Solid Angle Houdini to Arnold 3.1.0 for Houdini

Solid Angle has unveiled Arnold for Houdini 3.1.0. This is a major release, bringing texture baking, operator serialization, and alembic procedural improvements.

HtoA 3.1.0 - 22 August 2018:

Enhancements
- Texture baking (htoa#1075, core#6091, core#7206)
- Operator serialization (htoa#1057)
- Conversion scripts for alShader utility nodes (htoa#1088)
- Assign material ROP (htoa#1069)
- Improved sampling of spherical lights (core#5534)
- Faster adaptive subdivision: Adaptive subdivision is now up to 2x to 3x faster even on a single thread. (core#2311, core#7186, core#7201, core#7229)
- The matrix_multiply_vector and matrix_transform shaders have been reinstated. (core#7243)
- Cryptomatte AOV shaders and filters are now being included as a part of the Arnold core package. (core#7301)
- Edge detection can now be controlled using a STRING type user data called toon_id. This feature is enabled when user_id is checked. (core#7125)
- A new cell_noise shader has been added which can create many different useful cell-like patterns. (core#5985, core#6051)
- The standard_surface shader supports a new, energy-preserving sheen
- effect designed to render cloth-like microfiber materials such as velvet (core#7234)
Fixes
- Displacement/Bump scale issues with packed alembic primitives (htoa#1049, core#7286)
- Alembic procedural curve attributes (htoa#1086)
- Translation errors with subdiv_face_iterations (htoa#1077)
- Alembic procedural curve's width rendered incorrectly (htoa#1071)
- Camera projection bug: camera incorrect for initial render (htoa#1064)
- Remove old SHOP OTLs from the menus (htoa#1092)
- Curves in alembic procedural cut short (core#6916)
- Alembic curve user data expansion (core#7355)
- Alembic curves sets radius on curves and points to width (core#7261)
- Fix alembic array attribute expansion for regular properties (core#7242)
- Skip invalid curves (core#6947)
- Rename user data parameters that clash with shape nodes in alembic expansion (core#7076)

See also the Arnold 5.2.0.0 release notes for the full list of core enhancements and fixes.

About Arnold for Houdini. HtoA provides a bridge to the Arnold renderer from within the standard Houdini interface. Having been in beta for several months, the plugin has already been used in production by many studios, including Prime Focus World for Hercules and Vampire Academy, Milk VFX for the Sherlock and Doctor Who TV series, and Framestore NY for the Captain Morgan commercials.

About Solid Angle. Solid Angle is the technology company behind the Arnold rendering software. With offices in Madrid and London, Solid Angle’s customers include ILM, Framestore, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Rodeo FX, Luma Pictures, Image Engine, The Moving Picture Company, Digic Pictures, The Mill and Psyop. Arnold was designed to efficiently process the complex geometric datasets required for feature-length CGI animation and big-budget visual effects, while at the same time simplifying the pipeline. This unique renderer has been used to create the VFX seen in “Guardians of the Galaxy”, “Elysium, “Gravity”, “Pacific Rim”, Marvel's “The Avengers”, and “Alice in Wonderland”, to name just some. Marcos Fajardo is the founder of Solid Angle and lead architect of Arnold. The software is now available as a standalone renderer, as a C++ API and as a set of plug-ins for leading 3D applications such as Maya, Softimage and Katana on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows.

About Side Effects Software. Side Effects Software is a world leader in the development of Houdini, our advanced 3D animation and special effects software for use in film, commercials and video games. Side Effects Software has been recognized three times with Scientific and Technical awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Houdini family of animation software offers digital artists an unprecedented level of power, flexibility and control based on award-winning procedural technology. The comprehensive feature set includes: modeling, rigging, animation, particle effects, dynamics, compositing, integrated rendering, and more. All Houdini applications work together seamlessly and are available for the Mac OS X, Linux and Windows operating systems.

Product: Solid Angle Houdini To Arnold
Version: 3.1.0
Supported Architectures: x64
Website Home Page : www.solidangle.com
Language: english
System Requirements: PC
Supported Operating Systems: Windows 7 x64 (vc14)
Compatibility: *
Size: 573.8 mb

* This release uses Arnold 5.2.0.0 and OpenVDB 4.0.0. Binaries available for the following Houdini, Houdini FX, Houdini Indie and Houdini Education production builds: 16.5.473, 16.5.496. 16.5.536