A new multi-physics solver capable of simulating complex materials like snow, sand, mud, and granular soils with high accuracy. APEX Animation Framework:
: Introduced as a new 2D and 3D GPU-based image framework. It is designed for procedural texture maps, Non-Photorealistic Rendering (NPR)/toon shading, and "Slap Comps" directly within the viewport. MPM (Material Point Method) 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 A new multi-physics solver capable of simulating complex
The Vulkan-based viewport is now the default, offering improved performance and geometry rasterization compared to the older OpenCL viewport. Workflow & Modeling Updates MPM (Material Point Method) : Introduced as a
. Users on Windows 10 report that later daily builds (e.g., 20.5.312) significantly improved this to around 19 seconds. Integration & Compatibility Redshift Support : This build requires Redshift version 3.6.04 . Users often face "render abort" or DSO errors if the houdini.env
A new GPU-accelerated Material Point Method solver for multiphysics simulations, capable of handling everything from fluids to solids.