Books

The DV Rebel's Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap

Average customer rating:

Buy it. Read it. Make a better movie.
THIS BOOK STINKS!!!!
Tarentino better watch out.
THE book
The title says it all

The DV Rebel's Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap
Stu Maschwitz
Manufacturer: Peachpit Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Digital Compositing for Film and Video, Second Edition

ASIN: 0321413644

Book Description

Written by Stu Maschwitz, co-founder of the Orphanage (the legendary guerrilla visual effects studio responsible for amazing and award-winning effects in such movies as Sin City, The Day After Tomorrow, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), this book is a must-have for all those budding filmmakers and students who want to produce action movies with visual effects but don't have Hollywood budgets. The Orphanage was created by three twenty-something visual effects veterans who wanted to make their own feature films and discovered they could do this by utilizing home computers, off the shelf software, and approaching things artistically. This guide details exactly how to do this: from planning and selecting the necessary cameras, software, and equipment, to creating specific special effects (including gunfire, Kung Fu fighting, car chases, dismemberment, and more) to editing and mixing sound and music. Its mantra is that the best, low-budget action moviemakers must visualize the end product first in order to reverse-engineer the least expensive way to get there. Readers will learn how to integrate visual effects into every aspect of filmmaking--before filming, during filming and with "in camera" shots, and with computers in postproduction. Throughout the book, the author makes specific references to and uses popular action movies (both low and big-budget) as detailed examples--including El Mariachi, La Femme Nikita, Die Hard, and Terminator 2.

Customer Reviews:

Buy it. Read it. Make a better movie........2007-06-27

So you want to make a low budget (digital) action movie, right? Buy this book. Read it. OK, now you are going to either make a better movie, or spend less money doing it. It's really that simple. I work on low budget movies in Brazil, and when we say "low budget" we mean it; this book is a must-read piece of wisdom and inspiration. Not the most comprehensive, but sure to give you the right directions. In short, best 30 bucks I've ever spent on a filmmaking book (and I have spent a lot). Thank you Stu Maschwitz, for sharing all of this with us.

THIS BOOK STINKS!!!!.......2007-06-11

Ha, made you look. The heading was just an optical illusion designed to get you to read my review. As one reviewer put it, this is THE BOOK if you want a useful bible on doing action movies on a low budget. Just the introduction alone got me into it and I have not been able to put it down. Other reviewers pretty much sum up the meat of the beast. Just pick it up and read.

My only regret is that this book didn't come out in 2003, when I first started working on my own action low-budget (no-budget) flick and I'm still working on principle photography to this day. But then, it probably would've been a different beast. Also, it's primarily about After Effects 7, but I use After Effects 5.5 and 6.5. I'm sure I can still apply a lot of what he is talking about to these earlier versions though. I am so glad I got this book.

Tarentino better watch out........2007-06-09

This book gives the reader a great foothold in the world of action movie production. Effects, stunts, digital compositing, storyboarding, etc. It comes with a DVD of examples of the author's work and useful explanations of different effects from key action sequences as well as some files the reader can use in their own material. Plenty of useful information.

THE book.......2007-06-08

What a book! I think all has been said about it. If you like movies, if you like vfx&sfx, want to learn how to do it? Then you must buy this book.
Stu did a wonderful job of writing even complex stuff easy to read and understand. If he writes another book I will buy it based on the impression this book has left on me.

The title says it all.......2007-06-08

This is a great book, especially if you're just starting out. The narrative is friendly and easy to follow, and the DVD is loaded with extras (including the author's own film). It is, as the title says, an all digital approach to filming, editing in particular. This book isn't like others, in that it's strategy for keeping costs low is by teaching the filmmaker how to create nice production value using digital tricks in post. Nevertheless, there are tons of tips for the actual filmmaking process (great section about the dreaded airsoft problem). This is nice because it turns the book into a field guide as well. However, some of the sections are a little vague, often leaving the reader to figure out how he should go about creating an effect. Example: in the "Cleaveland for Paris" section the author talks about how to use digital mattes to create exotic backdrops for your film. But that's all he says. He never talks about just how one would go about doing this. That said, there is still a lot of great information that everyone can find useful, even if you do have to pick your way through it.

The Art and Science of C: A Library Based Introduction to Computer Science

Average customer rating:

Too bad printing...
Teaches "Roberts," not C
Two great books
The Art and Science of C
The Art and Science of C

The Art and Science of C: A Library Based Introduction to Computer Science
Eric S. Roberts
Manufacturer: Addison Wesley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0201543222

Customer Reviews:

Too bad printing..........2007-06-27

I was frightened when I opened the book... The characters in the book look like a copied-material of a very very old 8-pin dot-printer output...

