# HOUDINI — Knowledge MOC
> [!abstract] About
> Personal **Houdini** knowledge base — covers UI, SOP-level techniques, VEX & HScript / Python, TOPs, custom HDAs, environment workflows, and integrations. **Solaris** (LOPs / USD) and **Karma** (renderer) have their own MOCs and live under `SOLARIS/` and `KARMA/`.
> [!note] State of the vault
> Some notes are still in French / unfinished / outdated — being cleaned up progressively. Expect WIP content in less-used sections.
## 🧭 Reading Order for Newcomers
1. **UI basics** — [[UI/Houdini Hotkey|Hotkeys]], [[UI/Houdini HDA version|HDA versioning]].
2. **SOP core** — [[SOP/Houdini Pick n Place|Pick n Place]] → [[SOP/Houdini Bound|Bound]] → [[SOP/Houdini Group by Range|Group by Range]] → [[SOP/HOUDINI Scatter|Scatter]].
3. **VEX foundations** — [[VEX/HOUDINI VEX|HOUDINI VEX]] then the targeted VEX snippets.
4. **HScript / expressions** — [[HSCRIPT/Houdini Commonly used Expression|Commonly used Expressions]].
5. **Solaris (LOPs / USD)** — [[SOLARIS/SOLARIS MOC|SOLARIS MOC]].
6. **Karma** — [[KARMA/KARMA MOC|KARMA MOC]].
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## 💻 UI
- [[UI/Houdini Hotkey|Houdini Hotkeys]] — useful keyboard shortcuts.
- [[UI/Houdini HDA version|HDA versioning]] — major / minor version conventions.
## 🟦 SOP — Geometry
- [[SOP/Houdini Pick n Place|Pick n Place]] — interactive object placement.
- [[SOP/Houdini Bound|Bound]] — bounding box workflows.
- [[SOP/Houdini Group by Range|Group by Range]] — selection ranges.
- [[SOP/Houdini Curve from edge|Curve from Edge]] — extracting curves from geometry.
- [[SOP/Houdini Scatter on curve|Scatter on Curve]] — point scattering on curves.
- [[SOP/HOUDINI Scatter|HOUDINI Scatter]] — general scatter setup.
- [[SOP/HOUDINI Proxy|HOUDINI Proxy]] — proxy geometry generation.
- [[SOP/HOUDINI Alembic export fix|Alembic export fix]] — fix common ABC export issues.
## ⌨️ VEX
- [[VEX/HOUDINI VEX|HOUDINI VEX]] — VEX fundamentals.
- [[VEX/HOUDINI Guideline for AI generated VEX|Guideline for AI-generated VEX]] — patterns for prompting AI to write reliable VEX.
- [[VEX/VEX Assign Material to Instances|VEX — Assign Material to Instances]].
- [[VEX/VEX Delete every point with normal not pointing at the center of the world|VEX — Delete points not facing world center]].
- [[VEX/VEX Delete last value in path|VEX — Delete last value in path]].
- [[VEX/VEX Make groups or Materials from Geometry Path|VEX — Groups / Materials from Geometry Path]].
- [[VEX/VEX Object to world center|VEX — Object to world center]].
- [[VEX/VEX Transfer Group to Attribute|VEX — Transfer Group to Attribute]].
## 🔢 HScript / Expressions / Python
- [[HSCRIPT/Houdini Commonly used Expression|Commonly used Expressions]] — large reference of HScript expressions.
- [[HSCRIPT/HOUDINI Variables|HOUDINI Variables]] — common globals.
- [[HSCRIPT/HOUDINI Search and replace|HScript Search and Replace]].
- [[HSCRIPT/Houdini Repath Texture|Repath Texture]] — batch retarget texture paths.
## 🧩 HDAs (Custom Tools)
- [[HDA/HOUDINI HDA Render Stat display|Render Stat display HDA]] — Vincent's render-stat HDA setup.
- See also LOP HDAs under [[SOLARIS/HDA/HOUDINI HDA SceneInspector|SOLARIS / HDA / SceneInspector]] and [[SOLARIS/HDA/HOUDINI HDA PythonPrinter|SOLARIS / HDA / PythonPrinter]].
## 🟩 Environment Workflows
- [[ENVIRONMENT/Houdini Environment Workflow|Houdini Environment Workflow]] — full env workflow.
- [[ENVIRONMENT/Houdini Ivy|Houdini Ivy]] — procedural ivy.
- [[ENVIRONMENT/Houdini Tree|Houdini Tree]] — procedural trees.
