Review of Inspired 3D Character Setup (Paperback)

I have been using Maya extensively now for two years and bought this book to try to take myself into the intermediate level of character rigging.
The first problem I encountered with this book is that I opened it and the spine broke! Not exactly what you would expect from a [$$$] book.
I think it went downhill from there. Yes the pictures are beautiful and the it really showcases what you can do with Maya(or what others have done), but the editing in this book is terrible. Examples include naming of nodes that on the same page have two different names. The downloads don't match the book. e.g. ch13 has the low-res geo download that doesnt include the sphereCTRL or the cubeCTRL but sure has the proxyGEO. Anyone think i'm messed up? send me the right one please..
Otherwise, you are better off with the Art of Maya, or Secrets of the Pros. I think this is one not quite worth the money.

Product Description
Written by working professionals in the visual effects industry, this book is a guide to building functional characters in the digital environment. You will explore the concepts and theories of creating and maintaining efficient and intuitive skeletal control systems for your 3D Characters. Interwoven within the book are thought provoking and informative interviews with industry heavyweights, stunning visuals and step by step tutorials that allow you to explore and expand your knowledge of the fascinating and challenging world of 3D digital characters.

About the Author
Michael Ford is a Lead Technical Animator at Sony Imageworks and is co-founder of Animation Foundation. He began his career as a digital artist after graduating from UCLA School of Design and has since worked on numerous feature and commercial projects at Industrial Light and Magic, Centropolis FX, and Digital Magic. He has lectured at UCLA School of Design, University of Southern California, DeAnza College, and the San Francisco Academy of Art. He is a certified Level 2 Softimage instructor whose film credits include Stuart Little 1 & 2, The Perfect Storm, The Mummy, Godzilla, Species 2, Mortal Kombat 2, and The Faculty.

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Review of Adobe Premiere Pro Bible (Paperback)

This book started out great. After some explanation, it guided me through a simple video editing project in the first chapter that worked and communicated some basic ideas. It got me excited about learning more and then it disappointed me bitterly.

The rest of the book does not teach the way the first chapter does. It does do a systematic and fairly thorough job of explaining things in the interface but the usable examples are few and far between. This works well for some people but not for me. I learn better by doing along with the reading. This guide is woefully inadequate for that. Still, it is a handy reference. It's too bad I will have to further my training elsewhere.


Product Description
* Totally revised and enhanced to cover the major new upgrade to the overall leading desktop digital video application
* Packed with tutorials, tips, and tricks, this is the authoritative and comprehensive guide to creating, editing, and outputting digital video to DVD, CD-ROM, the Web, or videotape
* Shows how to create special effects using Premiere and After Effects, Encore, and other software; how to integrate narration, music, and sound effects with moving images; and how to create digital video productions from movies shot on a camcorder
* Bonus CD-ROM is loaded with video-based tutorials, a library of usable video clips and sample effects, useful video filters and utilities, and software tryouts

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Review of Inspired 3D Character Animation (Paperback)

I'm a bit surprised at the bad rap this book has gotten in earlier user reviews.Suggesting to "just read the manual that came with the software" is preposterous -- these comments are often made by people who think that knowing how to set keyframes in a piece of software makes them GOOD animators, and nothing could be further from the truth.A thorough understanding of how the body moves, how the mind thinks, how external forces affect the body, and other sometimes slippery subjects are critical aspects of the good animator's toolset.

While there are no earth-shattering revelations in this book (how many could there be when the animation industry is over 90 years old), the topics discussed in these pages, often illustrated with short exercises, make a good launching pad for people wanting to go from someone who knows how to make a character move, to someone who knows how to make a character come alive.

The book does a good job of relating traditional animation concepts to the 3D medium, and several of the interviews are enlightening.As a college animation instructor and professional computer animator, I find satisfaction in opening this book in my classroom to point out that artists from celebrated studios such as Industrial Light & Magic and Sony Pictures Imageworks are saying the same things that I am telling my students.My Advanced 3D Animation students spend several weeks reading chapters from this book and applying the information through mini-assignments, which I hope lead them to realize all that they must consider in bringing a character to life.This book is not designed to teach something new to the computer animation veteran -- instead, it fulfills its purpose of showing intermediate to advanced level students of animation a path that they need to take in becoming successful character animators.