Teaches "Roberts," not C.......2006-06-07

This book is annoying with the way the author asks the user to write programs using his custom library functions, as opposed to the standard C commands. Because of this, I did not learn about scanf until probably the 7th or 8th week of the C programming course I was in. I feel like that alone warrants a 1-star rating. If you buy this book, you will be learning to program in "Roberts," not C.

Two great books.......2004-09-14

I have read and worked through both of Eric Roberts books on C.
Of all the programming books I have read, and there are many, his two are the best.

My only regret is that he has not written books on C++.

The Art and Science of C.......2004-06-01

I thought this was a wonderful beginners book. It gave me the basics and then allowed me to go on and try new things by myself. By the end I really felt like I could write my own programs in C.

I only gave it four stars because I think five would have to be a textbook that really brought the information to life, while this one was rather dry.

The Art and Science of C.......2003-08-17

I borrowed this book from library and believed I had made a right decision.

Quoted from the book, Mr. Roberts have been teaching computer science for over 20 years, I'm not sure how long he has taught C language but I suppose this book is written in a way that he believes is most beneficial to the readers, based on his teaching experience.

C is a cryptic and complex language, so the author teaches in a stepwise manner, he hides the complexity by introducing his private libraries and data abstractions. So the readers implement the functionality of C, which is independent from the complexity of C; once the readers have enough grasp at C, they may move on to explore the complexity of C.

The author have done these with good intention because data types in ANSI C are limited in size, for example, the data type int is different from our perception of integer in daily life. The address operator & may be confusing as well.

How did I use the book? I rewrited all the examples presented in book without his private libaries. I did the exercises in the book without his private libraries as well. Instead of copying all his codes and getting them work, I tried to make errors: for example, in the simple hello world program, omitted the preprocessor operator #, then read the error messages. I also tried to improve the efficiency of my algorithm.

This maybe a good introductory book for people who have experience in programming in languages other than C since the syntax of C may confuse them, but owning it is not recommended.

Average customer rating:

An Obsolete Glance At A Classic Problem
one of three or four
A wonderful book!
An outstanding addition to my library
So you thought you knew how to envision information...

Envisioning Information
Edward R. Tufte
Manufacturer: Graphics Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0961392118

Amazon.com

A remarkable range of examples for the idea of visual thinking, with beautifully printed pages. A real treat for all who reason and learn by means of images. -- Rudolf Arnheim

Customer Reviews:

An Obsolete Glance At A Classic Problem.......2007-06-28

This is a short book, 126 pages. An interesting cursory exploration of the subject. However, it feels like it predates information technology (1990 predates the web by 5 years), and seems to have more in common with how to communicate elements of a hand-drawn map atlas if you were living in the 1700s than it has with using Adobe Illustrator to convey an idea for the web. I bought this book to see if it would help me as a web developer, and instead when it arrived I realized I got a weird coffee table book that feels like it was written in the 1960s, at the latest, to summarize that you can use different icons or pictographs of small size to communicate important ideas without words. (Sorry, I already gave away the story of the book.)

I know this review isn't going to get very popular marks, but, put simply, this book is probably good for professional or student pure designers, but it's useless for me. I honestly don't think the book targets web designers, but somebody here reviewed that it was "great" for web designers, so because of that remark I bought it. Sorry, but I don't see the applicability. But then, I only skimmed over the book before I put it back on Amazon Marketplace.

While one should normally never judge a book by its cover, in this case I think you should.

one of three or four.......2007-01-10

this is part of a series from tufte. he uses examples to describe techniques of visualization. if you do presentations to others or write reports that present complex data, several of his books should be in your library.

A wonderful book!.......2006-11-04

No designer should be without this book. I especially enjoy the historical accounts of information design. Of course hind sight is 20/20 so his redesigns seem obvious from our perspective.

An outstanding addition to my library.......2006-06-23

An outstanding addition to my library, Edward systematically explores the presentation of data showing the value of data rich content when it is properly displayed. After reading half the book, I couldn't sit through a presentation without coming up with at least 3 ways to improve it. The illustrations in the book are beautifully rendered and cover a diverse set of subject matter each as interesting as the next. The only topic concerning this book that I struggled with is whether or not to mark it up. In the end, as I do with all of my books I intend to refer back to, I did.

So you thought you knew how to envision information..........2005-12-10

I recieved this book along with the most excellent (almost a companion book) Visual Display of Quantitative Information, from my CEO. Since I work a lot with numbers and he had been stressing the importance of presenting data clearly and concisely.

