TECHNICAL PAPER Building Tools for Houdini 9

1. Introduction 4Who is this for? 4Your Feedback is Important! 42. What are Tools and how are they used? 5Characteristics 5Where are Tools Found? 5Usage 6Examples Shipping with Houdini 63. Anatomy of a Tool 8Python Script 8Shelf Edit Tool Dialog 8Digital Asset Tool Options 9Representations on disk 9Loading Shelves into a .hip File 104. Steps to Develop a Tool 11Exercise 1: Add Scripted Button to the Shelf 11Exercise 2: Add Node to the Shelf using Drag-and-Drop 11Exercise 3: Add Node to the Shelf using Edit Tool… 11Exercise 4: Add Digital Asset to the Shelf and TAB menus 12Exercise 5: Add Tool by Editing .shelf File 125. Designing Tools for Wider Distribution 13ContentsWrite a Tool Specification 13Tool Description Outline 13Build the Digital Asset 14Operator Type Properties defaults and settings 14Promote Parameters 15Write the Tool Script 16Reference an Icon 18Tool Documentation 18Add Digital Asset to a Shelf 19Versioning 19Test, Test, Test 206. Distribution 21Internal Development using Local Paths 21Windows, $HIP and Local Path development 21Managing Shared Utilities 21Distribution with Local Paths 22Distribution with Explicit Paths 22Path Management with Discrete Environment Variables: 23Digital Assets and OTL’s: HOUDINI_OTL_PATH 23Toolbars and .shelf Files: HOUDINI_TOOLBAR_PATH 23Shaders and VEX Tools: HOUDINI_OTL_PATH 232 | TECHNICAL PAPER Rev 1.0