Year/Release Date : 08/12/2025
Version : 21.0.440
Developer : Side Effects Software
Developer’s website : www.sidefx.com/
Bit depth : 64bit
Interface language : English
Tablet : present
Advertising : absent
System requirements :
☑ Windows 10, 11
☑ RAM: 16 GB or more
☑ Processor: 8 cores or more, Intel or AMD (x64) with SSE4.2 support
☑ Free disk space: 5 GB or more
☑ Video card: 4 GB VRAM or more, support for OpenGL 4.0 and OpenCL 1.2
- 5.75 GB
Description :
Houdini 21
Is a major release focused on production readiness, with hundreds of new features, including a powerful Otis GPU solver for muscle simulation, improvements to KineFX (motion mixer, rigging), MetaHumans integration, an accelerated Copernicus Pyro solver (fire/smoke), neural network tools (ML), Vulkan support (including macOS), and 3D Gaussian Splatting in Karma XPU.
Modeling, simulation, rendering (Karma), and compositing are updated, with an emphasis on finalizing and bringing existing systems to production, as announced at SIGGRAPH 2025.
Houdini 21, released in August 2025, was a major update, incorporating over 360 new features and improvements.
The focus was on making the tools production-ready, advancing machine learning, and improving animation and simulation workflows.
Houdini 21 introduces major updates across the entire pipeline, including improvements to KineFX with a new motion mixer, the Autorig Builder animation catalog, and an improved muscle system. Copernicus gains a lean GPU Pyro FX solver, reaction diffusion effects, and texture baking, while Solaris adds Shot Builder, Live Rendering, and Karma support for Hydra 2 and Gaussian Splats.
The release introduces hundreds of new features and improvements, here are just a few of them:
Main innovations :
– Copernicus (COPs) :
The new GPU-based context for 2D/3D image processing has received significant improvements. It integrates a GPU Pyro solver, allowing for fast fire and smoke simulations without using DOP networks. Also added are tools for baking textures (Bake Geometry Textures), creating masks from curves, and new noise types.
– Machine Learning (ML):
Native ML tools for artists have been implemented, including ML Volume Upres for increasing the detail of Pyro simulations, Style Transfer, and deformation of organic tissue. A Neural Point Surface node has been added for fast mesh creation from point clouds.
– Animation and KineFX :
KineFX Autorig Builder has been introduced – a drag-and-drop system for assembling rigs without programming. A Motion Mixer (NLE-style motion mixer) and an Animation Catalog pose/clip library have been added.
– Simulation (VFX) :
Muscles & CFX: Introducing the new OTiS solver for muscles and soft tissue, offering FEM-like accuracy at a faster speed.
MPM (Material Point Method): Solver updates include surface tension support and new vehicle destruction tools.
– Rendering & Solaris :
Vulkan Viewport: Full Vulkan viewport support with real-time ray tracing features (Ambient Occlusion, Geometry Lights).
Karma: Support for Gaussian Splats, Hydra 2, and the ability to blend up to 16 surface shaders of the same type in Karma XPU.
– Modeling & Terrain :
New nodes: Quad Remesh (adaptive remeshing), Unsubdivide (mesh downscaling), and UV Flatten from Points.
Updated erosion system for terrain and Copernicus integration for heightmap modification.
Simulations and characters (Character Tools) :
– Otis: New GPU-accelerated solver for realistic muscle and tissue simulation (FEM level), faster than Vellum.
– KineFX: New tools for rigging and animation, including a Motion Mixer.
– Muscle Transfer: A system for transferring muscles and bones between characters.
– Otto: A ready-made character for demonstrating the muscular system.
Fluids, Fire/Smoke (Pyro) :
– Copernicus Pyro: New, significantly faster GPU solver for fire and smoke.
– Neural Point Surfacing: AI for simplified fluid simulations.
– ML Volume Upres: Smoke/fire upscaling using machine learning.
– MPM (Material Point Method): Improvements to UV preservation and secondary particle support.
Rendering & Graphics :
– Karma XPU: First implementation of 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS).
– Vulkan: Full support on macOS (via MoltenVK).
Modeling & Compositing :
– COPs: New solver for 2D/3D processing (Flow, Sparse Pyro).
– Shot Sculpting: Tools for frame-by-frame character correction.
– Node-based workflow: New nodes in the modeler (Quad Remesh, Unsubdivide, UV Flatten from Points, Scatter Shapes).
Other :
– ML Tools : Built-in machine learning tools.
– PDG (Houdini Engine/Farm) : Task management improvements.
Overall, Houdini 21 focuses on improving the efficiency of the production pipeline, refining existing tools, and introducing advanced technologies such as machine learning and GPU acceleration for simulations.
