When Side Effects software first began its public beta of Houdini last month, the company added Mac OS X support. Now the 3D animation software has gone gold and is available for purchase.
According to the company, Houdini was built from the ground up to look and feel like a Mac application. It supports 64-bit Intel Macs running OS X Leopard and has all of the interface features Mac users would expect from an application including drag and drop support and Quicktime support.
“More and more artists are embracing Houdini’s node-based workflow for their animation and visual effects projects,” said Kim Davidson, President and CEO, Side Effects Software. “Houdini for Mac is an important step in bringing Houdini’s renowned power and flexibility to the wider creative community.”
With its Mac support Houdini users can interoperate between Linux, Windows and the Mac. The application can also export FBX files for use with Autodesk Maya or Autodesk 3ds Max.
Houdini 9.5 also supports .MDD output for exchanging baked point position animations with Lightwave. Artists can also use the Point Oven plug-in to use the .MDD files in other applications such as XSI, Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max, or Messiah. Adobe Illustrator and eps import is also supported.
There are a variety of pricing options available for Houdini, all of which can be found on the company’s Web site.