✦ AI assistant for Houdini

Describe it. Watch Houdini create it.

Magician AI Assist lets AI build node networks directly inside your Houdini scene. Use the AI you already pay for. Buy once, no subscription.

Get it for US$9 See what it does

For Houdini 20.5, 21 and 22 on Windows · Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or a free local model

Houdini · Magician AI Assist
Houdini with a procedural rock the AI just built, the Magician AI Assist panel listing every step, and the rock's controls and node network
Connect it your way

No new AI bill. Unless you want one.

Most AI tools lock you into one provider and a monthly fee. Magician AI Assist works with the AI you already have.

Most popular

Your AI subscription

$0 extra

Chat in the AI app you already use, and it works directly in your live Houdini scene. Usage counts against your normal plan. No API keys, no per-token bills.

Claude DesktopChatGPT / CodexGoogle Antigravity

An API key

Pay as you go

Chat right inside the Houdini panel and pay the provider per use. The model list loads live from your account.

Claude APIOpenAI APIGemini APIDeepSeekAny OpenAI-compatible server

A local model

Free

Run a model on your own GPU with Ollama. Private, with nothing leaving your computer. Best for Chat mode: bigger cloud models are much stronger at building.

Ollamae.g. Qwen 3 14B
What it does

Ask about your scene. Or have it built.

It reads your actual scene: the nodes, parameters, errors and geometry. Not a generic chatbot guessing at Houdini.

Chat · read-only

Understand and fix

Explains what's going on without touching anything.

  • Explains nodes and whole networks
  • Traces errors to their root cause
  • Writes VEX, Python and HScript, and says where each piece goes
Chat mode explaining a selected rock network and which parameter controls jaggedness
Create · agent

Describe it, get the network

Plans, builds, cooks and checks its own work before reporting back.

  • Creates nodes, wires them and sets parameters
  • Reads the errors and repairs them
  • Builds HDAs, APEX setups and USD / LOP scenes
The panel's live log of an AI app creating nodes, setting parameters, cooking and verifying a rock generator
Build a procedural rock generator: noise-displaced sphere, remesh, with size and roughness controls on a null.
Make a small pyro sim of a burning torus, low res, and set up the display so I can press play.
Turn the selected network into an HDA and promote the count, seed and scale.
Built for real scenes

Careful with your work.

Backup before it builds

Saves a backup .hip before Create mode starts. It never saves over your file.

Undo anything

Every action is its own undo step, and one click reverts the whole creation.

Checks its own work

When it says it's done, it re-cooks everything it made and fixes any errors it finds.

Four languages

English, 简体中文, 한국어 and 日本語. The AI replies in your language too.

Private by design

No account and no tracking. The AI app bridge only listens on your own PC.

Nothing to pip-install

Uses only Houdini's own Python. One installer finds every Houdini version you have.

Getting started

Working in about ten minutes.

Buy

Pay with PayPal or card. No account to create. Your order page opens straight away.

Install

Download, unzip and run the installer. Then open the panel from Houdini's pane menu.

Activate

Copy the Machine ID from the panel, paste it on your order page, and paste back your key. Once, forever.

Create

Click Set up next to your AI app, or add an API key. Then start describing.

Launch price

One coffee. Yours to keep.

US$9

One-time payment. No subscription, ever.

Secure checkout by PayPal. Pay with your PayPal account or a card. Sold by Tan Zi Jian.

What you get

  • A lifetime license for one computer
  • Every 1.x update, free
  • Chat and Create modes, AI app bridge, all providers
  • English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese interface
  • Email support from the maker
  • 14-day refund if it doesn't work on your setup and we can't fix it together

Changing computers? Just email with your order reference and your license gets moved.

Requirements

What you'll need

Houdini 20.5, 21 or 22On Windows. Any license level where Python panels work.
One AI to talk toA Claude, ChatGPT or Google plan, an API key, or Ollama running a local model.
Internet, onceTo activate on your order page. After that, the license never checks in.
FAQ

Before you buy

Do I need an API key?

No. If you have Claude, ChatGPT or a Google account, click Set up next to that app in the panel and chat there. It uses your normal plan's allowance. API keys and local models are there if you prefer them.

Which AI is best for building?

Claude and the stronger OpenAI models are the most reliable in Create mode. Smaller and local models work well for Chat mode, but tend to guess parameter names or stop before a network is finished.

Is my scene sent anywhere?

Only to the AI you choose, and only when you ask it something. Magician AI Assist has no account, no analytics, and never contacts our servers unless you choose to send a bug report. With a local model, nothing leaves your computer at all.

Can it mess up my scene?

Create mode saves a backup .hip first, every action can be undone with Ctrl+Z, and "Revert last creation" removes everything it built and restores what it changed. It's told never to modify your own nodes unless you ask. Python edits it runs can't always be reverted automatically, which is what the backup is for.

How does the license work?

One purchase activates one computer. The panel shows a Machine ID; paste it on your order page and you get a license key that works offline, permanently. There's no online check after that.

I got a new computer. Now what?

Email support@magicianaiassist.com with your order reference and your new Machine ID, and your license gets moved. Need it on two computers? Ask the same way.

Does it work on Mac or Linux?

Not yet. It's built and tested on Windows.

What's the refund policy?

If it doesn't work on your setup within 14 days and we can't fix it together, you get a full refund. Refunds aren't given for a change of mind once a license key has been generated. Full terms.

I lost my order email.

Enter your purchase email on the support page and your order link is sent again.

Is this made by SideFX?

No. Magician AI Assist is an independent tool made by Tan Zi Jian. Houdini is a trademark of SideFX, which isn't affiliated with this product.

TZJ

Magician AI Assist is made by Tan Zi Jian, a VFX and 3D artist in Singapore who built it for his own Houdini work.

A lot of testing and tuning went into getting AI to build networks that actually cook, so you can skip straight to creating.

— Zi Jian