Houdini-Powered Crowd Simulation of Insects Afraid of Light

CFX Artist Milán Lampert has recently revisited his project that started all the way back in 2020, unveiling an impressive simulation of hundreds of insects dynamically scattering in reaction to light, inspired by Unreal Engine 5’s announcement trailer.

Powered by Houdini, Milán’s sim has gone through many iterations over the years, but, according to the creator, has only recently been brought “to a presentable state.” As explained by the artist, the project comprised building a system that can tell where the given surface is illuminated and where it isn’t, which was accomplished by turning the illuminated points into a geometry with VDB From Particles and Convert VDB, and making a crowd simulation capable of adopting the movement and state based on the lighting, done via nodes.