- [[ENVIRONMENT/Houdini LOD Creation|LOD Creation]].
- [[ENVIRONMENT/Houdini Add Variant|Add Variant]] — variants for env assets.
- [[ENVIRONMENT/LOOKDEV Houdini Terrain Projection Midg|Terrain Projection Lookdev]] — terrain texturing technique.
- See also Scatter notes under [[SOP/HOUDINI Scatter|SOP / HOUDINI Scatter]] and [[SOP/Houdini Scatter on curve|SOP / Scatter on Curve]].
> [!info] Pipeline-level environment workflow
> The OSMIUM pipeline's env workflow lives in [[../../ARTFX OSMIUM/PIPELINE/Notes/DETAILS/PIPELINE ENVIRONMENT|PIPELINE ENVIRONMENT]].
## ⬛ TOPs
- [[TOPNET/6.121 HOUDINI TOP network|TOP network basics]] — `6.121 HOUDINI TOP network`.
- [[TOPNET/Houdini Deadline|Houdini → Deadline]] — submitting from Houdini.
- See also Solaris-side TOP node: [[SOLARIS/WORKFLOW/SOLARIS TOP Render Fetch|SOLARIS TOP Render Fetch]].
## 🔌 Integrations
- [[INTEGRATIONS/7.1 Houdini to Unreal|Houdini → Unreal]] — exporting to Unreal Engine.
- [[../../OUT OF PUBLISH/UNREAL ENGINE/Notes/7.2 Unreal to Houdini|Unreal → Houdini]] *(private legacy)*.
## 🟧 LOP — Solaris (USD)
See the full [[SOLARIS/SOLARIS MOC|SOLARIS MOC]] for the complete index.
![[SOLARIS/SOLARIS MOC|SOLARIS MOC]]
## 🎥 Rendering — Karma
See the full [[KARMA/KARMA MOC|KARMA MOC]] for the complete index.
## 🟪 FX
- [[../../OUT OF PUBLISH/KNOWLEDGE OUT OF PUBLISH/BHGC/BHGC Houdini Clothing design|BHGC — Houdini Clothing design]] *(private legacy)*.
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## 📚 Resources
### Free / Open Source
- [Houdini — non-commercial to commercial upgrade](https://www.orbolt.com/upgrade-houdini-files).
- [AwesomeHoudini — curated list of Houdini resources](https://github.com/wyhinton/AwesomeHoudini).
### Rodeo (Legacy / Private)
- [[../../OUT OF PUBLISH/KNOWLEDGE OUT OF PUBLISH/STUDIO/RODEO/6.12 RDO HOUDINI|6.12 RDO HOUDINI]].
- [[../../OUT OF PUBLISH/KNOWLEDGE OUT OF PUBLISH/STUDIO/RODEO/6.17 RDO HOUDINI UV|6.17 RDO HOUDINI UV]].
- [[../../OUT OF PUBLISH/KNOWLEDGE OUT OF PUBLISH/STUDIO/RODEO/6.04 RDO HOUDINI ShotOveride SbS|6.04 RDO HOUDINI ShotOveride SbS]].
- [[../../OUT OF PUBLISH/KNOWLEDGE OUT OF PUBLISH/STUDIO/RODEO/6.03 RDO HOUDINI SetDressing SbS|6.03 RDO HOUDINI SetDressing SbS]].
- [[../../OUT OF PUBLISH/KNOWLEDGE OUT OF PUBLISH/STUDIO/RODEO/6.02 RDO HOUDINI Mod USD publish SbS|6.02 RDO HOUDINI Mod USD publish SbS]].
### Discover
- **Biome** — SideFX's biome tool.
- **Copernicus** — Houdini 20's image-processing context.
- [Houdini Berlin Sidewalk Generator — by Julian Bragagna](https://www.artstation.com/blogs/julianbragagna/31yo/houdini-berlin-sidewalk-generator-part-1).
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## 🔗 Related MOCs
- [[SOLARIS/SOLARIS MOC|SOLARIS MOC]] — LOPs / USD in Houdini.
- [[KARMA/KARMA MOC|KARMA MOC]] — Houdini-native rendering.
- [[../KNOWLEDGE MOC|KNOWLEDGE MOC]].
- [[../../PROTOCOL/USD/USD MOC|USD MOC]] — USD theory feeds Solaris.
- [[../../ARTFX OSMIUM/PIPELINE/PIPELINE MOC|OSMIUM PIPELINE MOC]] — the pipeline that uses these tools.