DavidKahlVFX

DK Tool v1.0

This was long overdue but I sat down and created a documention and a demo file with the asset. 

It is nothing fancy and I still see the tool asset as a work in progress. I will keep adding basic tools that I stumble upon while I am also looking into more advanced tools.

This asset is the first little piece that I will have on gumroad. In the future video material could also be an option for people not wanting to have a subscription or want to have the option to download.

The rubics cube project

You might remember that this was something I worked on. 

The only thing left was to create an algorithm to actually solve the cube. But I think - even though it is still interesting - the solving algorithm doesn't offer alot of value to the houdini user.

For you guys it is alot more interesting how the object was build, the rotation works and most importantly how it is possible to chain the cube movements and let a solver play the animation.

Since I do want to concentra...

Asset Cleanup | Railsystem Part 7

After the long delay of this project, through everything going on, I can finally put some focus on it. 

This is only a short segment but with part 8 that I am currently editing, there is a shift in the overall process. I now record bigger chunks which should allow me to be faster. 

Also up until Part 8 it is more or less prep work for the main process. The main system starts to take shape in the following parts.

Another Update and A Poll

Who doesn't like Polls? ;-) 

( I know - nobody but I still like to give you guys the option )

But first some BTS info. 

I continued recording and editing for the rail. This dragged for so long and its time to get this done. Also new Ideas are piling up.

On the Alexa front I could get 10 people in there to test. Even one frome Sidefx and weirdly enough one amazon employee jumped on it. Thanks to the SideFX guy though I might be able to find a way and make this...

A new workstation is coming

Hey folks,

I mentioned this a while pack but plans to build a new system are becoming more precise now.

Since you guys are one reason this is possible I want to share my current part list and I am looking forward your input:

CPU: The Ryzen 9 3900x

I wait for the info about the 3950 hoping to get a better deal on the 3900. And I reserve a tiny bit of doubt if it could become the 3950.

Board:  MSI MPG x570

PCIe und M.2 4th Gen

SSD: MP600 1TB

...

How to Import Files in Houdini with Python | Part 3

I finally managed to finish the python thingy. 

Just in case you missed it - I added the functionality to the dk_tool asset aswell. 

It is probably a bit too specific but it should be a good start if you need something remotely in that direction.

Now where to continue with Python Content? There is alot of interesting stuff to explore - like object oriented programming for UI

Let me know if you want to see something specific.

Cheers

Dave

I went a bit apeshit with the Alexa thing

I couldn't help myself. I just needed to pack in more stuff xD

And I just had the idea to get in contact with Entagma to include MOPS.

Also I made a FB post to get people in for testing.

So I just wrote the description for the amazon site but since it will take me a bit longer until I can set this to public here are the details:

---------------------------------------------

This skill will be the best voice activated help for houdini out there. 

Which ...

Testing results

I just quickly wanted to share a quick test result on the alexa skill.

So this would be an example dialog for a more or less fleshed out function.

That Email is not yet formated but the technical framework is up and running. Meaning I can fill my database and cloudshare with example files and Links to tutorials from myself or others. 

Matt from CG Wiki is already on ...

Closed Beta for the Alexa Skill

As I keep digging through the material I noticed that I can start a beta test for the alexa skill.

There is still alot to do but if any of you is interested in testing the base functionality I happily invite all of you to participate.
I have to enter your amazon email that you registered to your alexa accounts so if you are interested just send me a message with that email address and I add it to the list.

Cheers
Dave

The Alexa Skill - HouDB

So the data behind the alexa skill is enourmus. There are 764 functions to go through. Each need a selfwritten definitions for the needed parameters and the returning value.

I could extract the descriptions from the docs and pull it all together with some Excel magic. Some of them need some love to make it a bit more clear what the functions is doing. Especially since I want to provide some additional value over just going into the docs. But again due to the volume of Data the standard ...

Learning a new Skill... and creating one | Alexa

Hey everyone,

as the title suggests I was curious after reading a book from Gary Vee. A specific section was standing out for me - how voice is on the rise as a way for people to interact with their devices.

Now - until 3 weeks ago I was not really paying attention to it. All my friends have an Alexa and control their house lights with it. Or set a timer for the kitchen.

It felt like a gimmick to me. 

But I learned more about the infrastructure behind it and how y...

How to Import Files in Houdini with Python | Part 2

You need to bring alot of files into your Houdini project and want to save time? This is one way to solve it - a file importer tool written in python.

This is the 2nd part of 3. This time we learn how to connect the nodes and set the important parameters to make our project work with the simple click of one button.

Retardedly niche project

I have a houdini thing that I started to work on in the last couple of days... it is something that... as far as I know nobody tried in our niche.

I am still in a concept phase of what it should be in a first version but you can be sure to be the first to know.

It is something that I can work on without taking anything of the already slow production of the normal content. The more I think about it I feel good about it in a very nerdy way.

As soon as I have it presentable I s...

How to Import Files with Python | Part 1

You need to bring alot of files into your Houdini project and want to save time? This is one way to solve it - a file importer tool written in python.

After a longer break due to reasons... :) I continue with my Houdini journey and explore beyond VEX. One of the first things I found when starting to learn VEX was the lack of possibilities to work with external data. Like loading in cached geometry through file nodes. 

And thats where Python comes in. This video is ...

Quicktip #14 Curve length from intrinsics

This is a fairly simple on but its easy to overlook.

A friend wanted to group hair for different shading based on the length. One way would be to use the measure sop with perimeter.

But is there a way to get that info in VEX and for giggles create the group right away all in one wrangle? Sure you can! :)

So lets start with a simple example. A bunch of randomly painted curves with different lengths. 

