3D Graphics Books

The Essential Blender: Guide to 3D Creation with the Open Source Suite Blender

Roland Hess

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Blender is a free and open source 3D creation suite that is a real alternative to commercially available 3D design software. A cross-platform software package with millions of downloads annually, Blender is now one of the world's most popular 3D design tools.

Although Blender is free, it's intended for design professionals and others motivated to become 3D artists. The Essential Blender will provide you with the knowledge you need to help integrate Blender into your work and begin to master its powerful creation tools.

If you've never tried 3D design before, an introductory chapter will familiarize you with relevant terminology and concepts. If you're already experienced with commercial 3D software, The Essential Blender will get you up to speed with Blender quickly.

After a tour of Blender's 3D modeling, animation, and rendering capabilities, you'll learn how best to use Blender for these tasks:

Object manipulation and animation

Mesh and sculpt modeling and shape animation

Materials and texturing (including UV unwrapping)

Lighting and rendering

Particle animation

Character rigging and animation

Node-based composition

The book is modular in its approach, with each topic addressed independently and accompanied by hands-on tutorial sections.

The combined expertise of key members of the Blender community, coupled with the experience of editor Roland Hess, bring you The Essential Blender--the definitive guide to Blender. You'll find a wealth of 3D design information inside that will help you to unlock your artistic potential and get the most out of Blender.

Includes a complete version of Blender 2.44 on the CD-ROM. Covers Windows, Mac OS X, Linux (x86 and PowerPC), Solaris, FreeBSD, and IRIX.

Produced by The Blender Foundation. Printed and distributed By No Starch Press.

Introducing Character Animation with Blender

Tony Mullen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Very Fast Response from Tony Mullen 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I just received Introducing Character Animation with Blender. The book seems very well written and well illustrated. I have only made it through part of the first chapter, but if I don't learn character animation, it will be my fault, not the book's. Two amazing things: 1. The book had no CD. Nothing. 2. I fired off an email to Tony Mullen complaining about this fact. Within hours, I got a response, and an attachment containing the files I needed. You should definitely buy a book from an author who cares that much for his customers.

Editorial Review:

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.

Learning XNA 3.0: XNA 3.0 Game Development for the PC, Xbox 360, and Zune

Aaron Reed

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Editorial Review:

Do you have what it takes to become a game developer? With this hands-on book, you'll learn quickly and easily how to develop computer games with Microsoft's XNA 3.0 framework-not just for your PC, but for Xbox 360 and the Microsoft Zune as well.

Written by an experienced university-level game development instructor, Learning XNA 3.0 walks you through the framework in a clear and understandable step-by-step format. Each chapter offers a self-contained lesson with lots of illustrations and annotated examples to help you master key concepts. Once you finish the book, you'll know how to develop sophisticated games from start to finish.

• Learn game development concepts from 2D animation to 3D cameras and effects
• Delve into high-level shader language (HLSL) and introductory artificial intelligence concepts
• Develop three complete and exciting games using 2D,3D and multiplayer concepts
• Develop and deploy games to the Xbox 360 and the Microsoft Zune

While teaching XNA to beginning game developers, author Aaron Reed noticed that several key concepts were difficult for students to grasp. Learning XNA 3.0 was written specifically to address those issues. With this book, you can test your understanding and practice new skills as you go with unique "Test Your Knowledge" exercises and review questions in each chapter.

Why wait? Amaze your family and friends by building your own games for the PC, Xbox 360, and Zune-with Learning XNA 3.0.

"An outstanding book! Teaches you XNA development in a smart way, starting from 2D basics and going into 3D and shader development. What I really like is the 'peeling the onion' approach the author takes, which builds up knowledge from previous chapters." --David "LetsKillDave" Weller, CEO, Cogito Ergonomics, LLC, and former XNA program manager

AutoCAD 2009 & AutoCAD LT 2009 Bible (Bible (Wiley))

Ellen Finkelstein

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Editorial Review:

Even Autodesk developers keep this book on hand!

