Books

Welcome to Oz: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop (VOICES)

Average customer rating:

Great Book
A cinematic approach to imaging
Best PS book for photographers EVER
Very helpful insights
Required plug-ins outdated

Welcome to Oz: A Cinematic Approach to Digital Still Photography with Photoshop (VOICES)
Vincent Versace
Manufacturer: New Riders Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Perfect Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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Similar Items:

Skin: The Complete Guide to Digitally Lighting, Photographing, and Retouching Faces and Bodies
George DeWolfe's Digital Photography Fine Print Workshop
The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers
Lighting and the Dramatic Portrait: The Art of Celebrity and Editorial Photography
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers,The (Voices That Matter)

ASIN: 0735714002

Book Description

Creating memorable photographs is a process that starts before you edit an image in Photoshop, before you capture the image, even before you pick up the camera. You must first approach the subject with the proper sense of perception, with the ability to visualize the finished print before you commit a scene to pixels, but still be flexible and spontaneous. Master Fine Art photographer Vincent Versace has spent his career learning and teaching the art of perception and how to translate it into stunning images. In Welcome to Oz, he delves into what it means to approach digital photography cinematically, to use your perception, your camera, and Photoshop to capture the movement of life in a still image.

Adapt your workflow to the image so you always know how best to use your tools
Turn a seemingly impossible photographic scenario into a successful image
Practice âimage harvestingâ to combine the best parts of many captures to create an optimum final result
Create black and white prints that have the look, feel and ârichnessâ of traditional silver prints without ever leaving the RGB color space

Customer Reviews:

Great Book.......2007-06-10

I really loved Welcome to Oz. There are so many photoshop books that are great user handbooks or technical effects books, but few bother to approach the subject of photography from the standpoint of an artist or explain the artistic rationalizations for using one effect over an other. While this book provides many useful photoshop "tech tips", it also helps make the reader a better photographer and visual artist in general. Learning the "how" of photoshop techniques is something that folks can do easily from a wide range of sources, but explaining the "why" of photoshop techniques is something that few books explain as well as Versace's.

The fact that a photographer of the caliber of Versace is willing to "pull back the curtain" (to stay with his Oz reference) is highly commendable and shows deal of security with himself as an artist.

A cinematic approach to imaging.......2007-05-28

I experienced a presentation by Vince Versace on this topic at PhotoShop world convention last fall-06. This book is both a great companion to the presentation and a full course in its own right.

I have worked in the film industry and was curious to see how he would handle the beautiful quality of lighting that we experience watching a well crafted movie.

Unfortunately most photographers have never been behind the scenes of a feature film production. The expertise and equipment that goes into beautiful lighting is at times immense. Most amateurs and even some pros do not have the resources to duplicate that quality of light. Now with Photoshop it is possible to approximate it.

Mr. Visace does at great job in giving us a software digital solution. Truly shooting it in great light in the first place is preferred. The better the source file the more enhancement is possible and the less correction is needed.

It is nice to know we can have a second tool for recreating it if our budget, time, and expertise do not allow us to get it right in the camera.

The only down side is Mr Versace's personality is very dominate which at times may cloud the readers view of the material Mr Versage is so passionate about teaching.

Best PS book for photographers EVER.......2007-05-16

This book is awesome. It is my new photography Bible. It is not a Photoshop tutorial book. It is a philosophy book that teaches you how to envision your photos before you take them, how to strategically take the photos, and THEN how to use Photoshop to refine the images to your original vision. It is not a book for the latest/greatest Photoshop tricks, nor does it have any place in a School of Journalism. It is a book by an artist, for artists who want better artistic photographs.

Very helpful insights.......2007-05-14

Vincent Versace is a very talented photographer and "Welcome to Oz" does a great job in sharing his vast experience with his readers. I particularly learned a lot about the importance of lighting and how it can significantly impact an image. This book is as much a guide to the "philosophy" of picture taking as it is a revelation of raw technique and I liked that about it.
If I were to change one thing however, it would be the choice of images used in the book to demonstrate the various techniques. Versace's website has a wealth of really outstanding photographs and I would have preferred that he used images other than the ones in his book. I did not find the picture of the model in front the fence particularly interesting nor the one with the leaves of different shades. This somehow took something away from the enjoyment of doing the exercises in the book but I was still able to get a handle on the essence of each chapter.
All in all it was well worth the purchase and I feel that I am that much better a photographer because of this book. I shall always keep it for ongoing reference.

Required plug-ins outdated.......2007-05-08

The content is excellent. Be forewarned though that if you are running an Intel Mac with Photoshop CS3, the plug-ins he provides (Nik Skylight and Contrast Filters via download from Nik) will not work. Unfortunately they are used in most of the lessons.