While the price of this book is a bit steep, there are several pieces of advice that should be in any character animator's mantra.The information can lead to a big payoff if you really absorb it.

Product Description
The art of creating animation is the ability to generate believable characters that have emotion and life. Regardless of your medium good animation comes from the application of solid fundamentals and an extensive body of knowledge. Inspired 3D Character Animation provides you with a comprehensive set of processes and procedures to animating characters in the digital environment. By taking a close look at the day to day activities and practices of veteran film, commercial, and game animators, readers are provided with a look into the processes necessary to implement these ideas into the world of 3D computer graphics software.

About the Author
Kyle Clark earned his Master's Degree in Animation at USC School of Cinema-Television.While at USC, he produced an animation short that earned him a student Academy Award.He has worked at Cinestine, Sony, Imageworks, and Industrial Light and Magic.He is a lecturer at San Francisco State University and has taught at the Academy of Art-San Francisco, Texas A&M, and USC.His film credits include Space Jam, Mortal Kombat II, Star Wars Episode One, Deep Blue Sea, and Sleepy Hollow.

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Review of Maya 4.5 Bible (Paperback)

This is a good book for users with a good understanding of Maya.It covers alot of things that other books dont.The one major problem with the book is the CD has problems on the windows OS.This is resolved very easily.All you need to do is call the publisher.They will ship you a replacement CD within about a week.Other than that Maya Bible is a very good book

Product Description
* All the information needed to create professional-quality 3D animations and visual effects in Maya, the Alias
* Wavefront/Silicon Graphics software used for special effects in movies such as Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings
* Explains how to move a project from concept to completion-an ideal quick-start alternative to the fourteen volumes of official documentation
* Covers everything from interface basics and modeling to animation, character setup, and effects
* Concise tutorial allows the Maya user to learn by doing with the help of behind-the-scenes production examples from animated television programs
* CD-ROM includes sample models, scripts, shaders, and textures

From the Back Cover
"This book . . . manages to cover a great deal of ground with needed depth in critical areas of Maya, especially those pertinent to character animation. Joe Spadaro and Don Kim have instilled real-world production experience into this massive volume."
-Duncan Brinsmead, Principal Scientist, Alias Wavefront

If Maya 4.5 can do it, you can do it too...

It's not magic, but it's close. With the Oscar® Award-winning tool that created the lovable Stuart Little® and the thrilling special effects in Star Wars® Episode II: Attack of the Clones, you will become your own set designer, actor, director, and cinematographer. In this groundbreaking guidebook, two well-respected TV and movie animators demystify the complexities of this professional 3D modeling animation and rendering program. With concise and expert instruction, the authors show you how to apply proven Maya workflow principles to help you keep your projects on track in the production "pipeline" from conception to completion. In addition, the Quick Start tutorial gives you firsthand experience creating an animation right from the start.

Inside, you'll find co mplete coverage of Maya 4.5

• Navigate the new Maya user interface and take advantage of the powerful Hypergraph, Maya's award-winning dependency graph architecture
• Become skilled in using the Maya Embedded Language (MEL) to script and automate almost anything you can do in Maya
• Discover the sophisticated NURBS advanced curve and surface modeling tools and the suite of polygon modeling tools for games and interactive uses
• Learn the techniques that'll make you a digital puppeteer, and create emotion in 3D characters as well as motion and physical characteristics
• Use Maya Live to match-and-move 3D cameras to a live-action video
• Explore the features of Maya Unlimited, including cloth and fur, and extend Maya using subdivision surfaces
• Study the work of leading animators in behind-the-scenes examples from familiar movies, games, and television shows

Bonus CD-ROM

The interactive CD-ROM includes a variety of clips, images, textures, bonus chapters, and other animation tools

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Review of 50 Fast Flash MX Techniques [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

This book looks like you will learn a lot as there are 50 tutorials.

Unfortunately, many are redundant, many are not really significant (not really useful, just funny), and the last one is a filler as it teaches you how to make a projector.

If you are buying this book from a library, take your time to review the center page that display each "Technique" in color.

It is worth half the price it costs. Not a great deal anyway. At least, you get the source files.

This book is for beginner who wants to have a bit of fun.



