Drone show software for Houdini
Dronatello tools turn Houdini into a complete drone show pipeline: build figures, animate transitions, simulate collision-free flight, generate takeoff and landing, and check every trajectory against your fleet limits.
Show previews in the browser
Share the show before it flies. The tools upload figures and the full show straight from Houdini and give you a link that clients open in any modern browser, with nothing to install.
Site Configuration Tool
Set the launch area, drone grid, flight zone and altitude limits on a map, and export the config the Houdini tools read.
Presentation
An interactive 3D view of the show figures for client review. Open the demo.
3D Show Preview
The full show from takeoff to landing over the flight area, with timeline playback. Open the demo.
Houdini tools for drone show design
A set of Houdini digital assets for drone formation design and animation, available by subscription for artists and teams. Every step from the first figure to a flight-ready, validated animation stays in one Houdini scene.
Project Manager
Creates a ready Houdini scene for a new show: figures, show timeline, simulation, takeoff and landing, checks and previews already wired together.
Smart Scatter
Builds a figure from a text or a picture with an exact number of drones. Corners and joints always get a drone, so the shape stays readable.
Simple Colors
Colors drones procedurally through a ramp — along a line, around a point or from an attribute — with repeats and noise.
Morf Tool
Animates transitions between figures with timing, easing and spatial falloff, so a change can sweep across the formation.
Animation Sim
Simulates the show with collision avoidance: drones keep the minimum distance and stay within the speed and acceleration limits of your fleet.
Takeoff & Landing
Computes the takeoff from the ground grid and the landing back to it, with a queued launch, speed limits and collision avoidance.
Checker
Validates the animation for distance between drones, speed, vertical speed and acceleration, and reports every violation.
Pyro Event Manager
Puts pyro events on drones — channel, ignition frame, burn time and flame length — and carries them with the animation into the show preview.
…and many more.
Proven by our drone show animation studio
Dronatello is also a drone show animation studio, and we design our own productions with these tools — the studio's work is the proof that they fly. If you need a show rather than a toolset, we design and animate it for you within your drone count, spacing, speed and site constraints.
Art Direction
Concept and visual narrative — from first sketch to final scene structure.
CG Animation
3D animation designed for audience perception — readable and impactful from any viewing angle.
Technical Optimization
Speed, spacing, acceleration — every parameter validated against your fleet specs and site constraints, including flight zone dimensions and altitude limits.
Delivery
Flight-ready files in whatever format your drone control software requires.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Dronatello?
Dronatello is drone show software for Houdini: a set of Houdini digital assets and panels that covers drone show design from the first figure to a flight-ready, validated animation. It is made by the Dronatello drone show animation studio.
How do I get access to the tools?
The tools are available by subscription. Send a request through the contact form below and we'll get back to you with access and a license key. You activate the license in the Project Manager panel in Houdini with your email and key.
Can our whole team use the tools?
Yes. The tools are designed for collaborative use, and with a subscription your team gets updates and new features as we keep improving them.
Which operating systems are supported?
Windows, Linux and macOS. The tools come with an install script for each that sets up the tools and their Houdini package for you.
How do the tools make sure the show can actually fly?
The simulation keeps a minimum distance between drones and stays within the speed and acceleration limits you set for your fleet, takeoff and landing are computed with the same limits, and the Checker reports every frame where distance, speed, vertical speed or acceleration is out of bounds.
How do I learn the tools?
Every tool has a documentation page with its parameters and usage, and the Help button on each node in Houdini opens that page. Video tutorials are on our YouTube channel.
Can you make a drone show animation for us instead?
Yes. Our studio creates custom drone show animation and also has a library of ready-made figures. Design and animation, including revision rounds, typically take 10 business days from brief to final delivery, in the format your drone control software requires.
How do we start?
Fill out the contact form below — tell us whether you are interested in the tools or a custom animation — and we'll get back to you shortly.