#Foster's back from Aus!
46 messages in this thread
G'day Bruces and Sheilas!
I'm back in one piece from my "walkabout" in Australia and what a time I had –
best vacation in years. I met many of the major 3ds users in Sydney, Melbourne
and Brisbane, and had a chance to discuss opportunities "down-under".
In the first week Andrea and I were consumate tourists and toured the Sydney
area for a few days then flew off to Cairns for a 2-day, 1-night (slept on the
deck) sailing and scuba-diving extravaganza on the outer Great-Barrier reef.
After some trouble equalizing the pressure in my middle-ears I got to see some
of the most extraordinary and mind-blowing underwater sites known to man.
Thousands of varieties of multi-coloured corals and fishies – I was in a
euphoric state for hours after my dives <g>. The second week was dedicated to
flying to different cities to talk about 3ds opportunities etc.
In Sydney, I was Adesk's guest-of-dishonour at the Sydney user group and met
many of the local 3ds users who mainly seemed to be doing TV work. Adesk
Australia treated me with extreme hospitality, as did everyone on the whole
trip!
In Brisbane I met, for the first time, the world-famous
explorer/writer/animator Michele Bousquet who tolerated me quite well for one
night in her tropical island retreat (thanks Michele <g>). The next night I
stayed with forum-regular Garry Hargreaves and his lovely wife in his
brand-spanking new country/suburban mansion outside Brisbane after a "barbie"
(bbq) at the home of the owners/editors of Australia's Multi-CAD magazine. We
imbibed more beer than I can remember <g>, but still stayed coherent
(relatively) and sensible (sort of).
Melbourne was the final leg of my tour of cities and there I met Glenn
Melenhorst: the famous, and rightly so, guru of 3ds in general and 3ds
character animation in particular. I spent the whole day with him and prevented
him from doing any serious work, at all. He works in a mega-huge
post-production facility, called AAV, which has all the latest and greatest
equipment (D1, Digital Beta, Abekas, Quantel Harry, etc) that would put
Hollywood to shame. His 486's are etherneted directly to the Abekas – no
frame-by-frame to tape rubbish here, ya' know! Got a chance to look at the
somewhat old, but powerful Quantel Harry and finally realised where that
archaic animator pro interface came from!
I had a wonderful time overall, and was just blown away by the hospitality I
received. It was a constant struggle to pay for anything at all! I've decided
to apply for immigration to Australia and, if accepted, would probably choose
Brisbane to be my "base-of-operations", since it's largely unexploited in terms
of 3ds and the recreational opportunities look great. It's a bit like southern
Florida weather-wise and has the all-important watersports we need.
Hope you enjoyed my little account of my adventures.
Martin
Martin:
Welcome home! Now with you and Gary back, I won't feel so bad to take some
time off! (No, not quite a vacation – I wish!)
I am co-author on the New Riders Publishing "Inside 3D Studio", due out in
January. We are on the final phases of writing. (I just received official
authorization to ignore the non-disclosure and start to talk about it!)
It will be shipping end of January – 1,000+ pages, CD-ROM, the works!
List price will be $39.95 – special discounts for ASOFT forumers.
Everything from detailed info on configurations, network rendering,
frame-by-frame animation hardware and setup, rotoscoping, through detailed
animation techniques, Animator Pro usage for 3DS, and lots more!
So if I'm seen around here a bit less the next few weeks, you'll know why!
But who knows, this is more like a break than work, maybe I'll be here more!
Where do you think I'm getting all the great ideas for the book, anyway? <g>
Greg Pyros
Greg – Your "Inside 3D Studio sounds terrific"! Put me on the list. What a
great idea, and the value is terrific. Finally a comprehensive guide for all
those questions that keep getting answered over and over. <G> Kudos! -JE
Greg,
thanks for the welcome home. I'm trying to ease my way back into SoCal life and
pace. Everything's a bit more relaxed "down-under" and my phones ringing a lot
already, with people who want me to do stuff but don't have much (or any) money
🙁
Welcome home Martin from the Big Sky Country…..Steve White
thanks Steve, I appreciate it. Where's the Big Sky country – Montana? Forgive
my ignorance, but I'm a Brit <g>.
the one thing I can tell'ya – it ain't Oregon for sure!!!