Eight previous editions of fans ranging from novices to Autodesk insiders can't be wrong. This bestselling, comprehensive guide is your best, one-stop, go-to guide for everything you'll need to master AutoCAD. Whether you're an AutoCAD veteran exploring what's new or a novice seeking to start with the basics and progress to advanced programming, every feature is covered. Start drawing today with the one book you need to succeed with AutoCAD 2009.

• Start drawing right away with the Quick Start project
• Draw, view, and edit in 2D, then add text and dimensions
• Reference other drawings and link data to objects
• Build, view, and present complex 3D drawings
• Customize commands, create shortcuts, and use scripts and macros
• Program AutoCAD using AutoLISP and VBA

What's on the DVD?

• Trial versions of AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD LT 2009
• Over 300 before-and-after drawings from working AutoCAD professionals
• A selection of helpful add-on programs
• The entire book in searchable PDF

System Requirements: Please see the DVD appendix for details and system requirements.

Bounce, Tumble, and Splash!: Simulating the Physical World with Blender 3D

Tony Mullen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

You need this book. Definitely. 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I ordered this book without much hesitation, once I discovered Tony was writing it. Having read his past book "Introducing Character Animation with Blender", I ordered this one without thinking twice. Now that this book is in my hands, I can't regret for my choice. The overall quality of the publication is impressive. Not only for the contents but also for the technical production: fine paper with color quality images. It's not common these days. The book is composed of 400 pages (7 chapters) plus an appendix and they are:

Chapter 1 - Re-creating the World: An overview
This chapter describes those tools and techniques that are not well explained elsewhere by the Blender literature. It covers topics like material creation with nodes, transparency, subsurface scattering, sky maps (sphere maps and angular maps) and those tools that can be used to fake physics, when accurate simulations are not necessary at all but you still need a "quick and dirty" method to achieve an effect efficiently and with sufficient speed (an example: water simulation with surface tension displacement or cloth simulation using a displacement modifier). Obviously, these techniques are useful for everyone involved using Blender. No doubt. Much appreciated.

Chapter 2 - The Nitty-Gritty on particles.
The first thing I thought after reading this chapter was:"WOW". *ALL* the latest development on Blender particles is covered here: emitters, reactors, positioning particles on a grid, chained physics systems, various types of visualizations, force fields (harmonic, magnetic, vortex, spherical, wind, etc.)
You will be guided through the creation of a convincing fire material using clouds and stencils textures! All is explained gradually and with great style. Highly informative.

Chapter 3 - Getting flexible with Soft Bodies and Cloth.
As you can expect, all that has been developed is covered here: baking, how to animate a spring, force fields and collision, using curves with softbodies (it will teach you how to animate a chain using an empty), stress maps, how to produce a fantastic cube of gelatin using lattices, simulating clothes. It will even explain how to use the demolition plugin to produce a window breaking in a spiderweb pattern!

Chapter 4 - Hair Essentials: The Long and Short of Strand Particles.
How to produce hair, fur and grass. After covering the basics, this chapter will guide you through the creation of an hairstyle on top of a practice head. One of my preferred chapters.

Chapter 5 - Making a Splash with Fluids.
One of the most interesting part of Blender: the fluid simulator. All is covered here: domains, resolution, inflow, outflow, fluid object intersection, kinematic viscosity, obstacles (considering animation, of course).

Chapter 6 - Bullet Physics and the Blender Game Engine.
One of the less undestood parts of Blender is certainly the game engine. So I was favourably impressed when I have seen an entire chapter dedicated to it. This chapter describes all the tools needed to produce hard bodies simulations, using the game engine and the powerfullness of the Bullet Physics Library. Actors, actuators, IPO curves, rigid body simulations with IPO curves, joints, ragdolls ... This is material that will be probably new to most Blender users.

Chapter 7 - Imitation of Life: Simulating Trees and Plants.
This chapter explores a few tools that can be used for creating trees and vegetation in general, like the L-System, ngPlant and Ivy Generator.