Apple Pro Training Series: Encyclopedia of Visual Effects (Apple Pro Training)

Average customer rating:

Provides the building blocks to VFX with Shake.
Fine book
A most complete textbook for VSFX...
great reference material
Good Contribution

Apple Pro Training Series: Encyclopedia of Visual Effects (Apple Pro Training)
Damian Allen , and Brian Connor
Manufacturer: Peachpit Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Apple Pro Training Series: Shake 4 (Apple Pro Training)
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Apple Pro Training Series: Motion (Apple Pro Training)
The DV Rebel's Guide: An All-Digital Approach to Making Killer Action Movies on the Cheap

ASIN: 0321303342

Book Description

This is the ultimate recipe book for visual effects artists working in Apple Shake, Adobe After Effects, and Apple Motion. An impressive lineup of Hollywood and independent effects pros have pulled together this compendium of the coolest and most useful effects from A to Z ("Adding Clouds" to "Z-Depth Effects"). The book includes everything from practical everyday commercial techniques to breakdowns of well-known shots from blockbuster films. Readers learn to create light sabers from the artists who created them for Star Wars Episode 3; learn to freeze time from the wizard who invented the effect for The Matrix; and learn to create matte paintings from the pros who did them for Lord of the Rings. Coverage includes rotoscoping, painting, warping and distortion effects, dramatic lighting, adding lightening and fire, matchmoves, 3D CG integration techniques, advanced blue- and greenscreen techniques, and much more. DVD-ROM included. Foreword by Ron Brinkmann.

Customer Reviews:

Provides the building blocks to VFX with Shake........2007-06-27

Four stars. A fifth star would have been earned for a better indexing or cross-reference. Otherwise a top notch, very informative book.

I have experience with film making and with Editing on Final Cut Pro. I was new to VFX, but I'm not anymore after reading this book!

Having seen Shake in action, I wanted to learn more. This books focus on Shake and the fact that a trial version ships with the book is the reason I bought it.

This book is a reference book. It explains, in detail, terms used in the VFX industry (clean plate, matchmoving, etc.) that any filmmaker or budding VFX artist will need to know if even just to communicate clearly with VFX professionals. The entries in the book are punctuated with walk-through tutorials that show you how to accomplish (in Shake) the specific effect. This is a good thing.

I had a project on my suite that needed some pretty hefty FX work. This book armed me with the right concepts and understanding so that I could plan the steps I'd need to take to accomplish the FX. In my case it was turning the request to "Make that person a ghost" into build a clean background plate, rotoscope the actor, invent a ghosty look, and then put it all back together. Until I had read the book and understood the individual steps involved, I didn't know where to begin.

Overall, this is a very informative reference book written in a witty and accessible style. It is VERY Shake oriented, which is, again, WHY I bought it. This is the kind of book an FX pro (or newbie) will reference many times as they work on future projects.

Fine book.......2007-06-07

I was already aware of most of the topics covered in this book, but it helped understand them better and be able to explain accurately to anyone asking. Its also well updated to current industry standards. its in no way complete as an Encyclopedia, needs future voulmes to do that.
In short-A text book for every student of visual effects.

Cons: The DVD files can be accessed only in a MAC (not for PC).

A most complete textbook for VSFX..........2007-03-08

My humble congratulations to the authors who have teamed up with Apple to bring us (my Visual Effects Dept. students and I) a most complete textbook. In my opinion, this book rates in the current top five of all serious resources in the teaching & learning of Visual Effects at the College and Graduate levels. In addition to that, for those of us teaching compositing and matte painting, I would rate this book as the current number one textbook on these topics. A must-read, for a serious student of the Art and Craft of Visual Effects.
Deepest respects,
Prof. Tan TASCIOGLU,
Professor of Visual Effects, Savannah College of Art & Design
SCAD-Atlanta campus.
(Review posted: March 2007)

great reference material.......2007-02-24

great book for beginner to intermediate level vfx artists. the book works exactly as the title says, as an encyclopedia or a reference on how to approach specific problems/challenges that a vfx artist usually faces in production.

Good Contribution.......2007-01-29

For those reviewers who are complaining this book does not cover Adobe After Effects or Final Cut Pro should consider one major fact: the title. It's an Apple book dedicated to Apple software. After Effects (strangely enough) is NOT an Apple product. Furthermore, Shake is Apple's premier visual effects software, and promoting it is in their interests. People are glued to either Final Cut Pro or After Effects (I find both endearing and quite wonderful), and Shake is left out in the dust, even though it offers many aspects other software cannot.

In any case, the book doesn't cover EVERYTHING but it does enough. If you want a step-by-step guide to all the possible effects, I suggest you write your own book after years of experience. Or, you can spend $500 for a collection of books which will undoubtably cover many of the same topics.

This book is a good find. Won't disappoint you if your expectations aren't unreasonable.

Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash 8 in 24 Hours (Sams Teach Yourself)

Average customer rating:

Good Info but...
Not worth it a nickel
Great book for beginner.
flash for dummy!
I recommend flash 8 24 hours.

Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash 8 in 24 Hours (Sams Teach Yourself)
Phillip Kerman
Manufacturer: Sams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 in 24 Hours (Sams Teach Yourself)
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Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Hands-On Training

ASIN: 0672327546

Book Description

Explore the depth and flexibility of Macromedia Flash 8 with Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash 8 in 24 Hours. Fundamental topics are presented one-by-one in a series of 24 one-hour lessons that will help you master the basics of Flash. Author Phillip Kerman, an internationally-known Macromedia trainer and multimedia expert, offers you a clearly-written, well-organized introduction to Macromedia Flash 8 without becoming too overwhelming. You will cover such subjects as:

Not only will you master the basics of Macromedia Flash 8 with Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash 8 in 24 Hours, you will also be better prepared to learn more advanced topics in the future.

Customer Reviews:

Good Info but..........2007-05-12

It takes FOREVER to get to the point and many times there is repitition over the instruction. Sometimes in the same paragraph! A good book that gives information yes, but it could easily have been cut to a third the size.

Not worth it a nickel.......2007-04-18

I bought this book last month due to some good feedbacks. But when I read, it seems the book is too much unnecessary words just to make it look thick but the actual content is thin. I would recommend to learn from the help section of the flash program itself. It's much more clear and right to the point not like this book. From there then google up and you will find a lot of more better tutorials than this book and best of all, it's free!

Great book for beginner........2007-03-18

Hi all, first of all, I just want to thank all the people who had written the comments on this book. It had helped me a lot in making a decision in buying this book. Thanks.

As for the book, I just got it. I am in Hour 2 and so far, it has helped me soooo much. I am new to Flash and I think this will be a great book for all the people who are new like me. I gave it a 4 stars rather than 5 since I haven't finished the book yet and can't comment on the whole book. But base on the first 2 hrs, I think once I am done with the book, my rating would be a 5 star.

flash for dummy!.......2007-03-17

u cannot finish this on 24 hours. I have Flash background but I finished "chapter 5" in 13 hours, which was supposed to finish in 5 hours. Sooooooo many text and difficult for ESL students. Not step by step and not too many graphic. No CD or resource files to do tutorials.

I recommend flash 8 24 hours........2007-03-09

I recommend Flash 8 24hours...I believe it will take more than 24 hours to get through the book. But it is a good buy and I found it helpful in understanding flash.

Learning Autodesk Maya 8|Foundation +DVD

Average customer rating:

Great, just one problem.
New to maya 8
Great way to get started, and a great compliment to any Maya class
Great!
Learning feels good

Learning Autodesk Maya 8|Foundation +DVD
Autodesk Maya Press
Manufacturer: Sybex
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Advanced Maya Texturing and Lighting
Introducing Maya 8: 3D for Beginners +CD
Maya 8 at a Glance +CD
The Art of Maya: An Introduction to 3D Computer Graphics
Mastering Maya 8.5 (Mastering)

Accessories:

3D Tools for Photographers, Illustrators and Graphic Designers
Maya 8 at a Glance +CD

ASIN: 189717733X

Book Description

This exceptional, full-colour Autodesk Maya Press title - produced by Autodesk, the software's creators - uses Sony's full-length animated "Open Season" for the book's all-new hands-on tutorials for Maya 8. By following the step-by-step tutorials, readers will learn the Maya interface and the basics of modeling, texturing, animating, and visual effects using real-world production files from a full-length feature film. The DVD provides further reinforcement with instructor-led tutorial videos and other resources for extended learning.

With this book readers will:

Become familiar with the Maya User Interface
Work in 3D space
Model with NURBS (Spline)
Model with Polygons
Set Keyframes and Motion Paths
Learn to use Trax Non-linear animation
Apply Forward and Inverse Kinematics
Deform surfaces
Set cameras and lights
Create Shaders and Textures
Discover rendering techniques
Explore particles and Dynamics
Begin to use MEL (Maya Embedded Language)

Customer Reviews:

Great, just one problem........2007-06-24

The book is great. I love it. The videos really helped me out with learning the interface and stuff, because that part was boring to read in a book. Anyways, I am only having a problem on one part of the book (Page 59) where I have to make a wire from the lamp to the wall. Now I don't know what I'm missing, but I just can't get it right. Can someone give me some pointers on that. I'm serious about learning Maya, and this one thing is killing me! Thanks, and I highly recommend this book.

New to maya 8.......2007-05-13

This book continues from maya 7, some updates and worth while just for the use of the fur and hair effects. Great book for those new to maya.

Great way to get started, and a great compliment to any Maya class.......2007-04-10

I'm taking my first Maya class after studying motion graphics for a while, and this book has been a tremendous help. It's very well written and the full color pages really help illustrate the variety of grids, CVs, selections and menu options, that would be very hard to read in a black and white book.

Maya can be a very intimidating program but this book really gets you very comfortable quickly with a general overview of tools and techniques, before getting in to the more thorough walkthroughs of modeling, skinning, rigging, and more.

My only criticism of the book is that occasionally when there are walkthroughs on creating the example models, despite the explanations being very thorough, there is occasionally a step skipped, which can be confusing but at those stages I've been able to figure it out. I can imagine how difficult it is to write a step by step tutorial for modeling a bear from a box so I'll forgive them here!

Great!.......2007-04-03

A beginner-friendly Maya book, smartly laid out, with helpful screenshots and Quicktime tutorials for us visual learners. Puts you on solid footing for more advanced study.