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Review of Adobe Photoshop 6 Digital Darkroom (Paperback)

Lisa Lee writes in a down-to-the-point-way. The book is en excellent INTRODUCTION to the digital darkroom. However: this is no specific introduction to using Photoshop 6, as one might believe.
I've not yet had the time to dig reeeally deep into this book, but a few hours of looking through it tells me that the experienced (I'm an ACE in Photoshop) user might feel that this book doesn't contain what one might expect.
Lisa Lee writes about different cameras, going deeper under the surface at one of them. I think that is a good idea, because most of the digital cameras have many options in common.
She also tips the reader on HOW to take pictures, in the short-and-to-the-point-way one needs. (Time is not what we have most of, is it?) I do recommend this book - especially for beginners to intermediate users :)

Product Description
Photoshop 6 is Adobe's well-received, highly acclaimed update to its most popular product. Adobe Photoshop 6 Digital Darkroom is a full-color tutorial-based book that shows you how to work step by step with digital pictures. Learn how to use the newest features in Photoshop, as well as more traditional tasks such as correcting colors, applying effects, and working with layers, channels, and masks. This is a cross-platform guide that shows you how to use Photoshop to create great-looking digital pictures for your Web site. Intermediate to advanced Photoshop users will benefit most from this book.ItemID: 0761531637

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Review of Flash MX Complete Course [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

incorrect pictures, lack of filenames ("drag the main project movie file from the CD-ROM onto your desktop" - there is no file called anything similar so you have to guess), dead end instructions, lack of explanations or results. And that's just in the first session. Some of it you can go back and learn on your own by realizing their mistakes, but most of the omissions and errors are beyond correction. i've been banging my head on my desk trying to determine what i've done wrong, and figured i'd come to amazon to see what the reviews of the book were like. Glad to see i'm not alone. i've never given a book review before but had to save other starving artists like myself from wasting their money. This book is absolutely terrible.

Product Description
Exercises build gradually so that by the end of the book, readers will have created a Flash-based Web site that contains several Web pages.
* CD-ROM contains all raw files needed to reconstruct the project, plus "iteration" files for each session.

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Review of 1001 Photoshop Tips (Mac/Graphics) (Paperback)

This is not only the biggest book on my shelf, it has become the one I use the most often.

I like the tip format -- when I need a solution, I can turn right to the steps I need to perform.

Anderson's graphic arts skills shine -- he shows how to do cool things with simple operations and graphics (and photo images) anyone can create.

Anyone who uses Photoshop should own this book.

Product Description
Photoshop is a program that allows designers to manipulate photographic images for use in print or Web designs.1001 Photoshop Tips is the ultimate reference to guide you in doing just that.This is the only book on the market that is structured with a series of tips for small and manageable learning segments.You can begin with Tip 1 and work through the book, adding to your knowledge of Photoshop until you become an expert.Or, you can simply look up the tip that you need at the moment to get the most out of Photoshop as you use the program.This book grows with your skills, which makes it the perfect book for every Photoshop user's reference shelf!

About the Author
Andy Anderson combiners a rare blend of technical and communications skills, seldom seen in a university professor. Formerly director a four-state college school system, he designed, wrote, and implemented curriculum dealing with compute science, graphics arts, and the Internet. He has authored over 17 major titles in creative design (including one science-fiction novel, and a cookbook), written numerous articles for magazines and newspapers, appeared on NBC news as a computer consultant, and produced over 50 training CD's and DVD's. Andy uses his unique talents to work with and train designers fromFortune 500 companies to Hollywood studios. He is the owner of One-of-a-Kind Productions, Inc, a company specializing in speeches, advertising, animation, and multi-media marketing and advertising. He holds several degrees including: science, education, and history. While considered one of the top designer/trainers in the United States, his creative drive does not stop there... his talents range into the culinary arts, where he honed his skills in Europe. His latest cookbook: Cooking with a Plan, Volume I: Back to the Kitchen, will be on bookshelves in the Summer of 2008. When he's not touring the planet sharing his knowledge with other like-minded creative people, he enjoys staying at home in Wichita, Kansas, with his wonderful wife, Bonnie, and their two dogs: Herb Tarlic Jr. and Lovejoy. In the Spring and Summer months you can find him working on his next book or project, out by Koi pond, and staring at the fish, or teaching a creative cooking class. One of his favorite mottos is: Anything worth doing, is worth overdoing.

