Procedural Worlds & FX: A 6-Week Journey in Houdini for Artists

Overview

Faculty: Animation
Duration: 6 Weeks – Mon & Tues 6pm – 9pm
Delivery: Online
Certification: Pulse College Cert

Start Date: Monday 9th June 2025
Course Director: Jane Carmody
Fees: €750

COURSE CONTENT

This 6-week course is designed to give students a strong foundation in Houdini FX, focusing on procedural modelling, simulation, and environment building. Students will learn to create dynamic effects like destruction, fire, and terrain using the same tools used in the film and games industries. Over two 3-hour sessions each week, the course combines technical skills with creative thinking. By the end, students will have produced a short, fully rendered procedural sci-fi scene, ready for a portfolio or showreel. Houdini is rapidly becoming a must-have tool in VFX, animation, and game studios worldwide. Its node-based, non-destructive workflow offers a level of flexibility and control that sets it apart, making it a key asset in modern production pipelines.

DETAILED COURSE CONTENT

Week 1

Intro to Houdini & Proceduralism

Objective: Understand Houdini’s interface, node-based logic,
and the philosophy of proceduralism.

• Interface navigation: viewport, network editor,
parameters
• Overview of SOPs, DOPs, VOPs
• Proceduralism vs. traditional modelling
• Essential nodes: Transform, Merge, Group, Blast
• Mini Task: Create a procedural abstract shape

Week 2

Attributes & Procedural Geometry

Objective: Explore attributes and procedural geometry construction

• Geometry types: Polygons, NURBS, primitives
• Attribute types: Color, pscale, noise, custom
attributes
• Copy-to-Points, randomized variations
• Mini Task: Create a sci-fi panel or modular asset
using procedural methods

Week 3

Terrain & Instancing

Objective: Use heightfields and instancing to build
procedural landscapes

• Heightfield basics: erosion, noise, masks
• For-each loops for modular terrain sculpting
• Scattering assets based on attributes
• Packed primitives and instancing for performance
• Mini Task: Create a small sci-fi terrain or crater base

Week 4

FX: Particles & Volumes

Objective: Work with volumes, VDBs, and particle systems

• Volume and VDB concepts: signed distance fields
(SDFs)
• Particle emission, motion, and noise
• Attribute-driven particle behavior
• Intro to volume-based animations
• Mini Task: Simulate dust, smoke, or a stylized
abstract FX

Week 5

Simulations: Vellum & Destruction

Objective: Add soft-body and rigid-body dynamics to scenes

• Vellum: cloth, grains, soft-body interactions
• Simulating ropes, flags, or debris
• RBD: basic fracture, constraints, and destruction
• Mini Task: Simulate a falling flag or collapsing sci-fi
element

Week 6

Lighting, Karma Rendering & Final Polish

Objective: Assemble and render the final scene

• Scene cleanup and organization
• Basic texturing and materials
• Lighting setups in Solaris
• Camera and animation pass
• Karma rendering (CPU or XPU)
• Final Task: Render a 30-second shot showcasing all
elements

TUTOR

Jane Carmody

Jane Carmody holds an MA in 3D Animation from Bournemouth University, where she specialized in modeling and texturing for animation and visual effects. She worked as a 3D Generalist at Viridian FX, a leading visual effects studio, where she gained extensive experience across the production pipeline. During her time there, she contributed to high-profile projects, including Netflix’s Heart of Stone, HBO’s House of the Dragon, and the Netflix series Kaos. Her work involved creating detailed 3D models and realistic textures, bringing characters, environments, and props to life for both film and television.

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HOW TO APPLY

Admissions

This course is suitable for anyone with an interest in Animation. No previous experience is required, but we do ask that applicants can meet the following learner prerequisites:

• Basic computer skills
• Some experience with 3D software (like Blender, Maya, or Unreal Engine) is helpful but not required.
• An interest in 3D art, animation, visual effects (VFX), or game design.
• Willingness to learn a technical, node-based workflow.

This course is suitable for beginners, but a background in 3D or digital art will make learning faster.

Educational Requirements

No industry experience is required and applicants may be accepted without formal academic qualifications.

Interview

There is no interview application for this course.

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