SWx World... thanks to everyone, and apology too

I just wanted to thank everyone who came up and introduced themselves at SWx
World... I really appreicate it when I can put a face to the name, and am
grateful to the guys who told me that our tutorials have helped them out
(makes it easier to jsutify the time invested in putting them together).
What blew me away were those people who went out of their way to pass my
name along to (and in some case directly introduce me to) companies that I
might be able to help out - that is the best sort of validation anyone can
give a guy, and it is very appreciated.

A special thanks to Paul for paying off handsomely on a five-year-old debt.
He's a man of honor

I would like to apologize to anyone that I couldn't stop and properly hang
out with... I really, really didn't want to come across as an aloof
dickhead, and hated that I couldn't stop and give a proper response when I
heard a 'hey, Ed' because I was rushing to a meeting or to give a
presentation. I am very sorry, and would have loved to have the opportunity
to give a little more back when people reached out. Also, my brain was in a
weird fog by the end there, so I cringe when I think about some of my
less-than-stellar respones (like to the guy who designed the fabric softerne
bottle who attended the last session - I wish I had my wits about me to ask
a follow up question, but I was so focused on cramming that session into the
given time that I blew the opportunity to mine an expert for some useful
information)

By the way, I think SWx World has gotten better... I can't wait for the CD
to come out so I can review all of those presentations that I had to miss.
Unlike previous years, I heard very few gripes about bad presentations, and
lots more reports of presentations that 'paid for the trip'

My three presentations (Surfacing for BlockHeads, Curvy Stuff 301, and Trees
of Blood; preventing and reparing rebuild errors) will be on our web site...
soon-ish. We have to do some re-thinking so we can make sure the
downloading does not interfere with our server during buisness hours, and I
need a little more time to annotate stuff. Of course, my first priority is
to catch up with my customers and keep them satisfied, so keep an eye out
for a posting announcement towards the end of the month.

I'll also be getting the spring stuff up (some fo you will know about
this) - I have to dig up the job that we animated the spring, and add the
torsion, extension, and compression springs so you get them all.

-Ed

 

Kind words. Thanks Ed. And one of the three packets was still in my
suitcase on arrival home although it was meant to be given to a friend
on the way home. Memory is first to go.

BTW, I wasn't able to get to Trees of Blood. Hope you get that one up
first.

 

Ed, it was good to see you again. I totally understand your position as I
felt the same way at AU last year. You are so worried about the next
presentation that you get tunnel vision.

I enjoyed 2 of the 3 of your presentations (missed Curvy Stuff 301). They
can apply to just about any CAD platform as they teach good basics of
modeling. Hope to see you next year if not sooner.

 

Hi Ed,

I just wanted to say it was great to meet you at the PW dinner Monday night.
I had seen some of your work and used some of the tutorials at the dimonte
group website. It's nice to finally be able to associate a face to the
files. I tried to catch the "preventing rebuild errors" presentation but
they had closed the session before I made it there (about 1:20). My self
and about a dozen others were turned away. Maybe next year.

Rob

 

Ed, Thanks Sooo much for all of your obvious hard work.
Both the Curvy Stuff 301 and the Trees of Blood - OOPS, I mean How to
prevent Rebuild Errors were very good.

Now the only thing that I wake up nights thinking about is; how bad are my
designs going to blow up if (when) my client messes with something high up
in the feature manager.
But seriously, I will definitely be checking my designs a LOT more
thoroughly in the future.

Thanks Ed,
BTW, I had no idea what you were talking about as I was leaving the "How to
prevent Rebuild Errors" talk, but my wife reminded me that the guy who
"hi-jacked" the car in the "Great American Movie" ride at MGM was indeed
called Muggsy. So I can only assume that's what your wife was talking
about?!?!

Anyway, it certainly was great to meet you and to put a face with a name.

Thanks again,
Muggs

 

Boy, I wish I had an answer for that. All I can say is what I told one of
my old customers at the opening night reception - if you have a problem,
CALL ME... I would rather spend a free 15 minutes looking at a bloody tree
and coaching them on how to fix it quickly and easily than to get a bad
reputation as a sloppy modeler.
You can't innolculate a model against every change, nor should you (it would
cost a stupid amount of extra design time).. you can only prevent the likely
errors. If they make a change that I could not predict ahead of time,
things ARE going to happen. It helps if I can see what erupted so I can let
them know it wasn't my fault - and also nudge them in the direction of a
solution... and if it was my fault, you bet I am going to take care of it
and make it right (I really enjoy the luxery of working for an ethical
company that knows that repeat business is the most profitable. We make
sure that we take repsonsibility for our mistakes and make things right
instead of trying to squeeze every penny out of cusotmers )
That said, some models - like the one shown at the end of CS301, are going
to be ugly to edit. That is why design references (like a clay model or a
hand
sketch) are important, so you can get
most of the design nailed down before the model is even built (correct model
the first time = fewer edits = fewer problems) I still need to clean that
guy up before I can even share it.