I wrote about the Maxon Adobe 3D Design + Motion Tour (they really should’ve picked a snappier name) a few weeks back, wondering if I should attend. Well I took myself off to London and did just that. So what did I learn? Quite a lot actually (some new plugins, mograph bits and vertex maps to name a few), although what I was really looking for was inspiration. I don’t pretend to be a full on C4D expert, but I was pleasantly surprised to be able to easily understand and follow what most of the speakers were showing. Chris Schmidt was the star of the show for sure and whiped through some really cool stuff. Some parts simple, but beautifully so and others utterly mind blowing... seriously mind blowing. I’ve taken a ton of notes that hopefully will make sense when I get into the software to play. If I’m honest, it wasn’t quite as in depth as I’d hoped, and despite being billed as Maxon/Adobe... it was 95% Maxon. What was nice was to hear speakers like Schmidt, Glen Frey and Jessica Herrera, talk about their introductions to 3D and recognising similarities with my own. That stumbling in, circumstantial experimentation. They talked about the tactile nature of C4D over other software and for me this, some 15 years on, is still C4Ds biggest pull... it’s fun! The talks were essentially in depth extended tutorial run-throughs and as it’s often the case, they were quite abstract in nature. This is a bit of a gripe of mine, as applying this to the real world with clients isn’t always a natural step. It was amusing to hear though that Schmidt, Frey, Herrera work mainly on the software side or lots of personal projects... so they don’t really have or need to please clients. So next time you look at a cool tutorial, keep in mind that although it looks amazing, would your client actually want to pay for it. Today was like I said about inspiration and reading between the lines I got that in spades and I can’t wait to play in the wonderful world of 3D again. That though had to wait a little while as everyone heads to the pub after the event. As enlightening as the day was, you learn so much more talking and interacting with people. I’ve often thought over the years what a supportive community there is around Cinema 4D and I’m pleased to say that’s backed up by the lovely folks I met over a pint... or two... possibly more. Fantastic day and very pleased I went.
GQx
Chris Schmidt on stage.
The gorgeous National Gallery venue.