# Houdini - ShotGrid - Other pipeline tools

Houdini in our ShotGrid pipeline has two other nice features that you should be aware of.

### Task templates

It's possible to create a Houdini file that will be loaded by default when an artist creates a new file in a given pipeline step. E.g. a clothing FX template gets automatically loaded in when you create your first file on a clothing FX task. Setting this up is easy, browse to your ShotGrid project on the Storage server and go to `00_pipeline -> houdini -> templates`. Here you can add .hipnc files, they should have the same name as the pipeline step for which they should be automatically loaded, like this:

[![explorer_oCXoWA6jNy.png](https://docs.vfxim.nl/uploads/images/gallery/2025-01/scaled-1680-/explorer-ocxowa6jny.png)](https://docs.vfxim.nl/uploads/images/gallery/2025-01/explorer-ocxowa6jny.png)

Pipeline step names can be found on the ShotGrid site. Be sure to replace a space with an underscore in the .hipnc file.

[![firefox_aFzN80Sel4.png](https://docs.vfxim.nl/uploads/images/gallery/2025-01/scaled-1680-/firefox-afzn80sel4.png)](https://docs.vfxim.nl/uploads/images/gallery/2025-01/firefox-afzn80sel4.png)

### Project-specific HDAs

It's nice to have some custom HDAs that are automatically loaded for the project you're working on. To add an HDA to a project, browse to your ShotGrid project on the Storage server and go to `00_pipeline -> houdini -> otls`. Here you can add your .hda files, like this:

[![explorer_cpTdKGlT0A.png](https://docs.vfxim.nl/uploads/images/gallery/2025-01/scaled-1680-/explorer-cptdkglt0a.png)](https://docs.vfxim.nl/uploads/images/gallery/2025-01/explorer-cptdkglt0a.png)

<p class="callout info">OTL (<span class="lMv7L">**Operator Type Library)**</span> is <span class="lMv7L">Houdini's technical term for its internal representation of a digital asset.</span></p>