{"slug": "houdini", "name": "Houdini", "category": "media", "category_name": "Media and creative", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 7, "warners": 0, "score": 3.695, "rising": -0.31, "first": "2025-11-19", "latest": "2026-09-16", "why": "lots of other software I use professionally works amazingly on Linux, better than Windows in fact, like Houdini", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 4, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "lots of other software I use professionally works amazingly on Linux, better than Windows in fact, like Houdini", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "sidefx.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.sidefx.com/products/houdini/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Houdini"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 793032900, "item_id": 49564556, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49564556", "by": "embedding-shape", "date": "2026-09-04", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "lots of other software I use professionally works amazingly on Linux, better than Windows in fact, like Houdini", "excerpt": "Well, when this alcoholic is the only one that works properly for the sort of audio and 3D/VFX work I do, and a bunch of tools are only able to run (well) on Windows (Yes, I've tried WINE and everything else under the sun, for a decade), so dual booting is really the only option here, unless I wanna throw out a bunch of licenses I've paid thousands for and stop accepting that sort of work. Ableton is probably the big", "context": "audio and 3D/VFX professional", "use_case": "VFX", "switched_from": "", "story": "O&O ShutUp10 \u2013 The antispy tool for Windows 10 and 11"}, {"id": 785738928, "item_id": 49108683, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49108683", "by": "embedding-shape", "date": "2026-07-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Houdini (VFX/3D tool), virtually unchallenged in some of its domains, it's basically visual programming.", "excerpt": "Houdini (VFX/3D tool), virtually unchallenged in some of its domains, it's basically visual programming. Very basic what you'd do inside of Houdini when working with it (with screenshots): https://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/basics/intro.html Unreal Engine also have \"Blueprints\" for game logic that remains fairly popular, maybe not always as the underlying systems, but at least as a control surface for game designers", "context": "", "use_case": "VFX and 3D work", "switched_from": "", "story": "Gpiozero Flow"}, {"id": 771146721, "item_id": 48196670, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48196670", "by": "raincole", "date": "2026-05-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Houdini's free version, it comes with a fully-rigged mannequin", "excerpt": "If you want something out of box for free you can use Blender and download rigged models here: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/rigged-characters-482b7772d3544f70851305212cecc7f1 Or you can use Houdini's free version, it comes with a fully-rigged mannequin and a realistic proportioned human. You can't export them in free version but if you're a 2D artist you can just screenshot and use it as a reference. (This website", "context": "", "use_case": "3D simulation and rigging", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: I made a 3D pose maker for artists"}, {"id": 748754128, "item_id": 46797133, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46797133", "by": "bhewes", "date": "2026-01-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Houdini,3dcoat,Nuke are the three things we pay for", "excerpt": "Houdini,3dcoat,Nuke are the three things we pay for, will use Maya when we work with Maya artists, but dcc is mostly 3dcoat-blender-houndini workflow.", "context": "", "use_case": "3D / VFX work", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux"}, {"id": 735810609, "item_id": 45988163, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45988163", "by": "mroche", "date": "2025-11-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Houdini's getting really close", "excerpt": "> If you had multiple shows in production, I would expect that standards be set to use the same platforms and versions across the board. Considering productions span years, not months, artists would never get to use newer tools if studios operated that way. And it really only works if shows share similar end dates, which is not the reality we live in. Productions can start and end at any point in another show's sched", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Blender 5.0"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "embedding-shape", "context": "audio and 3D/VFX professional", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49564556", "date": "2026-09-04"}, {"by": "frmfrm", "context": "Technical artist and gamedev with 15+ years experience", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47277057", "date": "2026-03-06"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["3d / vfx", "vfx", "vfx and 3d work", "running alicevision", "3d simulation and rigging", "procedural tools"], "compared": [{"slug": "blender", "name": "Blender", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49715463", "title": "Leaving Linux", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49562895", "title": "O&O ShutUp10 \u2013 The antispy tool for Windows 10 and 11", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49108048", "title": "Gpiozero Flow", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48150069", "title": "Image-blaster: Creates 3D environments, SFX, and meshes from a single image", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48193474", "title": "Show HN: I made a 3D pose maker for artists", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47975571", "title": "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (May 2026)", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"neutral": 2, "recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 795696304, "item_id": 49731019, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49731019", "by": "raincole", "date": "2026-09-16", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Bringing Houdini, an app whose main user base has Linux-based rendering clusters, to the discussion is unfairly favoring Linux side.", "excerpt": "I use this niche app as an example because if you only consider mainstream apps (e.g. Microsoft Excel, Adobe Photoshop) then Linux is completely off the table. Bringing Houdini, an app whose main user base has Linux-based rendering clusters, to the discussion is unfairly favoring Linux side. I shouldn't have done that.", "context": "", "use_case": "3D / VFX", "switched_from": "", "story": "Leaving Linux"}, {"id": 795467137, "item_id": 49716696, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716696", "by": "raincole", "date": "2026-09-15", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "people who rely on Houdini", "excerpt": "> you can also run a stock Ubuntu install which will be a great working & gaming workhorse that doesn't add hassle to your life. Sure, if your job is writing backend server code. Many of us need other apps though. Things like [this](https://www.sidefx.com/forum/topic/90453) are showstopping enough for people who rely on Houdini. By the way, SideFX support told me Linux is their choice of OS and I should switch from W", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Leaving Linux"}, {"id": 793032900, "item_id": 49564556, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49564556", "by": "embedding-shape", "date": "2026-09-04", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "lots of other software I use professionally works amazingly on Linux, better than Windows in fact, like Houdini", "excerpt": "Well, when this alcoholic is the only one that works properly for the sort of audio and 3D/VFX work I do, and a bunch of tools are only able to run (well) on Windows (Yes, I've tried WINE and everything else under the sun, for a decade), so dual booting is really the only option here, unless I wanna throw out a bunch of licenses I've paid thousands for and stop accepting that sort of work. Ableton is probably the big", "context": "audio and 3D/VFX professional", "use_case": "VFX", "switched_from": "", "story": "O&O ShutUp10 \u2013 The antispy tool for Windows 10 and 11"}, {"id": 785738928, "item_id": 49108683, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49108683", "by": "embedding-shape", "date": "2026-07-30", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Houdini (VFX/3D tool), virtually unchallenged in some of its domains, it's basically visual programming.", "excerpt": "Houdini (VFX/3D tool), virtually unchallenged in some of its domains, it's basically visual programming. Very basic what you'd do inside of Houdini when working with it (with screenshots): https://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/basics/intro.html Unreal Engine also have \"Blueprints\" for game logic that remains fairly popular, maybe not always as the underlying systems, but at least as a control surface for game designers", "context": "", "use_case": "VFX and 3D work", "switched_from": "", "story": "Gpiozero Flow"}, {"id": 771468033, "item_id": 48216752, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48216752", "by": "PacificSpecific", "date": "2026-05-20", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used it through Houdini", "excerpt": "Couple options I've tried. ALICE vision is an open source library (I used it through Houdini) Also epic makes an app called Realityscan The term is \"photogrammetry\" which might help in your searches", "context": "", "use_case": "Running AliceVision", "switched_from": "", "story": "Image-blaster: Creates 3D environments, SFX, and meshes from a single image"}, {"id": 771146721, "item_id": 48196670, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48196670", "by": "raincole", "date": "2026-05-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Houdini's free version, it comes with a fully-rigged mannequin", "excerpt": "If you want something out of box for free you can use Blender and download rigged models here: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/rigged-characters-482b7772d3544f70851305212cecc7f1 Or you can use Houdini's free version, it comes with a fully-rigged mannequin and a realistic proportioned human. You can't export them in free version but if you're a 2D artist you can just screenshot and use it as a reference. (This website", "context": "", "use_case": "3D simulation and rigging", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: I made a 3D pose maker for artists"}, {"id": 767646881, "item_id": 47977930, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47977930", "by": "dvrp", "date": "2026-05-01", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "WebGL2/WebGPU for node-based tools (SideFX Houdini)", "excerpt": "Krea; Fulltime; Onsite, San Francisco, CA, USA. I'm the cofounder of Krea (https://www.krea.ai/). We build creative tools and large-scale infrastructure for multimedia teams. Users range from hobbyists to world-renowned creatives: architects behind the World Trade Center or creative teams at Apple. We treat research, engineering, and creativity as first-class citizens; we want engineers for our research, product, and", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who is hiring? (May 2026)"}, {"id": 756432913, "item_id": 47277057, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47277057", "by": "frmfrm", "date": "2026-03-06", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Houdini", "excerpt": "Location: Berlin Remote: Ok Willing to relocate: Yes (have EU and US passport) Technologies: Unity (Expert), Houdini, C#, GLSL, Shader Graph, Compute Shaders, XR, JS, Game Design. R\u00e9sum\u00e9/CV: https://byfernando.com/2025/Fernando%20Ramallo%20-%20CV%20Technical%20Artist.pdf Portfolio: https://www.notion.so/Fernando-Ramallo-Graphics-XR-Tech-Artist-What-I-m-Up-To-In-2026-2e7985971dce80998ff7c0cfc383b44b Email: fernando.ra", "context": "Technical artist and gamedev with 15+ years experience", "use_case": "procedural tools", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (March 2026)"}, {"id": 748754128, "item_id": 46797133, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46797133", "by": "bhewes", "date": "2026-01-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Houdini,3dcoat,Nuke are the three things we pay for", "excerpt": "Houdini,3dcoat,Nuke are the three things we pay for, will use Maya when we work with Maya artists, but dcc is mostly 3dcoat-blender-houndini workflow.", "context": "", "use_case": "3D / VFX work", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux"}, {"id": 735810609, "item_id": 45988163, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45988163", "by": "mroche", "date": "2025-11-19", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Houdini's getting really close", "excerpt": "> If you had multiple shows in production, I would expect that standards be set to use the same platforms and versions across the board. Considering productions span years, not months, artists would never get to use newer tools if studios operated that way. And it really only works if shows share similar end dates, which is not the reality we live in. Productions can start and end at any point in another show's sched", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Blender 5.0"}]}