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Dynamic Cloth Simulation for Production

Professional Houdini Workflow with Salah Hussein

Description

Learn how to create complex material simulations using a tried-and-tested production workflow. This step-by-step character FX workshop is taught by Salah Hussein, a senior FX and CFX artist with over 8 years of production experience. Salah’s 4-hour workshop guides artists through his professional workflow using the Houdini Vellum Solver to simulate 3D materials.


Using Salah’s unique and innovative techniques, he breaks down the entire process to show how to take character assets and animations – including multiple layers of cloth and different types of objects – and convert them into proxy geometry that works efficiently for a simulation. He also details how to build a constraints network to help artists fine-tune and debug simulations quickly while also advising how to address fixes with professional tips and tricks. To conclude the workflow, Salah demonstrates how to keep all the essential point deforms and the original geometry with a clean export without changing or damaging any attributes or topology.


By completing this workshop, artists will be confident in creating clothing assets for characters and understand how to make them dynamic using realistic cloth simulation in Houdini. Salah’s helpful Alembic and Houdini (Indie) files are provided as a downloadable resource for subscribers.


Duration: 4h 25m

Format: HD 1920x1080
CC: English

Salah Hussein

Sr. CFX Artist / TD at Untold Studios

Salah Hussein is a Senior Character FX (CFX) Artist and Technical Director at Blur Studio, renowned for his expertise in cloth, hair, and muscle simulations. With over eight years of experience in the visual effects industry, he has contributed to a diverse array of projects across advertising, television, and game cinematics.


Throughout his career, Salah has collaborated with esteemed studios such as MPC, Jellyfish Pictures, Folks VFX, Axis Studios, Rodeo FX, Reel FX, Agora Studio, and Passion Pictures. His notable projects include Spirit Untamed, Mother Land, Marvel Snap, the Diablo Immortal launch trailer, and the Concord episode of Secret Level.

  • Salah was a senior CFX TD at Axis where his leads and supervisors have showered accolades on his technical solutions and speedy performances: He exceled in providing creative solutions on complex one-off hyperreal cinematic shots. He was also fast and efficient working with multiple shots and characters in a large-scale episodic show with stylized characters. For shows large and small, hair or cloth, hyperreal or highly stylized, Salah will deliver high-quality work fast and with minimal supervision.

    - Edwin Ng
    Head of Rigging at Jellyfish Pictures

  • Salah has been a fantastic addition to the CFX team at Passion, working on several of our advertising projects. We tasked Salah with FX, cloth and groom tasks, including a complex bird character in which he excelled. Salah's work is very fast; he produces good quality work managing to overcome problems given to him very efficiently. We asked him to use Houdini 20 feathers with a very short setup time, and we have been very pleased with the results.

    - Colin Perrett
    Head of FX at Passion Pictures

  • Salah is a great CFX artist. He is fast, efficient, and a very hard worker. I had the pleasure of working with him and would always love to have him on my team. I recommend him 100%. He would a very valuable asset for any team or project.

    - Javier Sanz
    VFX Supervisor at Wild Child Animation

  • Having worked with Salah on three projects now, I can confidently say he would be an asset to any Houdini team. Salah's transition from FX to CFX was a breeze and made working with him a blast. I wish him the best and look forward to working together again in the future.

    - Ryan Hartmann
    Senior CFX Technical Director at Pixar Animation Studios