Houdini 20.5 | USD ASSETS 01 - Creating a Chocolate Ad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7ZDUSkMDmc&list=PLgcMmsSO6KPfyrRoV9UyWXOVGhZQpuT6u&index=2&t=4s 📂Project Files👉https://www.patreon.com/vfx4design 🔔 Subscribe for free Houdini Tutorials https://youtube.com/@VFX4DESIGN?sub_confirmation=1 👇more Info & chapters ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 📚CHAPTERS ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 00:00:00 Project overview - ASSETS 01 00:17:03 Modeling the egg in SOPS 00:45:03 Materials 00:52:05 Lookdev set-up 01:08:24 AOV & render settings 01:17:54 rendering all variants with TOPS ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 📂FILES https://www.patreon.com/posts/h20-5-usd-lops-127321696?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_fan&utm_content=web_share ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ ℹ️TUTORIAL INFO ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ In this tutorial series 01-05, we build a fake chocolate egg commercial from scratch using Houdini’s USD-based LOPs workflow. Each step represents a key department in a modern VFX pipeline. ASSETS, LAYOUT ,ANIM, FX & LIGHTING 📌 Tutorial Overview • Project: Fake social media advert for a chocolate egg. • Focus: Workflow using Houdini LOPs & USD in a single scene, split into department-style networks. • Goal: Simulate a VFX pipeline (01 ASSETS → 02 LAYOUT → 03 ANIM → 04 FX → 05 LIGHTING). 🛠️ ASSETS Stage • Created a procedural chocolate egg model (unbroken, fractured, open, with/without liquid). • Used Component Builder to structure variants and assign purposes (proxy/render). • Procedural texture with Copernicus for height map/displacement. • Assigned MaterialX shaders for milk/white chocolate and caramel. • Implemented versioning and structured path-based exports. 🎨 Lookdev Stage • Live-link procedural height maps into MaterialX shaders. • Shader displacement controlled by attributes. • Multi-material support with switching between chocolate variants. 🎥 Layout Stage • Built USD structure: Cameras, geometry, lights. • Added 3 named cameras with shot switching via Shot Edit. • Set basic render resolution (e.g., 1280x720) and FPS. • Brought in egg variants, backdrop, and assigned layout-level variants. 🏃 Animation Stage • Imported layout into new LOPs network. • Animated egg opening via visibility/pruning and SOP-based animation. • One shared animation used across three shots. 💥 FX Stage • Imported animated shot. • Added fluid sim for caramel using Houdini FLIP. • Used proxy geometry for fast previews. 💡 Lighting Stage • Imported live layout, animation, and FX. • Added light rigs and environment lights. • Spinning light and object setups for quick lookdev previews. • Configurable AOVs, render passes, and Karma XPU settings. 🔄 Automation & TOPs • Created turntables for variants using expressions (spinning asset or lights). • Used TOPs to render multiple variants (milk vs. white chocolate) automatically. • Substituted render settings (high/low/very low quality) using switch nodes. • Saved to structured paths with $OS, $VARIANT, and versioning. 🗃️ Project Management • All USD work done in one scene file. • Each department isolated in its own LOP network. • Modular setup to enable clean asset handoff or self-iteration. • Proxy and render purposes split for optimized previews and final output. 🔜 Future Plans • More advanced tutorials: complex FX (e.g., packaging tear), multiple lighting environments, contact sheets, refined shading techniques. • Subscribe and follow for deeper dives into each department setup. Whether you're learning USD workflows or want to push your procedural skills further, this project-based tutorial covers it all. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 🔔 Stay tuned for more tutorials! If you enjoyed the video, please consider leaving a like 👍, subscribe https://youtube.com/@VFX4DESIGN?sub_confirmation=1 ❤️🙏 & activate notifications 🔔 and do drop a comment below on what you would like to see next. ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ https://www.instagram.com/vfx4design https://www.tiktok.com/@vfx4design https://linktr.ee/vfx4design Produced by: VFX4DESIGN | All rights reserved #houdini #sidefxhoudini #houdinitutorial #karmaxpu #vfx #fx #3d #3danimation #tops #usd