The MOPs tool for orienting curves using parallel transport is eight years old now, and mostly made obsolete by Houdini's native tool for it, but I wanted to revisit our old implementation and improve it a bit anyways. I documented how it works here: www.toadstorm.com/blog/?p=1168

Matt Milstead from Mograph.com did a little interview with me yesterday where we talked about Houdini, MOPs, and motion graphics in general. Full video is online here: www.youtube.com/live/MsyvhOR...

A new stable release of MOPs is available! The Experimental build already supported Houdini 21, but this was confusing for new users, so that update (plus some others) are now merged into the main branch. Details here: github.com/toadstorm/MO...

My MOPs course on Houdini.School is now free! If you want a start to finish course on how (almost) everything works, plus the math background, you can watch it all here: www.houdini.school/courses/mops...

absolute insanity. a mad genius. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IgM...

MOPs Plus for Houdini node-locked licenses are now 20% off through Monday, December 2nd. Get access to MOPs tools for typography, dynamics, cameras, and more for cheap! Use the coupon code MOPSFRIDAY2025 at checkout to apply the one-time discount. motionoperators.com/info/mopsplus/

A new MOPs+ release is out! This introduces the MOPs+ Camera, a fully-featured camera rig with all kinds of fun and quick controls for animating cameras easily in the viewport. Check the demo videos and the full release notes here: motionoperators.com/blog/index.p...

Happy Labor Day! I just added Houdini 21 / Qt6 hotfixes for both MOPs and MOPs Plus, and a few cool little upgrades to MOPs... now you can easily cycle falloffs! Check the blog for details: motionoperators.com/blog/index.p...

Happy Houdini 21 release day! H21 is compatible with both MOPs and MOPs Plus (for Python 3.11) so you shouldn't have to worry about any upgrades. Have fun!

I wrote a little article here for VFX artists about what environment variables are, how to manipulate them, what various .env files are actually doing, and how to roll your own pipelines to organize your projects at home. Look here: www.toadstorm.com/blog/?p=1010

The MOPs website (and toadstorm.com) will be offline for less than 1 hour for some maintenance and improvements. Thanks for your patience!

A new Experimental release of MOPs is now available! This is mostly just minor bugfixes and QoL improvements. Details on the release page: github.com/toadstorm/MO...

I'm looking for software developers who can help me write a floating license server for MOPs+. Some experience in Houdini is a plus but not required. If you're interested or know someone who is, please reach out to me at [email protected].

Apex is still pretty scary and new for most existing Houdini artists, but there’s no need to be scared anymore! Matt (@cgwiki.bsky.social) will provide a jargon-free explainer of Apex at #EPC2025! Get your tickets now: everythingprocedural.com #everythingproc #ProcGen #Apex #GameDev

I wrote a little primer on rigid body dynamics in Houdini after seeing a lot of similar questions online. Bullet is a pretty deep rabbit hole to fall into and there's a lot of legacy stuff that's very confusing for new artists... hopefully this helps you get started! www.toadstorm.com/blog/?p=1123

A new release of MOPs+ is now available! This adds the new MOPs+ Rig Aim node, as well as a new streamlined version of MOPs+ Collision Geo. More details on the MOPs Blog: motionoperators.com/blog/index.p...

I'm trying to get another fun new toy done for the next release: MOPs+ Rig Aim. Enjoy watching it wave Paul around! motionoperators.com/blog/index.p...

Some info about the upcoming improvements to MOPs+ Collision Geo: motionoperators.com/blog/index.p...

I've updated the MOPs blog page to use a new Wordpress format so it's easier to post about updates and development in general, and so people can use RSS to get updates instead of social media. The updated page is here: motionoperators.com/blog/

🚨 Black Friday sale! Today through 12/1, get a MOPs Plus license for 20% off using the coupon code MOPSFRIDAY2024.

i know this is a business account or whatever but i just baked some really good bagels and you can't stop me from posting them

Little Apex explainer targeted at experienced Houdini folk. It's rough (got a cold, ugh), but figured it'll be useful to people like me who were simultaneously interested and apprehensive. Will likely re-record later when my voice recovers and I learn more things... www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9-e...

