DavidKahlVFX

Quick Tip #3 - Include Files

Super quick and simple thing that some might not know.

If you go into your Side Effects Software Install folder you can follow the path over Houdini Version>>houdini>>vex>>include and you will find a pot of pure gold.

These include files are a library of functions and ...

Asset Update on it's way

Hey folks,

I am currently editing a new VEX Quicky where I look at polar coordinates. In addition to that video I built in the mechanic into the asset.

That option allows to create some cool shapes with interesting animations. This is already implemented but before I hand it over to you guys in the 2nd tier - I wanted to add some parameters to another system that basicly an evolution of th...

Quick Tip #2

For many a simple one but still worth mentioning. 

If you have a geometry with primitives and you want to get the center of each primitive positions and place a point there... you have multiple options - I give you four of them. All of the examples shown below have the result you see in the title.

Option 1  Fuse-Shuffle (more fun with names)

First you use a fuse no...

First Patreon sponsered Gear Update

I just wanted to let you guys know that I took what you guys gathered here on Patreon and bought new piece of equipment which will hopefully allow me to create better content for you.

A Wacom Intous M Tablet! 

This is my first digital Pen tablet so it will take some time to get used to it but being able to create scribbles of the technical stuff I show you on the channel is quite nice...

Quick Tip #1

This one just made me facepalm myself because I created a scattering in the DK Tool asset and I didn't notice this quick way to scatter points. I guess it is too simple in a way that it can hide in plain sight. At least it did for me at first. 

Let's say you want to scatter points inside a box. What do you do?  IsoOffset and Scatter right?

2018-09-10 08:54:43 +0000 UTC View Post

Quick Tips with Early Access for Patreons

Since it takes me quite along time to create videos I wanted to give you guys some more value through a format that is easy for me to deliver.

The idea is to share a quick tip post - in a blog style format. Just a simple idea or a best practice from programming which is too short to create a video about it but is still worth mentioning.

So I am trying to do a post like that each week. As s...

Learning and Creating

As I mentioned on twitter I am very interested in the crowd tools of Houdini and have something in mind what could result in a new Course at some point.

But that endeavor will need some serious VEX logic. But instead of just plow my head through the wall, I decided to take a step back and get some VEX and math training in myself. 

That training has some very interesting ideas but also...

VEX Function - Findattribval()

In this video we look at the findattribval function. We start with the basic functionality before we take on some more complex examples from the dynamics context. 

There we touch constraints and the crowd tools. How can you visualize the constraint movement inside of a sop solver and how can we find custom attributes on our crowd agents to trigger a transition.

Status & future content poll

Since you guys decided for findattribval here are some impressions on what will be in that video. I am trying to organize these videos to start of with a very basic example and then show some more sophisticated use cases.

Use Case in RBD Simulations to visualize the constraints in the solver

2018-08-22 09:18:53 +0000 UTC View Post

DK Tool v0.28 - Plexus

This is only a small update of the tool. in connection with the next function video I wanted to add more functionality to the transform function. 

But since I am on a short vacation trip where I can't record I decided to build another thing which I always wanted to try with VEX anyway. The After Effects Plexus effect. This is just the base for it but I wanted to give you this small update a...

More tools in the toolset

Since I am on a short one week vacation I can`'t finish up the maketransform video.

So I thought let's look at stuff to create for the asset. I always wanted to give Plexus a try so I started a simple version of that.

But how about you? If you think about stuff you would like to have a tool for - what would be your first thought?

Cheers 

David

Next Function + Poll for the future

I am currently working on a video about the maketransform function which has quite alot of ground to cover. 

But after that there is the question about future functions. I wanted you guys to have a voice in that matter if you wish to do so. 

So here are a few suggestions while you can of course add your own.

New Build DK Tools v0.25

- improved Scattering 

- minpos tool for Displacement

MINPOS - VEX Functions

The first video about all the VEX functions is online. With these videos I want to give a simple rundown of a specific function, explain how it works and what you can do with it.

I also talk about how I use the exploration of individual functions to create new tools for the asset. In the video you also see an example for a new minpos tool I build in.

The link to the latest build follows in...

A new Series of Content

Hey everyone,

with the next video I am going to start a new Series of content that will take one VEX function at a time and explain what it does and how you can use it.

And that's perfect to combine with the Tool asset. When it makes sense I add a toolset to the library based around that function.

The first entry of that series will look at minpos(). As result of that I build a small...

Advanced Root Behaviour with VEX

Hi folks,

I finally finished up the next Floating Island episode where I continued with the second batch of roots with different behaviour.

I am quite satisfied with the solution I came up with. I didn't like the original look of the workshop and tried something different here aswell.

I combine the intersect function with a curveu attribute to get the shape I want. 

And si...

Download DK Tool v0.2

Greeble function - DK Tool Asset v0.2

I worked a bit on the greeble functionality and added an interface to control it. 

Now I want to do a bit more work on the other functions and then create some videos about the asset and show how you can use it. But I still want to get this out to you guys since v0.1 was not really useful when it came to the greeble.

So let me give you a quick rundown of the current controls. You find...

DK Tools v0.1 - something to play with

So many of you straight up chosed to support me with the highest Tier which still has me bamboozled. I am constantly sending out the virtual hugs for sure! xD

So I owe it to you to show what the general idea is and since I thought about to place this asset on that tier I start with throwing version 0.1 at you.

Now - funny enough Moritz from Entagma just published the MOPS operators which s...

VEX Driven Workflows | Houdini Hive Utrecht 2018

On Youtube you can already find the recording of my talk at the Houdini Hive.

Why not the live recording.. because it was crap! xD

Now the other presenters like Tim, Simon and Moritz told me that it was not bad and for a first time showing anything Houdini related infront of a live audience...

But it was definetly not what I would have wanted it to be. I was way too nervous and the d...

VEX Driven Workflows

Now as some already know, on June 6 will be the Houdini HIVE in Utrecht. 

Beside some great Tutors and Artists I am lucky enough to also hold a talk there. 

I am going to speak about how being a developer jumpstarted my learning progress in Houdini and how VEX helped me to understand the overall mechanism of it.

As programmer one of the first exercises we do with a new lang...

Development of DK Tool HDA

This project is something I was thinking for a while now. 

Since I like creating VEX solutions I am going to build up a library of functions that I would want to use again and again but without having to write the wrangles all over again. 

There are multiple ways on doing that. I can include a file at the beginning of each wrangle which allows to use custom functions. But that co...

Floating Island of Houdini #10

In this episode I am going to create the 2nd set of roots using the intersect function to create the look I am after

This set of roots has two kinds of behaviour. One creeps close to the surface but not fully sticking to it.

The other one - depending on its height - is just hanging below the islan...