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Review of Complete Idiots Guide to Paint Shop Pro 7 (Complete Idiot's Guide) [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

As a long-time fan and user of Paint Shop Pro, I was delighted to see all the new bells, whistles and innovations in Version 7, but overwhelmed by the prospect of learning everything quickly enough while maintaining my enthusiasm.I did a lot of research before deciding on this book--especially since I usually turn to The Dummies Guides for help.However, in reading reviews of the many books on PSP 7 (both here on Amazon, and elsewhere,) Nat Gertler's Idiot's Guide was consistently praised and overall, more highly regarded than the others...so I decided to trust the opinions of the real folks like me who use this book.I was *not* disappointed.As soon as I unwrapped the book, I was in front of the computer exploring and (finally) understanding things that I hadn't been able to figure out on my own.

The text is easy to read, has good illustrations and tutorials, a sense of humor, and best of all, it's written in a lean, no nonsense style that lets me get right down to the business of creating.

IMHO, you only need one book to learn the basics *and* the exciting new features of this great program--The Complete Idiot's Guide to Paint Shop Pro 7 is a smart, economical tool for getting the most out of one of the world's best graphics programs:)

Product Description
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Paint Shop Pro X provides easy-to-follow, down-to-earth advice, tinged with humor that makes sense of both technology and solutions for beginning users. You can count on finding the information you need without being weighed down by unnecessary details or information that is over your head. New additions to the book cover Paint Shop Pro's new features, including: Enhanced interface features including a visual browser with adjustable thumbnail views, custom program preferences, multiple zoom levels (32:1 to 1:24), and a Recent Colors dialog window. Picture Tubes enable you to "paint" with high-quality full color graphics in patterns as both fills and lines of objects. Improved support for layers and masks, with numerous tools for the creation, editing, and management of vector, raster and adjustment layers. Intelligent photo enhancement tools such as red-eye corrector and scratch removal make photo manipulation faster and more efficient.

From the Back Cover
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Paint Shop Pro X provides easy-to-follow, down-to-earth advice, tinged with humor that makes sense of both technology and solutions for beginning users. You can count on finding the information you need without being weighed down by unnecessary details or information that is over your head. New additions to the book cover Paint Shop Pro's new features, including: Enhanced interface features including a visual browser with adjustable thumbnail views, custom program preferences, multiple zoom levels (32:1 to 1:24), and a Recent Colors dialog window. Picture Tubes enable you to "paint" with high-quality full color graphics in patterns as both fills and lines of objects. Improved support for layers and masks, with numerous tools for the creation, editing, and management of vector, raster and adjustment layers. Intelligent photo enhancement tools such as red-eye corrector and scratch removal make photo manipulation faster and more efficient.

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Review of Paint Shop Pro 8 Fast & Easy [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

This book is an easy read, and provides basic explanation of the key operations to be effective at a beginner or intermediate level of PSP8.The program is one of the most complicated to learn of any I have encountered, so someone relatively unfamiliar with graphics or previous editions of PSP would find this book very useful.It is much better at explaining the basics than JASC's manual, which I found quite difficult.PSP is such a complicated program, many people will need a guide to the basic functions, and this book fits the bill.Someone looking for instruction on advanced topics would probably find the text too basic.I give this an excellent recommendation for PSP beginners.

Product Description
This book covers how to learn to create graphic drawings, enhance photos and create animations. It makes Paint Shop Pro easy to learn with point-and-click instructions.

No heavy jargon, just helpful information. The user-friendly approach is ideal for beginners of Paint Shop Pro looking to enhance any graphics project, and experienced users looking to grasp the new features quickly.

About the Author
Diane Koers owns and operates All Business Service, a software training and consulting business formed in 1988 that services the central Indiana area.Her area of expertise has long been in the word-processing, spreadsheet and graphics area of computing as well as providing training and support for Peachtree Accounting Software.Diane's authoring experience includes twenty other books on topics such as PC Security, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Works, WordPerfect, Paint Shop Pro, Lotus SmartSuite, Quicken, Microsoft Money and Peachtree Accounting, many of which have been translated into other languages such as Dutch, Bulgarian and Spanish.She has also developed and written numerous training manuals for her clients.Diane resides in Indianapolis, IN.