I feel that, this book, more than being a guide to envisioning information is a book to appreciate charts.

Very beatifully produced, and a book which must reside on the bookshelf of any person working with numbers and information

Introducing Character Animation with Blender

Average customer rating:

excellent deal
Exactly what I needed.
Complete!!
Helpfull, but occasionally confusing
Comprehensive and genuinely helpful

Introducing Character Animation with Blender
Tony Mullen
Manufacturer: Sybex
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Programming | Games & Strategy Guides | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0470102608

Book Description

Let this in-depth professional book be your guide to Blender, the powerful open-source 3D modeling and animation software that will bring your ideas to life. Using clear step-by-step instruction and pages of real-world examples, expert animator Tony Mullen walks you through the complexities of modeling and animating, with a special focus on characters. From Blender basics to creating facial expressions and emotion to rendering, you’ll jump right into the process and learn valuable techniques that will transform your movies.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Customer Reviews:

excellent deal.......2007-06-13

This product arrived around a month from the day the purchase was made. the product arrived in excellent conditions, And I also found it{s cheaper than in other websites.

Exactly what I needed........2007-06-01

I've been learning Blender for a while now, piecing it together from stray tutorials and such, but with this very affordable book, I've found exactly what I needed. I already knew a lot of what the book covers, but it helped fill in some gaps that most online tutorials take for granted, and gave me a whole, more complete view of how to go about my business with Blender. I would definately buy another book from this author.

Complete!!.......2007-05-19

That was the first word from me about this book after reading it... from the modelling of your character, troubleshooting, poly-by-poly, extruding box modelling, particles, curve edition, to rigging, animation, actions, IPO curves, lightning, textures... to hints about maximize workflow, using of datablocks, and many, many other things... and more! analises about the making of Elephants Dream, Plumiferos, and even tips for those trying to get into the world of animation.

This amazing book, approved by Blender Foundation president Ton Rosendall, cames with a DVD with all the files you will need to do you tutorials and exercises (or to start from a more advanced one, if you want), many animations, rigs ready to use, and many applications (Blender included) for Linux and Windows.

A must have for experient and novice people alike!

Helpfull, but occasionally confusing.......2007-04-04

I haven't gotten near finishing this book, but so far it has been extremely helpful. I've learned a lot reading it, and that was what I hoped for. It's definitely a great buy for blender users.

Comprehensive and genuinely helpful .......2007-04-02

I am very pleased with this long-overdue guide to character animation with my favourite tool, Blender. The trickiest technical aspects of animating with Blender have never been documented and illustrated as well as they are here. Covers all the most recent boosts to functionality including the Modifier system and Sculpting tool.

Programming 16-Bit PIC Microcontrollers in C: Learning to Fly the PIC 24 (Embedded Technology) (Embedded Technology)

Average customer rating:

We need more books like this!
A thorough workbook
Not Fly by Night!!
Other Technical Authors should take a page out of this book!
An Excellent Book for the 16-bit PIC Enthusiast!

Programming 16-Bit PIC Microcontrollers in C: Learning to Fly the PIC 24 (Embedded Technology) (Embedded Technology)
Lucio Di Jasio
Manufacturer: Newnes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0750682922

Book Description

A Microchip insider tells all on the newest, most powerful PICs ever!

FREE CD-ROM includes source code in C, the Microchip C30 compiler, and MPLAB SIM software

Includes handy checklists to help readers perform the most common programming and debugging tasks

The new 16-bit PIC24 chip provides embedded programmers with more speed, more memory, and more peripherals than ever before, creating the potential for more powerful cutting-edge PIC designs. This book teaches readers everything they need to know about these chips: how to program them, how to test them, and how to debug them, in order to take full advantage of the capabilities of the new PIC24 microcontroller architecture.

Author Lucio Di Jasio, a PIC expert at Microchip, offers unique insight into this revolutionary technology, guiding the reader step-by-step from 16-bit architecture basics, through even the most sophisticated programming scenarios. This books common-sense, practical, hands-on approach begins simply and builds up to more challenging exercises, using proven C programming techniques. Experienced PIC users and newcomers to the field alike will benefit from the texts many thorough examples, which demonstrate how to nimbly side-step common obstacles, solve real-world design problems efficiently, and optimize code for all the new PIC24 features.

