Advanced Techniques: Generating Parametric Spiral Geometry Using VEX in Houdini

Creating a spiral of points along a custom curve in Houdini using VEX can be a fascinating way to generate complex geometry. To do this, you'll want to use VEX to compute the positions of points along the curve and apply a spiral pattern to them. Here's an example of how you can achieve this:

     
    Create a Curve: Start by creating or importing the custom curve you want to use as a basis for your spiral. This could be a Polyline or NURBS curve.
     
    Add a Point Wrangle: In your Houdini scene, add a Point Wrangle node to manipulate points along the curve.
     
    Write VEX Code: Inside the Point Wrangle node, write VEX code to create the spiral points. Here's a basic example:

vex

// Parameters
int numPoints = 100;    // Number of points in the spiral
float spiralHeight = 2; // Height of the spiral
float spiralRadius = 1; // Radius of the spiral

// Loop to create spiral points
for (int i = 0; i