Hi everyone.

I’ve been lurking since the depressing SI announcement but figured it is time to say hello like many of my fellow softies, so hello everyone.

Is there an official (or unofficial) SideFX representative in London? I’ll be in London 24th-27th March to do, what will most likely be, my very last on-site Softimage training at a studio. I’ll have some time off on Monday afternoon (the 24th) so if it’s possible to have a quick sit-down and Houdini demo it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Ola Madsen
Redundant Softimage Certified Instructor

Ask SESI if Jeff will be in London because next month is in germany the FMX Event and normaly someone of SESI will be there. or make a offer for alot of beer that helps too :-)

Hi Ola,

No we don't have a local reseller in London at this time. Many customers like the direct relationship with the Toronto Canada office so we upped the number of annual visits to London significantly over the last few years. Unfortunately our next visit to London and FMX in Stuttgart doesn't coincide with your visit to London.

We visit London quite frequently. Just ping me for more info off-line if you wish for more info on how we can support you and your education efforts more effectively. Our education team is based in Los Angeles and they, along with Toronto can help you out.

As for an introduction to Houdini, I am available for WebEx'es whenever you want if you find the learning videos inadequate or not geared towards educators, ask questions, etc. I quite frequently give new users a quick intro to Houdini that can cut your learning experience from weeks to days. Again pm me for more info.

The one thing you need to remember is that we encourage contact and dialog, meaningful dialog. We strive to handle all queries with a custom experience tailored to everyone because everyone has different requirements. We try to do our best here.


A lot of the Houdini experience is captured in many of the on-line lectures on the various parts of Houdini.

There is also the portal for educators that gives you access to additional information. For everyone else, most everything is out there already. This is for educators and how to approach the instruction of Houdini. Good for educators. Boring for everyone else.

There is also Phil Spicer's Creation Desktop info out on Orbolt. Have a look at that as a way of teaching Houdini effectively.

Lots of learning material out there now. I believe there is a link on these forums directing you to them along with the Learning menu on the web pages.


Thank-you,

Jeff Wagner, Senior Technology Consultant
Side Effects Software

Yes beer helps!

That reminds me.

I also have my case-of-beer theory to learning Houdini: Given a clear weekend and a case of beer and the videos, tutorials and forums on-line, you will get the hang of Houdini and be able to whirl around the various directories and work with the various nodes and understand how things depend on each other. Once you get that, then everything clicks. It isn't about the specific workflows with Houdini, it's about coming to grips with how nodes inter-depend with each other. Neat thing is you master this, you can get up to speed with any part of Houdini quickly as things are pretty consistent.

Get a handle on “Houdini Speak” as well!

The beers definitely help out.

Hi Ola, if it helps we will most likely be having a London Houdini User Group meetup that week which might be a good chance to talk to Houdini users of various levels.

Look on this forum for more details or join us on LinkedIn : http://www.linkedin.com/groups/London-Houdini-User-Group-7405482 [linkedin.com]

thanks mandrake0 and jeff for your quick replies.
Beers are mandatory in the Softimage community so it kind of goes without saying

While I've arranged numerous classes and training session my primary job is as a freelance artist. But having used Soft since version 1.5 it was only natural to become a Certified Instructor many years a go.

If I go with Houdini, which does sound intriguing, I don't know when/if i'll end up teaching it. which is a real shame, since i've always love doing the teaching on the side….

Jeff, i'll PM you later tonight. I'm in the middle of production so i have to get some work done as well

hi djwarder

That would indeed be great opportunity. I don't know yet whether I'll be free any of the other nights, but i'll follow the discussions on linked in and hopefully i'll be able to attend.

Hi Ola,

I´ve been teaching Houdini for a few years now, so if you happen to come around Barcelona I´ll be happy to show you a couple of tricks from my bag….of tricks

Actually, version 13 has also added a few challenges for me as an intructor, but it seems I´m jumping those hurdles quite effectively from the results of my students. Also those updates are really good for users…just a bit tougher for an organized introduction to the software.

Even if you´re not into teaching as your main occupation I´ll be happy to ease your transition.
Then again, there are more and more Houdini users around Europe, and I´m sure in London you´ll find plenty of them, and talented.

Hi Javier,

Thanks for your reply. Well, a case of San Miguel and Houdini training in Barcelona does not sound bad at all

I’m currently in the final stages of a project so I’m currently mostly lurking the forum and watching tutorials, but I plan on a getting my hands dirty in a couple of weeks so you’ll probably hear from me again

Cheers

I will be in BCN soon-ish, let me take you word and call you, would be great to share ideas and how to up the talent pool.

Netvudu
Hi Ola,

I´ve been teaching Houdini for a few years now, so if you happen to come around Barcelona I´ll be happy to show you a couple of tricks from my bag….of tricks

Actually, version 13 has also added a few challenges for me as an intructor, but it seems I´m jumping those hurdles quite effectively from the results of my students. Also those updates are really good for users…just a bit tougher for an organized introduction to the software.

Even if you´re not into teaching as your main occupation I´ll be happy to ease your transition.
Then again, there are more and more Houdini users around Europe, and I´m sure in London you´ll find plenty of them, and talented.

Definitely, Jordi.