Kinematic 0.5.0 is out. Modeling and sculpting in the viewport, a timeline on every graph, photo and sound editing. What's new
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Kinematic / Coming from Houdini

Procedural 3D and simulation in Kinematic.

Points that carry P N Cd v pscale orient. Solvers with substeps. Every viewport edit kept as a node. And because the whole graph keeps running, the fire you tune can light the room.

Download for macOS 0.5.0See what carries over
Free to useNo license servermacOS, Windows, LinuxA Houdini mouse preset
a torus set alight, flames climbing into smoke
the whole network
3DGeoTorus→3DGeoFluidSimpleSolver→3DGeoFluidRender
You already know this

Houdini terms in Kinematic.

Kinematic borrows the vocabulary on purpose. Attributes keep the names you use, quick-add understands the words you type, and the Math editor finds a VEX function by its name.

The Add Node menu open on the canvas, filtered as you type
HoudiniThe Tab menu

Space, at the pointer

Press Space over the canvas and the add menu opens where you point. Type wrangle, scatter or copy to points and the matching node comes up.

The 3D inspector listing P, Cd and N per point, with Point, Vertex, Prim and Detail tabs
HoudiniThe geometry spreadsheet

The Attributes tab

Point, Vertex, Prim and Detail tabs, one column per attribute. Sort and filter it, pick in the viewport to find the row, right-click a column for a heatmap.

The Math editor running over points: dir, mag and force written as three lines
HoudiniWrangles and VEX

The Math editor

Per-point math on P and your own attributes. Type fit or curlnoise in its search and it finds the match among 500 operations. For your own kernels, AttributeShader runs WGSL or GLSL.

3DGeoAttribMath+AttributeShader
Ten thousand cubes riding a noise field
HoudiniCopy to Points

Copy to points

Same name, same idea. Instance on points reads N, up, pscale, orient, rot and pivot from your points, and Pack and Realize move between copies and real mesh.

3DGeoCopy+3DGeoInstanceOnPoints
The viewport Simulate menu: Particles here, Fire from this, Smoke from this, Liquid from this, Softbody, Make dynamic, Break into pieces
HoudiniShelf tools

The Simulate menu

Pick an object and choose Fire from this, Liquid from this, Softbody, Make dynamic or Break into pieces. The nodes land on the canvas, ready to open up.

A particle chain on the canvas: emitter, a vortex force and the solver, wired back for substeps
HoudiniDOP networks

Emitters, forces, solvers

Start from one solver node, or open the chain: the emitter runs the substeps, force nodes add to the force attribute and the solver integrates it.

3DGeoParticleChainEmitter+3DGeoParticleChainSolver
Inside a Component: an input bridge, a blur, a grade and an output bridge
HoudiniDigital assets

Components

Wrap a network into one node with its own inputs, outputs and public knobs, then save it to your library. Ctrl or Cmd with the down arrow dives in.

Component
A driver typed straight into a knob: sin(time*1.6)*0.45
Houdinich() and expressions

Drivers

Right-click any knob and add a driver. time and frame tick live, and node_param reads another node's value, the way ch() does.

A performer skeleton beside the character it is retargeted onto
HoudiniKineFX

Skeletons are points

A joint is a point with a name and a transform, so every geometry tool works on a rig. Retargeting, IK, weight paint and clips sit right beside it.

3DGeoRigRetarget+3DGeoRigTwoBoneIK

More of the phrasebook

The rest of the names you reach for, and the node that does the job here. Missing one you rely on? Reach out.

Solver SOP3DGeoFeedback
Pyro3DGeoFluidSimpleSolver
FLIP3DGeoFlipSimpleSolver
VellumPBDSimSolver
RBD and Voronoi fracturePhysicsWorld 3DGeoVoronoiFracture
Heightfields3DGeoHeightfield 3DGeoHeightfieldErode
VDB from polygons3DGeoSdfFromMesh
Attribute Promote3DGeoAttribPromote
Group expression3DGeoGroupExpression
File Cache3DGeoFluidCacheWrite
The work you know

Liquids, smoke, cloth and particles on your GPU.

