Autodesk University, the software developer's annual educational conference, is being held in Las Vegas this year and begins tomorrow (Dec 2-4). The event boasts almost 800 educational sessions and lectures from experts in the industry. These sessions include everything from AutoCAD secrets to a behind-the-scenes look at the hybrid stop motion and visual FX used on The Boxtrolls. However, attending AU isn't cheap, and with the event beginning tomorrow morning (8:00 a.m. Pacific), it's probably a little late to book a flight. But you can still watch some of the sessions because Autodesk is streaming select content for free. Below is a sample of some of AU's sessions and a description of their contents . To see the complete three day list of free video conferences, visit AU's schedule of events.

The Future of How Buildings Are Made: A Stimulant for Your Next Project (Tuesday, 2nd)

The explosion of digital context is about to change everything that you know about the design and construction of the built environment. Join the AU Innovation Forum, buckle yourself in, and wrap your mind around the future of making buildings. Watch the live stream.

Managing BIM Projects Without Going CRAZY (Wednesday, 3rd)

This course covers effective practices for project managers, engineers, and designers working on Building Information Modeling (BIM) projects for heating, ventilating, air conditioning, electrical, plumbing, water/wastewater, and other engineering practices. Learn how BIM and Revit software alter the traditional design workflows and processes, and discover how to manage the disruptive changes. The course will cover pre-project planning, dealing with project components and content and understanding what tools can really help the project bottom line. Watch the live stream.

Real-Time Visualization and Simulation with 3ds Max Software and BitSquid (Thursday, 4th)

Discover how real-time game engine technology can help you to develop rapid workflows for real-time visualization, enabling you to iterate your designs more swiftly and efficiently. In this class you will learn how to use Autodesk, Inc.’s, BitSquid real-time engine to interactively explore and communicate your design intent. In this class you’ll learn how to set up your construction data inside of 3ds Max software in order to create a data set that can be explored and lit directly in the game engine. To underline the power of using BitSquid engine for real-time visualization, we will use a data set to simulate evacuation procedures in case of catastrophic events such as fire or explosion. Watch the live stream.

Extreme Reality Computing from a Hexacopter (Thursday, 4th)

Scene re-creation with the help of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has many applications that range from disaster recovery to infrastructure concept design. Creating these scenes with the help of a UAV is becoming more common as the flying camera UAV craze explodes worldwide. Join Autodesk, Inc.'s, Field Innovation Team members as we discuss some ins and outs of generating precise scenes with the help of a UAV. This session will cover camera equipment and UAVs, and we’ll also discuss building custom UAVs, taking pictures from a UAV, processing pictures with Photo on ReCap software, breaking larger scenes up into smaller samples, and combining the results into AutoCAD Civil 3D software or InfraWorks software. Watch the live stream.