There are countless ways to create animation figures, and we do not intend to limit or impose a specific approach on artists. Houdini is an incredibly flexible tool for this type of work, offering a wide range of possibilities.
Recommended Tools
We highly recommend installing the SideFX Labs toolset. It provides a collection of utilities that simplify and accelerate figure creation significantly.
Pipeline Integration
The only requirement is that the finished figure must be connected to an _OUT node. This ensures the figure is properly passed through the pipeline for downstream processing.
Info: The _OUT node is the standard pipeline exit — it feeds the figure into timeline assembly, simulation, and final export stages.
Video tutorials
Dronatello Course #12 — Building Your First Drone Show FormationTime to build our first real formation — an engaging opening title. We generate calligraphic text, build a colorful gradient with flickering accents, and animate a smooth fade-in using custom attributes and keyframes.Dronatello Course #13 — Turning 3D Geometry into a Drone Formation: CoralStarting our underwater-themed show, we turn a 3D coral model into a drone-ready formation. We isolate the visible silhouette with Spot Light masking, build accent curves, and use progressive resampling for a beautifully controlled point distribution.Dronatello Course #14 — Rigging a Swimming Fish Formation with KineFXWe build a fish formation from source geometry and bring it to life with a lightweight KineFX skeleton. This lesson shows how proxy-driven animation can control a completely unorganized point cloud with a simple rig.Dronatello Course #15 — Jellyfish Formation: Dome, Tentacles & Curl NoiseThe jellyfish combines two animation techniques in one formation: skeletal proxy animation for the pulsing dome, and Curl Noise for naturally drifting tentacles — a great example of mixing methods for organic motion.Dronatello Course #16 — Final Formation: A Swimming Turtle in HoudiniOur last main formation is a swimming turtle. We use Group by Lasso for spatial groups, compare a fully-detailed silhouette against a simplified one, and finish with color and saturation tweaks — including a very deliberate eye color choice.