Side Effects Software is pleased to announce the public beta launch of Houdini 9. The new User Interface is easier to learn and designed to match the UI standards of the CG industry. Now for the first time ever, self-taught, Houdini rookies will be able to work with the software right out of the box and be productive much faster than ever before.

The Houdini 9 user interface features an icon-based shelf which makes it easier for artists to find tools then work in the 3D viewport and Pane tabs that let you layer different types of panes. New selection modes facilitate quicker navigation between different parts of Houdini as you select geometry, particles or dynamic objects in your 3D scene.
"We are excited to be celebrating such an important milestone in our company's history" said Kim Davidson, President and founder of Side Effects Software. "It's part of our commitment to make Houdini more accessible to CG professionals everywhere who are looking for tools that can help them push the art of the possible in an ever more demanding marketplace."

The Houdini 9 feature set includes a powerful new fluid dynamic solver that lets you simulate liquids, smoke and fire. As part of Houdini’s fully integrated dynamics architecture, the new solver lets you run simulations that combine fluids, rigid bodies, and particles. This powerful dynamics environment will help you create a wide variety of boundary-busting visual effects.

Houdini’s Mantra renderer has also become more powerful with the addition of multi-segment motion blur, physically-based rendering, volumetric rendering, fur procedurals and significant speed improvements. Houdini 9 includes a new Material palette and a robust set of light and camera tools. Now Mantra’s production-proven rendering will be accessible to a wider audience of users.

Houdini 9 also includes an object-oriented Python API which provides low level access to Houdini and makes it easy to integrate Houdini into your existing pipeline. Houdini’s new python-based back end also lets you add support for new renderers by simply writing a script.
“CG professionals operate in a high-pressure, high-demand environment that requires them to get the job done while meeting and exceeding client expectations,” said Davidson. “Houdini 9 draws on our well known reputation as a powerful 3D animation tool that can help artists develop more responsive and flexible VFX and animation while reducing production timelines.”
Beyond these main features Houdini 9 has been improved across the board. As the public beta proceeds more information will be available about these other enhancements.

The Houdini 9 public beta is available for download now at from the Houdini 9 Blog which will be hosting a growing series of new video tutorials.
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