Last Saturday, November 14th, I had an opportunity to attend a very unique conference for the 3D industry here in Houston…….yes I said HOUSTON…….appropriately named 3DCAMP Houston. You want to know what else?
It was free!!

3DCAMP Houston is a participant-driven gathering of like-minded individuals – also known as an ‘unconference’ – with the goal of bringing together 3D professionals in any industry to network, share ideas, and explore opportunities. This includes 3D professionals and enthusiasts from creative and media backgrounds to engineering and scientific backgrounds whether it be film, television, game development, geophysical software, health, or education.

I have to say that when I first arrived at the Houston Technology Center in midtown Houston, 2 things immediately struck me. First, even though I live in Houston, I had never heard of the Houston Technology Center before and second, I need to be living in midtown Houston.

Anyway, after entering the HTC, signing in, and getting my fill of the free (yes I said free again) breakfast, I quickly realized that this un-conference was quickly becoming a who’s who of the 3D industry in Houston. It was nice being able to catch up with people who were either old classmates, old colleagues, or old students of mine.
Networking is always a great by-product of any conference and 3DCAMP was no different. Any time I get an opportunity to network, it’s a good thing. I met a lot of 3D artist I didn’t know worked in Houston as well as many aspiring 3D artists fresh out of schools like the Art Institute of Houston, Texas A&M’s Visualization Lab (The VIZ Lab), and Lone Star College.

Dave Morris Giving a Brief Introduction to all the 3D Campers

When it was time for the presentations to begin, 3DCAMP founder David Morris graciously thanked us for attending (he told us he was only expecting about 30 people to show…..over 100 were in attendance) and gave us a quick rundown on the day’s events and the locations of the rooms where the presenters would be.
After David finished the welcome and introductions it was time for the conference sessions to begin. There were many sessions to choose from and you can see them all here.

I attended 4 sessions…….Sculpting a Human Skull in Zbrush – presented by Johannes Huber, iPhone Game Development – presented by Nathan Eror, Advanced Architectural Modeling & Rendering – presented by Stephen Devine, and 3D Character Animation presented by Tony Shields.
There was also a presentation on Modeling a 3D Head given by yours truly and it was my honor to have my session scheduled right before Johannes’ awesome Zbrush session.

3D Artist & Instructor, Sean Bellinger demonstrating how to model a Human Head.

3D Artist Johannes Huber Presenting "Sculpting a Human Skull in 3D" using ZBrush

Along with the amazing presenters, the conference showcased amazing products donated by some big name sponsors like Maxon, Side Effects Software, NewTek, Turbo Squid, and many others including the Texas A&M Department of Visualization (The Viz Lab).

All in all, it was an amazingly successful start to what should become an incredible annual 3D event that has the potential to be the largest on the gulf coast.
I’m already anticipating the arrival of 3DCAMP Houston 2010!