Because the Away3D community is an international entity, it seems only right that training events should become more international, which is part of the reason why i’ll be embarking on an Away3D tour (ie. more than two locations ) towards the end of April.

First stop will be Sao Paulo, Brazil on Tuesday 27th April for a single day - there is no training planned for this particular stop but there will be an evening event arranged for any Away3D community members who would like to meet up. The more the merrier!

Next location will be Buenos Aries, Argentina where i will be arriving on Wednesday 28th April to give a full two day training course over the 28th and 29th. The course is being arranged by the ARFUG group, and full details of the event plus venue and prices can be found here. Huge thanx to Max and the ARFUG team for helping to arrange this, should be a lot of fun!

After Argentina, i will be enduring a grueling 17hr flight to Sydney, Australia, arriving in time to give a special one-day condensed training course at the WebDU conference on Wednesday 5th May, details of which can be found here. I’ll then be hanging around for the conference itself and presenting my new session: the many faces of Away3D on the Thursday afternoon. Its currently looking quite sunny here in London, so i’ll be looking forward to some of that Sydney autumn fog…

Finally, after many more hours of dvt inducing hardship I will be back in London, UK to give the headline event of the Away3D training calendar - a two day intensive course over the 20th and 21st May at the LFPUG. This will be limited to a maximum of 14 people, so please book early if you are planning on going! Full details can be found here, and thanx go to Tink for arranging the venue and free pub lunches.

A new training program has been setup between myself and the LFPUG for people wanting to learn the best techniques for creating 3d flash content. Suitable for developers or designers with basic knowledge of AS3, this comprehensive two-day course covers many practical aspects of building 3d content for both Flash 9 and Flash 10 players.

When/Where
Date: 16th-17th July 2009 ( 16/07/2009 - 17/07/2009 )
Times: Day 1 10:00 - 18:00 (doors open at 09:30) / Day 2 09:00 - 16:30 (doors open 08:30)
Venue: Leroy House, 436 Essex Road, N1 3QP (click for map)
Tube: Highbury / Angel

To try and keep the class accessible for students and professionals alike, the cost per person has been fixed at only £200 + VAT. The size of classes are also restricted to a maximum of 15 atendees to allow a more informal approach to teaching, but does mean places fill up quickly! for a complete breakdown of course material and requirements, please visit the LFPUG website.

***Update***
Unfortunately due to a schedule clash, the training classes have been moved to the 26th and 27th of November. For those of you already signed up, please send another mail to confirm a place at the revised time. Apologies to those who had already made plans, the above date is now final and will not change.

Another 3d training session is being planned for the 22nd and 23rd of October, in association with the LFPUG. This is the first to focus purely on the Away3d engine, and should offer the opportunity to delve a bit further into the tricks and techniques at your disposal for producing 3d content in Flash. Full details of the the two days can be found here. A copy of the synopsis follows:

Essential Away3d Techniques

Two days of practical tips and tricks for producing Flash 3D content using the Away3D engine.

Learn how to maximise the potential of Away3D with the co-founder and chief architect Rob Bateman. Old and new features will be covered in detail, including the latest updates available in the recently announced 2.2 release. Topics range from generic 3d concepts to detailed walkthroughs of real-world techniques designed to aid 3D design and development in Flash. Full source code is provided for all explanatory demos.

This course is aimed at developers and code-oriented designers interested in using real-time 3D in their flash work with the Away3D engine. Minimum requirements: Introductory or Intermediate level knowledge of Actionscript 3.0 and Flex Builder/FDT/CS3.

The course still uses the smaller class sizes found to work well in previous training sessions, and at £200+VAT should be within everyone’s budget ;). To book a place, please contact training AT lfpug.com.

Next week I’ll be landing in Sydney to give a presentation and a workshop session all about web 3d. The workshop on the 11th will be focussing on how the Flash player can be used as a 3d engine using Papervision and Away3d, while the session on the 13th takes a broader look at how 3d on the web has progressed since the inception of VRML in 1994. While some of the old applications verged on 3d abuse, the present possibilities in Flash offer a way of marrying rich media design with simple, effective 3d UI’s that could be considered a step forward in web evolution.

I’m not looking forward to the flights, but I am certainly looking forward to the event! See you at the barbie

…back by popular demand!

The third session is booked for 28th-29th May and will be a good introduction to anyone wanting to create 3d in Flash. Covers Papervision and Away3d engines, including the new features recently released on both fronts, and some nice new demos too.

More details can be found on the LFPUG training page, and this time places are still available! Looking forward to it already.

Next week I’ll be presenting the first of my 3d training sessions in London. The course is for two days and has already been filled, but for anyone who missed the original announcement on the LFPUG website, another session has been arranged for the 9th and 10th of April. More details can be found here. The course focuses on the basic issues and practicalities of 3d development in Flash, and will include examples written for both Papervision and Away3d engines. Hope to see you there!