Hive: Houdini Studio Hub
A browser hub that scans a SideFX Houdini project, validates naming, checks the standard $JOB structure, tracks HDA versions and checks engine handoff.
The challenge
Houdini gives artists enormous freedom, and that freedom is exactly how projects sprawl: an ad-hoc $JOB structure, inconsistent asset naming, HDA versions nobody is tracking, and orphaned files. When that work then has to hand off to Unreal or Unity, the mess follows it downstream.
Studios wanted a way to get an objective read on project hygiene without building and maintaining their own pipeline tooling.
Our solution
Hive scans a project folder and checks the things that quietly break Houdini projects: asset naming against a convention, the standard $JOB folder structure, HDA versions and orphans, and the engine-handoff naming that Unreal and Unity expect. It exports reports so a lead can act on the findings.
It shares the Solo, Studio and Enterprise model of its sibling hubs, so it fits a single artist or a whole facility.
What we built
- In-browser Houdini project scanner
- Asset-naming validation against a convention
- Standard $JOB project-structure checks
- HDA version and orphan tracking
- Engine-handoff naming checks for Unreal and Unity
- CSV and PDF reports
Tech stack
The outcome
Houdini studios get an automated read on project hygiene and a clear path to clean handoff, without maintaining their own tooling. It pairs naturally with our free Houdini VEX Lab, which seeds good structure from the start.
Hive completed our set of studio hubs across Unreal, Unity, Houdini and Nuke, each sharing one reporting core.
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