Installation

Natsura is a plugin for Houdini: it doesn't replace Houdini, it loads into it. There are two ways to do that, and it's worth a minute on what's happening before you pick one.

What a Houdini package is

Houdini loads third-party tools through its package system. A package is a small JSON file in Houdini's packages/ folder that points at a plugin's HDAs, scripts, and shelves, and tells Houdini to load them at startup. When Natsura is installed as a package, its nodes and panels appear every time you start that Houdini version, right alongside Houdini's own tools.

That's the standard, always-on way to run a plugin, and Natsura fully supports it: the Package Install path.

Why Natsura defaults to a separate launch

Natsura's setup script offers a second option, and it's the recommended one: instead of loading into your everyday Houdini, it creates a separate Natsura launch, a dedicated shortcut (with the version number) that starts Houdini with Natsura loaded, in its own standalone environment.

Natsura defaults to this for a few reasons:

• It keeps Natsura isolated. Your normal Houdini stays exactly as it was, with no interference to other plugins or studio pipelines. You opt into Natsura by launching it deliberately.
• Upgrading is trivial. A new version is just a new folder and a new shortcut; there's no package file to carefully edit, and nothing left behind in your main Houdini config.
• You can still go always-on. The setup script asks whether you'd also like to install the package, so you can have both: the standalone launch and automatic loading in regular Houdini.

So the choice isn't "package vs. not": it's "let the setup script handle it" (recommended) or "write the package file by hand".

The two paths

Before installing, check you have a supported Houdini build and the right licence for what you intend to do. See Requirements.

Next

Once Natsura loads, get your bearings with Interface, then grow Your First Tree.