Deborah R. Fowler

Houdini Tutorials - curated directory of external resources

Updated Aug 27 2024 Updated Apr 24 2026 light/dark

SideFX's digital library summary (last update was Nov 2025)
My previous list here (here for my archive)

Resources

Houdini Tips and Tricks — This section of my website contains tips from class and frequently asked questions as appropriate.
SideFX Learning Paths
There are now so many resources available; my top picks are (all free):
- SideFX Documentation
- Go Procedural on Vimeo and SideFX tutorials (may want to use the three tracks above to sort)
- Paul Esteves — quick intro to nodes
- Matt Estela
- Entagma (new every 2 weeks)
- Henry Foster (Toadstorm) — fantastic blog information
- Junichiro Horikawa — dives into VEX, KineFX, volume wrangles, etc.
- Peter Quint on Vimeo, including access to the hip files
- Len White has two excellent wrangle node videos:
  - Escher in Houdini: Spirals (if you run into trouble, I have created a
    Example File EsherSpiralLenWhite.hipnc
    )
  - Escher in Houdini: Sphere Spirals (the key is in the profile curves; try it and if you have difficulty, I have
    Example File EsherSphereLenWhite.hipnc
    )

TIP: Anytime you see a new node introduced, read the documentation about it by clicking the ? button in Houdini.

For those of you starting Houdini, do not ignore the documentation. Two important user forums exist:

There are an ever-growing number of tutorials. Often the older tutorials have excellent information as well. Broad generalization: for foundation concepts, older material is still valid; for dynamics, be version aware.

This page is a curated directory of external resources — tutorials, forums, and creator channels. For topic-organized guides on proceduralism, modeling, look dev, and pipeline on this site, see the Overview.

Some of the older tutorials exist on the Vimeo channel Go Procedural (November 2010, Houdini 11). The PDF versions are no longer accessible. (Go Procedural User Guide, First Steps, Next Steps). These are quite dated and there are many more resources available; however, much of the information contained is still valid.

TIP: Vimeo and YouTube have a feature under playback that allows you to play videos at faster (or slower) speeds. This sometimes helps when you are searching for something specific.

TIP: Google is your friend — the search engines in the forums don't always give you the answer you want. Search on Google and then look for the forums in the results.

You should also do a cursory review of these reference resources:

Expression functions and Global expression variables
Global Anim Opts
OTL — stands for "Operator Type Library" HDAs or OTLs
GridMarkets (cloud rendering for Houdini) also features artists on their site.