First officially recognized Blender Conference outside of Amsterdam took place this April on the Friday 19th and Saturday 20th in sunny Los Angeles, California and polygoniq of course had to be there.

The Venue

Conference took place in the cozy Fonda theatre built in 1920’s, conveniently located on Hollywood Boulevard, which is also known for the Walk of Fame, in the heart of Los Angeles, California.

The Talks

The first one to appear on the stage was not surprisingly the CEO of Blender - Ton Roosendaal. Ton was really happy that this time he had a chance to kick back and actually enjoy the conference, as the organization was handled by the Autotroph, which was represented by the key note speaker Jonathan Williamson.

One of the very anticipated talks was presented by Ian Hubert known for his lazy tutorials and very optimized workflow that allows him to create cinematic renders with very limited budget. He did not disappoint, and presented his photoscan workflow and world building.

Very important information was the rebranding of the Blender Market, a marketplace where polygoniq sells products. Since it is not an official part of the Blender Foundation there was a need to distinguish themselves, which resulted in new name: Superhive. What has remained as a proof of continuity was the bee symbol of the brand.

We also got a shoutout from Blender Bob a well-known youtuber working on a community film project named Tiki and polygoniq is one of its sponsors. He made a big announcement, that due to the difficulty of securing a senior rigger, even after long search, the company he works for - Real by FAKE - will take on the financing of the project. This means it will no longer be purely community project, on the other hand the chances of finishing and having the resources will most likely improve the quality of the final product.

Another important talk, especially for us was by Adam Preisler - CEO of polygoniq . His talk on Environment Building for Architecture took place on Saturday. He shown step-by-step modelling and assembly of authentic digital twin of a city center. From the basics like roads, crossings, sidewalks, greenery to finer details like traffic lights, lamps, street signs, manholes, bollards etc.

The Rooftop

Every conference has to have a place to network and mingle. Fonda theater has very nice rooftop, which served for this purpose really well. You could always go there and be sure you will find someone interesting to talk to, or see interesting presentation of the sponsors at their dedicated booths. Also very tasty lunch was served here.

A Conference To Remember

Looking back, the conference, especially considering it was the first year for organizers, was handled really well. There were no hiccups and the flow of events was natural, but the most important thing, that Jonathan mentioned in his closing talk, was the successful recreation of the atmosphere of the conference in Amsterdam, which cannot be planned, it can only be created by the great Blender community.