You will learn about:
basic timing and I/O operations,
multitasking using the PIC24 interrupts,
all the new hardware peripherals
how to control LCD displays,
generating audio and video signals,
accessing mass-storage media,
how to share files on a mass-storage device with a PC,
experimenting with the Explorer 16 demo board, debugging methods with MPLAB-SIM and ICD2 tools, and more!

· A Microchip insider tells all on the newest, most powerful PICs ever!

· Condenses typical introductory "fluff" focusing instead on examples and exercises that show how to solve common, real-world design problems quickly

· Includes handy checklists to help readers perform the most common programming and debugging tasks

· FREE CD-ROM includes source code in C, the Microchip C30 compiler, and MPLAB SIM software, so that readers gain practical, hands-on programming experience

Customer Reviews:

We need more books like this! .......2007-05-21

I just bought this book and managed to read through it over a few days. I must say that I'm very impressed by it! The book covers programming the PIC24 in C using MPLAB's C30 C compiler. It covers the PIC24 architecture and peripherals in as much detail as required by a C programmer as well as various non-ANSI C PIC24 specific addons available in the C30 compiler. It also includes a myriad of cool interfacing projects with minimal additional hardware (SPI EEPROM , 3 resistors for the video example flash card, PS2 interfacing e.t.c.) Finally it also introduces all the debugging tools available in MPLAB such as the simulator/logic analyzer and stimulus generator. This book is not for the absolute microcontroller / programming in C beginner however. Its target audience is embedded systems programmers considering to switch to Microchip's PIC24 family and EE students/hobbyists with some background in embedded systems/ microcontrollers / C programming.

A thorough workbook.......2007-05-13

The analogy with piloting aircraft aside...

This book takes a very practical approach, using the tools on the CD and doing exercises with C code. The explanations are clear. Be aware that though introductory, this is a technical book.

Not Fly by Night!!.......2007-05-12

This is an interresting and organized compilation of projects which walks you through the daunting experience of microcontroller use. I am an RF hardware engineer with little programming experience, but have worked on several projects which included microcontroller or DSP control. I've never touched an 8 bit device, but jumped directly into the 16 bit family. In my past experience, someone else has always done the controler functions. Lucio presents a methodology for someone without too much experience and a lot of desire to learn a very complex subject with the starting point in the 16 bit arena.

His use of C programming takes you through an easier learning curve than if you were to approach this with machine language. The Explorer 16 gives you plenty of practial applications to play around with the technology and monkey around with things yourself. The chekclists are invaluable. especially in the early stages of using the tools.

Perhaps the most refreshing thing I found was that Lucio personally answers emails and gives you educational insights if you ask him questions. I have taken on learning the PIC controller on my own and Lucio has helped me over a hurdle or two in this adventure.

One other note: The microchip applications team is ecellent. I have had a few issues with a real project using the PIC device and the local FAE stopped by on a number of ocassions to help troubleshoot both the HW/SW issues I couldn't overcome on my own. What better way to learn than with the guys who work with it every day.

Well Done!!

Paul

Other Technical Authors should take a page out of this book!.......2007-04-14

Lucio has taken what is often presented in a very complex way, and made it understandable. Each chapter ( lesson ) builds on teh previous, and by the end of the book, I was left with a much better understanding of 16bit micros, and I feel much more confident to attack some projects.

If you are going to get into 16bit PIC's, this is a must have book. I look forward to its sequel.

An Excellent Book for the 16-bit PIC Enthusiast!.......2007-03-23

There are many books published on how to program or use Microchip's PIC product in various application categories. For networking, Fred Eady's, "Networking and Internetworking With Microcontrollers", ISBN 0-7506-7698, Keith Curtis, "Embedded Multitasking", ISBN 0-7506-7918-2, and Creed Huddleston's, "Intelligent Sensor Design", ISBN 0-7506-7755-4, are but 3 of my favorites (there are more). This book is a deserving the serious PIC programmer's attention; that is, if you want to really use the PIC24 or dsPIC. This book does not is not written for the dsPIC, but the architecture is similar enough that, aside from the DSP engine, you can learn almost all of the non-DSP features of the dsPIC (save for a select few dsPIC features).

Lucio has managed to put together a real interesting collection of material to help you learn the PIC24 and in a fun way. Lucio's theme is "Learning to Fly the PIC24". The book addresses primarily C developers, with plenty of example code. Assembly programmers are not left out, however as the format of each chapter is: a flight plan, the flight, post flight briefing, and notes for PIC experts, and assembly language experts. Lucio is a PIC expert at Microchip so you will learn from the best. The book includes a CD-ROM with source code in C and the student version of the C30 compiler. The book is not written for "absolute" beginners. Some familiarity with assembly language and basic understanding of the C language. Prior exposure to the PIC architecture would be helpfull as well.

