Master the art of detailing and masking smoke and Pyro simulations in Houdini. This course will take you beyond presets, teaching you the inner workings of Gas Microsolvers, vector operations, and custom simulation techniques.

What You’ll Learn:

Understanding noise in Houdini and its role in simulations.
Exploring vector operators: curl, gradient, divergence, Laplacian, and curvature.
Enhancing smoke and Pyro simulations with detailing and masking techniques.

Breaking Down Gas Microsolvers

We will start by analyzing Houdini’s built-in Gas Microsolvers, including:

• Gas Turbulence

• Gas Shredding

• Gas Vortex Confinement

• Gas Disturb

Gas Turbulence

Gas Shredding

Gas Vortex Confinement

Gas Disturb

Rather than just tweaking their settings, you’ll learn to rebuild them from scratch using Gas Microsolvers. This approach will provide core knowledge of DOP networks, helping you develop your own advanced simulation techniques. Key microsolvers covered include:

• Gas Match Field

• Gas Analysis

• Gas Linear Combination

• Gas Field VOP
  …and more!

Gas Match Field

Gas Analysis

Gas Linear Combination

Gas Field VOP
…and more!

Custom Techniques for Smoke Detailing & Masking

Once you understand the traditional methods, we’ll move into creating custom detailing solutions for smoke simulations. You'll learn how to:

• Build custom masks using Houdini techniques.

• Develop an OTL (Houdini Digital Asset) for flexible reuse in any simulation.

Build custom masks using Houdini techniques.

Develop an OTL (Houdini Digital Asset) for flexible reuse in any simulation.

By the end of this course, you won’t just know how to use Houdini’s tools—you’ll understand how they work at a fundamental level, allowing you to create your own powerful DOP-based systems for simulation.