August: Blend Ladders

Date
7pm, Wednesday, 11 August 2021

Topic 1/2: Nodes in Blender for Geometry/Procedural Art

Speaker: John Flower

John will demonstrate the use of nodes in Blender, the free software 3D creation suite.

In addition to creating materials as just described using all the settings on all the materials panels, Blender allows you to create a material by routing basic materials through a set of nodes. Each node performs some operation on the material, changing how it will appear when applied to the mesh, and passes it on to the next node. In this way, very complex material appearances can be achieved.

Blender manual

Watching John use Blender is a thing of beauty—if you haven’t seen it, you’re missing out!

Topic 2/2: The Freedom Ladder

Speaker: Tom Ryder

The Free Software Foundation’s position at the forefront of software freedom for users, with instruments like the GNU General Public License and the Defective by Design anti-DRM campaign, has often led to criticism of them as too hardline, or too purist, especially for less technical people. A more recent effort made in part to dispel this image has been the Freedom Ladder, a campaign to encourage users new to free software to take a first step, simply by replacing one proprietary program they use with a free software substitute, and building on their new freedom gradually from there.

By supporting them in taking a step at a time, we’re confident that we can help bring more people to a fully free setup than ever before. We’re calling this campaign the “freedom ladder,” and we need your support to help others begin climbing it.

The journey begins with a single step: climb the freedom ladder

Tom will discuss a few things he learned in watching and participating in the initial IRC meetings for this campaign.

Download slides (application/pdf, 468 KiB)

Venue
Milson Community Centre

Cost
$2 gold coin donation.

• Agenda
  • Welcome
    Chair: John Flower
  • Nodes in Blender for Geometry/Procedural Art
    Speaker: John Flower
    7:10pm
  • Break
    7:50pm
    Tea, coffee, & biscuits
    Donations collected
  • General Business
    8:05pm
  • The Freedom Ladder
    Speaker: Tom Ryder
    8:10pm
  • Doors close
    9pm