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Review of Real World Adobe InDesign CS2 (Paperback)

The cover states that all features of the application are covered, and I can't claim to have discovered a gap. Each author (Kvern and Blatner) offers a deep perspective, and when they differ with one another, they say so. Thus the user gets two keen insights rather than themonolithic pronouncements so common in software books. This empowers the reader: a goal I try to achieve in my software classes. As I try to give my students enough information and methodology to make their own workflow decisions, this book does likewise. That is why I recommend this volume in my classes.
Be warned, however, that this is not a "how-to", or book of exercises. It is a reference. It is a perfect complement to my classes, but not a workbook for use during them. This gives the book usefulness well beyond the learning curve and into daily and even advanced use.

Product Description
You've mastered page design and can easily work your Quark magic. Now you are ready to take the plunge and switch to Adobe InDesign CS2 and you need to learn and start successfully using the award-winning software, immediately! Real World Adobe InDesign CS2 has all the industrial-strength techniques and time-saving tips you need to start laying out, proofing, and printing pages with InDesign CS2, without missing a beat or a deadline! You'll find everything you need here to master InDesign's advanced page layout tools, manage color, snippets, use the Bridge effectively, and more. You'll also find complete coverage of InDesign CS2's new features: Object Styles, Photoshop and Adobe PDF layer support, using InCopy, Smarter text handling, flexible XML support, and much more.Written by pros for design pros, this book has all the real-world, industrial-strength InDesign CS2 techniques that will make all the difference in your fast-paced production environment!

About the Author
Award-winning designer and illustrator Olav Martin Kvern has written for Macworld, Publish, and Adobe magazines. With Steve Roth, he wrote the Real World PageMaker (Random House). In addition, he has designed many books for Peachpit Press and is currently the scripting and automation guru for the Adobe InDesign engineering team. David Blatner is the author or co-author of 13 books, including the world's best-selling book on QuarkXPress. Blatner has over a half-million books in print in 13 languages, on topics such as QuarkXPress, InDesign, and Photoshop, including The QuarkXPress Book, Real World Photoshop, Real World Scanning and Halftones, and InDesign for QuarkXPress Users.

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Review of 50 Fast Final Cut Express Techniques (Paperback)

I just love the techniques in Tim Meehan's book. Even though I've used FCP for about a year, I learned more than a few things from these pages. (Fire-breathing dogs, anyone?) And, I've got to say that the author's creativity (some wacky techniques in here) really added to the enjoyment of learning. I just hope the publisher will create a new edition for FCP4.

Product Description

• Presents 50 fast, easy, and powerful effects that creative professionals and amateurs alike can achieve almost instantly with Apple's hot new Final Cut Express video editing software
• Proven step-by-step format, lavishly illustrated with "before" and "after" scenes from professional clips
• Includes masking techniques, creative use of colors and special effects, professional titling and rolling credit techniques, size deceptions, film-grain simulations, and much more
• Features in-depth discussions of features and techniques that help readers make the necessary adjustments for their own videos
• Reasonably priced Final Cut Express software is sophisticated enough for the professional, yet basic enough for the editing beginner or hobbyist
• CD-ROM is packed with all video clips from the book and valuable utilities

From the Back Cover
"If you are looking to maximize Final Cut Express, you won't find

a better guide than Tim Meehan."
-Dan Jahn, President, The Raven Group

Whether creating dynamite digital videos is your profession or just your obsession, Final Cut Express can enhance your projects. In this richly illustrated volume, computer graphics pro Tim Meehan shows you step by step how to use 50 terrific techniques to add that extra dimension of style and pizzazz. You'll learn them quickly, apply them easily, and discover you're amazed-and delighted-by the results you can achieve.

Your guide to amazing results with Final Cut Express

• Save time and gain focus with storyboards and shot lists
• Capture viewers' attention with creative use of colors, special effects, and size deceptions
• Enhance your video pictures with film-grain simulations, contrast correction, and soft-focus effects
• Add polish with rolling credits and professional titling techniques
• Improve communication with time and speed effects, superimposition, and text tricks
• Create "wow" with whimsical people and animals, matte windows in objects, doorways to the unknown, and more

CD-ROM includes demonstrations of the techniques explained in the book, full resolution video clips from Artbeats, and more

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