IGDA Melbourne

From 27 June until October Melbourne is getting her game on!

As part of the Winter Masterpieces, the Game Masters Exhibition at acmi, is sure to offer heaps of knowledge,  fun and inspiration to game developers locally, whilst also casting more light on the local scene to a greater audience.

Wednesday night sees the opening night, and with it the likes of Tim Schafer and Warren Spector (pictured left courtesy of Stephen Schulze)  visiting Melbourne, not to mention so many other amazing speakers and games experts including some of our very own, this is going to be an amazing week for local game developers and enthusiasts. Full details are available from the Game Masters (http://gamemasters NULL.acmi NULL.net NULL.au/#!/events/game-masters-program-events/large/) website, but if you’re only hearing this now the forum stuff is pretty much sold out. The exhibition (http://www NULL.acmi NULL.net NULL.au/game-masters NULL.aspx), however, is here to stay until October!

IGDA Melbourne are hosting a party on Friday night at The Turf Bar, which is new turf for us but a bit closer to acmi and was available (protip: last Friday night of the financial year, it’s hard to book venues unless you wear a suit and work in finance). This event is via registration so we hope you have your tickets. International or interstate guests who are just finding out about what’s sure to be an excellent evening should email giselle@igdamelbourne.org.

In short;

You need to have registered via eventbrite (http://igdammasterparty NULL.eventbrite NULL.com NULL.au/) and you will an email confirmation on Monday 25 June. Massive thank yous and no doubt many more ‘cheers’ to FMOD and Autodesk’s sponsorship to make this night a special one. Enquiries to giselle@igdamelbourne.org

It’s going to be a great week, look forward to seeing you all together talking meaningfully and creatively about games!

Autodesk presents: ILM, Rising Sun Pictures & Alt.vfx in Blockbuster Tour 2012

The very best in the industry stay ahead of the curve by constantly tuning their pipeline to improve productivity without compromising their creative vision. This year we are bringing you the very best the industry has to offer to share their incredible story of staying ahead of the curve.

Do not miss this rare opportunity to meet top professionals from ILM, Rising Sun Pictures & Alt.vfx as they share their experience working on The Avengers, The Hunger Games, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, and Tooheys Extra Dry commercial. They will take us behind the scenes, to show how some of those amazing shots were assembled and the creative journey that has brought audiences flocking to the cinemas.

The Visual Effects Challenges for The Avengers
Alex Kim, FX Technical Director, Industrial Light & Magic Singapore (ILM Singapore)

Alex Kim joined ILM Singapore in April 2011 as FX Technical Director in charge of FX and rigid body simulations and particles. In the one year he has been with the team, he has blown stuff up, wreaked destruction and shot at people and things for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and The Avengers.

He started his career as Pipeline Developer/Technical Assistant at Rising Sun Pictures in Sydney, Australia. He then moved to MPC in London. Over the next four years, he moved from Crowd R&D Developer to FX R&D Developer and then to FX Technical Director.

His credits include two Harry Potter movies (Deathly Hallows Part 1 and Order of the Phoenix), Clash of the Titans, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra and Superman Returns.

Adaptive Solutions – Visual Effects at Rising Sun Pictures
Ian Cope, Visual Effects Producer, Rising Sun Pictures, Adelaide

Australia’s Rising Sun Pictures (RSP) has been crafting visual effects for feature films since 1995. Visual Effects Producer Ian Cope will take you on a journey through the diverse range of visual effects solutions that RSP has created for their clients to contribute to its filmography of over 90 feature films. This will include a behind the scenes look at how Autodesk Maya was an integral part of the pipeline for films such as The Hunger Games, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Green Lantern, Red Tails and Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows.

Ian has been with Rising Sun Pictures (RSP) since 2001 and has contributed to the design & execution of visual effects on feature films such as Prometheus, Red Tails, the Harry Potter series, Green Lantern, and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. He is currently working on Alfonso Cuarón’s sci-fi thriller, Gravity.

Fake It Till You Make It
Colin Renshaw, Owner, VFX Supervisor, Alt.vfx, Brisbane

In July 2011, Altvfx exploded onto the scene and immediately established itself as one of Australia’s pre-eminent vfx houses.

In 2011/12, they have won metal at every major award show around the world with the hugely popular Tooheys Extra Nocturnal Migration commercial. Alt’s VFX supervisor, Colin, will bring you on the creative journey through which beer, some deer and Autodesk helped shape a new facility.

Melbourne

Date: 3 July 2012, Tuesday
Time: 1.00pm to 5.30pm
Venue: State Library of Victoria, Village Roadshow Theatrette Door 3 Conference Centre, 179 La Trobe Street

Sydney
Date: 5 July 2012, Thursday
Time: 1.00pm to 5.30pm
Venue: Shangri-La Hotel, Heritage Room 176 Cumberland Street, The Rocks

REGISTER NOW (http://south-apac NULL.autodesk NULL.com/adsk/servlet/pc/item?id=19814278&siteID=1157326&mktvar001=497702&mktvar002=497702)

Learn stuff online!

Autodesk is holding a live webinar on June 22 (13:00-14:00 EST) entitled:

*Autodesk M&E Meet the Expert Webinars*

*Featuring Smoke 2013 – The Big Picture*

Join Rob O’Neill, ANZ Creative Finishing Specialist, for a live webinar and discover how Smoke 2013 can give you professional editorial finishing for high-quality commercial and broadcast projects on a tight budget.