Each chapter is independent, so you don't need to read the book from the first page, with the exception of chapter 4, who strongly depends by the two previous chapters. This book is of course not intended for beginners. This book is completely updated with the latest Blender development and it covers the actual stable release. This is the documentation Blender needs. I highly recommend this book. It is well written, well presented, well structured and, most importantly, it's definitely fun!

Editorial Review:

Learn all about Blender, the premier open-source 3D software, in Bounce, Tumble, and Splash!: Simulating the Physical World with Blender 3D. You will find step-by-step instructions for using Blender’s complex features and full-color visual examples with detailed descriptions of the processes. If you’re an advanced Blender user, you will appreciate the sophisticated coverage of Blender’s fluid simulation system, a review Blender’s latest features, and a guide to the Bullet physics engine, which handles a variety of physics simulations such as rigid body dynamics and rag doll physics.

Advanced Maya Texturing and Lighting

Lee Lanier

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Excellent for Professionals 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I bought this manual to help me ugrade from Maya 7.0 to Maya 8.5 and it's become my most prized and relied upon resource. Every tutorial I've gone through has worked perfectly (no missing steps or errors so far), Mr. Lanier writes coherently & well, and each new topic is presented in a straightforward and matter-of-fact fashion.

As a professional Video Game Artist, I've reccommended this manual to our enitire company of 300, and will continue to do so to everyone else. In the past, decent documentation on the finer points of Maya has been elusive, but Mr. Lanier has saved us! I will be adding his other manuals to my library.

Editorial Review:

If you already understand the basics of Maya, the industry-leading 3D animation and effects software, you’ll be ready to move on to the sophisticated topics in this updated edition of Advanced Maya Texturing and Lighting. Detailed, easy-to-follow instructions will teach you the real-world production secrets that professional animators use to achieve amazing results. In the second edition, you will find extensive and updated coverage of the latest theories and trends in addition to an enclosed CD with exclusive content to help you sharpen your skills.

Stop Staring: Facial Modeling and Animation Done Right

Jason Osipa

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 39 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Breathe life into your creations

With detailed examples, high-quality professional images, and a touch of humor, this is the fully revised and updated second edition of Jason Osipa's best-selling book on facial animation. You'll learn the basics of design, modeling, rigging, and animation-while mastering exciting new techniques for stretch-and-squash deformation, advanced blend extraction, and the latest software tools. Walk through the author's detailed analysis of sample animations and discover how to add nuance and sophistication to your designs.

Full of insights drawn from years of professional experience, this book provides the focused and practical information you need to create believable facial animations.

• Learn visimes and lip sync techniques
• Construct a mouth and mouth keys
• Explore the process of facial landmarking
• Master the cartoon techniques of squash and stretch
• Harness the latest advanced blend extraction tools
• Create interfaces for your faces
• Understand skeletal setup, weighting, and rigging

Control faces with the book's powerful rig and learn how skin moves to make various shapes and expressions

Master powerful stretch-and-squash (and squoosh!) techniques

Featured on the CD
Fine-tune your facial animations with the techniques demonstrated on the companion CD. Content includes tutorial files, lip sync samples, models, textures, and more.

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

ZBrush Character Creation: Advanced Digital Sculpting

Scott Spencer

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

An awesome book! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

In a world flooded with basic introductory books on major 3D packages (cough*Maya*cough), Scott Spencer's 'ZBrush Character Creation: Advanced Sculpting Techniques', while quite a mouthful is a breath of fresh air. This is not a book that focuses on a pure beginner. Understanding the concepts of a 3D environment and mild experience with ZBrush are huge advantages in getting the most out of this book. That is not to say this book is not accessible to those who are not proficient in ZBrush. It covers many of the basic concepts, but covers them in such depth, that it would be easily overwhelming to a beginner.
The book begins by explaining the relationship to traditional sculpting techniques, to those applied while digital sculpting in ZBrush. This is one of the great strengths of the book. It covers not only the technical aspects of ZBrush, but also the artistic, the true driving force and advantage of ZBrush. From this initial chapter, you will then be lectured on such topics as; Sculpting Techniques, Detailing, PolyPainting, ZSpheres, and Displacement mapping, among many, many other topics I will let you discover for yourself.
Another great strength of this book is the mini-tutorials from various other artists that are added into the already information-packed pages. Contributing artists include; Cesar Dacol, Ian Joyner, Jim McPherson, Zach Petroc, Alex Alvarez, Ryan Kingslien, and Fabian Loing. Having all of these different techniques and perspectives on the art of digital sculpting, adds a lot of knowledge and expertise to this book.
I cannot say enough towards the value of this book. It is hands down the best ZBrush resource available in print as of this time. I hope that Scott and company with continue to share their extensive knowledge of the arts and of technology with the digital art community.

