PREMIUM
The Artist's Guide to Technical Direction in Houdini - Volume 0: HScript
The Artist's Guide to Technical Direction in Houdini - Volume 0: HScript
While there are many tutorials out there that do an excellent job of showcasing the flashier aspects of Houdini, a common shortfall of these lessons is that they spend more time focusing on how to make things pretty without taking the time to explore how things actually work. This series instead aims to fill the niche of exploring technical direction for those who may not have a technical background and wish to become more acquainted with how scripting (specifically HScript) works in Houdini.

FREE
Learn How to Craft Game Effects using Houdini & UE4
Learn How to Craft Game Effects using Houdini & UE4
A guide for experienced film vfx artists to start their journey into real time graphics using Houdini 15.5 and Unreal Engine 4.12

LEGACY
Unfortunately, the majority of these tutorials are long out of date, with the most recent one being from 2014. Let me know if there's something in particular here that you would like updated!
HOU212: Procedural Production Workflow: The Force Field
fxphd.com : HOU212: Procedural Production Workflow: The Force Field
Our goal with this series is to build up a solid foundation and put together an arsenal of skills that will allow us to tackle a wide range of effects in production. We will learn how Houdini works, and cover an effect that passes data through every context of Houdini from SOPs to COPs and everywhere in between. This is a production relevant exercise in mastering Houdini so that you may do whatever you want with it. Note that FX PHD only offers courses for a single semester. I would like to eventually re-release this content elsewhere, however my available spare time is limited.
Expressions
HScript Expressions
Understanding how to massage data in Houdini is key to giving yourself the creative edge and allowing you to unleash mind-blowing visual effects. In this 18 part tutorial series, we cover a variey of simple yet essential weapons in your arsenal including Global, Standard and Custom Variables to Math and String Modification functions.
Pyro Workflow
Intro to Houdini 10.0's PyroFX
One of Houdini 10's most exciting new features is Pyro FX, a tool designed for high-quality Fire and Smoke. This tutorial uses one of the PyroFX presets to get you started. You then learn how to navigate the network, cache out a low-res sim, up-res to get more detail, then use IPR and the VEX Pyro shader to complete your effect.
Image Compare
Image Viewer: Compare Images option
MPlay has an often overlooked feature called "Compare Images" which can be used to simplify the process of comparing frames during the set-up stages of your renders. A simple feature which can make your workflow a bit more convenient.
Wedge ROP
Wedge ROP
This tutorial covers a new feature in Houdini 9.5: The Wedge ROP. Wedging renders a specified render output driver multiple times, each time varying some parameters in the .hip file. This is useful for exploring how parameters will affect the final product in things such as simulations.
Normal Maps
Normal Maps
This is another tutorial that takes the form of a usable file, with commented nodes. The file contains two simple materials which make use of Normal Maps generated in Z Brush and show how they can be applied to affect the lighting in your own materials.The Houdini Exchange no longer exists.
Wireframe Renders
Wireframe Renders
This video tutorial takes a quick look at one method that can be used to create a wireframe render of any type of surface which may then be composited over the lighting passes.
Fluid Dynamics in Houdini 9.5
Introduction to Fluid Dynamics in Houdini 9.5
This crash course series focuses on the concept of fluid dynamics and how they work within Houdini. This 2 hour 48 minute long collection of 15 Fluid Dynamics Video Tutorials contains both the basics on working with Voxels, and working with Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics that should help even the neophyte get up and running.
Smoke Bomb
Smoke Bomb
When the Houdini 9.5 beta was released in June of 2008 Side Effects Software Inc. required a few new demo videos. This link is to the file that the smoke bomb animation was created with. There's some other cool nuggest of information in there to including how to create colored smoke (something that was left out of the original demo). This is a Houdini 9.5 file that has comments on all the nodes.The Houdini Exchange no longer exists.
Baking Ambient Occlusion
Baking Ambient Occlusion
Similar to the last tutorial I posted, I decided to revisit Ambient Occlusion, but this time in Houdini. One thing that I love about Houdini is the ability to write comments on each node, so I can effectively deliver a tutorial with a working file. Click the link to grab the file and a more indepth description on the process.The Houdini Exchange no longer exists.
L-System Trees
L-System Trees
During the last two weeks of my SESI internship in summer of 2006, I created the lsystems used in these example files. Lots of great info to be found in the files' notes. For those not in the know, lystems are a great way to recursively generate branching patterns.The Houdini Exchange no longer exists.
Ambient Occlusion
Ambient Occlusion in Maya 8.5
It was kind of fun being thought of as one of the "tech guys" at Sheridan. It's not my job anymore, but I was asked for help with Ambient Occlusion, and so I decided to make a pdf to help explain it. Pardon the resolution... if there's enough interest, I can certainly make a 300dpi version.
Flipbook
Preparing Classical Animation in Photoshop and Coloring in Flipbook
This was one of the tutorials I wrote while learning classical animation and covers how to treat cleaned-up classical animation in Adobe Photoshop and then color in Digicel Flipbook. Because it was one of the first tutorials I wrote, there are no images contained inside the pdf; however I tried to be both humourous and descriptive. After finding out that it's still being passed around at Sheridan, I've decided to add it here permanantly.