I just heard the tragic news that Ben Mears passed away. Ben worked for SideFX where he was heavily involved with the Los Angeles chapter of the Houdini User Group and contributed an incredible amount of information and assistance to all of us.

Most importantly, he was an incredibly kind and genuine person, always willing to offer help in any way he could, without prejudice or judgment regardless of whether he was talking to a seasoned industry professional, or a beginner taking their first steps with Houdini.

I was fortunate to meet Ben when I gave a presentation on using Redshift in Houdini a few years ago, we stayed in touch since then and he was always willing to provide me with assistance and useful answers to any question I had.

He will be missed.

For those interested in helping out, his wife is running a GoFundMe campaign to assist with the funeral and other expenses:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/apj6gf-ben-mears?fbclid=IwAR158j3JqA7khUhgM6gzKjgcVrX8GQqf8KCQ3jPr7I8m39NZ_RiBR_NNOAw [www.gofundme.com]

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