OctaneRender 2026.1.Alpha 3 for Houdini Alpha (2026.1.Alpha_3.0)

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bruce.chai
OctaneRender Team
Posts: 65
Joined: Thu Oct 19, 2023 8:26 pm

This is a alpha release of the OctaneRender™ 2026.1.Alpha_3.0 for Houdini™ plugin compiled with the Octane 2026.1.Alpha 3 core. This 2026.1.Alpha_3.0 release is available for the latest Houdini production builds on Windows x64, Linux.

Houdini production builds supported by this release: 20.0.896, 20.5.584, 20.5.613, 20.5.654.

If you are not sure if your Houdini version is compatible with the plugin - just run it and you will see an error message in case of incompatibility.

Linux Note
On Linux only default Houdini builds are supported.
This means that for Houdini 20.0 and 20.5, gcc11.2 builds are supported.

New features
To learn more about the new features and improvements of OctaneRender 2026.1.Alpha 3, please check out the 2026.1.Alpha 3 release post

Known bugs
On Linux, MPlay IPR may not be working. If you are having problems with it, please switch to QT5 IPR and disable "Render to MPlay" in ROP nodes.
Multiple issues with rendering sop volumes to be fixed later.

Downloads

Release 2026.1.Alpha_3.0 Studio+ license
Windows Houdini 20.0.896 - https://render.otoy.com/customerdownloads/plugins/4d/c0/0e/58/Octane_2026.1.Alpha_3.0_Houdini_20.0.896_Studio%2B_Win64.zip
Windows Houdini 20.5.584 - https://render.otoy.com/customerdownloads/plugins/6e/23/24/4e/Octane_2026.1.Alpha_3.0_Houdini_20.5.584_Studio%2B_Win64.zip
Windows Houdini 20.5.613 - https://render.otoy.com/customerdownloads/plugins/6a/9b/e7/b1/Octane_2026.1.Alpha_3.0_Houdini_20.5.613_Studio%2B_Win64.zip
Windows Houdini 20.5.654 - https://render.otoy.com/customerdownloads/plugins/b5/95/4f/a6/Octane_2026.1.Alpha_3.0_Houdini_20.5.654_Studio%2B_Win64.zip

Linux Houdini 20.0.896 (gcc11.2) - https://render.otoy.com/customerdownloads/plugins/65/2e/98/d3/Octane_2026.1.Alpha_3.0_Houdini_20.0.896_Studio%2B_Linux.zip
Linux Houdini 20.5.584 (gcc11.2) - https://render.otoy.com/customerdownloads/plugins/10/23/2a/60/Octane_2026.1.Alpha_3.0_Houdini_20.5.584_Studio%2B_Linux.zip
Linux Houdini 20.5.613 (gcc11.2) - https://render.otoy.com/customerdownloads/plugins/00/b5/5f/b9/Octane_2026.1.Alpha_3.0_Houdini_20.5.613_Studio%2B_Linux.zip
Linux Houdini 20.5.654 (gcc11.2) - https://render.otoy.com/customerdownloads/plugins/20/ac/fe/90/Octane_2026.1.Alpha_3.0_Houdini_20.5.654_Studio%2B_Linux.zip

Release Notes
=============================================
RELEASE 2026.1.Alpha_3.0
=============================================
PLUGIN FEATURES AND FIXES:
  • Support the Houdini materialX nodes which has a coresponding Octane materialX node
  • Support Gaussian Slpat rendering
  • Support Meshlet
  • Support Trace sets
  • New vop level quick material hda
  • Fixed Octane light not showing the divisions for circle/disk
Octane for Houdini - Object Parameters Deep Dive
The video covers the updated object parms, trace sets, meshlets, and gaussian splats (and more)

Note
From 2025.1.Beta_1.0, Octane plugin for Houdini uses Houdini package file. Each build ships a script (createPackageFileForOctane.bat for Windows, createPackageFileForOctane.sh for Linux and Mac) to help create the Octane.json file as below under C:\Users\<username>\Documents\houdiniXX.Y\packages on windows, ~/Library/Preferences/houdini/XX.Y/packages on Mac, or ~/houdiniXX.Y/packages on Linux.

