Difference between revisions of "Customizing the Houdini Interface"

Revision as of 03:24, 14 October 2021

Houdini provides almost limitless customization, it's easy to be overwhelmed at first as there's lots of different places where you change settings.

Outlined below are the steps I take to customize Houdini to my liking.

Get the Slate Theme

For a flat user interface, I'm using this Slate Theme from Odforce I found a while ago. It eliminates a lot of the shading on UI elements like buttons and tabs. I find it easier on the eyes as well as more simplified modern look.

The theme can be downloaded here Slate_Theme_Houdini.zip, unzip the files and put them in your $HOME/houdiniX.x/config/ directory. The next time you launch Houdini, you should see the Slate theme as an option in your Edit > Color Settings Window

Changing the Desktop Layout

Simplifying Node Shapes

Changing the Splash Screen Image

Some aspects of Houdini can only be customized through Setting Houdini Environment Variables.

You can customize the following Houdini Environment Variables by editing $HOME/houdiniX.x/houdini.env

HOUDINI_SPLASH_FILE = ~/hsplash/hsplash_014.png
HOUDINI_SPLASH_MESSAGE = WELCOME ${USER}@${HOSTNAME}\\nVERSION: ${HOUDINI_VERSION}
HOUDINI_UI_QUEUE_SIZE = 2500000
HOUDINI_NO_START_PAGE_SPLASH = 1
HOUDINI_MAX_FILE_HISTORY = 32
HOUDINI_ENABLE_OLD_PRESETS = 1
HOUDINI_USE_OTL_AS_DEFAULT_HDA_EXT = 1

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 For a flat user interface, I'm using this [https://forums.odforce.net/topic/18089-houdini-theme/ Slate Theme from Odforce] I found a while ago.  It eliminates a lot of the shading on UI elements like buttons and tabs.  I find it easier on the eyes as well as more simplified modern look.
-The theme can be downloaded here [[:File:Slate_Theme_Houdini.zip|Slate_Theme_Houdini.zip]]
+The theme can be downloaded here [[:File:Slate_Theme_Houdini.zip|Slate_Theme_Houdini.zip]], unzip the files and put them in your $HOME/houdiniX.x/config/ directory.  The next time you launch Houdini, you should see the Slate theme as an option in your Edit > [https://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/ref/windows/color.html Color Settings Window]
-[https://www.sidefx.com/docs/houdini/ref/windows/color.html Houdini Color Window]
 == Changing the Desktop Layout ==