Gus,
why, is the sky very small and closing in on you?
Getting smaller by the hour… I feel like Asterix if you know who I'm talking
about.
Steve is the lone 3DS soul up in Montana, you brit! <g>
No, I think Montana has 2 3DS souls and a whole lot of sheep.
Asterix… I grew up on those looney Gauls! Not too many people in the US
familiar with Goscinny and Uderzo's work.
John Tissavary (La Luna cie)
They were so big at the time (way bigger than Disney for instance) that I still
take it for granted. I can't look at a fish department in a grocery store and
not to remember them. I guess all of the romanic history I ever learned came
from there! (that should tell'ya something)…
Gus,
Asterix? The Gaul? Oh yeah, I'm a fan from way back. Very popular in the UK.
Hey, that would be a fun project to model. I get to do an Obelix! <g>
Big Sky Country????….Montana???? You bet!!!! I live in Helena, the state
capital. I am a long way from much in the 3DS world. If it was not for CServe
and you guys regularly signing in and answering my questions, I probably would
have pulled all my hair out by now. There is another company (engineering)
doing 3DS in town, but only for rendering their AutoCad stuff.
Thanks for the comeback. Are you a Brit in the US, or are you actually located
in the UK?
Cheers….SWhite
Good, I was correct. Montana is the big sky country. 10 points. Never been
there but I'd like to go and measure the sky, and maybe take some photos <g>.
I'm a British bloke trapped in Southern California. I live near Laguna Beach
which is almost half way between LA and San Diego. I'm trying to escape to
Australia or, failing that, anywhere with good snorkelling/scuba (Costa Rica,
the Seychelles etc). Gary Yost and me are actually forming a new aquatic team
called "pescado-dude and marine-boy" <g>.
I'm "marine-boy", right?
– G
Gary,
well you can be "marine-boy" if you prefer, but I had pegged you as
"pescado-dude" actually <g>. I'm easy going though, as befits an aquatic type
0-J
Whatever… Just don't call me Ray. <g>
– G
Cool team. Anytime you want to take a shot at skiing or climbing up here in
Montana drop me a line. I been here forever (42 yrs) and would be happy to show
you around. Not near as warm as your area, but not much for people population
either.
Cheers…SW
Steve,
>> Anytime you want to take a shot at skiing or climbing up here in Montana
drop me a line. <<
Thanks, I appreciate that. I'd probably go to Montana in the late spring or
summer, rather than winter.
Drop me a line…406-443-2449
Steve
Righto. Although, I don't recommend putting your phone number on the forum
publicly. All kinds of people might file it away, for future misuse <g>.
Where do you climb in Montana? I've had friends take climbing trips there and
come back raving! I'd love to check it out sometime.
jt
In the summer down by Bozeman in the Gallatin area, and over by Butte. In the
winter we do some ice climbing South of Bozeman. I am in Helena now but plan to
move back to Bozeman in Spring. We have a small ranch there. I grew up skiing
Bridger Bowl.
Great place to live. But not much for tech support. Let me know if you come
this way.
Cheers…..Steve White
I'll drop a line if I come to Montana. My neighbor just got a Montana
vacations brochure, looks nice.
John Tissavary (La Luna cie)
Sounds like you had a blast, Martin… I hope you didn't "struggle" too much!
<g>
The hospitality in OZ sure sounds wonderful. I hope that everything works out
smoothly towards your inevitable move to the bottom of the world. (or the top,
if you stand on your head)
BTW, that was a very funny comment about seeing the Quantel Harry's interface
and "now realizing where AAP's UI came from". Ain't it the truth.
– G
Gary,
thanks for the reply, mate. It's good to have you back on the forum and I read
your little account of your month off – sounded like a blast, too!
