houdini-light-rig

name	houdini-light-rig
description	Authoring skill — pre-configured lighting templates: three-point rigs, HDRI worlds, area softboxes, rig-level intensity controls, and view transform management. Builds on top of houdini-camera-light (individual light create/update) to provide higher-level lighting automation. Pair with houdini-camera-light for individual light control and houdini-render for render output.
license	MIT
compatibility	dcc-mcp-houdini 0.4+, Houdini 20.5+, dcc-mcp-core 0.19.45+
allowed-tools	Bash Read Write Edit
metadata	{"dcc-mcp":{"dcc":"houdini","layer":"domain","stage":"authoring","version":"1.0.0","tags":["houdini","light-rig","three-point","hdri","area-light","softbox","lighting","lookdev","ocio","view-transform","authoring"],"search-hint":"three point light rig, key fill rim, HDRI dome world, area softbox, lighting template, studio setup, environment light, aim light, group lights, lighting summary, render view transform, OCIO color transform","tools":"tools.yaml"}}

houdini-light-rig

Typed light-rig authoring tools for agents. All tools are affinity: main. Complements houdini-camera-light (individual light create/update) with higher-level lighting automation: three-point rigs, HDRI worlds, area softboxes, rig grouping, and intensity controls.

Tool groups

• light-rig-create: create_three_point_light_rig, create_hdri_world, create_area_softbox.
• light-rig-edit: aim_light_at_object, set_light_rig_intensity, group_lights, set_render_view_transform.
• light-rig-query (read-only): get_lighting_summary, list_light_rigs.

Rig conventions

• A light rig is a null node at /obj level whose children are hlight::2.0 nodes. The null name ends with _rig by convention.
• list_light_rigs scans for nulls matching this pattern; set_light_rig_intensity and group_lights operate on these rig groups.
• Three-point rigs create a null named <name> with _key, _fill, _rim lights parented underneath.

Context limitations

• Karma / Solaris: This skill operates at /obj level with hlight::2.0 nodes. For USD/Solaris lighting use houdini-lookdev and the LOP context.
• HDRI: create_hdri_world creates an environment light with a texture map (envmap parm). Ensure the HDRI file path is accessible to the Houdini session.
• View transform: set_render_view_transform configures OCIO-based color transforms. Requires a valid OCIO configuration in the Houdini environment.
• Aim: aim_light_at_object uses Houdini's built-in lookatpath parameter — only effective for light types that support look-at (point, spot, area, distant).

Tracer-bullet flow

1. houdini_camera_light__create_light(light_type="distant", name="key_light")
2. create_three_point_light_rig(name="studio_rig", key_intensity=1.2)
3. aim_light_at_object(light_path="/obj/studio_rig/studio_rig_key", target_path="/obj/geo1")
4. create_hdri_world(hdri_path="/path/to/studio.hdr", intensity=0.8)
5. get_lighting_summary() → review all lights
6. set_render_view_transform(view_transform="ACES 1.0 SDR-video")
7. set_light_rig_intensity(rig_group="/obj/studio_rig", intensity=1.5, multiply=true)
8. Hand off to houdini-render for viewport capture / ROP render