BCON
LA 2024

The opening keynote for the first US Blender Conference. Jonathan Williamson, as organizer, welcomes attendees and sets the stage. Ton Roosendaal was present and spoke briefly — notably happy to enjoy a BCON without having to run it.

How Barnstorm VFX, a professional US VFX studio, integrates Blender into commercial and broadcast production pipelines. Covers specific projects, the business case for Blender adoption in a studio context, and workflow integration with other tools.

How CG Cookie's collaborative animation projects grew from tutorial content into something closer to a real studio. Kent shares the creative process, team dynamics of remote collaboration, and how learner projects evolved into polished short films.

Behind the scenes on "Dark Ages," an animated project with a distinctive medieval/fantasy aesthetic built in Blender. Covers stylized rendering, character design, and production techniques for a solo or small team working on an ambitious project.

Ian Hubert — famous for his "Lazy Tutorials" series and cinematic Blender VFX work — shares his photoscan workflow and world-building philosophy. He demonstrates how to use photogrammetry to capture real-world textures and geometry, then remix them into cinematic 3D environments. This was one of the most anticipated talks of the event.

An inside look at the VFX pipeline behind Zach King's viral magic trick videos (billions of views on TikTok/YouTube). Covers the techniques used to seamlessly blend practical shots with Blender VFX for tight social media turnarounds. A rare look at high-volume, high-quality short-form VFX production.

How to combine Python scripting with artistic intent — generative art, procedural tools, and creative coding in Blender. Spencer is known for his add-on development work and accessible coding education for artists.

Introduction to VISION — a workflow/tool for creating hybrid 2D/3D storyboards in Blender. Designed for filmmakers and animators who want the flexibility of drawn storyboards with the spatial awareness of 3D layouts.

Jetset is a mobile app for iPhone/iPad that turns your phone into a live camera tracker for virtual production. The talk covers how Jetset integrates with Blender for on-set visualization, LED volume work, and previs — dramatically reducing the cost barrier for virtual production.

How Pataz Animation Studio structures its team and workflow differently from conventional studios. Daniel Salazar (known in the Blender community as "ZanQdo") shares lessons from building a distributed, Blender-first animation team.

Francesco Siddi (Blender Foundation) and Kyle Unzicker discuss the business and organizational model behind Blender's sustainable open-source development — how the foundation works, how it's funded, and what "beyond business as usual" means for free software in the creative industry.

Jason van Gumster (author of "Blender For Dummies") takes a humorous look at the most unexpected, creative, and downright bizarre uses of Blender throughout its history — from scientific visualization to stage performance to Blender-made NASA presentations.

A panel discussion exploring Non-Photorealistic Rendering (NPR) — why stylization matters as an artistic and storytelling choice, not just a technical shortcut. Dillon Gu is the creator of Dillongoo Studios, known for expressive stylized animation and tutorials.

Alex Chamberlain's journey to create a life-sized, 3D-printed Tyrannosaurus Rex skull using Blender and publicly available fossil scan data. Covers the modeling process, scale challenges, 3D printing workflow, and the community aspect of open paleontology data.

The Blender Market (now rebranded to Superhive) discusses its future roadmap: supporting the new Extensions platform, how the marketplace will evolve for Blender 4.x add-ons, and the business model for independent developers selling Blender tools.

How to use Blender's 3D environment for storyboarding — a workflow that gives artists camera angle, lighting, and spatial relationship information that 2D storyboards can't provide. Paul also gave a Grease Pencil life drawing tutorial in the Side Bar track.

Robert Rioux shares the development of Tiki — an ambitious community-driven animated feature film project built entirely in Blender by a distributed volunteer team. Covers the production model, challenges of coordinating a large volunteer cast, and the current status of the project.

Jules Urbach (CEO of OTOY, creator of Octane Renderer) presents his vision for GPU and AI-driven rendering into the 2030s. He gave a similar version of this talk at BCON25, but the BCON LA edition was the first time he presented it. Covers real-time ray tracing, neural rendering, and decentralized cloud rendering via the RNDR network.

Colin Levy — director of Blender's open movie "Tears of Steel" and filmmaker — explains how to use Blender for pre-visualization (previs) and post-visualization (postvis) in film production. How 3D previsualization saves time, money, and creative energy on set.

Making of "Freelance" — an animated short film. Covers the creative and technical challenges of pushing personal work to the next level, managing scope, and developing a distinctive visual style in Blender.

Using Blender to design paper craft models exported for cutting plotter machines (like a Cricut or Silhouette). Covers the unfolding workflow (converting 3D models to flat net patterns), designing for cut-and-fold, and building physical paper sculptures from Blender designs.