2019-07-12 08:56:58 +0000 UTC View Post

Preview: Showcase Copy to Points in Vex

Hey folks,

Since I have phases where I can't record I spent time on researching or experimenting.

I remembered an old discussion I had with Farmfield where I argued that you can turn most nodes into Vex.  I did that for the Hive talk with the scatter node.

The copy to points sop came up and as a challenge I gave it a try. How to turn this

Into this

2019-07-10 06:59:28 +0000 UTC View Post

Quick note on current plans

Hey folks,

it took me a bit longer to get everthing in order so that I can start recording again.

I have alot of stuff what I want to do next but as most of you know I am pushing alot of projects already. So here is a short overview on current and future projects:

Free Active:

- Vex Functions 

I definetly should keep this alive - according to feedback these are fairly helpful

- Python Import 

Started this damn video before my daughter was ev...

Railproject File Finished

Getting back to work but it is still a bit chaotic now that we have an extra person at home. :) 

Some time passed without some details on this so let me give you an update on the rail system. A rough system was ready for quite some time but it was very clunky. Meaning I was not satisfied with the logic that places the objects.

I reworked that whole system and can now say that it is at a good place now.

Here some of the features I updated:

Before I had a random cho...

Rail improvements

Hi folks,

I did some rnd for the terrain around the rail. I wanted to make it a bit more interesting to look at while making it ready for redshift. 

Rohan recently released his new bus rocket project which has alot of ideas on how to make a scene like this interesting.

In the coming days I try to do a recording marathon to get all of the screen capture in. After that there should follow a new stream of new parts for the series.

Cheers

Dave

Back to work

Hi folks,

thank you all for hanging in there. These last couple of months were a lot of work. But now we finally kind of arrived in the new home. Still a lot of boxes unopened but I guess that will be the case throughout the next year.

And of course, the birth of my 2nd daughter happened shortly after moving. My 3 weeks of work to help my wife to accustom to the new daily life are over and I am back at work again. That includes the Houdini work as well.  ...

A new life

Yesterday - the 27th of april my daughter Ella was born.

I appreciate all you guys very much so let me share this little moment with you!



Cheers
Dave

Quicktip #13 Keep guessing with Do While

While playing with different ideas around the rubiks cube I stumpled on one problem that might happen in many different projects. So I am going to share it as a quicktip in case it helps anyone. Or just learn how the do while loop works. :-p

I created an array with all the possible moves the cube can use. With the rand function I grab one item from that option array to create my own random shuffle sequence to mix up the cube.

Works quite good but I noticed that sometimes I get a 2...

Redshift Cube Test

I took the fake solve sequence - which creates a random shuffle and solves the cube with the negated version of that sequence  - and threw that into a RBD sim and the result at redshift.

I am quite satisfied with the result!

But now there is still one beast to tame - a real cube solving algorithm!

The Rubik Cube Sim

This little sideproject grew quite a bit. I now have a cube that is handed a specific or random sequence which a solver will run through. I also added some features like a custom shuffle sequence with the option to choose the amount of moves.

In addition I also added a "fake" solve which basicly reverts the actions and ends up with a solved state. 

This already is an interesting project and there is alot of fun stuff one could add. For fun I threw the animated cube into a rbd...

Solving Houdini solving a Rubik Cube

As you probably noticed I was a bit silent dealing with moving - fighting with my old landlord about details and getting the new home ready for baby No. 2 ... which arrives 1 month from now... holy... time runs quick!

But back to the topic - the time windows were too short for recording but I did found time to do some research as with the loop noise. On a coding channel I found someone trying to do this in java and felt it is a great exercise to transport it into Houdini and ...

What would you do?

Hey folks, 

just a fun poll on what you guys would do. I was almost sold on the idea to upgrade the monitor but I have to admit... my workstation is out of date for sure! 

I actually only have a I7 6700 and a GTX 1070 in my system.

Hit me with your ideas ;-)

DK Noise Loop Prototype

I barely made it until I have to do some more work in the house.

This is an early prototype for a noise loop asset. Since I am a bit short on time I try to be quick and give you some initial info to start playing with this.

The idea is that you either create a set amount of points and apply noise OR you connect a geometry to the asset and each point gets a noise attribute. You can then decide for yourself what you want to do with it.

You have a fairly simple and unfinished U...

Perlin Noise Research

Slowly the dust settles I am able to spare some time for creative thoughts again.

I wanted to recreate some coding around perlin noise in Houdini and got sidetracked into playing with these numbers.

This might be a good idea to do a few things at once. I wanted to do some pdg content like create a top network around my corridor project to visualize the different seeds. That worked quite nicely and now would make it even more interesting to bring this over to Unreal.

2019-03-26 11:27:35 +0000 UTC View Post

The desk

In my new office I decided to reuse my old one but Add parts to it. That enabled me to create the U shape.
First I was worried about the wasted space but it turned out pretty good.
I know have the option of face recording from the side.

Next I have to apply the Audio foam panels again and find a good way to use the microphone arm.

Pdg sparked a few video ideas!

I started to look at Monitors since my 2 27" are really old. As a workhorse I was looking at 38" curved ...

We moved into a house

I basicly worked through days and nights to prepare and tackle this project.

We needed 4 time with a 3,5 T transporter to get all of our stuff into the house. I didn't knew that we had that much stuff laying around. 

There is still alot to do and I hope to get my office up and ready during this week. Now I finally have a room to do my recordings without having to plan around the family basicly using the living room.

We will see how this has an impact of content creation...