Houdini
3D procedural software for modeling, rigging, animation, VFX, look development, and more.
Houdini is a 3D procedural software developed by SideFX for modeling, rigging, animation, visual effects, look development, lighting and rendering. It addresses the need for flexible, node-based workflows across film, TV, advertising and video game pipelines, covering character work, cloth and hair simulation, VFX, world building and look development.
The application includes modules for Gaussian Splats, characters, CFX, modeling, look development, VFX and world building. Houdini 22 adds a theme editor, searchable preferences, enhanced tooltips, revamped color and ramp tools, Quad Remesh, subdivision editing, Walk on Surface, Curve Animate and Morph Curve. Solaris provides layout and set dressing tools, while Copernicus handles texturing, terrain, oceans and GPU Pyro. Related products include Houdini Engine for plug-ins and batch processing, Karma Renderer, and SideFX Labs utilities. The software runs on Linux, including an Arm preview build.
Houdini is aimed at artists and studios in film, TV, games, motion graphics and related production environments. Licensing options include commercial, indie and education editions, with a free Apprentice program for learning and demo-reel work.
12 alternatives to Houdini
Ranked by how well each tool replaces Houdini: shared features, audience, price and popularity.
Create 3D art, animation, and VFX with free open-source Blender
Covers 0 of 15 key features, has a free plan and is open source.
Free planOpen source65 out of 100 matchFree- 60 out of 100 match$31/mo
3D design tool in the browser with real-time collaboration
Covers 3 of 15 key features and has a free plan.
Free plan60 out of 100 match$12/moThe Free & Open Source Image Editor
Covers 5 of 15 key features, has a free plan and is open source.
Free planOpen source60 out of 100 matchFree3D software for designing and rendering imagery and animation
Covers 1 of 15 key features.
59 out of 100 matchContact sales- 59 out of 100 match$10.75/mo
- 59 out of 100 match—
- 59 out of 100 match—
Unbiased, photorealistic GPU and CPU renderer
Covers 1 of 15 key features and has a free plan.
Free plan58 out of 100 matchContact salesOne flexible 3D design software for your entire process.
Covers 2 of 15 key features and has a free plan.
Free plan58 out of 100 matchContact sales3D modeling software for iPadOS, Windows and macOS.
Covers 4 of 15 key features and has a free plan.
Free plan58 out of 100 matchFree