Recently something interesting happened in the VFX learning world.
An online training platform called The VFX School has announced that it is shutting down. But instead of simply disappearing, they decided to release their entire course library for free.
No signup.
No payment.
No account required.
All the videos are currently available to stream on Vimeo, and all the class files can be downloaded directly.
But here is the part that caught my attention as a compositor.
These courses include EXR render sequences from Houdini simulations.
And that means something very interesting for compositors.
Because finding good practice elements is actually harder than it sounds.
If you are learning compositing in software like Nuke, you often end up downloading random stock elements from the internet.
Fire elements.
Smoke elements.
Debris clips.
But those are usually flattened footage.
What we rarely get is actual production style render passes.
Multi layer EXR files.
Separate lighting passes.
Depth passes.
Simulation renders.
That is exactly what these courses include.
Most of the training focuses on Houdini FX work, so you will see simulations like:
Bridge collapses
Fire and explosions
Fluid simulations
Food and liquid effects
Destruction shots
But for a compositor, these renders can become practice shots.
You can take the EXR sequences and practice things like:
Integrating FX into a plate
Rebuilding the render using passes
Depth based atmospherics
Glow and lighting interaction
FX integration workflows
It is basically like getting mini VFX shots to practice on.
And honestly, this kind of material is rarely shared publicly.
The platform itself was a small independent Houdini training school that built several courses over the years.
One of their main programs was called the Houdini Renascence Program, which focused on teaching destruction, pyro, fluids, and other simulation workflows.
Now that the platform is closing, they have released seven full courses publicly.
Each course includes project files and assets that range from a few gigabytes to nearly 28 gigabytes.
That means there is actually a lot of material inside these downloads.
From a compositor perspective, this is a good opportunity to collect FX renders that can be used for practice or look development experiments.
The only catch is the timeline.
According to the site, the videos will remain accessible until March 1, 2027. After that, the Vimeo access may disappear.
So if you want the files, it is probably a good idea to download them while they are still available.
I will leave the link in the description.
And if you are a compositor looking for new material to practice FX compositing, this might be worth checking out.
Because free multi pass Houdini renders are not something we get very often.