A new build of MOPs Plus is now available! This introduces Infection Falloff 1.1, with a better interface and support for "healing" and reinfection, some improvements to MOPs Typography and Apply Attributes, and more! Details on the changelog: www.motionoperators.com/changelog/

A new Stable release of MOPs is now available! Lots of bugfixes, nitpicks, UI improvements, and a unit testing module for developers. Details on the Release page: github.com/toadstorm/MO...

The Houdini HIVE Horizon talks from Toronto are now available online, including my talk about MOPs and UX in Houdini! Check them out here: www.sidefx.com/houdini-hive...

Trying to solve an age-old Houdini problem here. Whenever it's done, I'll release the full toolkit for creating self-installing Houdini packages as open source software. Doing my best to keep making Houdini easier!

I'm going to be presenting at Houdini HIVE in Toronto next month! Hope to see some of you nerds there... www.sidefx.com/houdini-hive...

Hi MOPs+ Users, I know times are tough for motion designers right now, and every subscription you need for your job can start to add up. To that end I'm applying a 15% discount to all active MOPs+ personal license renewals, effective immediately...

A new Experimental release of MOPs (1.9.2e) is now available. This fixes a number of minor UX errors and an issue with the MOPs Noise Modifier. Details on the release page: github.com/toadstorm/MO...

A new release of MOPs Plus is now available! This adds compatibility with Houdini 20.5 (Python 3.11) and a number of bugfixes and improvements. Details on the release page: www.motionoperators.com/changelog/

Here's a little post I made about how to drive rigid bodies in Houdini with handmade animation, using constraints (and MOPs): www.toadstorm.com/blog/?p=1090

A new release of MOPs Plus is now available! This adds MOPs Rig Delay, propagation options to MOPs Rig Spring for better secondary motion, and some improvements to MOPs Velocity Field and MOPs Apply Attributes DOP. Full changelog here: www.motionoperators.com/changelog/

A new Experimental release of MOPs is now available! This adds some improvements to Apply Attributes, fixes for MOPs Randomize, and some QoL improvements related to Falloffs and the Spring and Delay modifiers. Details on the release page: github.com/toadstorm/MO...

A new release of MOPs Plus is now available! This improves Rig Resample, adds new features to Velocity Field and Camera Blender, and most importantly, adds the Font Browser to MOPs Typography! Details on the release page: www.motionoperators.com/changelog/

Here's a blog post about simulations in #houdini and why they don't quite behave the same way as the SOP context we all know and love. Hope it helps! www.toadstorm.com/blog/?p=1046

Here's an early prototype of a font selector for MOPs Typography...

A new release of MOPs Plus is now available! This adds a number of improvements and bugfixes to several nodes, and a new Vellum example file. Details on the changelog: www.motionoperators.com/changelog/

A new Stable release of MOPs, v1.9.0, is now available! Lots of bugfixes and a few new features from the Experimental branch... github.com/toadstorm/MO...

Check out this awesome piece by Travis Saul, using lots of MOPs: vimeo.com/891514592

If you're having trouble using the coupon: make sure to expand the order summary and select Add Discount to see the coupon option!

This weekend only, use the coupon code MOPSFRIDAY2023 to get a one-time 20% discount off a MOPs Plus Indie or FX license! Limit 1 per customer. www.motionoperators.com/mops_plus/da...

Today's MOPs Plus update adds full compatibility for Houdini 20 and Python 3.10. View the full changelog here: www.motionoperators.com/changelog/

Congrats to SideFX for the Houdini 20 release! If you are a MOPs Plus user, keep in mind that Plus is not yet compatible with Python 3.10. If you need to use Plus with H20 before the next Plus update, look for a Python 3.9 build of H20.

A new release of MOPs Plus is now available! This fixes a few bugs in MOPs Apply Attributes DOP and adds a "Crosshair" mode to MOPs Camera Blender. Details on the changelog page: www.motionoperators.com/changelog/

A new Experimental release of MOPs is now available! This adds the ability to add new points mid-simulation to MOPs Delay and Spring and improves MOPs Visualize Frame. Full details in the release page: github.com/toadstorm/MO...

Check out this beautiful short film "Flora" by Ian Frederick. Done entirely with #Houdini and MOPs. Breakdowns included! www.behance.net/gallery/1793...