Labs Lightning Generator
This tool will create lightning arcs around objects. Each arc contains a random grayscale value in its vertex colors, which is used in conjunction with a timer to trigger arcs from being visible or not at any given time. This method provides a very cheap way of animating the arcs from connecting between start and end points.
The tool itself should work with a variety of objects you provide as input, which automatically form start and end-points for the arcs as connection points. The way these points connect can easily be tweaked using the tools parameters.
———
For more information on SideFX Labs and how to get the tool visit: https://www.sidefx.com/products/sidefx-labs/
HIP File: https://github.com/sideeffects/SideFXLabsExamples/tree/main/artstation/lightning_generator/lighting_generator.hip
Unity example - Lightning effect on a sci-fi Core. This is from the sci-fi tutorial serie https://www.sidefx.com/tutorials/sci-fi-core/
Unreal Engine example - Lightning between 2 spheres.
This example shows how quick and easy it is to generate a lightning effect in Houdini using the tool.
Material setup for the effect. Each lightning arc has a random grayscale value and in a material you can loop over each one based on the vertex color.
Unity example - Lightning effect on a sci-fi Core. This is from the sci-fi tutorial serie https://www.sidefx.com/tutorials/sci-fi-core/
Unreal Engine example - Lightning between 2 spheres.