Side Effects looking for a Houdini Trainer in Los Angeles

The successful candidate for this position will be responsible for specialized effects animation training. Responsibilities include hands-on large and small group classroom presentations of Houdini software tools and techniques.

* Intermediate to advanced experience with Houdini.
* 3+ years experience as a TD specializing in FX production.
* Ability and enthusiasm to develop and conduct training classes.
* Excellent interpersonal and communications skills required.
* A passion for staying up-to-date on latest software versions.
* Committed to education and the visual effects industry.
* Available to travel both domestic and internationally
* Possibility for flexible schedule
* Recent experience using Houdini in production
* Must be based in Los Angeles

DESIRED ADDITIONAL SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS

* Training experience for feature film production or broadcast media
* Experience in public speaking for small to large groups
* Working knowledge of at least one other major 3D app
* Familiarity with the curriculum development process
* Experience creating, designing, and maintaining training documentation and tutorials.

Applications should be submitted to recruiting@sidefx.com by e-mail in Word, OpenOffice, PDF, or plain text format. Please add HOUDINI TRAINER to email subject line when responding

While we thank all candidates for applying, only successful candidates will be contacted for an interview.

HOUPLA Presents: Mantra 10

Thanks for everyone who came out last night to our event in the Santa Monica office. Andrew Clinton had a great time meeting all the users and chatting about new features in Mantra 10.

Also, thanks for those of you who showed me how to properly pour from a keg. It's the little things that seem to matter.

The room was packed, and the corridors filled with people and cups of Fat Tire. A great way to help the local users meet one another, catch up, or explore Houdini for the first time ever.

A few photos from the evening:

Nordin Rahali points at old co-worker from Framestore, Dan Seddon.

James Kirk and Ken Ibrahim in the standing area checking out the presentation.

John Courte (AKA, St John), showing how it's done while spinning the tunes.

R&H TD, Victor Grant reviews Houdini intern Dan Letarte's latest work.

Soaking up the knowledge with a brew :).

** Please let us know if you're interested in teaching any classes in Houdini or doing an Houdini Intern Mentorship program. All inquiries can be sent to Aliza Sorotzkin, aliza@sidefx.com.

Mantra 10 Focus Week

HOUPLA Presents: Focus on Mantra
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
6:30pm - 9:00pm

Side Effects invites you to join us for an evening with 3D Graphics Programmer, Andrew Clinton and learn about some key feature enhancements (such as IPR and PBR) in Houdini's world class renderer, Mantra version 10.

The evening will follow with refreshments, and music spun by Side Effects' own John Courte, Senior Houdini Artist.

**Space is limited, please RSVP **

Time:

• 6:30 - 7:00 Registation
• 7:00 - 7:30 Presentation
• 7:30 - 9:00 Social Hour and Music

**Also be sure to attend Andrews training class on Thursday, Sept 24 from 7pm - 9pm. Volumetric rendering will be discussed - including an overview of the volumetric rendering pipeline in Mantra, how to render fire and smoke, and optimization techniques for volume renders, and much, much more.**

LA Event: HOUPLA Presents Mantra 10

We're going to have our developer Andrew Clinton, in charge of Mantra, down from Toronto in a few weeks.

To celebrate, we'll be throwing a small social gather, following his presentation on the latest and greatest in Mantra.

Check out the link to RSVP for this event. Space is limited, so we can't let those not on the list enter.

Also, Andrew will be doing a master class on Volumetrics in Mantra the following day!

Tokyo Roundup - September 2009

Just got back from our visit with the Houdini users in Tokyo and IndyZone, the Japanese reseller of Houdini for almost 2 years now.

This was my 3rd time going to the Land of the Rising Sun, and John Courte's (Senior Houdini Artist) first.

Our primary purpose there was to meet with several long time clients and to get together with the Houdini Gurus in the area, many of whom were long time devotees and users of Prisms.

We also attended the CEDEC conference in Yokohama as part of the SGI presence. SGI was kind enough to have over all the way from Amsterdam, Paulus Bannink, Lead Technical Director at Guerrilla Games. He was kind enough to re-present his talk at SIGGRAPH 2009 in New Orleans on using Houdini for Games in Killzone 2.

Just wanted to thank everyone who helped organize another wonderful trip while we were there. Especially the folks at SGI for not just our attendance at CEDEC, but hosting the Houdini Usergroup Meeting at the beautiful Yebisu Garden Place, home of SGI.

Here are a few photos of our time in Tokyo:

Hanging out with Daniel Ferreira, now at SEGA Sammy. He helped us build the Houdini 10 Crumpling and tearing tools while working on GI Joe at Digital Domain.

Paulus' presentation at the CEDEC conference in Yokohama.

American tourists in Tokyo. John and I on a photo-taking journey of Yokohama.

SGI slide showing a legacy of machines just before the Houdini Usergroup Meeting at Yebisu Gardens.

Ichiro Tanaka of IndyZone introducing John Courte.

Explaining some new UI enhancements in Houdini 10

Japanese users gather.

After party. Here I am with Abe-san from Square!

Japanese users eating and drinking!

We'll see you again in December Japan, for SIGGRAPH Asia!