Learning feels good.......2007-04-01

I completed the first lesson in about 5 hours, which was really easy to follow along. No intimidation so far, but im ready to tackle my own project now. I wish there was better things to make other than a garage, bear, and a jeep. There was some other small stuff too. Maya is alot easier than it appears by its interface. Have fun, and get to know Maya....I like it.

Average customer rating:

a very good start
Photoshop Channels so much fun to use once you have discovered how to use them accordingly !
Best $20 I have ever spent
Innovative, clever, and insightful - a tremendous book.
One of the best and most useful Photoshop books!

The Photoshop Channels Book
Scott Kelby
Manufacturer: Peachpit Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Photoshop LAB Color: The Canyon Conundrum and Other Adventures in the Most Powerful Colorspace
Photoshop Masking & Compositing (VOICES)
Adobe Photoshop Restoration & Retouching (3rd Edition) (Voices That Matter)
The Photoshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)
Photoshop Blending Modes Cookbook for Digital Photographers : 49 Easy-to-Follow Recipes to Fix Problem Photos and Create Amazing Effects (Cookbooks (O'Reilly))

ASIN: 0321269063

Book Description

One big advantage Photoshop professionals have always had was the understanding of channels. It was their secret weapon, and it enabled them to do things, and work in an entirely different way than their competitors, and maybe that's why the secret power of Photoshop's channels has been such a closely guarded secret. Until now.

Award-winning, bestselling author Scott Kelby (Editor of Photoshop User magazine) shows you how to unlock the power of Photoshop's Channels and really start using Photoshop like a pro. But this isn't a book of theory and technical explanations, this is a step-by-step project-based book that will teach you exactly how to the pros use channels in their everyday work (Using channels is one of the secrets they use to get twice the work done in half the time).

You'll learn how today's top photographers and graphic designers employ channels to make impossible selections, to speed their production workflow, to color correct images, to mask images, to create stunning color to black and white conversions, and to do dozens of inside tricks that set them apart from the field. There's a reason there's always been a mystique to using channels, and why Photoshop users who understand and use them stay on the cutting edge. Now, their secrets are revealed using the same plain-English style that has made Scott one of the leading Photoshop authors and instructors in the world today.

You'll be amazed at not only what you're able with channels, but you'll love the competitive advantage that using channels will give you. If you're ready to take your Photoshop skills to the next level, you're holding the book that will take you there, and you're gonna love it!

Customer Reviews:

a very good start.......2007-06-30

This is a very good start to understanding what photoshop's channels can do to improve your photographs. Be prepared to give up a lot of your spare time revisiting old photographs that you will want to rework. After this book, if you want deeper understanding, follow Scott's advice and buy Photoshop LAB Color by Dan Margulis.

Photoshop Channels so much fun to use once you have discovered how to use them accordingly !.......2007-06-07

I found this book to be incredibly useful to me not having much knowledge on how to use channels in Photoshop.... defenately gives you so much more possibilites to expand your range of creativity and use of Photoshop may it be on your digital camera pictures or digital creative images of your own. I found this book to be very practical and not just "theoritical", it's fully illustrated with "tutorial" examples on how to use the type of channels depending on the result required in your image(color change,fast selections,sharpening, contrast.. and so on and that all with the use of channels)...which does help you work more efficiently and faster! and you can even download the examples of this book's tutorials (website link given to grab the images to work on) and follow the tutorials step by step on your own computer. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more on the subject.

Best $20 I have ever spent.......2007-05-28

I am a Graphic design student and consider myself in the upper amatuer catagory, before reading this book I knew how the channels worked and how to make basic masks. This book shows you how to make very complex masks very quickly, as well as grayscale conversions, spot colors and much more. Very easy to read compared to other books. Bar none the best $20 I have ever spent.

Innovative, clever, and insightful - a tremendous book........2007-05-12

Whether you're a casual Photoshop user or a seasoned veteran, Scott Kelby's Channels book should be one of your favorite Photoshop resources.

Channels are an often-overlooked Photoshop palette where your image's color info is stored as separate grayscale components (an RGB image, for example, has a Red, a Green, and a Blue "channel" in this palette). But Scott demonstrates far more than simply manipulating color information. He shows you techniques for sharpening, noise reduction, creating "impossible" cutout selections, color correction, compression optimization, and more. The uses for channels that you will find here are unique and innovative enhancements of Photoshop's capabilities. This book shows you such a range of possibilities that you simply cannot avoid finding something that you could really use for your artwork.
And it's accessible. It's a truly enjoyable book to read due to Scott's unique mix of tongue-in-cheek humor and down-and-dirty power tips that will have you understanding Photoshop in ways you never thought you would. (Good ways).

Because of the wide range of techniques offered and the skill levels encompassed, I recommend this book to almost anyone using Photoshop today.

One of the best and most useful Photoshop books!.......2007-04-22

I'd had this book saved on my Wishlist for many months but I put off buying it because of that first review (I've been burned by Photoshop books before). The person who wrote that review must be on some serious medications because this book is worth every penny.