Each one starts as a single node with presets, and opens into the full chain of microsolvers when you want to take it apart.

FLIP: a dam break, meshed and shaded
XPBD: a stuffed teddy
rigid: glued pieces let go
terrain: hydro and thermal erosion
  • LiquidsFLIP with APIC, whitewater, viscosity and surface tension. Presets run from water and ocean to honey, lava and paint.
    3DGeoFlipSimpleSolver
  • Fire and smokeA sparse grid that only works where there is smoke or fire, with combustion, buoyancy and turbulence.
    3DGeoFluidSimpleSolver
  • Cloth and soft bodiesOne XPBD solver for cloth, hair, grain, balloons and soft bodies. Pull too hard and cloth tears.
    PBDSimSolver
  • Rigid bodiesVoronoi fracture, glue that lets go, hinges and motors, and liquid that pushes back on them.
    PhysicsWorld
  • TerrainHydro, thermal, glacial, coastal and wind erosion, then out to Unreal or Unity.
    3DGeoHeightfieldErodeHydro

Fire, smoke and liquid knobs change while the sim runs, and sims scrub back from their cache on the timeline.

What Kinematic adds

Simulate and light in the same scene.

The fire from the top of this page, pixel-mapped onto a wall of 640 lights. ImageToDmx samples each frame at every fixture, and Art-Net, sACN or a USB adapter carries it to the rig. Projectors, LED walls and NDI sit in the same app.

3DGeoFluidRender→ImageToDmx→ArtNetSendInterface
the firethe same frames on 640 RGB fixtures

Right: four DMX universes of 160 fixtures each, drawn back from the DMX values. Over 1,500 fixture profiles come with the app.

a song's loudness and hits driving a particle burst
drivers on the particle node in that clip
emission_rate  #channel("fit_emit", "output")
gravity        #channel("fit_grav", "output")
turbulence     #channel("fit_turb", "output")
What Kinematic adds

Drive any setting from sound, MIDI or a camera.

Any knob can follow a mic, a song, a MIDI fader, OSC from a phone or a tracked hand while the graph keeps running. A driver is one line in the knob itself, reading another node the way you would with ch().

MicrophoneAudio filesMIDIOSCWebcam trackingAbleton Live
an A-frame cabin taking shape in the viewport
What Kinematic adds

Model by hand, and change any step later.

Pick points, edges or faces and extrude, inset, bevel, loop cut, knife, bridge or boolean right in the viewport. Each edit lands on the canvas as a node, so the third bevel is still there to change after the tenth.

Sculpt with pen pressure, draw a clean low mesh over it, unwrap, bake and paint, all in the same file as your sims.

Moving over

Moving over from Houdini.

Geometry crosses both ways. Your mouse habits come along with one setting, and the first hour is mostly pressing Play.

Opens

USD .usda .usdc .usdzAlembicFBXglTFOBJPLYSTLHeightmaps .png .tif .raw16 .exrEXR, layered tooImage sequencesMesh sequencesBVH motionVideo and audio

Saves

USDAlembic, the standard layout Houdini readsFBXglTFOBJPLYSTLOpenVDB fire and smokeEXR, layered tooMesh sequencesUnreal and Unity terrainVideo

Does not open

.hip scenes.bgeo cachesVDB, for now

Houdini's .hip and .bgeo files do not open here (these are proprietary). Rebuild the network and bring the geometry across through USD, Alembic or FBX. VDB saves but does not open yet. Every format is on Works with.

Navigation and keys

Tumble Dolly Pan

The Houdini preset: left drag tumbles, middle drag pans, right drag dollies. Pick it when your first viewport asks, or later under Preferences, Viewport, Navigation.

