Posted a Day Ahead and Texture Baking

Thought I should give everyone a heads up for Blender User Group tomorrow.  We will be going over texture baking in the Blender internal render engine.

(There are zero lights in this render).

This is a awesome tool that can be used to improve render times, and create great textures for video games, among other things.  Here is a link to the wiki  http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:2.6/Manual/Render/Bake   We encourage you to review some of the terms so not everything is unfamiliar to you.

We will be meeting at the same place and time.  Check the meeting schedule page if you don't know when or where.

See you all there!

Time for some Cycles Fun

Good morning everyone.  Hope to see you all at Blender User Group this evening.  Same place and same time.

And a small note on what we will be cover this evening, for instruction.  We will be doing a small introduction to the Blender Cycles render engine.  This engine provides a way to achieve highly realistic lighting effects, in a relatively short period of time.

If you wish to dig into it before user group this evening here are a few links to some great resources

Cycles wiki page
Blender Cookie - Intro Tutorial
Blender Guru - Introduction to Cycles

See you all there!

Gettin Together

User group this evening!  Same place same time.  See you all there!

Modeling!

Just a reminder about our meeting this evening.  We will be going over some modeling tricks that were introduced with Bmesh in the latest version of Blender.

Also, we will be going over the pros and cons of Ngon modeling.  And show some examples of when and where to use them.

Here is a post that briefly goes over some of the new modeling features.

http://gamefromscratch.com/post/2012/04/20/Blender-BMesh-in-action%E2%80%A6-what%E2%80%99s-so-special-about-ngons-anyways.aspx

See you all there.

The Group is Meeting again

Quick reminder to everyone for this evening. We have Blender User Group at the Salt Lake Public Library, in conference room 3, at 7:00PM. Sorry for the late reminder, again. But, a little on what we have planned for this evening. Will Thorup is going to follow up, for just a moment, on UV unwrapping, to see if anyone still has some unanswered question. Then we will spend the rest of the time on modeling. We are going to teach how to setup reference images, and begin modeling from those reference images. Hope to see you all there!

Our Next Meet-Up

I just wanted to remind everyone of our next meetup this coming week on Tuesday.  It is on the 3rd floor in Conference Room 3.  We hope to see you all there.

Also, if you haven't been keeping an eye on Blender.org they just posted about there new way of tracking all the different Blender groups around the world.  Click here to see that post.

I have already started the meetup for Salt Lake City users, here.  And I think it would be awesome if we all could RSVP and show the rest of the world our strong little group we have started in Utah.

There is one downside to the process though.  You need a facebook account, or sign-up for a meetup.com account.  But if that isn't an issue for you, I hope you can find the time to head on over and RSVP.

Thank you!

Request for Content

Hello everyone!

We have a user group coming up this Tuesday.  And we wanted to make a call out to anyone one who would want to show and/or explain some work they are doing in blender.  Something that will fit in 15 to 30 minutes will be good enough.  Go ahead and reply to this post/email, if you are interested, and we will get back to you about it.  And if you can't share this week, there is always plenty of time in the future.  No pressure, but we want to make sure that everyone who attends has the chance to support the group, and advance the use of Blender in Utah,  by sharing what they know.

Plus, who really wants to hear Jacob, Bryce and Will talk all evening?

We Got Them!

Okay.  I messed up with the reservations.  The great people at Salt Lake City Public Library were on the ball, while I wasn't paying attention to the inbox where they were sending the reservations.  So we have missed a few Blender User Groups, but there are still plenty more we can all enjoy. Look at the schedule here .

Our next User Group will be March 6th 7:00 to 8:45 pm at Salt Lake Public Library.  And I think we are planning on making it a show-and-tell session for those who would like to share anything they have worked on over the holidays.  And we will be providing basic training for anyone new to the group.  So bring your friends to blend.

Also, a little reminder.  If you have not signed up in the Google group, to the right, I encourage you to do so.  You will receive instant updates for this blog!

Sorry...

Sorry everyone for the lack of updates.  I emailed the library,  over a week ago, with still no response.  I will call them soon and let you all know the verdict.

Getting ready to make reservations.

I am getting ready to make the reservations for Blender User Group for the next six months.  But, before I do that, I want to get opinions on how often we should do the user group.  Before, we were doing it about every two weeks.  But we can change this to every three weeks, or every month.

Let me know what you think.  Thanks!

Lets Do It!

It looks like we are going to have our meeting this evening!  See you all there.

Who's Going to Come?

Realizing that we are so close to the holidays, I thought it might be a good idea to find out who will be able to make it to tonight's Blender User Group meeting.  The holidays usually get busy for everyone.