Working with Photoshop channels was always a very intimidating task. I'd played around with them, but never seemed to make things happen as I wanted them to happen. Not anymore.

I'm just about through this book, and while I won't claim I'd be able to explain to anyone else how channels work, I can damn-sure claim to know how to use them.

Also,if you're tired of spending hours in quick mask mode, you need to buy this book. You'll not only make masks in a fraction of the time, you'll make better masks.... no, that's wrong, you'll make GREAT masks.

I'm kicking myself for letting that first review make me put off this purchase for so long. This book is trememdous!

Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Hands-On Training

Average customer rating:

Beginner Flash Programmers MUST Have This Book
Great Teaching Book
Good starting point
this book rules!
Great Book

Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Hands-On Training
James Gonzalez
Manufacturer: Peachpit Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 Hands-On Training
Macromedia Flash Professional 8 Beyond the Basics Hands-On Training
Adobe Photoshop CS2 for the Web Hands-On Training
Dreamweaver 8: The Missing Manual
Macromedia Fireworks 8: Training from the Source

ASIN: 0321293886

Book Description

Do you like to learn by doing? Do manuals leave you bored and craving real-world examples? Do you want to concrete training that goes beyond theory and reference materials? If so, this book is for you.

These hands-on exercises teach you to start creating Flash animations and interactive files with little effort. You’ll learn to create vector animations using a wide variety if drawing tools and Timeline effects, and add interactivity and dynamic content to your projects by using ActionScript 2, Components, and the Behaviors panel. You’ll also learn how to import bitmaps, sounds, and video to make your Flash projects more engaging, and find extensive coverage of the new Flash 8 features: the improved text tool, new text rendering engine, new graphic filters, and more.

Complete with insider tips, illustrated with detailed graphics, and accompanied by a CD loaded with classroom-proven exercises and QuickTime movies, this book ensures you’ll master key features of Flash 8 in no time.

Customer Reviews:

Beginner Flash Programmers MUST Have This Book.......2007-06-27

I was building a website, and wanted to add a Flash slideshow to it, but had no idea how to do that. I used the Flash tutorials that came with the program, but they were somewhat lacking in detail. I ordered this book from Amazon, and two days later it was at my door. I used the book from page 1, performed all of the easy to understand exercises, watched the included videos, and by the end of the month I was able to finish programming my website and publish it on the internet. This book made understanding Flash a breeze; I couldn't have completed my website to my satisfaction without it. [...].

Great Teaching Book.......2007-06-16

I've really enjoyed this book, it's very clear and too the point. Comes with videos where needed, a few more would be nice, but it's really enough. If you go through all the lessons, you will be generating websites in Flash pretty quickly.

Good starting point.......2007-05-24

This book covers the basics and guides you step by step through the basic functionality of FLASH. I recommend this book for Flash starters, who wants to get serious about FLASH down the track. This book is not suitable for FLASH pros though, but still can be regarded as a good reference.

this book rules!.......2007-05-12

I am using this book for my intro flash class and have come to find it invaluable to navigating the complex world of Flash design. Kudos.

Great Book.......2007-03-25

This book has really help me in understanding the basics of computer animation.
The tutorials are very easy to follow, and the pictures really help view the big picture.
Overall I would definitly recommend this book, to novices or professionals.

Average customer rating:

Wow
A Maya book absolutely worth owning
Great resource, lots of good information
Excellent !
The BEST book on the subject

Advanced Maya Texturing and Lighting
Lee Lanier
Manufacturer: Sybex
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Similar Items:

Learning Autodesk Maya 8|Foundation +DVD
Maya Visual Effects: The Innovator's Guide
Maya Professional Tips and Techniques
Digital Lighting and Rendering (2nd Edition) ([digital])
Maya Techniques: Hyper-Real Creature Creation (Maya Techniques)

ASIN: 047179404X

Book Description

Written by an industry veteran who has used Maya in such films as Mortal Kombat and Shrek, this full-color book offers advanced, professional-level techniques for texturing and lighting for rendering 3D models in Maya
Begins with an introduction of various lighting concepts, then offers readers detailed explanations of Maya's numerous hidden features so they can achieve amazing results quickly
Features an unparalleled exploration of Maya's Hypershade, where animators create connections between shaders, texture maps, lights, cameras, and geometry
Provides a thorough look at rendering in Maya, including everything from batch rendering to global illumination workflow and HDRI techniques
The CD-ROM includes the Maya Personal Learning Edition, textures, tools, professional shaders, and more

Customer Reviews:

Wow.......2007-03-09

This Book is just Perfect...it tells you EVERYTHING about the Lighting and the Texturing.... if you want to learn about that 2 things... Buy This Book NOW

A Maya book absolutely worth owning.......2007-03-08

Lee Lanier has approached the writing of his latest book with the same intensity, accuracy, and zeal that he demonstrated when he was my teacher at De Anza College several years ago. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of Maya, and of Maya lighting in particular. The material is laid out methodically and in great detail. Lee never glosses over a topic, but goes in depth to provide insight into the theory behind every concept. I highly recommend this fine book.

