On this show and others, we’ve found that Houdini adds value by giving us more effective ways to meet visual effects challenges — challenges that in other software packages might not have been solved in an efficient timeframe, or at all. Houdini also helps us be more innovative because our in-house programmers can use the program as a foundation for implementing leading-edge custom tools. The software is straightforward and integrates well with popular file formats for geometry and animation. Other 3D packages, meanwhile, are just now working backwards to try to achieve the modularity and openness that has existed so elegantly in Houdini for years.

Another exciting thing about Houdini is that it now encompasses industry-leading toolsets not only for effects, lighting and rendering, but also for modeling, character animation, and compositing via Houdini Halo. We’ve tested the deep rasters, tiling and other new compositing capabilities in the latest version, and are looking forward to all of the future jobs where Houdini can give us an advantage.

A52 was able to create this realistic progression of paint peeling off a Nissan Maxima by using Houdini. All Nissan Maxima images courtesy of A52.

Denis Gauthier CG Supervisor for A52
A52 has a well-established history of commercial CGI and visual effects work for top agencies and directors. Each project our CGI team does requires a unique solution, and we always rely on Side Effects Software’s Houdini. Recently, Houdini helped us win and deliver a challenging spot for Nissan.

TBWAChiatDay’s storyboards showed the Nissan Maxima racing through the desert so fast that its paint completely peeled away. Fortunately for us, it became evident that the main challenge was to create a fantastic but “natural-looking” effect, with emphasis on clarifying the effect visually while enhancing the realism.

Together with our creative director and project visual effects supervisor Simon Brewster, we decided to create a “proof of concept” test. Using Nissan’s wireframe model, our CGI team (including myself, Westley Sarokin and Jeff Willette) used Houdini, 3D Equalizer, Chalice and RenderMan to create a completely CGI Maxima and light it to look like it was shot in a studio under Fisher Lights. Using a variety of visual tricks, including spinning the wheels and using Houdini Channel Operators (CHOPs) to create synthetic suspension travel and camera shake, the CGI car looked extremely realistic. In the end, everyone who saw the test assumed we had shot the car on a stage and added peeling paint effects. It sold our clients on the CGI approach and earned us the job.

A52 created a "proof of concept" test to show the client that Houdini could be used successfully to create a CGI car.

Once director Adrian Moat’s location footage was edited by Angus Wall at Rock Paper Scissors, our four-man (augmented by John Willette) team’s work began with Westley’s painstaking tracking process using 3DEqualizer. We imported Westley's data into Houdini and filtered it using CHOPs. Our polygonal model, courtesy of Meshwerks, Utah, was in some cases converted into subdivision surfaces in Houdini, and each scene was rendered in RenderMan.

We then animated the car and flying paint particles via an approach Jeff developed using the Houdini VEX language, which made UV coordinates align along aerodynamic flow lines. That allowed us to deform each body panel in UV space, and the virtual lines directed the peeling of the paint and controlled the flow as paint particles disintegrated.

We hand keyframed travelling mattes for each body panel to control the peeling effect. Controlling the entire process by hand at the head end allowed us to accommodate creative input. The flying paint flecks were created through Houdini's Particle Operators (POPs), with VEX being used again to handle birthing particles on the paint surfaces’ leading edges. We also incorporated many effects elements Adrian Moat shot to make the CG more convincing and tactile.