OTOY Forums

Posted: **Mon Sep 21, 2026 3:37 am**

OctaneRender 2026.5.0.0 for Houdini Production (2026.5.0.0)

This is a production release of the OctaneRender™ 2026.5.0.0 for Houdini™ plugin compiled with the Octane 2026.5 core. This 2026.5.0.0 release is available for the latest Houdini production builds on Windows x64, Linux.

Houdini production builds supported by this release: 20.5.684, 21.0.700, 21.0.729, 22.0.368 and 22.0.429.

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 20.5, 21.0 and 22.0 gcc11.2 builds are supported.

New features
To learn more about the new features and improvements of OctaneRender 2026.5, please check out the 2026.5 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.

Downloads

Release 2026.5.0.0 Studio+ license
Windows Houdini 20.5.684
Windows Houdini 21.0.729
Windows Houdini 21.0.792
Windows Houdini 22.0.368
Windows Houdini 22.0.429

Linux Houdini 20.5.684 (gcc11.2)
Linux Houdini 21.0.729 (gcc11.2)
Linux Houdini 21.0.792 (gcc11.2)
Linux Houdini 22.0.368 (gcc11.2)
Linux Houdini 22.0.429 (gcc11.2)

Release 2026.5.0.0 macOS Prime license
MacOS Houdini 20.5.684
MacOS Houdini 21.0.729
MacOS Houdini 21.0.729
MacOS Houdini 22.0.368
MacOS Houdini 22.0.429

Release 2026.5.0.0 Demo version
Windows Houdini 20.5.684
Windows Houdini 21.0.792
Windows Houdini 22.0.368

Linux Houdini 20.5.684 (gcc11.2)
Linux Houdini 21.0.792 (gcc11.2)
Linux Houdini 22.0.429 (gcc11.2)

Release Notes
=============================================
RELEASE 2026.5.0.0
=============================================
PLUGIN FEATURES AND FIXES:

Solaris plugin is now unified with Houdini main plugin now, so each build works for both the main plugin and Solaris plugin.

Main plugin:

Fixed empty parameter groups in some VOP nodes (e.g. volume medium)
Fixed crash with H22 on Linux
Octane Render Setup - Fixed OCIO selector parms not unlocking
Fixed switching materials doesn't update IPR
Fixed Fixed IPR icons weird spacing on macos
Reduced IPR icon size a little
Fixed Direct/Indirect light AOV parms in RT
Rename some vop nodes to make them easier to find
Supported point instancefile instance attribute
OctaneMaterialBuilder now only accept supported octane vop nodes and Houdini native mtlx nodes
Fixed Universal light's Ray switch not turned off by default
Fixed Decal feature
Reduced IPR icon size a little
Proxy feature (Beta version) which supports loading geo and orbx file in object node

Example scene for Proxy feature: https://render.otoy.com/downloads/87/29/7f/94/ProxyFeatureExampleScene.zip

Solaris plugin:

Fixed velocity Motion blur

OctaneRender for Houdini tutorial

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