Great resource, lots of good information.......2007-01-04

I've read a number of Maya books over the past few years. Most focus on basic-intermediate usage. Lanier's book is a great resource for learning advanced tips and theory, with many color pictures. This is the best book I've found about using Hypershade nodes to build professional materials.

I particularly liked that the included DVD contains Maya project files for every scenario pictured in the book (although most of the cool models are not included, just simple geometric primitives). These project files contain great setups comparing different lighting and rendering settings. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in learning intermediate-advanced Maya topics.

Excellent !.......2006-11-18

I've been reviewing several books on this topic, and this one's a winner! It's specific and useful and goes into great detail about nodes in Hypershade and how to use them that the manuals don't.

If you're serious about reaching an advanced level with your Maya rendering skills, then this book is for you. Just buy it now, and you can thank me later! In terms of lighting design and the esthetic side of things, I also like the book Digital Lighting and Rendering, 2nd Edition by the Pixar artist Jeremy Birn, I think the idea to buy both of these together is an unbeatable combination for any serious Maya user!

The BEST book on the subject.......2006-11-12

Every other book on the subject pales in comparison. This text accomplishes what many of us have been waiting for in both a textbook for advanced students and a guide for experienced users. The explanations are clear and thorough; the examples are useful and extremely well thought-out. This is an instant classic.

Macromedia Dreamweaver 8: Training from the Source

Average customer rating:

A good book to have...
Great Introduction
Perfect for first time web designers
Macromedia Dreamweaver 8: Training from the Source
My review on Training From The Source

Macromedia Dreamweaver 8: Training from the Source
Khristine Annwn Page
Manufacturer: Macromedia Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Macromedia Flash Professional 8: Training from the Source
Macromedia Fireworks 8: Training from the Source
Macromedia Studio 8: Training from the Source
Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 with ASP, ColdFusion, and PHP: Training from the Source
Dreamweaver 8: The Missing Manual

ASIN: 0321336267

Book Description

Learn by doing! The lessons in this book guide you step-by-step through the creation of a project Web site, âYoga Sangha.â With Macromedia's official guide, you’ll learn how to use the leading, best-selling Web editor and gain a thorough understanding of how you can use Dreamweaver 8 to effectively manage and maintain Web sites, develop sites that are accessible to a wide audience, and work in an environment that integrates visual and code editing. As you complete the tasks, you’ll develop the skills and techniques that you need to create Web sites on your own. In addition to the basics of creating a Web page that incorporates text, graphics and tables, you'll learn about all that's new in Dreamweaver 8: visual authoring with XML data, advanced CSS support including a unified CSS panel and a style rendering toolbar, integration with the latest Web technologies and standards, and more. The companion CD-ROM contains all of the lesson files as well as a free trial version of Dreamweaver 8.

Customer Reviews:

A good book to have..........2007-05-29

As a newbie in web publishing (I've been in print for 16 years) I have yet to find a book or forum that is 100% beneficial. The forums are mediated by experienced web designers who speak their language and not the language of the beginner. Somewhere, someone (and I'd be glad to do it with proper backing) needs to write a book that says, 'Want to do (one simple function)? Use these commands. NEXT...' That would have saved me months of grief.

So I bought books and slogged through tutorials until I gleaned enough of what I wanted in order to design my pages. Tutorials NEVER cover exactly what YOU want to learn, so they can drag on forever.

As for this book, I thumbed through it at my local Borders and saw that it had a few interesting tips that I might employ in future pages. I buy books such as this even if there is only ONE tip I need, and it's worth it, even at the price some of these titles command (this also justifies Amazon Prime, by the way).

The book is from Macromedia which is a plus because you are learning the program from the company that created it. The bottom line is this: When learning this stuff, you need a reference library to depend on, and this book is a key player. Forums are great as long as the mediators are online late on a Sunday night when you're struggling to learn a new technique. Buy this book, buy lots of books and EXPERIMENT as you go...that's the best way to learn.

Great Introduction.......2007-03-30

This book is a great intro the basics of Dreamweaver, It will get you up and running quickly.

Perfect for first time web designers.......2007-03-13

This book works like a charm for people looking for interactive learning from the perspective of a novice.

Macromedia Dreamweaver 8: Training from the Source.......2007-02-13

Very good book for starters and someone who already worked with Dreamweaver. Easy to follow and good exercises. Covers many subjects very well. If you need to go deeper into the application you have a good base for it.

My review on Training From The Source.......2007-01-11

This is a very good book. It shows me step by step to use Dreamweaver 8.

Adobe After Effects 7.0 Classroom in a Book

Average customer rating:

Average Tutorial from Adobe
A must-have if you own After Effects!!!!
Good~
Life Saver
Great Hands on Learning, Mediocre Examples

Adobe After Effects 7.0 Classroom in a Book
Adobe Creative Team
Manufacturer: Adobe Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 Classroom in a Book
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ASIN: 0321385497

Book Description

The fastest, easiest, most comprehensive way to learn Adobe After Effects 7!

Classroom in a Book, the best-selling series of hands-on software training workbooks, helps you learn the features of Adobe software quickly and easily. Classroom in a Book offers what no other book or training program does--an official training series from Adobe Systems Incorporated, developed with the support of Adobe product experts.

