I have been thinking about updating this blog everyday since Wednesday night but the time and circumstances have consistently kept me away from my computer.

The presentations of Vue 8 and talking to people about it continued on through those days. The most popular of my presentations was the ones about Vue in a Maya pipeline and my Prehistoric Visualization which was about DEMs (digital elevation models). But the one that got the biggest gasp from the audience was my matte painting, when I created some nebulas as part of the scene and then showed everyone. Hearing that, I have to admit, was pretty satisfying.

On Wed I got to go to the Intel booth to show off Vue 8. That was a bit scarier for me, since I was already very comfortable in the e-on software booth and the computer I’d actually be using was literally in a big black box behind me, and the demo real was out of my control except for me to nod to someone who’d knock on a door and make it happen. That all went very smoothly though, and Vue 8 showed very well to the audience, attracting more and more as the presentation continued. It was a basic overview, but I talked a bit too fast.

So I had some more time to see a few more of the exhibits. My publisher, Focal Press, and my editor were there. It was very fun to meet him.

The Pixar booth was giving away posters. I’m not sure if there were any other ones, but we got a poster for UP. I never did get that far, but Vladimir was there. There were a couple of motion capture booths, which were fun because they had dancers being followed in real time on screen by characters. The Xsens company just kitty corner from e-on software seemed to have the smoothest real time interface and used little motion sensor boxes. I suspect they are something like a stripped down Wii control. When I asked about working with Maya they said something about their proprietary software to capture it and were unclear about exporting. Another motion capture booth, don’t recall their name because they weren’t so close, seemed a bit choppier but came with a much lower price tag. Honestly, I think with just a bit of ingenuity you could rig one of these things up. It would be the software that would be difficult. But most 3D applications also have a scripting language. I can’t help but think it shouldn’t be too hard to do that either with a decent programmer.

I saw the cool Renderosity people. That’s a great community.

As well as selling 3D printers themselves, I found a couple of 3D printing services. One was aimed at other companies interested in larger models of things like buildings and were a pretty penny. But the other, Shapeways, did the brilliant thing that I knew someone would pick up on: they’re targeting the regular consumer. Their prices are reasonable, they have free shipping, and they have a store where you can buy other people’s designs or sell your own. It’s a nice business model.

The Siggraph Asia booth was giving away exquisite little metal bookmarks. Yes, of course. Gotta get the swag. We collected with an eye for the kids. Got some bubbles, LED bouncy balls, and a few other things. SCAD had a cool wooden USB drive. There was much better stuff out there but, as y’all know, I was working.

The e-on software team has had all of the presentations of Vue 8 and hopefully they will be available soon.

I must admit to getting tired, but of course anyone would be after hours of standing. What kept me energized was the great artists I met at the booth and the really cool e-on software people. It was even funner than I thought it would be, because of them.

All the preparation in the world can’t make up for the experience of really doing things, though. There is a lot I learned, and a lot I would change to improve the work I did there.

Next up: New Orleans.

We spent the day with the e-on software team, mostly standing around while they got the booth put together, then a meeting about what we would be showing off for Vue 8. They are great people and I can tell it is going to be fun working with them.

An interesting thing was said in conversation. It is hard for people to have to set aside a loved tool and learn new skills to accomplish what they already knew how to do. When selling software like this, unless they’ve been specifically been looking for this solution, we have to sell them not only on parting with their money but also their time in learning it. For this reason, I hate getting new cell phones. Also, I really don’t feel like I have time to learn new gadgets. The benefit really has to outweigh any inconvenience I may not even know I’m experiencing.

We ate dinner on a balcony over Bourbon street. Blackened Redfish and Jambalaya (a taste that was a rediscovery, and a lovely surprise that this old comfort food to me. Must have had a lot of it when a wee one in Louisiana). Good music, didn’t see the street a lot because of talking to each other so much.

Tomorrow I’m first up in the morning, presenting Vue 8 Infinite.

When I got to the little Boise airport yesterday, my carry on backpack with all my electronics, books, etc. got searched. And then the lady came back with the halva we’d brought for friends. What’s this? So I explained to her that it was a sweet treat from Russia made from the leftovers of sunflower seeds after they pressed it for oil, with sugar added. It is one of my favorites. She wiped it with a round piece of paper that had a hole in the middle, and placed that in a spectrometer she had. The chemist in me wanted to grab stuff all around to wipe and see what the spectrometer said. Well, I suspect it looked like lots of sugar and oils.

So got on the plane, me Vladimir in Salt Lake and then went to New Orleans, getting pretty ragged after a long day. My parents had fed me lunch but it was well after 8 before I could eat anything again. After establishing ourselves in the room, we went out to find something. Just wander and get something good. Our hotel is on Royal Street, and the street over is Bourbon.

Bourbon street is an all year carnival. You can’t drive down it, too many people walking along it. Guys stand in front of bars trying to get you to come in to THEIR place. Not finding anywhere we really wanted to get food, we turned off to go back down Royal street. I was holding Vladimir’s hand.