In 60-minutes, we take an eagle’s eye view of the new Autodesk Smoke. This is a must-watch for anyone who has ever attempted to finish an editorial project with high expectations. With a new user interface designed to give you expensive looking content on even the tightest budget, we’ll show a brief “How To” segment to get you started on our public beta of Smoke 2013 :

- Getting media in to Smoke

- Using the media to edit

- Conforming the media to an AAF or XML from an NLE

- An introduction to the FX Ribbon and Connect FX

- Accessing the beta version

Friday, 22 June 2012: 
13:00-14:00 EST

Register here for the Autodesk webinar (https://www3 NULL.gotomeeting NULL.com/register/432592262)

 Autodesk homepage (<http://www NULL.autodesk NULL.com NULL.au/>)

Please support one of next week‘s sponsors, along with our beloved FMOD   (http://fmod NULL.com/)(and them wanting to be lovely and sponsoring our shennanigans) by clinking on lines, checking it out above and registering – tell them we sent you

It’s not long now, and we’re looking forward to welcoming travelling game developers in a classic igdam style (ok, with possibly more footy than we’re used to). Due to the popularity of the plan, we’ve set up registration by donation. Rest assured all funds raised will go towards making a fabulously wonderful night

You can get your ticket here, or get in touch with giselle@igdamelbourne.org for further information.

Even before getting to blogging, half of the tickets have been snaffled up, so don’t miss out!

 When: Friday 29 June 7pm onwards

Where: Turf Bar (https://maps NULL.google NULL.com NULL.au/maps?q=Turf+Bar+%26+Restaurant,+Queen+Street,+Melbourne,+Victoria&hl=en&ll=-37 NULL.8147,144 NULL.960737&spn=0 NULL.009137,0 NULL.01929&sll=-25 NULL.335448,135 NULL.745076&sspn=42 NULL.067662,79 NULL.013672&oq=turf+bar+&hq=Turf+Bar+%26+Restaurant,&hnear=Queen+St,+Melbourne+Victoria&t=m&z=16&iwloc=A)

Who: I guess we’ll wait and see, but we know the IGDA Melbourne crew will be there, so a top night regardless, but will it end with a conga line?

PS yes there are drinks, so it’s an 18+ event.

TigJam was announced last night at the meet, here’s the details:

Andrew Brophy and James Rhodes are running a 48-hour game jam 13 – 15 July in Melbourne.  Like other TigJams, TigjJam Australia  focuses on collaboration, with no no competition or compulsory theme to work with. (Aan optional theme for those that want it).

Thanks to Inspire9, it’s free to attend and we only ask that you register through EventBrite (http://tigjamau2012 NULL.eventbrite NULL.com NULL.au/).
The venue is only 50m from the Richmond train station and provides sleeping areas (you can stay the whole duration of the jam), kitchen and showers.

So come along, make some games and have a good time! For further information get in touch with  James Rhodes (http://about NULL.me/james NULL.rhodes)

June isn’t just about big stars from overseas, it’s also about our own stars-in-the-making here down under. It’s Open Mic night on the 12th of June and we have a bunch of our best presenting the latest news about what they’ve all be up to.

Everyone is encouraged to bring along playable prototypes and demos so we can show off our work to each other and get valuable feedback. So come along, bring your laptop / iPad / hover-jogging-buddy and join us for fun and feedback!

When: Tuesday 12 June, from 6.30pm – Open Mic starts around 7.

Where: 1000 Pound Bend (http://thousandpoundbend NULL.com NULL.au/)

Facebook RSVPs appreciated (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/events/234960473277213/) to get an idea on numbers.

What:

Playtesting will go throughout the evening, and the microphone will be powered up around 7pm for a variety of talks including:

Ben Britten with the latest update on Tin Man Games (http://tinmangames NULL.com NULL.au/) taking over the world, one gamebook adventure at a time.

LATE ADDITION: Maciej Sawitus, ex Blue Tongue and THQ programmer, will run through an analysis of the statistics collected from all of the Monstaaa (http://monstaaa NULL.pixelelephant NULL.com/)! players including:
- how many people successfully completed specific game levels
- how many times did people have to retry specific levels (aka “level of frustration”)
- popularity of certain iOS devices
- per-hour users and new users vs. New & Noteworthy in Australia

Trevor Dikes will introduce Soundplay Interactive (http://soundplayinteractive NULL.com/), talk about the development of their first title and the NEIS experience.

Harry Lee will talk about about Wanderlands (http://wanderlands NULL.org/main/)‘ rapid prototyping practices.

Ben Rejmer will share some user testing and user evaluation options for indies.

Andrew Brophy will have a few game demos to share.

Dan Clayton will introduce Dime Studios (http://www NULL.dimestudios NULL.com/)‘ latest game, and is on the lookout for testers.

David Thompson is back for a visit from Gameloft and will chat about that and his indie project, Tiberian Sun Rising (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/pages/Tiberian-Sun-Rising/164158993620119).

Nathan Antony, our resident chiptuner, will be showcasing some of his compositions.

Amongst all this there will also be demos of  ColourBlind, Scuttle, Tasty Fish, Love and Jetpacks and more!

Don’t miss out, brave the cold, grab a burger and a hat and join us!