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Otls Vex/Vops

Downloads>>>

all the currently uploaded HDK gadgets and widgets....

OdWiki>>>
good information here on the HDK and its uses.

General description
the HDK allows customisation of Houdini at a deeper level than is available via VEX, VOPs or HDA's. Compiled nodes tend to run quicker and are currently the only way to deal with building geometry from scratch. The other advantage of HDK code is that it can be used both in commercial and non-commercial versions of Houdini without the risk of tainting a commercial file with an apprentice node.

Installation
HDK nodes are written in C++ and pre-compiled as dll files for windows versions of Houdini. Currently I'm only providing pre-compiled windows versions.  However it is free to compile them for Linux so this shouldn't stop you using them.  Full instructions are provided on the odWiki site. To install them they either need to be compiled from source for which you will need Microsoft's Visual C++ .NET 2003 or you can download the precompiled dll's from this site and copy them to your $HOME directory. They need to be placed in a subdirectory called dso inside the appropriate version folder of Houdini. In the downloads you will find icon and help files these also need to be copied to your $HOME directory. Icon files should be placed in $HOME/Houdini#.#/config/Icons and the help files go in $HOME/Houdini#.#/config/Help but should then be in a subdirectory that matches the type of node. E.g sop node help files go in $HOME/Houdini#.#/config/Help/sop and object files go in $HOME/Houdini#.#/config/Help/obj. If you are unsure where your $HOME directory is open a textport in Houdini and type `echo $HOME`. Some nodes may also require customisation of the 456.cmd where you can define selection scripts. The 456.cmd lives in $HOME/Houdini#.#/scripts.
As of Houdini 9.0 html help files are no longer supported. Until I get time to change them to the new format I'm continuing to include html help, they won't work as the other help files do but at least you can open them via the help browser by entering their location in the path parameter at the top of the help window..

Free!!!
these tools are given away freely, and you may use them as you see fit. I make no claims about the quality or stability. Some code is well written and fully tested others are works in progress. Many have been written as a learning exercise. I have no formal training in C++ or any other programming language and these tools should not be held up of examples of how to program in the HDK. They may well however contain many useful methods if you are learning the HDK yourself. Many are implimentations of quite cutting edge techniques and are very powerful additions to the Houdini toolset. Some have now been superceded by native Houdini tools but I have included my versions here as useful reference and jumping off points for your own experiments. Others are presented in the hope that Sesi will see how useful it might be to include something similar in the Houdini package. Please email support@sidefx.com and tell them if you find something here indispensible and would like it or something similar included in Houdini.  You can contact me here.

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