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Houdini Direct Modeling - Pilot Fork | Feedback would be appreciated :)


Guest Igor

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Ok, folks, by now you know my intentions to record a series of Houdini tutorials for beginners which will focus only on Direct Modeling at the beginning. This video is just a pilot and I would like if you guys would have some time to give me some feedback on it. This will not be published and I want to make sure the quality of it is the best possible with what I have right now. Also, I hope you will learn something by watching it. 🙂

 

 

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Very interesting to watch, and a great first effort.

 

Some general feedback for you;

 

1. Those things on a fork are called 'tines'

2. I wouldn't worry too much about having you on screen past the intro. You're too small to really see when you're in the corner, but TBH we don't need to see you there at all once you start modelling ! I know a lot of people do like to remain on screen down small somewhere, but I have always wondered why ! I know you show the mouse later, but I reckon you should appear and go full screen for that.

3. Move the mic a little closer to your mouth (and make sure you are speaking perpendicular to the FRONT of it, not the end), to get less of the sound of the room in the recording (very minor issue - really am nitpicking there ! 🙂 )

4. Explanations are clear and I didn't struggle to follow anything you said. At times I thought you were speaking very slowly, but I appreciate how difficult it is to think, model and speak a non-native language all at the same time, so all respect there !

 

Also, for future tutorials, could you please show how Houdini tackles pure poly wrangling - making live path cuts on models, and moving individual points around etc etc - anyway, great job, and looking forward to seeing more of these !

 

CBR

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Nice!  I agree with Cerbera's notes.  I think you can kill the webcam while modeling.

 

One thing that people also ways ask me for in my tutorials is to have keystrokes appear on screen.  I used to use a little Mac app called Mousepose for this, but now that I'm mostly windows, I haven't looked for an app yet, but I'm sure there are tons of options.  Can be helpful to see shortcuts as you use them.

 

Looking forward to the series!

 

e.

evanalexander.com     Abusing chromatic aberration heavily since 2011....

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hey Igor,

the sound is very good. Absolutely nothing to complain about here.

 

Your written english is very good (prooven in this forum over and over again) but writing and speaking are two very different things. I really am in no position to criticize you but  what I do when I do not feel completely confident in the language i present in, is:

I capture the video and talk to it in my own language. then translate the text and record it while reading loud. (to get your spoken text out of the video youtube subtitel algorythm might help. for translations I love deelp.com)

after that I put it back on the video. This workflow has some advantages.

1. you dont get pauses into the video that might turn your listeners down.

2. you really can say what you want to and find the correct translation after wards instead of fighting your way around a word you don't know.

3. even though you basically do it twice. It might be more rewarding and maybe even quicker, because the risk to have to start over and over again is minimized.

 

You can not be picture in picture all the time, but for me this is the least important feature (seeing the presenter at the beginning is nice though)

 

good luck with all that,

Jops

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Thank you guys, very nice from you. I'll take all this feedback into consideration and see what I can improve. I still have around 20 days until H19. 

 

By the way, does anyone know what kind of software I could use for displaying keyboard keystrokes while working with Houdini?

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I’ve seen keyboard software mentioned elsewhere but forget which one - maybe others know?

 

I thought the video was really good and your speaking tone is quite pleasant and friendly and agreeable. I thought there was a small audio issue at points where the sound seems to cut out(?) right after some of your words, which makes the narration somehow seem a bit staccato and abrupt at points. This seems like a mic issue or something to do with the audio settings, but I’m listening on cheap iPhone earbuds right now and might have misheard it. I still found your video useful nonetheless. This will be a cool and helpful series if you can do it.

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3 minutes ago, BoganTW said:

I’ve seen keyboard software mentioned elsewhere but forget which one - maybe others know?

 

I thought the video was really good and your speaking tone is quite pleasant and friendly and agreeable. I thought there was a small audio issue at points where the sound seems to cut out(?) right after some of your words, which makes the narration somehow seem a bit staccato and abrupt at points. This seems like a mic issue or something to do with the audio settings, but I’m listening on cheap iPhone earbuds right now and might have misheard it. I still found your video useful nonetheless. This will be a cool and helpful series if you can do it.

I have noticed that to. I have no idea why is this, it might be because I am recording in 4k...no clue really just guessing. As I don't have best machine money could buy, turning off camera record within OBS might help. I hope I can fix this. I'll also try putting mice a bit closer and see what will happen. 

 

And thanks for the input, it's much appreciated. I am confident this time that I can pull it off. Also not recording myself while modeling could help with keeping things smooth as ill able to cut some parts where I thinking to much before saying something. 

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I think it will be a fun and successful series. I also think maybe breaking the videos up a little (ie “That’s the first section done, now we’re going to use a different method for this next part” etc)  gives you a brief opportunity to cut away from the software interface and back to your cam as a full screen. This makes longer videos a bit easier to digest, something I’ve occasionally appreciated when watching other tutorial videos.

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1 hour ago, Igor said:

I have noticed that to. I have no idea why is this, it might be because I am recording in 4k

 

Nope, won't be a 4K thing, it'll most likely be a noise gate / auto mute you have on the mic which aims to kill background noise during silences by muting or otherwise attenuating the mic level.

 

If it is that, Just find the control in the mic settings that does that and either disable it, or adjust the threshold down / release time up (if that is an option you have) so it gates less aggressively.

 

CBR

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+1 for showing the key strokes

+1 for dropping the side bar video window after the intro

+1 for adjusting the mic to pick up more of your voice than the background (and maybe make it appear like it is not the size of a watermelon 🙂)

 

Who is the target audience for this tutorial.  Complete newbies starting from ground zero or newbies who understand the rudimentary basics of the interface? 

 

I ask because there were a couple of times you pulled up windows without explaining how you got there.  If the automatic keystroke software covers that gap, then it may be covered.  But always consider that the viewers eyes are going to be on the mouse -- it is human nature for the eye to naturally follow the only moving thing on the screen.  With that said,  the key stroke commands are going to appear on the bottom and only be there until you hit another key.  Therefore, the viewers eye's may not catch it or catch it for the next command rather than the one they missed.  So talking them through it at all times (or at least the first couple of times) prevents that confusion.

 

Also consider that even with a 4K image on a 25 inch high def monitor (2566x1440), the text below the Houdini icons on the top row are not quickly identifiable --- at least for a complete newbie like myself who is trying to absorb everything.  So if you don't mention the command when you click on the icon, then I have stopped following your lesson and reading the menu.  By the time I do figure it out, you are two more commands down the road. 

 

I guess my point is this: teach at a pace and with enough verbal explanation so that the viewer does NOT have to hit the pause button and rewind.  If the newbie student has to hit pause and rewind  more than twice in a minute of lecture, attention fatigue will set in.  Review your videos with that goal in mind. Look for those points where there was an action without and explanation. 

 

Now, I think you are a great teacher and I am amazed how far you have come with the toughest package on the market in such a short time.  But we are not all like you.  Me personally, I am an idiot and I need to be carried gently from ground zero.  

 

So please do not take these comments personally....I am just speaking for idiots everywhere!  🙂

 

Dave

Sorry...but I simply do not have enough faith to be an atheist.

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