The next meeting of the Northern Illinois Autodesk Animation Users Group Association, NI-AAUGA, will be Thursday August 21st, at the offices of Hagerman and Company in Chicago.

Hagerman’s web site is at http://www.hagerman.com and directions to their office can be found here: http://www.hagerman.com/Contact_Us/map_chicago.htm

And, in a surprise double-header, we will also be doing a meeting in the Suburbs on the 27th or 28th of August. Details to follow!

Join our Mailing List!

Send a message to jenni at 3dsmax.com and I’ll add you to our mailing list.  You can also join by following the link on our web site, http://www.max3ds.com

June Meeting Recap

Our last meeting was at the offices of LNA Systems in Arlington Heights (http://www.lnainc.com). Thank you to Lyn and Barbara for hosting the group, and to George from Avatech for picking up the pizza.

George Matos and I covered some of the new features in 3ds Max 2009 Design.

Thanks to Chris from Pulse Studios for his presentation on Cloth simulation and creating a waving flag.

Also thanks to Stephen Oliver from Autodesk for joining us at the meeting. It was nice to hear some insights on the products, and to get to talk with someone from Autodesk.

Last but not least, Thanks to all that participated and shared their work, even if it wasn’t a formal presentation. 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 http://www.max.com

August Meeting #1

Our next meeting will be Thursday August 21st, at the offices of Hagerman and Company, in downtown Chicago.

There is expected to be a second August meeting in the suburbs on the 28th, and details will follow.

See http://www.hagerman.com for more information on our hosts. Joy from Hagerman will be joining us this time, and the meeting will be in their offices on the 30th floor.

Joining us for this meeting is Eddie Perlberg, an Application Engineer and 3ds Max expert from Autodesk in Milwaukee.

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 sharp. Latecomers are welcome, and the meeting ends promptly at 9pm.

This promises to be one of our biggest meetings yet, so be sure to RSVP to 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

At 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.

Lighting

We are going to concentrate on all things lighting, including shadows, optimization, and photometrics, including mental ray lighting.

Max 2009 and Creativity Extension

For subscription users there is a new Creativity Extension available for 3ds Max that includes a bunch of goodies, and we’ll demo some of that for you!

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 http://www.max.com !

August is Recycle Month

Do you have a recent 3ds Max or Maya book or training video that you would like tWant 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.

We’ll talk a little about the Walk-Through tools in Max 2009 Design.

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 http://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 http://www.max3ds.com site!

4D Artists, my company, also utilizes the best freelancers we can find, so let us know if you have the right stuff and are interested in work.

RSVP

Don’t forget to RSVP to jenni at max3ds dot 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

Author of “Mastering mental ray”:  http://www.mastering-mentalray.com
4D Artists, Inc.:  http://www.4da-inc.com
Chicago 3ds Max User’s Group: http://www.max3ds.com

Max Design 2012; Win 7x64 12gb i7 Dual GTX 580; Win 7x64 Intel i7 4-core@3gHx 12gb Quadro 5000 and Tesla C2050.