• Procedural Node-Based Workflow: Instead of manually sculpting or editing polygons step-by-step, users build networks of interlinked rules and math (recipes). If you change an early parameter, the entire model or simulation automatically updates without losing your work.
• All-in-One Powerhouse: It handles dynamic simulations (fire, smoke, water, destruction, cloth, and particles), procedural terrain generation, character rigging (KineFX), lighting, look development (Solaris/Karma), and compositing in a single environment.
• Houdini Digital Assets (HDAs): Technical artists can package complex networks into custom assets with simple sliders, letting other artists generate unique geometry or effects without touching the underlying code.

HOUDINI KEY SHORTCUTS 

• Object Nodes (/obj): The top-level container for scene objects like geometry containers, lights, cameras, and character rigs.
• Geometry / SOP Nodes (Surface Operators): Live inside a Geometry object to build and manipulate 3D models, curves, and points (e.g., box, transform, extrude, clip).
• DOP Nodes (Dynamics Operators): Control physics simulations like fire, smoke (Pyro), cloth (Vellum), fluids, and rigid body destruction.
• LOP Nodes (Lighting Operators): Build and manage scenes using USD (Universal Scene Description) for layout, lighting, and rendering.
• VOP / VEX Nodes (VEX Operators): Visual node-based editors that compile down into fast VEX code to write custom shaders and attribute logic.
• COP Nodes (Compositing / Copernicus): Handle real-time image and texture manipulation directly inside Houdini.
• ROP Nodes (Render Operators): Set up rendering outputs and dependency pipelines for Mantra, Karma, or external renderers.
• TOP Nodes (Task Operators / PDG): Automate procedural task workflows, such as batch-processing frames or distributing work across a render farm.
• APEX Nodes: Used inside KineFX for modern character rigging and skeleton manipulation.

• Build the Path: Draw a curve (such as a Bezier curve) in the viewport to define where the dominoes will travel, and use a Resample node to place points along the curve at exact intervals.
• Create the Domino Geometry: Make a simple box to represent a single domino, align its base using a Match Size node, and use a Copy to Points (or Copy to Curve) node to duplicate the tile along the resampled curve.
• Pack the Geometry: Add an Assemble node and turn on Create Packed Geometry so the physics solver treats each domino as an efficient rigid object.
• Set Up Physics: Plug the geometry network into an RBD Bullet Solver. Add a ground plane or ground collider in the collision settings so the tiles do not fall through the floor.
• Trigger the Chain Reaction: Give the first domino an initial push or velocity (using a velocity attribute or a force) so it tips over and knocks down the next tile in line.
• Run the Simulation: Play the timeline to let the Bullet Solver calculate the sequential physical collisions across the row.
  

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Week 3: Wall collision 

week 4: particle effect animation 

Week 5: smoke animation/simulation 

week 6 assignment idea: hurricane