Editorial Review:

ZBrush's popularity is exploding giving more CG artists the power to create stunning digital art with a distinctively fine art feel. ZBrush Character Creation: Advanced Digital Sculpting is the must-have guide to creating highly detailed, lush, organic models using the revolutionary ZBrush software. Digital sculptor Scott Spencer guides you through the full array of ZBrush tools, including brushes, textures and detailing. With a focus on both the artistry and the technical know-how, you'll learn how to apply traditional sculpting and painting techniques to 3D art while uncovering the "why" behind the "how" for each step. You'll gain inspiration and insight from the beautiful full-color illustrations and professional tips from experienced ZBrush artists included in the book. And, above all, you'll have a solid understanding of how applying time-honored artistic methods to your workflow can turn ordinary digital art into breathtaking digital masterpieces.

Learning Autodesk Maya 2008, (Official Autodesk Training Guide, includes DVD): The Modeling & Animation Handbook

Autodesk Maya Press

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Resource 4 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a really cool learning guide. It is geared a little more towards people who have a basic understanding of the Maya universe. If you have never used maya at all, it may be a little confusing. I suggest playing with the interface and going through the "Getting Started" lessons included with the Maya software before getting into this book.. The dvd contains support files for the lessons in the book. It would have been nice if it had some video reference. The pictures in the book aren't the best guides, so unless you understand the text, you may find yourself using more creative freedom to complete the models than actual tutoring. Still, it is a great reference and gives you all you need to create some complete models to practice building and animating. Hope this helps.

Editorial Review:

Develop out of this world modeling and animation skills with Learning Autodesk Maya 2008 I The Modeling & Animation Handbook. Follow clear, step-by-step tutorials to understand the modeling and animation stages of production using artwork from the LAIKA short film Moongirl. Learn to build models with a variety of surface types and then make them move with a wide range of animation techniques directly from the makers of Autodesk Maya. You'll learn to make sound decisions from the beginning, to save yourself unnecessary challenges further down the pipeline. You'll learn how to model with polygons, NURBS and Subdivision Surfaces; understand skeletons and joint orientation; work with inverse kinematics, skin your characters; animate a complete scene including props, constraints, and characters; and much more. The bonus DVD includes free models from Turbo Squid, Autodesk Maya reference guides, and scene files to help you breathe life into your creations.

Mastering AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009

James P.E. Wedding, Dana Probert

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

AutoCAD 2009 Civil 3D Book 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The price for the book was better than any other that I looked at. The service and shipping was quick. The book will meet the needs that I have at this time. Thanks.

Good introductory book 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The book is good for someone just starting out, but it would be so much more helpful if it included more ways of solving problems you run into in real world and also identifying some of the software glitches that seem to be inherent with new software that hasn't been proven.

Editorial Review:

If you already possess some background in Civil 3D but want to broaden your understanding of this popular civil engineering software, Mastering AutoCAD Civil 3D 2009 will provide you with detailed coverage of advanced topics like surveying, LandXML and LDT Project Transfer, cross-sections, pipe networks, visualization, project management, and data shortcuts. Many of the featured topics and techniques, directly applicable to the civil engineering profession, are previously undocumented. Practical tutorials, tips, tricks, real-world examples and easy-to-follow explanations detail all aspects of a civil engineering project.