Code: Select all

{
    "enable": true,
    "env": [
        {
            "OCTANE_AUTOSPAREPARAMS": {
                "value": 1
            }
        },
        {
            "OCTVERSION": "<path_to_plugin_directory>"
        },
        {
            "HOUDINI_PATH": {
                "value": "$OCTVERSION"
            },
            "HOUDINI_MENU_PATH": {
                "value": "$OCTVERSION/config/Menus"
            },
            "HOUDINI_SCRIPT_PATH": {
                "value": "$OCTVERSION/scripts"
            },
            "PATH": {
                "value": "$OCTVERSION/bin"
            },
            "PXR_PLUGINPATH_NAME": {
                "value": "$OCTVERSION/dso/usd_plugins"
            }
        }
    ]
}
Important Note
2024.1.0.2 fixed the problem that the layered material nodes cannot be loaded properly, however this fix affects all layered material nodes and OSL material nodes in existing saved .hip files. When loading a .hip file for the first time using this build, it's necessary to adjust the connections of these nodes. Once the file is saved with the updated connections, the issue will be resolved.


Common Issues and Solutions
- If the plugin doesn't work at all, set HOUDINI_DSO_ERROR = 2 in houdini.env and check for messages in the terminal.
- If you're missing libglut.so.3, install the freeglut package.
- If you are having any issues with the Deadline - please submit a support ticket to the AWS.

Happy rendering,
Your OTOY Team
lavrenovlad
Licensed Customer
Posts: 127
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:11 pm

Excited for 2026!
Can you guys fix the bug with multiple ROPs? I've have reported it 5 times over the years and this shit is still here. First IPR launch through the ROPs dropdown in the IPR causes an error.
HandcraftedMedia
Licensed Customer
Posts: 72
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:15 am

lavrenovlad wrote: Fri Jul 18, 2025 10:34 pm Excited for 2026!
Can you guys fix the bug with multiple ROPs? I've have reported it 5 times over the years and this shit is still here. First IPR launch through the ROPs dropdown in the IPR causes an error.
Heyo!
Sorry this is the first time I've heard about this!
Could you explain the issue a bit more or record a video? Testing in this 2026 build and I'm not getting a crash when using the ROPs dropdown.
lavrenovlad
Licensed Customer
Posts: 127
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:11 pm

HandcraftedMedia wrote: Sat Jul 19, 2025 2:52 am
lavrenovlad wrote: Fri Jul 18, 2025 10:34 pm Excited for 2026!
Can you guys fix the bug with multiple ROPs? I've have reported it 5 times over the years and this shit is still here. First IPR launch through the ROPs dropdown in the IPR causes an error.
Heyo!
Sorry this is the first time I've heard about this!
Could you explain the issue a bit more or record a video? Testing in this 2026 build and I'm not getting a crash when using the ROPs dropdown.
Can you try to open the project file in Houdini, then open the IPR (don't launch the rendering yet), if you have multiple ROPs, go to the IPR dropdown with ROPs and choose a random one and click on it, it should give an error.
lavrenovlad
Licensed Customer
Posts: 127
Joined: Fri Mar 29, 2019 7:11 pm

I have another crash bug to report:

The constant crash that I've just found, is somehow related to the lights, I am rendering to disk and after the first frame is rendered houdini crashes, you can check this hipfile I've made to reproduce the crash:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jwa8gk6yaqtqakuruyzy0/octane_lights_crash.hiplc?rlkey=pnf31eam2qpqo6130z33mih2y&dl=0
The workaround I've found so far is to render in "full reload" mode, but if I try to stop the rendering to disk I get the crash as well.
Stopping the rendering to disk and crashing has been a long time problem, but it seems to be better or worse depending on the plugin version or some other factors.
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