What are VEX Operators?
This is the next in a series of excerpts from the Thomson Course Technology book The Magic of Houdini by Will Cunningham. In the next few months VFXWorld readers will learn the basics of the dominant tool that has been used in the creation of some of the most awe-inspiring animation and cinematic effects ever made. VEX operators (or VOPs) are the graphical building interface to the VEX language. Each VOP node contains a snippet of VEX code. You can graphically wire together nodes, which essentially creates blocks of VEX code. If you already know VEX, you’ll find VOPs a quicker way to create VEX code. However, if you don’t know VEX, that’s fine too! VOPs were designed to be useful to all levels of users. You can use VOPs to create very simple, specific shaders or you can create very complex, general shaders and anywhere in between. VOPs let you create new SOPs, so you can use them as a modeling tool. VOPs let you create new CHOPs, so you can use them as an animation tool. VOPs let you c