Adobe After Effects 7.0 Classroom in a Book contains eleven lessons and a bonus DVD with lesson files. The book covers the basics of learning Adobe After Effects, and countless tips and techniques to help you quickly become an After Effects artist. You'll get thorough training in digital video effects and production as well as learn about After Effects 7.0's new features, including motion tracking, powerful animation and keyframing controls, HDR color support, network rendering, and more. You can follow the book from start to finish or choose only those lessons that interest you.

Customer Reviews:

Average Tutorial from Adobe.......2007-04-05

Actually this is about what I expected from Adobe. It's a basic instruction book for After Effects 7 that shows a beginner some of the mechanics of the program. The lessons pull the reader through the steps needed to produce the required results without much explanation.

As another reviewer noted, the examples aren't that good. Watching the sample movies before doing the lessons, you find yourself saying "And why would I want to produce something like that?" Or maybe "It takes over an hour just for that 10 second cheezy cartoon?"

After Effects is an extremely powerful program that's used by many professionals in countless video applications. Watch any TV program and you'll surely see the results of what After Effects can do. Much additional instruction beyond this official training book from Adobe, that you have to pay extra for, is obviously required to get the most out of After Effects.

I just got 2 more books,"After Effects" by Fahs & Weinman and "Creative After Effects" by Taylor. I'll see how they compare with Adobe's book.

Update: After reading "Creative After Effects" by Angie Taylor, this Adobe Classroom in a Book looks like a Pulitzer prize winner in comparison. Don't even think about wasting your time on Taylor's so-called "book".

A must-have if you own After Effects!!!!.......2007-04-01

I sat for a solid week trying to make sense out of the confusing owner's manual for After Effects, and never got anywhere. After just the first "lesson" in this book, I already knew my way around in AE smoothly, and then with each lesson, I was accelerating rapidly with knowledge. The official AE owner's manual will definitely be tossed into a dark corner for a long time.... this Classroom In A Book should be listed as a manditory requirement for learning how to use AE. It is very easy to understand and takes you through some very cool steps to help you create videos like the pros. Without this book, I would still have no clue as to how to function inside AE.....If you want to learn how to use AE in a flash, then you HAVE to buy this book!!!!! I recommend it 100%!!!!!

Good~.......2007-03-19

Haven't used the CD yet but book arrived in a timely matter and in good shape. Thanks

Life Saver.......2007-03-16

I had a project that I needed to start and finish in a couple of weeks. I had trouble learning it until I received this book. Very helpful. My only issue is with DHL. I paid for 24 hour service and got it in about four work days.

Great Hands on Learning, Mediocre Examples.......2007-02-19

The exercises in this book are extremely practical, and fantastic for showing a beginner how to begin to do some powerful things with After Effects in a hands on approach. For that the book is excellent. I do also like the appropriate amount of repetition and clear screen shots as well as references to shortcuts. The lessons are well written and concise.

The two main drawbacks in my opinion, are:
1 - The content of the examples is very mediocre. It would be much more exciting to do a network packaging rather then "Channel 5 News" over a still image.

2 - The book assumes you will be using Adobe Bridge for many aspects, which isn't necessarily always the case.

Overall a very thorough beginners guide to After Effects, that should get anyone doing basic production work or making art right away.

ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook: Solutions for Flash Platform and Flex Application Developers

Average customer rating:

The Missing Method();
Tasty Recipes for Everyday Actionscript Use
Standard O'Reilly goodness
Fast ramp up to Actionscript 3.0
Sometimes great, but sometimes redundant and too wordy

ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook: Solutions for Flash Platform and Flex Application Developers
Joey Lott , Darron Schall , and Keith Peters
Manufacturer: Adobe Dev Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Programming Flex 2: The comprehensive guide to creating rich media applications with Adobe Flex (Programming)
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Essential ActionScript 3.0 (Essential)

ASIN: 0596526954

Book Description

Well before Ajax and Microsoft's Windows Presentation Foundation hit the scene, Macromedia offered the first method for building web pages with the responsiveness and functionality of desktop programs with its Flash-based "Rich Internet Applications". Now, new owner Adobe is taking Flash and its powerful capabilities beyond the Web and making it a full-fledged development environment.

Rather than focus on theory, the ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook concentrates on the practical application of ActionScript, with more than 300 solutions you can use to solve a wide range of common coding dilemmas. You'll find recipes that show you how to:

Detect the user's Flash Player version or their operating system
Build custom classes
Format dates and currency types
Work with strings
Build user interface components
Work with audio and video
Make remote procedure calls using Flash Remoting and web services
Load, send, and search XML data
And much, much more ...

Each code recipe presents the Problem, Solution, and Discussion of how you can use it in other ways or personalize it for your own needs, and why it works. You can quickly locate the recipe that most closely matches your situation and get the solution without reading the whole book to understand the underlying code. Solutions progress from short recipes for small problems to more complex scripts for thornier riddles, and the discussions offer a deeper analysis for resolving similar issues in the future, along with possible design choices and ramifications. You'll even learn how to link modular ActionScript pieces together to create rock-solid solutions for Flex 2 and Flash applications.