SpaceAdd a node at the pointerin Houdini: Tab menu
Ctrl/Cmd ↓ ↑Into and out of a Componentin Houdini: I and U
.Frame the selected nodes
EOpen the node's own editor
MTurn the selected nodes off and on
Ctrl/Cmd Shift LTidy the layout
Ctrl/Cmd Shift PCommand palette
Ctrl/Cmd RPlay

Your first hour

  1. Download and open itNo account, no license key, no license server.
  2. Pick Houdini navigationYour first viewport asks how you like to move around. Pick Houdini and your hands already know the mouse.
  3. Open Burning from the Demos browserThree nodes: a torus, the fluid solver and a render. Press Play and watch it burn.
  4. Turn a knob mid-simPush buoyancy up while it runs, or right-click it, add a driver and type sin(time).
  5. Set your own thing on firePick any object in the viewport, open Simulate and choose Fire from this. The nodes appear on the canvas.
Open these first

Demos to open first.

All of them come with the app. Open one, press Play, then open the canvas and take it apart.

BurningA burning object throws up a tall pillar of fire that mushrooms into dark smoke.In the Demos browserDam breakA column of water lets go, slams the far wall and sloshes back. One solver node runs it all.In the Demos browserWaterwheelA falling stream turns a wheel with no motor. Inside is the whole microsolver chain.In the Demos browserCloth breakingCloth that tears. Stretch it too far and pieces rip away from the sheet.In the Demos browserUnreal exportRidged peaks with hydro and thermal erosion, ready for an Unreal landscape.In the Demos browserLeaves tilting in the windLeaf points on a globe, each with its own frame written by an AttributeShader.In the Demos browserPaint splashCrimson and teal paint drop into a tray, keep their colors and marble together.In the Demos browserMixed grain fluidLiquid and grains in one simulation on the GPU. One flows, the other piles up.In the Demos browser
Fair is fair

Where Houdini is still ahead.

Houdini is the reference for procedural effects, and Kinematic aims to do well what it does well. Here is where it still leads.

  • Production renderingKarma and Solaris for path-traced finals and USD lookdev. Kinematic renders live, with PBR materials, image-based light and shadows, and has no path tracer.
  • Sims bigger than one machineFilm-scale sims spread across a farm. Kinematic sims run on the machine in front of you.
  • Depth of the toolsetDecades of operators, VEX and studio-tested workflows.
  • Pipelines and trainingStudio pipelines, shared assets and courses built around it.
  • Your existing scenes.hip files and .bgeo caches do not open here (these are proprietary), and VDB goes out of Kinematic but does not come in yet.

Use both. Pass geometry through USD, Alembic and FBX, bake fire and smoke to VDB, and use Kinematic where the work has to run live.

The fine print

What it costs.

Kinematic
Houdini
Price for paid work
$0any use, any revenue
$299 a yearHoudini Indie, under $100K revenue. FX costs more1
Free version
The whole appno limits
Apprenticenon-commercial, 1280×720, watermark1
Platforms
macOS, Windows, Linuxand Raspberry Pi, experimental
macOS, Windows, Linux

1 From SideFX's own pages, checked October 2026, prices in US dollars: Houdini Apprentice · SideFX store

Questions

Questions from Houdini users.

Can I open my .hip files?

No, .hip files do not open here (these are proprietary). Networks are rebuilt here rather than converted. Geometry comes across through USD, Alembic, FBX, glTF and OBJ.

Can fire and smoke go back to Houdini?

Yes. Fluid cache write saves standard OpenVDB frames that other 3D apps load. Kinematic writes VDB but does not read it yet.

Is there a path tracer?

No. Kinematic renders live with PBR materials, image-based light and shadows. For path-traced finals, take it back to Houdini.

Can I write code inside the graph?

Yes. The Math editor for per-point math, AttributeShader for WGSL or GLSL kernels on points, verts or prims, and Python nodes. A Python API builds and changes graphs too.

Is it really free?

Yes, even for commercial use, with no account and no license key. Install it on every machine in the room.

Coming from somewhere else
Mayamodel, rig, animate →Cinema 4Dmotion design →Nukecompositing →TouchDesignerlive shows →Reaktorinstruments →

Download Kinematic.

Free. No account, no license key. macOS, Windows, Linux and Raspberry Pi.

Download for macOS 0.5.0