AI powered character animation web service powered by Houdini | Hristo Velev | FMX HIVE 2025
36Hristo Velev, founder at Cairos.ai and Bottleship, will walk you through the tech stack of the Houdini powered character animation service cairos.ai. How to build a backend for Houdini as a web server. Interfacing complex parametric models by natural language using large language models. Processing motion capture into a database friendly way. Autorigging. Sequencing animations and delivering products. Bonus - virtual production without green screens and light stages, powered by Solaris and Touch Designer.
Hristo Velev started as a visual effects artist specialized in simulation work and procedurals, and grew into is a founder and executive at Bottleship on projects in the visual effects, software development and virtual production fields. His latest focus is the AI character animation platform Cairos.ai and the Claros virtual production technology.
00:00 Meet Hristo and the Setup
03:34 Creative Workflow Overview
07:10 Assets and Data Organization
10:47 Lighting and Lookdev Focus
14:21 Render Optimization Strategies
17:55 Pipeline Flexibility in Action
21:30 Collaboration and Reviews
25:03 Challenges and Solutions
28:37 Final Project Insights
32:10 Closing Remarks