Why are my Houdini Flow Production Tracking integrations not starting?

This covers the most common reason we’ve seen for the Flow Production Tracking integrations not starting in Houdini. In this case, Houdini launches without error from Flow Production Tracking Desktop, your Flow Production Tracking website, or the tank command. However, once Houdini is launched, the Flow Production Tracking menu or shelf does not appear.

Often the reason for this is that the HOUDINI_PATH environment variable has been overridden, and Flow Production Tracking relies on that for passing the startup script path.

When Houdini is launched from Flow Production Tracking, the launch app logic adds the Flow Production Tracking bootstrap script path to the HOUDINI_PATH environment variable. However, the problem can arise when Houdini has a houdini.env file. This file allows the user to set environment variables that will be present when Houdini is loaded, but any values defined in the file will overwrite pre-existing environment variables in the current session.

The fix for this is to make sure you include the pre-existing HOUDINI_PATH environment variable in the new definition for that variable.

For example, if you have something like this already in your houdini.env file:

HOUDINI_PATH = /example/of/an/existing/path;&

Then you should add $HOUDINI_PATH; to the end of the path defined in the file and save it:

HOUDINI_PATH = /example/of/an/existing/path;$HOUDINI_PATH;&

This will allow the Flow Production Tracking set value to persist when Houdini launches.

Toolkit bootstrap is missing a required variable : TANK_CONTEXT

If you get this you should try using %HOUDINI_PATH% instead.

If this does not fix your problem please reach out to our support team and they will help you diagnose the issue.