Chicago AAUGA Meeting is Wed June 18th

[Jennifer]

Our next meeting will be Wednesday June 18th, at the offices of LNA Systems in Arlington Heights, IL.

 

LNA's web site is at www.lnainc.com, and directions to their office can be found on their site.

 

May Meeting Recap

 

Our last meeting was Thursday May 8th at the Hagerman offices in downtown Chicago. Thank you to Hagerman for supporting the group, and to Autodesk for the pizza and SWAG!

 

We had a presentation by Chris from Pulse Studios on Green Screen techniques which was quite interesting. Chris covered a number of topics, including color correction and the keying of masks for compositing animated green-screen video.

 

We also had the premiere of Tom and Chris's new Pulse Studios marketing video, demonstrating a typical single-family subdivision series of animations. That should be at www.pulsestudios.com soon.

 

Kirk Nash, owner of CDI-Animate, gave a demonstration of a number of cool projects he and his company have been involved with. CDI-Animate is a Max and Maya facility. Check out www.cdi-animate.com for some of their images and animations!

 

Todd Mesewicz from Westwood College demonstrated some of his images from personal development projects.

 

Thanks to all that participated and shared their work! You can share your's too, even work-in-progress, no matter what your level, by bringing things to the meeting to discuss and by posting your images at www.max3ds.com.

 

June Meeting

 

Our next meeting will be June 18th, a Wednesday, at the offices of LNA Systems in Arlington Heights, kindly hosted by Lyn and Barbara Nordstad, owners of LNA Inc.

 

See www.lnainc.com for information on their company, and for location information.

 

As usual, doors open around 5:30 for socializing, delicious pizza will be served no later than 6pm, User Image/Animation Demos will begin at that time, and the meeting proper will begin at 6:30. Meeting ends promptly at 9pm.

 

This promises to be one of our biggest meetings yet, so be sure to RSVP to jenni at max3ds.com and come to the event!

 

SWAG

 

As always, we'll have an update just prior to the meeting with a list of the SWAG that Autodesk is providing for our members.

 

Agenda

 

Show and Tell

 

Around 6pm we will start out with our usual 'show and tell' with user images and animations. Please feel free to bring completed works, and work-in-progress, to share with the group. If you have a problem you need help with, we will open the floor to discussion and help you find a solution.

 

Effects

 

Tom and Chris from Pulse Studios will have another demonstration covering their recent Eurovision animation with David Cushing, and a demonstration on making flags wave.

 

Max 2009 and mental ray

 

We will be going through the new features found in Max 2009, including features in the mental ray renderer. Specific topics will be:

• View Cube and Steering Wheel: Helpful tools, or visual impairment?

• New Lighting Analysis Assistant and LA Tools

• New Photometric Lights

• New ProMaterials

• New mr Utility Materials

• New Spline Mapping

• Reworked Composite Map

• New Color Correction Map

• Better access to mr Production Shaders.

• New Render Frame Window enhancements.

• Exciting and New mr Proxy Objects

• And many more things!

 

Modifier of the Month

 

We are going to try and cover a new Modifier every month, time permitted. This month, the very useful Point Cache!

Watch the www.max3ds.com web site for recorded tutorials from the Modifier of the Month 'MOM' series, and more!

 

Member Gallery

 

Please feel free to bring digital and print versions of your work to share with the group! Can't make it to the meeting? Then share your work at www.max3ds.com.

 

June is Recycle Month

 

Do you have a recent 3ds Max or Maya book or training video that you would like to donate to someone in the group? Want to unload old copies of 3D World? Make someone happy and bring it to the meeting! All materials (CD/DVDs) must be originals.

 

Animate '08

 

April 2008 continues our "Animate '08" series of User Group meetings and demonstrations. We call it that because it sounds good, and it gives us some goals.

 

Chris and Tom will be covering Flag Animation this month, and we have the Point Cache modifier scheduled if time permits.

 

Maya Group Forming

 

To help better meet the needs of our Maya users, a Maya User's Group for the Chicago area is now forming. We are looking for people to take a leadership position with the group, and to help organize meetings and users.

 

If you are interested in participating in a Maya group, and/or to take a leadership role in the group, then contact me via email or at the meeting. jenni@max3ds.com.

 

The NI-AAUGA meetings are currently for both 3DS Max and Maya users, and we have been getting more and more Maya users with every event. We need Maya users to come to the meetings so we can get the ball rolling with the new group, so do not hesitate to come!

 

Jobs

 

Looking for a Job? Have an opening at your company? Post it on the www.max3ds.com site!

 

In the Chicago area, IMAGINiT Technologies is looking for a 3D Visualization Specialist for their Media and Entertainment division.

See more information about this exciting opportunity on the www.max3ds.com site!

 

RSVP

 

Don't forget to RSVP to jenni at max3ds.com so we know how much pizza to buy. Show up any time during the meeting for great food, 3D presentations, and more!

 

See you there!

 

- Jenni