CREATE A PROCEDURAL STROKE IN SIDEFX HOUDINI

Discover the pro method behind the paint stroke elements from our special 300th issue cover

In this beginner-level tutorial, you'll learn how to create the paint stroke elements that make up the hero typography of this issue's cover image.

Modelling the base element using scattering and various VDB operations, we'll then deform this base element using Houdini's powerful Path Deform SOP to bring the strokes into the dynamic shapes we need to create our design.

Along the way, you'll also learn how to create two custom tools using a little VEX, which may even get you hooked on coding! We'll create dynamic groups, employ procedural and manual placement techniques, look at various ways to create randomness, and also add in some colour controls on scene level, so you don't have to jump into the various geometry objects to make colour changes during art directing.

We'll end up with a flexible setup that you can vary by using different input curves, and gives you a great head start on your journey to learning Houdini!

01 CREATE A GEOMETRY NODE 

To get started, press the Tab key over the Network view and Geometry node, which will contain the base element that we'll deform later on. Click on the name of the node and rename it to something descriptive like 'geo_paint_stroke'. 

02 MAKE AND MODIFY A SPHERE

Using the Tab key, create a sphere that will be our base shape. Change the Primitive Type to Polygon and the Frequency to around 6 so the sphere is a bit more subdivided. Now change the Uniform Scale parameter of the sphere to 0.5 and the Z-component of the Radius parameter to 5.

03 ADD SCATTER AND POINT JITTER NODES