If you haven't heard already, here's what next week is all about:Autodesk University starts up next Tuesday, Dec. 2, and Core77 is headed to Las Vegas to cover it live. We go to lots of fairs and conferences, but are getting especially excited about this one, given the raw amount of technical geekery we expect to absorb.

With 650 classes and several thousand attendees spanning four days, AU is one of the largest 3D CAD events on the planet, and many--if not all--of the world's foremost experts on Alias, Maya, Inventor and the rest of Autodesk's stable will be in attendance, either as participants or presenters.

The conference's content has historically been aimed heavily at the architecture, engineering and construction communities, but with the acquisition of Alias in 2006, Autodesk's push toward ID has been strengthening, and this year's schedule reflects that.

Core will be on hand with live-blogging, images and video coverage, so expect to hear some good things about the latest developments in 3D modeling and rendering tools, reports from the cutting edge of car and product design, a keynote from IDEO's Tom Kelley, and a first-ever 3D version of the now famous Cut & Paste digital design tournament.

Coverage starts Tuesday afternoon, PST, and continues through til the end of the week.