Part I is about the basics of the PIC24. Chapter 1 takes you through the basics of programming the PIC24; Compiling, linking, building a project, port initialization, and other tips and tricks. Chapter 2 introduces logic operators, while loops, timers and, a neat feature of Microchips MPLAB, the logic analyzer. Chapter 3 introduces do loops, variable declarations, and arrays. Chapter 4 discusses data types, optimization, testing, integer multiplication, and complex data types. Chapter 5 is covers interrupts, the secondary oscillator, and the real-time clock calendar (RTCC), Chapter 6 discusses memory allocation, the program space visibility (PSV), the compiler map, pointers, the heap, and C30 memory models.

Part II, chapter 7 takes you through he serial interface , parallel interface, SPI, read status register, writing to the EEPROM and the new nonvolatile storage library using the 25LC245 serial EEPROM. Chapter 8 is about more UART examples and a console library. Chapter 9 presents interfacing with the LCD using the HD44780 controller. Chapter 9 is about analog-to-digital conversion with a good example of using the TC1047 analog temperature measurement chip.

Part III is more advance material. Chapter 11 covers input capture, simulation, PS/2 interfacing (including key code decoding), and I/O polling. Chapter 12 is really cool and discusses techniques to interface to a TV screen or display using composite video. Chapter 13 is about mass storage using the SD/MMC card interface. Chapter 14 discusses file I/O, the file allocation table (FAT), the fopenM() and freadM() functions. Chapter 15 is the grand finale using the PIC24 OC modules to develop a WAVE file player using PWM output.

The reason I summarized the chapters, in detail, above is that the chapter titles do not do the chapter contents justice in title alone. The chapters are:

1. The first flight
2. A loop in the Pattern
3. More Pattern Work, More Loops
4. Numbers
5. Interrupts
6. Taking a Look Under the Hood
7. Communication
8. Asynchronous Communications
9. Glass Bliss
10. It's an Analog World
11. Capturing Inputs
12. The Dark Screen
13. Mass Storage
14. File I/O
15. Volare

Advertising by Design: Creating Visual Communications with Graphic Impact

Average customer rating:

Great starter for aspiring art directors.
So helpful!
Great info on designing ads

Advertising by Design: Creating Visual Communications with Graphic Impact
Robin Landa
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

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Cutting Edge Advertising II
Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads, Second Edition

ASIN: 0471428973

Book Description

A complete guide to the process behind effective advertising design
Advertising by Design is a brilliantly accessible approach to the creative process behind effective, memorable advertising. This full-color text provides a highly illustrative, behind-the-scenes look at developing successful ads for a variety of media-including print, television, online, and guerrilla advertisements-empowering students to find creative solutions.
Advertising by Design encourages students to push past the obvious design choices to find the big idea! Dozens of celebrated ad campaigns demonstrate such concepts as the visual and verbal relationship, visual metaphors, creating unified campaigns, and many others. Fully supplemented with interviews from esteemed creative directors and chapters on developing imaginative ideas, copywriting, and advertising history, Advertising by Design is a perfect text for beginning and intermediate advertising design courses and core courses in all visual communications programs that incorporate advertising concepts and design strategies.

Customer Reviews:

Great starter for aspiring art directors........2007-06-10

I'm an advertising professor, and I've used Landa's "Advertising by Design" for three different classes when teaching an Introduction to Advertising Design course.

The book is clearly written, organized well and rich in contemporary examples. Landa does a good job of discussing the problem-solving aspects of the art director's daily grind. And she very quickly establishes that there is a significant difference between graphic design and advertising design.

In her next edition, I'd like to see a section dedicated to ideation, perhaps talking about SCAMPER, non-linear brainstorming and other tools to help the student develop a good conceptual foundation. But, overall, I would recommend this book without reservation.

So helpful!.......2006-03-20

Finally a book about advertising that helps the reader understand how to develop relevant concepts as well as design! There are so many great examples of concept categories and so much excellent info on how-to create a cohesive campaign. The info on guerilla advertising and TV is very helpful.

Great info on designing ads.......2004-06-04

Fantastic guide for idea generation, designing unified ad campaigns and creative approaches. Very valuable information and great examples of award-winning ads and ad campaigns. Really interesting info about ad history that I didn't learn in college!