“You’re insecure,” he said.

“No I’m not.”

And I really didn’t feel that way but after the day, the plane, and not eating I was feeling pretty ragged. Luckiloy, the Royal House looked appealing to us, and by the time I got something to eat, it was all good. Still tired though. We, at least, needed some sleep.

It’s well established that I’m a writer and a mom. This means that getting ready for work usually doesn’t involve more than brush teeth, shower, lotion, clothes. To get ready to look my best everyday, this morning I practiced adding in the other things, like killing my hair with heat blowdrying and curling my hair and slathering dirt on my face applying makeup.

It is fun doing those things, but I do a lot of beauty resting from them, if you know what I mean

While going over some Siggraph presentations last night, I went to seamless.usgs.gov, the website I use for Digital Elevation Models. (Basically models of landforms that I can use in my 3D art.) And it wasn’t there. The rest of the USGS site was in attendance, but the seamless server threw me a DNS error. In a small corner of my brain, I freaked out and blamed hackers in China. I checked that website the whole rest of the evening, while the calmer parts of my psyche told myself it was probably just some kind of wierd snafu, or server maintenance, or (joy!) maybe even an upgrade to a better server interface.

As you can guess, since this freaking out wasn’t the first thing in my post, it came back this morning. And since upgrading is not something we can expect from our governments, the interface is as ugly as ever. So now I can go to my Vue Siggraph presentation and show with confidence how one can create scenery using real world landforms.

There probably isn’t much else exciting about preparing for this. Tomorrow I pack, get kids ready. Saturday I drive the kids to Idaho so my parents can watch them, and then fly out of Idaho to New Orleans on Sunday for Siggraph. I love airports. People going places, meeting loved ones. One of the best places in the world to people watch.

If you want to follow the adventures of an exhibitor at Siggraph 2009 just come back here, or follow me on Twitter @amichopine.

Before we get into the art that I’m working on, let me tell you about the beautiful art my four year old had been doing. First, walls make great canvases. But so do TVs. The preferable method for walls is marker. And for TVs it’s peanut butter. Make sure you sign your name, so mom knows exactly who did it.

Marker is a great way to turn yourself into a robot by painting all the buttons and gadgets on your face, arms, and legs.

And bicycle chain grease makes great camouflage on your face. Coupled with Lego guns, you will be a force to be reckoned with.

So, messed around some more with the new Vue 8 coming out and once again I gotta tickle any of you Vue geeks out there. Sweetness abounds. This is a very nice step up.

I will admit to feeling a bit nervous as I go over my presentations. My perfectionism is coming into play here. I really need to focus on the process of what I’m teaching rather than the end product. No one can achieve a great piece of art in half an hour. But a lot can be learned and a lot about the program can be introduced. Many of our Geekatplay projects have multiple tutorials that add up to well over an hour, even two.

We’ll be filming these presentations to put online after Siggraph. Got the other tripod and camera with a better battery from our partner, Jason, yesterday. The camera, Vladimir will be carrying on. The tripod was going to go in a bag, but (and I’d had my doubts anyway) the tripod won’t fit in anywhere. Luckily the tripod has a nice case, so it can be checked in. I am a newbie at traveling by plane though, and I’m not sure how many things we can check in right now.

We’ll be staying right near Bourbon street. That should be fun. I’ve heard there are lots of shops everywhere. And of course, we’ve been looking for good restaurants, especially seafood. Any suggestions?

On the cold virus front, it is running its course and by keeping lip stuff slathered all over, I think I might escape the chapping.

I’ve been getting ready for Siggraph for several months, and now that preparation is wrapping up. I’m getting both excited and nervous. In a week we’ll be in New Orleans. I’ll be blogging and tweeting this from now till the end.

So this Siggraph for me is woven through my life as a mom, a four year old that needs me a lot, driving kids places, camp for older girls, a big family reunion, fielding requests for friend dates, keeping the house up, a daughter that wants a pet rat, and other life responsibilities. My bedroom, which no one sees, is seriously in trouble. Also, the toilets need washing. Now you know the dark secrets of my life.

Preparation now is mostly going through the projects over and over and planning how to present them. I am beta testing and preparing to present Vue 8. This upgrade is going to be easy to say great things about. I’m very excited. Wish I’d had it for a couple of things in the presentation earlier.

Recently had a conference call with the e-on software people. I’m very excited to work with them at the booth. I’m also going to get to meet my editor at Focal Press, who has requested another proposal for a book that has been drowned in all the Siggraph preparation. My plan is to present it to him in person.

Also, I’ve been getting my hair done, acquiring a few things to wear, and more girly kind of preparation. The whole Siggraph thing has resulted in a minor makeover for me (that I can actually write off as a business expense), which has been quite fun.

And now, for a bit of drama and tension (haha), I have a pesky cold! Am taking Zinc, and trying to create a barrier on my upper lip to prevent that chapping. Any other advice?

What has Vladimir been doing for Siggraph, besides incredible artwork? Well, I gave him a buzz. And a cold.