Sidefx Houdini 20.5.278 =link= — Verified & Official

Copernicus

SideFX Houdini 20.5.278 represents a significant milestone in the evolution of procedural 3D software, serving as the initial stable production release of the 20.5 cycle. Released in July 2024, this version introduces transformative tools—most notably and the MPM Solver —designed to unify the 3D pipeline within a single environment. Core Innovations in Houdini 20.5.278 1. Copernicus: A New Paradigm for Image Processing

• Helpful Feature: Slide Edge (Edit Edge Flow). Hold Shift + Drag on an edge loop to slide it while maintaining curvature to neighbors. This is a game-changer for hard surface modeling.
• PolyBevel: The "Depth" attribute for 3D bevels (like chamfering a cylinder top) now respects negative values correctly, allowing inward bevels without flipping normals.

• The VFX Artist: This build excels at large-scale simulation. The Multi-solver workflow (combining FLIP, Pyro, and RBD) sees fewer crashes when writing heavy cache files. The new Gas Upres controls allow pyro simulations to be computed at low resolution and detailed at high resolution with greater fidelity.
• The Game Developer: Houdini Engine, the plugin that runs Houdini’s logic inside Unreal or Unity, is tightly integrated in 20.5.278. The build fixes a long-standing issue where terrain splat maps would corrupt on re-export. For procedural level generation, this means truly reliable iteration.
• The Motion Designer: With APEX and new COP (Compositing) tools for managing motion graphics textures, this build offers a non-destructive alternative to After Effects for data visualization and abstract animation. The Spline workflow is notably snappier in the viewport.

A powerful new solver for simulating complex materials like snow, sand, mud, and honey with high physical accuracy. SOPS-based Rigging (KineFX): SideFX Houdini 20.5.278

: Introduced as a modern alternative to OpenGL. Early reports in build 278 indicated it could be slower than the legacy viewport for some heavy scenes, with some users reverting to OpenGL for stability. Performance Notes for Build 20.5.278 Copernicus SideFX Houdini 20