3ds Max 6 Animation and Visual Effects Techniques (Graphics Series) (Graphics Series)

Average customer rating:

Very good overview
Poor Animation Quality
Worst looking renders I've seen in a published tome
Terrible Book
Terrible

3ds Max 6 Animation and Visual Effects Techniques (Graphics Series) (Graphics Series)
Sanford Kennedy
Manufacturer: Charles River Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1584503343

Book Description

3ds max? 6 Animation and Visual Effects Techniques is a completely updated version of this best-selling book. It covers 3ds max 6 and provides an organized and thorough process for integrating all of the features of max to create, animate, render, and finish an animation project. Beginning with a review of the essentials, users learn about all of the key features used in animation and visual effects, including the fundamentals of animated filmmaking, and then work through detailed tutorials covering modeling of buildings, environments, humans, and aliens. Once they have created the models, the animation techniques are explored, including character setup with bones, lip sync, facial expression, and walk cycles. From there the process moves to scene animation, visual effects, materials and textures, event-based particles, and lighting and rendering. The book ends with detailed chapters on character studio® 4, combustion® 3.0, reactor® 2, Mental Ray® 3.2, and the Shag Hair and Dynamic Effects plug-ins. Anyone interested in learning an efficient and practical process for creating animated environments and films will find what they need here.

Customer Reviews:

Very good overview.......2006-08-14

Contrary to some of the other reviews I think this is a great book; it's one of the only books I've found that gives a "complete" overview of the film-making process with 3ds Max. While the content may not be in it's final stage; I think the major problem most would have with it is the fact that it claims to be professional work instead of merely educational examples like most books. I've always found its better to learn with "real" examples, so while I don't know how good the film would do they are excellent learning tools.

Poor Animation Quality.......2005-12-28

Kennedy's book teaches some basics but the quality of his results leaves alot to be desired. It makes you wonder why he would slam the incredible 3D done in Final Fantasy when he isn't even in the same league and probably never will be. The illustrations and textual layout are not as clear as they should be. If you want to learn the basics, you can get something from this book. However, a good book shows you how to get good results. The results he achieves in this book are subpar.

Many other books do far better.

Not recommended.

Worst looking renders I've seen in a published tome.......2005-01-30

I'm stunned that the author claims to have success in this industry given the absolutely horrible work he passes off as being professional in quality. I'm very serious that I have not seen such poor quality in ANY other book. I teach 3D and have seen much better work from novice students. My only conclusion is that the author completely lacks the capacity to be self-critical of his own work given that he obviously believes his film-in-progress merits serious consideration. Do not be misled into thinking that any of the work shown in this book would be acceptable commercially.

Terrible Book.......2004-11-19

This book misses a lot of what it teaches by not including much of what you see in the book (models, etc....), I agree with most of the other reviews here, I have this book that is why I do not recommend it, better get the book by Barrett Fox on 3DSMax6 on how to complete an animation project. That is a great book.

Terrible.......2004-07-02

When i saw the firt pictures of this book, I was totaly chocked.. After 2 years using 3ds max, I was able to do much beter than Mr kennedy.. The rendering and the effects in the book are totaly ridiculous..

Even the cover has no connection with the book.. verry bad.

Last thing, the web site is full of error and never updated.

Please buy another book ! Like 3ds max 6 by Barrett Fox..

Black Art of Visual Basic Game Programming

Average customer rating:

awsome
Extremely basic primer for new Visual Basic programmers
Excellent book (mainly for VB4.0)
Buy It for yourself and for a beginning Friend!
Awsome!

Black Art of Visual Basic Game Programming
Mark Pruett
Manufacturer: Waite Group Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Programming | Games & Strategy Guides | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Build Your Own PC Game in Seven Easy Steps: Using Visual Basic
Visual Basic Game Programming with DirectX (The Premier Press Game Development Series)
DirectX 8 and Visual Basic Development
Visual Basic Game Programming For Teens
Game Programming for Teens (Game Programming)

ASIN: 1571690050

Customer Reviews:

awsome.......1999-06-11

i have not yet read the book but from what i have heard it sounds like it is just what i need to make my first vb project

Extremely basic primer for new Visual Basic programmers.......1999-02-04

I would recommend this book as an excellent introduction to Visual Basic. It covers a lot of fun subjects, including sprites, backgrounds, animation, sound effects, scrolling. But it is not at all advanced enough for seasoned programmers. Newcomers to Visual Basic might appreciate its coverage of a few basic Windows API functions, but there are really no general-purpose wrapper functions that are suitable for building a game library. Indeed, the book covered each subject separately, when it would have been more useful to build upon previous subjects. As a result, I was disappointed to find at the end of the book there was no "game programming library" like I expected. I really wanted a function to generate the "mask" images for animating sprites, instead of having to draw the masks manually. The book discussed this, but I could not find a good working example that I could use. However, building the library in VB from all of the examples on the CD (the book covered 16-bit VB3) I was able to paste together a shoddy game library. All in all, great intro to VB...poor coverage of game programming.

