Houdini Undo or Convert HDA HIP to neutral TXT format and back 3D model

DescriptionBack story:Sometimes in projects I encountered creating an HDA which I really didn't want in the end. I then had to re-create the HDA contents in a new subnetwork. This tool potentially fixes that. Also saving by accident a scene that had a HDA imported with a lower license meant that the scene had to be redone or reverted to an older version. This also fixes that since you can export to txt and re-import that txt back in a different instance of Houdini. (The exported txt file is 100% python.)

This tool:

• Exports selected HDAs, all HDAs or all nodes (the HIP file) to a .txt file
• Converts selected HDAs or all HDAs to subnetworks
• Imports txt files to your scene to a .txt file with an option to automatically re-create the HDA again on import

The import-> convert to HDA is tied to your Houdini license, so if you're in a limited/non-commerical instance of Houdini in which you're importing, it'll create either a hdanc or hdalc.

Content :1 HDA that can be installed in any Houdini scene. Tested on Houdini 19.5 on both Windows and Linux.

Workflow:

• Install/create HDA_ConvertHDA in your scene
• Set mode and parameters
• Make selection if applicable, select (with shift) the convert HDA as the last one so you see the parameter interface again
• Press 'Go'

Parameters - Export:

• ExportSelected(HDAs only) - Exports the HDAs from your selection to txt (except HDA_ConvertHDA)
• ExportHDAsInScene - Exports all HDAs in your scene to txt (except HDA_ConvertHDA)
• ExportEntireScene - Exports all nodes in your scene to txt (except HDA_ConvertHDA)
• folderExportTxt - the folder where the txt files are written to. The filename of the txt file is either based on the source HDA, parent geometry and/or scene name, depending on which node you're in.

Parameters - Convert (to subnet):(for HDAs with more then 4 inputs, use export/import txt or redesign it so it only uses 4) Basically an undo for HDAs, it converts it to subnetworks .

• ConvertSelectedHDAs - Converts the HDAs from your selection to subnetworks
• ConvertHDAsInScene - Converts the HDAs in your scene to subnetworks
• ConvertHDAsInFolder - Converts all HDAs in this folder to subnetworks
• (Toggle) KeepHDA - keeps the hda and creates a subnetwork next to it

Parameters - Import

• ImportOneTXT - imports the txt file from the parameter 'FileToDo'
• ImportTXTsInFolder - imports the txt files from the parameter 'FolderToDo'

Known bugs/issues

• Limited support for HDAs outside of SOPS, this is work in progress
• Still testing out HDAs to make sure they convert OK