to work on projects at home and then continue them in a lab setting without any compatibility issues.
Procedural Workflow and Tools
Houdini Apprentice retains the core procedural workflow of Houdini FX, enabling users to create complex networks of nodes that define the steps to accomplish various tasks. This includes tools for managing large and complex scenes, generating/loading geometry, and adding detail at render time. Users can also package networks into digital assets, which can be reused and customized without needing to write code.
Conclusion
Houdini Apprentice offers a robust and feature-rich environment for learning and creating non-commercial projects, making it an ideal tool for students, artists, and hobbyists. With its procedural workflow, extensive simulation capabilities, and rendering options, it provides a comprehensive platform to develop skills in 3D content creation, all while adhering to the restrictions that ensure its use remains non-commercial.
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