meshy-dev/meshy-dcc-adapters/houdini-terrain

houdini-terrain

Typed heightfield authoring for Houdini's native terrain SOPs. Before this package the adapter had no coverage of Houdini's heightfield toolset, so terrain work had to go through execute_python or generic node creation.

Tracer-bullet flow

1. create_heightfield(parent_path="/obj/geo1")
2. add_terrain_layer(parent_path="/obj/geo1", layer_type="noise", source_path="/obj/geo1/heightfield1")
3. add_terrain_layer(parent_path="/obj/geo1", layer_type="erode", source_path="/obj/geo1/heightfield_noise1")
4. add_terrain_layer(parent_path="/obj/geo1", layer_type="scatter", source_path="/obj/geo1/heightfield_erode1")
5. inspect_heightfield(node_path="/obj/geo1/heightfield_scatter1")

Each layer call wires source_path into input 0, so chaining is explicit: read the returned node_path and feed it to the next layer.

Supported layer types

Parameter policy

The tools create and wire nodes; they do not guess parameter values. SOP parameters vary between Houdini releases, so an override the node does not expose fails the call and rolls back rather than being silently skipped. Pass what you want through parameters and read applied_parameters back.

Honesty contract

• create_heightfield returns setup_state="skeleton" and lists the setup a

renderable terrain still needs, including a heightfield_output node.

• inspect_heightfield reports geometry_available=false instead of guessing

when the node exposes no cached geometry. Read layer_names_available to disambiguate: False means the read was not available, while an empty list with True available means the terrain genuinely reports no layers. Never infer emptiness from layer_count=0 alone.

• Creation failures destroy only the nodes owned by the failed request, and

parameter writes are rolled back (values, expressions and animation).