There's still a few major obstacles to my almost inevitable move to OZ. For
example, convincing their immigration people that I'm a good risk, and won't go
on the dole when I get there. Secondly, I have to convince Andrea that it's a
good idea and that we can get jobs. She's more cautious than I am, plus she has
family here in LA and I don't. I think she especially liked the fact that OZ
has a statutory minimum 4 weeks paid annual vacation (with a 17.5% loading) and
about 2 weeks paid sick leave, whereas she only gets a paltry 1 week vacation
and NO sick leave with her present company. Worker conditions a generally far
better over there, if you can get the work….
She especially liked the Cairns area and said she'd like to work on a diving
boat. Unfortunately, none of the Aussies I spoke to thought I would have any
luck with animation in that city.
Yeah, the Quantel experience was very amusing and the optics interface in
Animator was almost a dead ringer for the Harry's, hmmmm….
Martin
A welcome back from me, as well, Martin. I have not forgotten nor blown off the
6-pack, by the way. I'm just a slow-moving, lazy f%^&*. <g> It'll show up one
day when you're parched.
DT
David,
thanks Dave, it's nice to be back on CI$, though I'm not too sure about Laguna
Hills yet <g>. I don't even remember you saying you were going to send a
6-pack. If you do send one, make it something local that I can't get on the
west coast, please 🙂
It was to be a Sprecher dark. A local microbrewery.
DT
Sprecher dark sounds good to me?! I like dark beers…
Working on a dive boat near the Barrier Reef sounds like heaven. Whatever
happens, I wish you both all the luck in the world. (or under it 🙂
– G
Gary,
>> Whatever happens, I wish you both all the luck in the world. (or under it
🙂 <<
Thanks, Gary. That means a lot to me.
>>Working on a dive boat near the Barrier Reef sounds like heaven.
It's obvious you've never done it. Trust me, being on a dive boat as a
tourist and working as a Captain, Mate, or dive master is at the extreme ends
of the heaven-hell spectrum 75% of the time. It's the other 25% that keeps one
going seven days a week.
Don Landis, Padi Master Instructor, RETIRED!
You're right… the coral is always greener on the other side.
Thanks for the voice of experience!
– G
Welcome back, Martin, you've been missed on the forum (but I'm sure you have
no regrets <g>). Glad you had such a good time.
John Tissavary (La Luna cie)
John,
yeah, I thought I'd miss my computers and the forum but I was having such a
good time the pain was minimal. I'll need to gently ease my way back into to
the mainstream. I'm listening to some Aboriginal Rock music at the moment – by
a famous (in Oz) Abo band called Yothu Yindi. It's pretty good.
Aborigini rock sounds fascinating. I'll check it out.
John Tissavary (La Luna cie)
John,
some of their (Yothu Yindi's) songs sound familiar and may have had some
"alternative" airplay, unless I'm just suffering from deja-ecoute (the feeling
you've already heard something, but actually never have).
BTW, I got a brochure from ASDG in the mail and got very excited about their
Exabyte driver, its features, and capabilities. Wish I had some money for it 🙁
I got the brochure, too, and I already own their drivers. Makes you wonder how
much money companies waste each year on mailers.
John Tissavary (La Luna cie)
Martin, Good to see you home in one piece. I'm still working my butt off to
retrieve that lost day of conversation. It was a real pleasure to meet with
you. Glenn
Glenn,
thanks Glenn, I had a great time over in Aus' and also at your place of biz'.
You must have one of the nicesst setups in the world – video hardware
specifically (ethernet to Abekas, D1, digital Betacam etc) <drool>.
>> I'm still working my butt off to retrieve that lost day of conversation. <<
Oh, didn't I tell you? I've sent a bunch more fellow animators to Aus' to visit
you all day since I had such a good time! (just kidding <g>).
<<Oh, didn't I tell you? I've sent a bunch more fellow
animators to Aus' to visit you all day since I had such
a good time! (just kidding <g>).>>
Please! Send them down! We're starved of good 3Ds gossip here and
subsequently crap onto our girlfriends about it all. Glenn.
>> Please! Send them down! We're starved of good 3Ds gossip here <<
No need, Glenn. There's more gossip than you can shake a wombat at right here
on the forum!
Hiya Glenn… It's always a thrill to see you here on the forum! Got any new
animation to blow us away with?
– G