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An Evening with Brad Peebler and MODO – June 2nd!

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801Brad3DPDX, VFX/PDX, and PAMUG are very proud to shout from the rooftops that Brad Peebler is coming!  The enthusiastic co-founder of Luxology and guru-level 3D software industry pioneer will be passing through Portland June 2nd to present the Foundry’s new release of MODO 801.

Guaranteed not to be your typical posterior-numbing 3D software demo, Brad brings his deep knowledge of MODO and humor to PDX, for what will be an informative and entertaining show & tell.

Expect a great high-level overview of MODO’s toolset, from modeling to character animation and simulation to render, along with a steady dose of MODO 801’s new features.

For more information about MODO 801 check out these links:
http://community.thefoundry.co.uk/
http://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/modo/

This is a FREE event but please be warned that seating is limited.  Reserve your ticket now via this link:
http://bradpeebler.eventbrite.com

Monday, June 2nd, 6:00-8:30pm
Newspace Center for Photography
1632 SE 10th Ave, Portland, OR 97214

Food and drink provided.  Special thanks to The Foundry, 3DV and 52 Ltd for sponsorship and support.

We welcome one of the industry heavyweights to Portland for a night of knowledge sharing and new tools, as we continue to grow the local CG industry and keep up with the latest & greatest.  Looking forward to seeing you!

Thanks to David Jahns, Nuke (Foundry) and Mocha (Imagineer)!

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Mary Poplin and David Jahns

Mary Poplin and David Jahns

Over but not forgotten, I just wanted to take a quick second to thank our presenters from the April 17 meeting.  A great meeting and well deserving of a recap.

David Jahns gave us an insight into a typical day and project at Joint Editorial, which I still consider one of Portland’s best kept secrets.  As the Smoke Operator, he’s depended on heavily to bring VFXto the VFXless, and Smoke has a solid commercial toolset refined well over decade now.  For many of us, it was a rare look at a Flame/Smoke style workflow, as you don’t often see these high end tools being taught in schools or in use by “Joe Videos.”  For me, a former Flame artist, it was nice to get a check in and see that development has continued and that Autodesk has successfully ported the tools over to the Mac environment.  My favorite part was the time lapse of a day in which David recorded and did the finishing on an entire spot, and completed several challenging shots right before our eyes over the course of about 10 minutes.  Not often does someone volunteer the goods on that level and I think it speaks volumes to the community we’re building here in Portland.  Be sure to check out his follow up post about NAB (which we into a bit at the meeting and then David proceeded to drop the full monte on us – read the post!).  Big thanks to David for a great presentation and helping to define the spirit of VFX/PDX.

Deke Kincaid

Deke Kincaid

Deke Kincaid from the Foundry gave us the update on all things Nuke 8, specifically showing off the updated color tools and UI, camera tracking and environment tools, and then a special treat – a sneak peek at the forthcoming Nuke Studio product.  I and everyone in attendance was (of course) sworn to secrecy but it was very exciting to see.  And pairing it with David’s Smoke presentation made for interesting comparisons afterwards.

Another thank you to Mary Poplin with her tornado of a Mocha demo.  She too was fresh off of NAB and her demo was well honed, razor sharp.  Most of us are familiar with Mocha from the included versions that ship with After Effects and Silhouette, so it was valuable to get a look at the true power that you unlock when using Mocha Pro.  Mary had some great real-world examples and I can’t wait to get a copy in at my studio to start throwing shots at it.  One of those situations where we all kind of knew that stuff was in there but seeing it in action is believing.

crowd2A great meeting and we’re looking forward to more of the same this summer.  We have a joint effort with 3DPDX and the Foundry to bring Brad Peebler (Modo) in on Monday, June 2nd – save the date!  And there’s another major meeting shaping up for the end of summer that will be a big one, probably closer to end of August or into September.  Hope to announce that soon – until next time!

VFX/PDX Professional Workshops

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On a rainy Saturday Portland early spring morning, a dozen local visual effects artists – all senior level at their respective shops around town – crowded into a small makeshift classroom for the first VFX/PDX professional workshop.

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This first invite-only “beta” class was a double bill of workshops for Compositing, as by some cosmic alignment of the planets we were lucky enough to get two professional level visiting instructors up from LA on the same day.  And did they have plenty to show!

The morning class – or “Mochas with Mocha” as I dubbed it – took us into new territory using the latest features in Imagineer’s Mocha Pro and it’s amazing tracker, taught by the official demo artist for Imagineer – Mary Poplin.  A juicy Nuke class followed in the afternoon slot showing some key features of Nuke 8, taught by Foundry Creative Specialist Deke Kincaid.

Lots of good buzz from the attendees – Skylr Chamberlain, our local resident matchmoving expert and TD, had this to say – “The Mocha class was really eye opening.  Now that I know it’s extended capabilities, I’ll be using it for 2D tracking and paint shots I wouldn’t have touched before.  Super quick.”  And he was equally gushing over the Nuke class.  “Wow, Nuke 8 integrated feature matching algorithms into their camera tracker.  Opens up a whole new way to survey a set solely with still photos and pop it right into Nuke, even doing rudimentary modeling there and instantly using it for projections.”  I especially liked how Skylr ended his survey – “I can’t wait for the next one!”

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Artists from Laika, HiveFX, W+K, etc watch the show and work alongside the demo.

With that said, I am very excited to announce these beta classes were a success and we are looking to continue to build the workshop program.  These fill a void in Portland for live, in-the-flesh continuing education at the professional level.  And the workshop format can work better for most of us compared to long form classes at a community college on up to the fantastic online continuing education contant being offered through FXPHD.  Coupla hours on a Saturday in exchange for all the info we can immediately apply to our day to day work when we walk through the office door on the Monday?  Gold.

In our industry especially, we all want need to be kept current on new techniques and technology immediately as it’s released.  What we do is difficult.  Each new release of software brings ways to make our lives easier, but what you don’t know can’t help you!

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Deke Kincaid of the Foundry shows off some high level Nuking.

So get on the bus!  Below you will find email signup links for all of the targeted apps.  The premise is simple – as each software releases a new version, we’ll run a workshop taught by a local industry professional or high level visiting instructor who was on the beta team and has been working with the software already for months.  They’ll know the ins and outs of all the new buttons and features, and the reasoning behind their creation.  They’ll bundle it all up into a tightly packaged demo that will be hands on.  As an attendee, you will have a workstation with the new software in front of you and have the option of working along if you like.

Several venues are being considered and the workshops will always be run essentially non-profit, with any admission $ going completely to the instructor for his/her time, and possibly a small amount to the venue for the weekend access + IT support.  We will try to partner with software companies where possible to subsidize these, and offer discounts on the software or upgrade.  I expect the typical workshop to cost less than $50 per person, and that price goes down as attendees go up.

Sign up now.  Let’s do this!  Take a second to click through below and sign up for the workshop notification list(s) you’re interested in, and watch for more info as this program gains momentum and moves forward.

Photoshop          Nuke               After Effects         Maya

Modo                  3DSMax           Houdini                  C4D

ZBrush                Mari                  Mudbox                  Syntheyes

Avid                     FCPX                Premiere Pro         Silhouette

Mocha                 Katana              Resolve                  Fusion

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