AU - Update Day 1

Well the day has just ended for me and now trying to wind down. This afternoon I had hoped to attend this event, but had my curiosity peaked by a Max 7 session, though I did manage to run through to say hello to Shaan along the way to.

The Max presentation did not have very much description on what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised by the presentation from Rich and Mike Burmann from Paul Steelman. To start this off they simply started playing an animation with music that was top notch and got everyones attention from the get go. Rich shared his background and his role in creating and helping to grow the 3D visualization department for this company.

In addition to sharing some background on the type of work they do and the tight turnaround time (1.5 weeks) for some of the best animation work I have seen coming from the Architectural Industry but also shared much more about the inner workings and what it takes for them to get this accomplished with everyone involved in the process. Along the way Rich and Mike shared some highly useful tips for keeping their renderings time down to meet these deadlines and shared several tips from their running checklist that everyone on their design team uses. There was quite a few items that I have not heard of before that I hope to share with you as I implement these into my own rendering pipeline.

After this session it was off to take the ADT Certification Exam. This was not too difficult, but I ran into 4 questions that were incorrect according to the question and had to prove this to the gentleman overseeing the exam and they then agreed. One thing to keep in mind for those who may be considering taking this read the questions carefully as the semantics can be tricky in a few areas. All in all it was a good exam focusing in multiple areas. If anyone would like I would be happy to post more about this just let me know.

After finishing and passing this it was off to the Avatech/Vizdepot Autodesk University Rendering Challenge. Upon arriving there were people lined up and rendering away. It was refreshing to see and chat with so many new faces from all over the world; Japan, South Africa, just to name a few. Todays winners will be announced and their work will be displayed on the Plasma screen at the Avatech booth (#800).

now off to get some sleep before tomorrow's classes...