Excellent book (mainly for VB4.0).......1998-12-06

When I first got this book, the latest edition of VB was 4.0. This book was anything and everything you could possibly need. Without this book, I would never know VB like I do today!! If you are planning on buying this book now and you are using a 32-Bit version of Windows, then you will need to change some of the lines of the API code, but otherwise this is an excellent book!!

Buy It for yourself and for a beginning Friend!.......1998-12-05

Well, this is just about as good as they come. It gives code AND examples. One word describes this book: Perfect

Awsome!.......1998-12-05

This book is essential for any beginner to slightly advanced programmer! Everything about it was good. Don't Listen to others who say the code doesn't work, Yeah AFTER you add some gibberish to it it won't but everything works and the book is GREAT

Design Graphics: Drawing Techniques for Design Professionals (2nd Edition)

Average customer rating:

Design Graphics is a must-have

Design Graphics: Drawing Techniques for Design Professionals (2nd Edition)
Peter A. Koenig
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Drawing | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Sketching and Rendering of Interior Spaces
Interior Design Visual Presentation: A Guide to Graphics, Models & Presentation Techniques, Second Edition
Drawing and Designing with Confidence: A Step-by-Step Guide
Color Drawing: Design Drawing Skills and Techniques for Architects, Landscape Architects, and Interior Designers, 2nd Edition
Perspective for Interior Designers

ASIN: 0131137018

Book Description

This unique book emphasizes hand-drawing as a design skill, demonstrating this drawing as a mental as well as a physical exercise. Utilizing this book will enable the practitioner to make design decision on paper faster and easier, and will let them know how visual communication with clients can provide better, more economical design solutions. Practical, straightforward, and reader-friendly, this book covers such topics as sketching line, light, texture, and materials; design drawing, including the 5-step bubble flow and conceptual doodles/diagrams; and perspective and rendering techniques, including 1pt. and 2pt. âeyeball’ methods, âoverlay method,’ and entourage. An excellent refresher for professional designers and architects, as well as a primer for those employed in any related field.

Customer Reviews:

Design Graphics is a must-have.......2007-01-07

I had Peter Koenig as an instructor at Florida State University where he taught these terrific tools of the trade. I didn't realize how valuable they would be until I, myself, became a designer in the field. I will be teaching an Interior Design course on sketching this term and will be using the knowledge from this textbook to help my own students to perfect their ability to communicate their ideas to their clients. I have the first edition but would like to see the sencond as well. Thanks Professor Koenig!

Information Graphics: A Comprehensive Illustrated Reference

Average customer rating:

Keep this reference by your side to help your data tell its story
excellent reference guide for graphs/charts
A great source for graphical ideas.
Alphabetical arrangement not very useful
Encyclopedic Work About Data Presentation

Information Graphics: A Comprehensive Illustrated Reference
Robert L. Harris
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd edition
Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data
Envisioning Information
Show Me the Numbers: Designing Tables and Graphs to Enlighten
Thinking Visually: Business Applications of 14 Core Diagrams

ASIN: 0195135326

Book Description

This beautifully illustrated book is the first complete handbook to visual information. Well written, easy use, and carefully indexed, it describes the full rnage of charts, graphs, maps, diagrams, and tables used daily to manage, analyze, and communicate information. It features over 3,000 illustrations, making it an ideal source for ideas on how to present information. It is an invaluable tool for anyone who writes or designs reports, whether for scientific journals, annual reports, or magazines and newspapers.

Customer Reviews:

Keep this reference by your side to help your data tell its story.......2006-09-10

I think anyone who solves serious problems by analyzing data will want to own a copy of this book. Being able to organize data into the right visual image can often make no less a difference than that between seeing the answer to the problem vs. getting lost in the complexity and variation in the data.

This is a uniquely comprehensive encyclopedia of graphical techniques with just enough detail on each technique to help you choose the right one for each situation.

There are no long, detailed explanations of principles. What you get are a few illustrations of each type of graph, with a general description of the strengths of that particular technique and several variations to show how it could be applied to different situations which share some central similarity.