So, if you could send a "yea" or "nay" to blenderusergrouputah@gmail.com , we can decided whether we will be doing a meeting or not.  If we have around 4 people, besides Will Thorup, Jacob and Bryce,  we will do it.  Less than 4 we will cancel.

I will post the verdict around 5 pm today.

And a little note about our meetings for next year. Nothing has been scheduled so far.  The Salt Lake Public Library will only let you submit a reservation application at certain times.  I am waiting for that time.  But I will post the new dates as soon as I get them.

Also, sorry for the late post.  I will try to do this at least a day ahead in the future.

Reminder for 12/6 Meeting

This is just a quick reminder for tomorrows meeting.  And an update on location.

I managed to get a room that is slightly bigger than our last one.  It is still at Salt Lake City Public Libray in conference room L-1 by the Children's Department.  I am not sure where it is personally, but I am sure the person at the front desk will help out.  So make sure to ask someone who is working there if you can't find it.

Also,  just a little bit about what we might do.  We had allot of people last time who had used Blender for the first time, that night.  If we have some of you along with some more new people, we will be going over the basics again.  And if we need to we can switch into smaller groups, teaching specific needs or wants.  There will also be some insight on some more advanced stuff if you are interested.

If you have any questions, go ahead and email blenderusergrouputah@gmail.com .

Other than that, come, have fun, and mingle with the Blender users of Utah!

A Little Correction...

I am sorry.  I believe that I advertised that there would be a Blender User Group this week.  But double checking the meeting schedule revealed to me that I was wrong.  So everyone, not this week, but next.

Also a note on next week.  I was able to switch to a bigger accommodations.  At least that is what they told me.  So there should be a little more seating and table space.  (It was a bit cramped last time, don't you think?)

Invite your friends!

Yesterday was great!

Thanks to all that came out to Blender User Group Utah yesterday!

It was a great turn out.  And guess what, no one took any pictures!  But that is okay.  The next time we meet up, pictures will be taken.

But to recap a little bit of what happened yesterday.  We had a really good mix of experienced and beginning users.  So it was time to hit the basics.  And it seemed like everyone enjoyed the time we spent blending, even thought there wasn't quite enough room for everyone.

On that note.  I will be contacting the library to see if we might be able to switch to a larger room with a larger table, for next time.  And I will see if I can get the reservations for next year.

One other thing that needs to be mentioned.  I started a Google group, and you can sign up for the mailing list on the right-hand bar.  It will give you a few options, just make sure that the one at the very bottom is selected and everything should be ready to go.   I will make sure that everything that is posted on the blog will be sent through the group as well.

Also, for anyone who is starting with blender, and needs something to work on until next time, go ahead and check out the previous activities we have done.  Here, and here.  If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions. Post under the Google group, and we will make sure it gets addressed.

By raise of hands.

Another reminder for Blender User Group Utah tomorrow. And If I could have everyone that is planning on going to send an email to blenderusergrouputah@gmail.com saying that you are coming. just want to get a head count, to determine what we might do tomorrow. See you all then!

Blender User Group Tonight!

Hi everyone we are doing Blender User Group this evening.  It will be at the Salt Lake public library again.  Go ahead and check the meeting schedules for the time and address.

We won't be doing anything specific this evening, but we are providing a time to talk and teach anyone who comes what they want to learn.

Also,  a little bit about parking again.   I gave a little of misinformation on the parking prices for the underground parking at the library.  It is actually $1.50 for every half hour.  So if you use the underground parking it will be about $6 if you come at 7:00pm.  Not the best, I know, so make sure that there aren't any empty parking spaces above ground.

Hope to see you there!

Canceled for Tonight

There will be no Blender User Group this evening.  Some things came up on our end, and it seems that allot of the regulars won't be coming out.  So just plan on doing it in a couple weeks.

I will be getting another activity together for everyone to do.

Tonights User Group

Ok everyone!  W have another user group this evening at 7pm.  If you check the meeting schedule you will see that this time it is located out in Bountiful.  This is still the plan, but is subject to change.  I will post the final decision on the location around 5pm this afternoon.  I will post the address to the new location here.

Also, just a reminder.  There was a small activity that was given a few weeks ago.  It is at the bottom of this post.  If you haven't put together a still life yet, now is the time to do it.  Any time in Blender is well spent.

Remember to invite friends and family that may be interested.  See you all there!

Blender PodCast

Here is something I would like everyone to listen to, before our next meeting.

An awesome blender podcast.  One part I particularly like is about tutorials and whether they are good or not.  Some really good info there for beginners and old timers alike.  Check it out!

http://blender-podcast.org/?p=202