"I used Houdini for assembling the scene, grooming, creating smoke and particles, then I rendered it with Arnold," says Alicja Cygan of her beautiful witch character
A particular favourite of the VFX industry, SideFX’s Houdini presents 3D artists with a node-based procedural approach that offers unrivalled levels of flexibility and control over their creations. Houdini certainly isn’t for everyone and its workflow can be difficult to get used to, but for the right artists it can be an invaluable addition to their digital toolset. Freelance grooming artist and 3D generalist Alicja Cygan discovered Houdini when SideFX first introduced the grooming tool. “I aspired to be a grooming artist, and I was excited to learn it,” Cygan explains. “It turned out to be a great tool which is my favourite to this day. Houdini wasn't commonly used for illustrations back then, but I decided to shift my workflow to Houdini because of its nice-looking hair results, which was a great decision. I’ve made all my favourite illustrations in Houdini.”