Almost anything you can think of you can create out of the box, theres nothing else so open and cleverly engineered. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Some smaller tasks are a pain in Houdini, The viewport is less than stellar. Could have much better multi-thread support under the hood. Can be clunky. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The fact that this product is far superior to Maya which is what we have been using for all of our CG and FX. From workflow to rendering and scope, it just works better Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

From a producer's standpoint, the cost, but I do think that in some ways it is justified consider how much it can do. However, I think that the company knows that this is the industry standard Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Houdini is widely used for Visual Effects; however, as game artist, what I enjoy the best from Houdini is the possiblity to create procedural asset.

Moreover, the community is helpful and from the officia website you can access lot of tutorial and documentation that will help you to get confident with the software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I deeply appreciate this software and it is difficult to find something to dislike.

My main difficulty in using Houdini, coming from a Fine Art background, was a pretty step learning curve.

The software is not very user friendly for an artist, and you need to get familiar with nodes and possibly python language (even though this is not fundamental). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Particle simulations with Houdini is one of the best options in this 3d program. The rendering engine is also very good. Quick solutions can be found for any problem that involves particle simulations in every kind of 3d environment. It is compatible with other 3d softwares. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The program just lost momentum. There were a lot of expectations for this program but they did not listen to the users. INterface is very confusing for new customers. They have to learn a lot of new otion that are not intuitive so it takes too much time to resolve a simple problem. Because the are one of the last Autodesk competitors in the 3D industry Houdini should also cost much less to survive and unleash its full potential but they missed it to do, so that there are less and less users, and many do not want to learn how to use another 3d program just for a few good options that it contains, so people like me are leaving the considerations of even trying to use the best functions in it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Compared to the constantly changing interface of Maya, Houdini has proven to be extremely easy to use and easy to learn. The functions all work extremely well and it can handle a wide range of physics-based elements. There are plenty of tutorials online if you're willing to look for them. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The only part of Houdini I don't like is how it isn't the best tool for modeling. I would use it for everything but sometimes I have to switch between two programs which is a hassle. The modeling tools aren't necessarily bad, but they're a bit harder to use than a program built for solely that. I'd use Houdini more for effects and simulations as opposed to creating characters or full length animations. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The software is extremely powerful for anything procedural. The node-based workflow is consistent throughout the program so when you learn one aspect of the software you can take that knowledge to another. This means that once you learn how to work with the nodes for fluid dynamics, you can take that knowledge and use them on textures, It has limitless possibilities due to its procedural nature and powerful engine. Houdini Digital Assets can be exported and used like plugins inside other programs. These plugins are run in the Houdini Engine inside of programs like Maya and Cinema 4D. Mantra rendering engine is very powerful and gives great results with a little tweaking. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Very steep learning curve. A lot of the resources online, both independent and from SideFX, were outdated when I first started using the software (2014). This made it difficult to pick up on my own. The software also requires a lot of technical knowledge, making it hard for most artists to take advantage of its power. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

For me, the most important feature of houdini is the node workflow, when you create procedures it's really easy to combine, reuse or even review the work you have done. Furthermore, Features like the packing geometry allow an excellent performance which means you require less hardware resources to achieve good or even great results! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There are still some problems with the viewport, specially in Mac, some right click options cannot be activated and the point display freezes frequently. Also, it would be nice to have the possibility to open two or more sessions in mac so you can copy and paste parts of previous networks and work on several files at the same time.

The modelling tools definitely need to be refined, there are a lot of problems in the viewport when you try to move vertices or switch tools. The edit and blast node features are nice but Houdini has problems when selecting multiple faces causing the generation of just too much nodes.

Moreover it would be nice to have a preset library for mantra materials and enhance the current interface to make more user friendly the addition of specular maps and normal maps. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I love the procedural nature of the software and the fact that every task or job can be built into a tool and incorporated on the pipeline. The copy sop provides a robust way of duplicating geometry and randomizing it's attributes. The attrib VOP allows for a nice way of visual programming in VEX, making it possible to work with scripts without really having to learn to program. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The learning curve still very steep in some areas, sometimes it takes a long time to do something default from another packages. I would wish to see improvements on it's viewport display, it still a bit buggy depending on the version you are running. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I love the program's ability to handle large amounts of geometry. It is very efficient for creating complex scenes that require duplicated geometry. It also allows for easy procedural modeling and animation, which results in much less meticulous work from the user. The mantra render is also produces very nice results. It also has some of the nicest tools for particles and fluids. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There is a strong learning curve if you are not familiar with using a nodular workflow. If you are new at this your workspace will also likely become quite messy and tangled with the connected nodes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Houdini is incredibly powerful. You wouldn't believe what it can create with in a short amount of time for well versed artists. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The level of complexity is very challenging and the community seems rather small compared to that of other 3D packages. The biggest downfall for houdini without a doubt was the learning curve. It turns away many people. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.