One review criticized the alphabetic listing of the techniques, which is a reasonable critique in general. However I think the weakness is mitigated significantly by the way the graphs are grouped together into broad categories once you get to those. The alphabetically listed individual headings are mainly for cross-reference. It seems clear to me that the book wasn't intended to be read from front to back alphabetically, but that the reader would have a rough idea what sort of graph they needed, would start with the heading for that category, and then when neccessary, would refer to the cross-referenced section alphabetically.

In any case, I found it useful to place sticker-tabs on the pages for the main categories of graph that I care most about, and use those tabs as my starting place for choosing the right graphic. There are about ten broad categories of graphs I usually care most about, such as bar, area, column, line, and point graphs, control charts, statistical distribution charts, and time/activity charts. In addition there are about another dozen or so big categories of topics about graphs in general, such as choosing the right aspect ratio, the right font, and the right scale.

Don't get the wrong idea here, none of these topics is covered in great detail, this book is wonderful *index* to visual techniques for showing data for operational purposes but it is not a detailed how-to or an academic treatise on the individual techniques. Also, the book is not intended for creating flashy presentation or marketing graphics, nor does it cover argument maps, truth maps, or any other single sort of conceptual maps in any great detail (although it does touch on the topic in general).

A welcome bonus is that the bibliography is particularly well selected, and not just a list of popular books on graphs. Some of his references are difficult to get and I suspect that some of these sources may even out of print, but some of them like Tukey's work and William Cleveland's texts are well worth searching for.

This is an indispensible encyclopedia of operational information graphics for helping you to help data tell its own story in its clearest and most revealing light, whether you are trying to manage the quality of a process or track down the source of a problem. The examples are extremely well chosen and representative, and the explanations are concise and helpful in a way that lets you use this as a quick reference and not just as a textbook.

excellent reference guide for graphs/charts.......2005-10-14

this is an excellent book if you are working with different types of graphs or charts. we use it as the bible while programming gui tools to create graphs. if you are looking to make meaningful graphs, this book can clue you in to the different types of graphs that will best illustrate your data.

A great source for graphical ideas........2004-11-17

This book is 400+ pages, and I would estimate it contains
5-10 graphics examples per page. If you've got "writer's block"
and can't think of a new way to graphically present your data,
then this is the book for you. Just thumb through it until
something catches your eye, and then read the details about
that kind of graph. Maybe not 100% 'comprehensive' as the
title implies ... but pretty darn close! ;)

For people like me who have to do a lot of different kinds
of graphs, this book is a great resource to have on your shelf.

Alphabetical arrangement not very useful.......2004-10-15

Three stars is perhaps harsh, but this book would be much more useful if it had been structured differently. Open this book
and on the first page the entries start rolling: "Abscissa", "Abscissa axis", "Abstract graph", etc. Most readers will be
exhausted before reaching the letters D or E...

Having compiled this exhaustive list of information graphics, one would expect the author to provide some kind of an
overview, guidelines, or some useful grouping of the different types of graphics. The closest thing to such insights is
found in the brief preface (pp. 4-5) and the "Graph" entry (pp. 164-177).

I have to disagree with the reviewers describing this book as helpful "to select the best graphic or chart to convey
information in the most efficient way". When you "turn to this book and and pick the most appropriate graphic type", which
alphabetical entries are you going to look up? And which entries are you going to miss?

This book does serve a purpose as a catalogue and a 4 page bibliography, but the best books for learning how to create
informative and efficient graphics are those written by Edward Tufte and William Cleveland.

Encyclopedic Work About Data Presentation.......2004-07-27

This is not a how-to-book. Harris has written a definitive book about data presentation. Topics are organized alphabetically and cross-referenced. Almost every entry is accompanied by illustrations and sometime many of them. I have other books that describe data presentation but they are incomplete compared with Harris's book. I have not seen such an array of presentation illustrations in one place before. Some of the illustrations show plots that I frequently use with interesting additions; for example, the diagonal in pairwise scatter plots typically names variables, Harris has an illustration with histograms for each variable on the diagonal. What a great idea! Almost everyone knows how to construct pie charts. Harris's discussion of pie charts is six pages long. After a brief introduction, he gives a description and terminology, general characteristics, methods to incorporate descriptive and quantitative information, reference angles, showing changes over time, varying the size of circles proportional to the overall value of the data, highlighting slices of the pie, improving legibility, grouping sections of the chart, using pie charts instead of histograms, encodeing additional quantitative data, adding depth, overlapping pie charts, decographs, belt charts, and cirlce graphs. Who could have imagined that lowly pie charts were so versatile and communicative? Some have dogmatically asserted, "Pie charts are a very bad way of displaying information." Although I generally agree, Harris has given me much to think about and I will not be so averse to using them in the future.

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