System requirements

Supported platforms: Windows 10 / 11, Linux, macOS

Supported Houdini versions:

Installation

You can get the ZibraVDB plugin from our website or use the one in SideFX Labs. We recommend downloading it from a website since this flow is simpler.

Installation (From Website)

You can also download plugin package along with the library from our website.

  1. Go to https://www.zibra.ai/zibravdb-for-houdini and download desired version.
  2. Install downloaded package
    1. To install package locally into User Preference folder: unpack downloaded archive into your packages directory (if it doesn’t exist, create it). Depending on the OS, it will be in the following location:
      1. Window: ****C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\houdini##\
        1. After installation, you should have C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\houdini##\ZibraVDB.json file and \Users\USERNAME\Documents\houdini##\ZibraVDB folder
      2. Linux: /home/USERNAME/houdini##/
        1. After installation, you should have /home/USERNAME/houdini##/ZibraVDB.json file and /home/USERNAME/houdini##/ZibraVDB folder
      3. macOS: ****/⁨Users⁩/⁨USERNAME/⁨Library⁩/Preferences⁩/⁨houdini⁩/##⁩/
        1. After installation, you should have /⁨Users⁩/⁨USERNAME/⁨Library⁩/Preferences⁩/⁨houdini⁩/##⁩/ZibraVDB.json file and /⁨Users⁩/⁨USERNAME/⁨Library⁩/Preferences⁩/⁨houdini⁩/##⁩/ZibraVDB folder
    2. To install package into folder shared between multiple computers: unpack downloaded archive into one of the following directories (if it doesn’t exist, create it):
      1. HSite package folder: $HOUDINI_USER_PREF_DIR/packages
        1. After installation, you should have $HOUDINI_USER_PREF_DIR/packages/ZibraVDB.json file and $HOUDINI_USER_PREF_DIR/packages/ZibraVDB folder
      2. Houdini package folder: $HOUDINI_PACKAGE_DIR
        1. After installation, you should have $HOUDINI_PACKAGE_DIR/ZibraVDB.json file and $HOUDINI_PACKAGE_DIR/ZibraVDB folder
      3. HFS package folder: $HFS/packages
        1. After installation, you should have $HFS/packagesZibraVDB.json file and $HFS/packages/ZibraVDB folder
  3. Launch Houdini
  4. Open GEO context
  5. Create Labs ZibraVDB Compress node
  6. In newly created node click the “Open Plugin Management” button.
  7. Confirm that window opens, and that "Library status" shows as "Loaded"

Installation (SideFX Labs)

ZibraVDB nodes are shipped with SideFX Labs, but the plugin requires the ZibraVDB core library on the back end. (This library and its source code are proprietary to Zibra AI and, therefore, are not included directly in the open-source SideFX Labs package.) The plugin has a built-in method to download this core library, which only needs to be done once (per working environment).

  1. Install Houdini and SideFX Labs.
    1. Installation via SideFX Labs requires Houdini build 20.5.619 or newer (later versions are always supported)