A live life drawing session using Blender's Grease Pencil — demonstrating how traditional figure drawing translates to digital 3D sketching in a 3D space.

A hands-on workshop building car paint and automotive material shaders procedurally in Blender. Covers metallic flake, clearcoat, and material variation for product visualization workflows.

A deep vertical slice into Geometry Nodes — building a system capable of generating thousands of unique swords procedurally. Covers node architecture, instancing, variation systems, and performance considerations.

How to design and execute seamless looping animations in Blender — from simple procedural loops to complex character animation cycles. Covers graph editor techniques, NLA editor, and the mindset of designing for loops from the start.

Practical texturing workflows for hard-surface sci-fi assets — specifically starship interiors and exteriors. Covers material layering, greeble paneling shaders, wear and tear, and lighting-responsive materials for cinematic space environments.

A beginner-to-intermediate hands-on workshop in writing Blender add-ons with Python. Covers the bpy API, operator creation, panels, and how to go from "I want to automate this" to a working add-on that others can use.

How to bring motion capture data into Blender and retarget it to custom rigs. Covers clean-up workflows, common mocap artifacts, and how to blend mocap with hand-keyed animation to retain artistic control.

A workflow approach to Blender sculpting that treats the 3D surface like a drawing canvas — loose, gestural, intuitive. Aimed at 2D artists moving into sculpting who find traditional polygon workflows too technical.

How to build automated pipelines that take raw photogrammetry captures and process them into Blender-ready assets with minimal manual intervention. Covers software integration, mesh cleanup automation, and texture baking pipelines.

How Blender is used in the design and visualization of open-source assistive robotics — specifically exoskeleton devices that help people with mobility impairments walk. Covers the mechanical design workflow, simulation visualization, and the social impact of open-source engineering.

Where automotive design is headed with Blender — from concept sketching in 3D to photorealistic visualization and real-time presentation. Odilon shares his vision for Blender replacing or complementing traditional automotive design DCC tools.

How Blender is being used in the construction and architecture industry — from design visualization and client presentations to on-site spatial planning. Covers CAD-to-Blender workflows, BIM data integration concepts, and practical use cases from real construction projects.

How one studio/freelancer replaced After Effects and Cinema4D with Blender for high-volume corporate motion graphics and video production — including the workflow, client expectations, turnaround times, and the financial case for the switch.

Case studies of real-world professional projects built with Blender — pipeline architecture, client delivery, and the practical realities of using open-source tools in commercial production environments.

How to use Blender's tools to empower traditional 2D illustrators and painters — particularly Grease Pencil for digital painting with 3D capabilities. Addresses the common fear 2D artists have of 3D and how to overcome it with the right workflow approach.

A decade retrospective on RetopoFlow — one of Blender's most successful and widely used retopology add-ons. Dr. Jon Denning covers the technical and business journey of building a professional Blender tool, lessons learned from 10 years of user feedback, and where the tool is going next.

How Blender is being integrated into school curricula to teach STEM and creative subjects simultaneously — using 3D modeling and animation as a bridge between mathematics, science, design, and storytelling for K-12 students.

Making of "A Light in the Woods" — a hybrid animated/drawn short that combines traditional 2D hand-drawn frames with Blender 3D environments and VFX. Covers the pipeline for mixing drawing and 3D, compositing approaches, and the creative rationale for the hybrid technique.

How to achieve the distinctive look of 90s hand-drawn cel animation (think classic anime like Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, or early Miyazaki) using Blender's NPR shading tools. Covers toon ramps, ink line rendering, color saturation matching, and compositing techniques to nail the nostalgic aesthetic.

How traditional artists (illustrators, painters, comic artists) can use Blender as a previsualization tool — setting up 3D reference scenes, lighting rigs, and camera angles to inform their 2D work. Makes Blender a "digital maquette" tool rather than a full 3D production environment.

Building rich surrounding environments for architectural visualization — beyond just the building itself. Covers landscaping, vegetation, people, vehicles, and atmospheric context that make architectural renders feel lived-in and believable.

A deep-dive workshop into the specific animation tools and stylistic choices that define Dillongoo Studios' output — the rigs, the camera work, the timing philosophy, and how the studio's visual identity is enforced through technical systems.

An accessible workshop for beginners taking their first steps into animation in Blender. Covers the Graph Editor, timing principles, keyframing strategies, and common early mistakes to avoid.

A candid fireside conversation with a veteran 3D artist about the realities of building a career and income with Blender. Covers rates, client acquisition, passive income through assets, and the mental challenges of freelance creative work.

Jonathan Williamson and Amber Kelly close out BCON LA 2024 — reflecting on the first US Blender Conference, what it meant to the community, and teasing what's next. Followed by a rooftop social event for all attendees.