When you're not sure how ActionScript 3.0 works or how to approach a specific programming dilemma, you can simply pick up the book, flip to the relevant recipe(s), and quickly find the solution you're looking for.

Adobe Developer Library is a co-publishing partnership between O'Reilly Media and Adobe Systems, Inc. and is designed to produce the number one information resources for developers who use Adobe technologies. Created in 2006, the Adobe Developer Library is the official source for comprehensive learning solutions to help developers create expressive and interactive web applications that can reach virtually anyone on any platform. With top-notch books and innovative online resources covering the latest in rich Internet application development, the Adobe Developer Library offers expert training and in-depth resources, straight from the source.

Customer Reviews:

The Missing Method();.......2007-06-28

This book has what appears to be many great animation solutions; however, there is a very important piece missing. The code that connects the packages in the book to your time line in Flash CS3 Actionscript 3.0.

Tasty Recipes for Everyday Actionscript Use.......2007-06-17

There is so much information packed into this book, it's hard to sum it all up. Basically, if you have an actionscript question from TextFields to XML or loading video to gradient fills it will be answered in this book.

Probably the best part about this cookbook is how well organized it is. You'll have no trouble finding the term you're looking for in the table of contents or in the index if it's something a little more specific. The answers fully answer the question without going on too many tangents. Sometimes it feels like they overexplain some of the examples because the example actionscript code can usually speak for itself.

I have a love/hate relationship with some of their answers because they choose to create a set of custom classes to solve some of the common problems. I appreciate how much time it saves to download their classes and then use their customs methods, but it almost feels like it's cheating to teach that you're supposed to use one of their custom classes to code correctly.

There seems to be some inconsistencies in the quality of the explanations as well. I imagine it's because there are three different authors contributing to the book. Some of the examples are brilliant, while others seem barely adequate. For example, the sound chapter has excellent examples of adjusting volume, pan, and pulling sounds out of the sound spectrum (which is a very exciting addition to Actionscript 3!) which wraps up with a three page spread of code showing a full mp3 application with everything you might want to do with it. On the other hand, there's the File Management chapter which seems choppy and mashed together and lacks a full package example showing a how all the code fits together.

Whatever way you look at it, there is a lot of value to this book. I know there's code in the book that I will only use once or twice, but I'm glad to know that it's there when the time comes to look it up. Although much of this information is available online, you will definitely save yourself hours of time by having this book handy on the shelf to pull out and quickly find the recipe you're looking for. Although not perfect, I still feel like this book deserves 5 stars because it stands out above the rest of the Actionscript books out there.

Standard O'Reilly goodness.......2007-06-02

This book is a great actionscript reference in the typical O'Reilly reference format.

Fast ramp up to Actionscript 3.0.......2007-04-11

This book was exactly what I was looking for: a reference-style book to quickly look up how to do something specific with ActionScript 3. It is for generally experienced developers that already know what they want to do and just need to see how it's done in with AS3 in the classic cookbook style.

There is no coverage of Flex or Flex Builder (perfect!). This is also not a tutorial book so you may need to look elsewhere if that is what you need.

Sometimes great, but sometimes redundant and too wordy.......2007-04-04

The authors for this book are all well-known, top-notch ActionScript developers and experienced authors. They've collected a nice set of tasks that are common enough that you are likely to want to know how to do them in ActionScript, but involved enough or cross-topic enough that you won't be likely to find them in the in-product documentation.

The book also has a very nice supplemental code library. This is sort of a mixed blessing; it's a download, so anyone can get it (not just people who pay for the book) and in several recipes the authors' solution is just to "use class X and method Y from the book's code library," without any explanation as to why the code works, or what it does under the covers. Depending on your coding style, you may or may not want that level of detail, but I'm the sort of person who does want it so it left me a little disappointed.

However, there's also a lot in this book that doesn't fit with my idea of what should be in the "cookbook" format book. In my mind, a "cookbook" is a book whose topics are more "edgy" or involved than what you might find in the core documentation. It should cover how to accomplish specific tasks that aren't easily figured out and aren't found elsewhere (again, especially not in the main documentation). It should also include "hacks" or workarounds to accomplishing things that aren't readily available using the built-in functionality of the language.

This book has plenty of those topics, but it also has a lot of topics that are covered well and in sufficient detail in the in-product help. To make things worse, often those topics are not just given a one-page-or-less "cookbook" treatment (which would be useful for those "I know I've seen it before but I can't quite remember what the syntax is" moments). Instead, they get the full four (or fourteen) page description, and you have to read through that description to extract the three lines of code that you actually need to put into your program.

In summary, I have mixed feelings about this book. When it's good, it really shines--the sections that go into more depth or into a more advanced topic than Adobe's ActionScript 3.0 documentation are really valuable. However, a significant part of the book is redundant with the documentation, doesn't cover it in as much detail as the built-in documentation, but covers it in so much detail that the benefits of the "cookbook" format are lost.

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