5 comments about DirectX 3D Graphics Programming Bible.

1. Why write a book about D3D RM. It's dead, Microsoft dropped it. Makes this book a big pass.



2. Although MS has halted work on D3DRM, and is instead working on Farenheit for the upcoming DX releases, ... It touches everything from history of video graphics, a review of WinAPI programming, 2d and 3d operations via DirectX.

   However, if you already have an extensive background on DirectX , Inside DirectX by MS Press would serve a better reference for the newest release of DirectX.




3. This book is an excellent introduction to 3D (and a 2D) programming for new comers (who know C++, of course!). If you have some experience in 3D programming, even in other 3D language, you will not learn many new things here. Although many of the fundamental issues of graphics programming are covered, itýs far from covering ýeverything- despite what the name implies.

   The first few chapters are an introduction to 2D and 3D programming in theory. Some important issues are covered, and youýre not bothered by too much mathematics, except some basic matrices manipulations. The next 1/3 of the book is devoted to 2D programming with DirectDraw. These parts are an important introduction and good basis for 3D programming.

   Only the second half of the book is devoted for 3D programming, using DirectXýs retrained mode. You might think that the retained mode is obsolete - but itýs much more simple and easier to grasp and program than the immediate mode ý and itýs similar to the basic implementations of OpenGL (the book covers this topic as well). So itýs great for beginners, and will be a good basis for your next steps in 3D programming.
   Among the issues covered here are textures, lighting, shadows, 3D animation techniques and more...

   The book is well written, and most of the explanations and the code are easy to understand, even for the very beginner. It is NOT filled with tones of code which the CD already contains. It does quote some documentation of functions/structs, which are already in the help - but only the really important ones. One problem is that the examples all the way are pretty basic ý The most impressive one is to rotate/zoom a teapotý You can definitely gather all the info you learned and make a big sample application ý but the book should already have included one.




4. I was very disappointed to read this book, because this book is
   talking about DirectX7.
   Even in 2000, when the book published, DirectX7 was already out of date. Now we use DirectX9 or 10.
   Therefore this book is useless for readers if they want to study 3D Graph programming



5. This book is great if you have no knowledge of graphics programmig, it guides you through the topics leaving nothing unexplained or unclear. Of course it is a bit old, so after this book you will probably need another one to get up to date. It is only about directDraw and Direct3D retained mode. I think that advanced readers won't find this book very useful, but again, for beginners it's very good.

5 comments about Object-Oriented Macromedia Flash MX.

1. Not formally trained as an OO programmer, it's something I've come in to over the years. Building applications in Flash MX (particularly if you are working with Flash Remoting or the Flash Communication Server) really requires an understanding of OO principles and practices. I've read a couple of books on the subject, and none have been as clear about building objects and classes in Flash as this one. It's clear, concise, and an easy read. It makes understanding how to make objects and classes in Flash MX a breeze.

   That said, the book doesn't really build anything useful. The menu system that is implemented is solid, if uninspiring. Covering small, OO applications that did more than simulate gravity and display very simple XML files would have made this book great.




2. I was in an ActionScript training class when the instructor mentioned object-oriented programming. He spent as much time explaining it as it takes to read this sentence. Somehow I know it was "the big picture" for success with ActionScript.

   As an ActionScript novice, it was important to me to learn the basics besides the "stop();" command. When you need to immerse yourself in a programming language, it is equally important to be shown the elements of building in that language as 3-dimensionally as possible. That's what William Drol does with this book. While he makes no assumptions about the user's skill level, he does assume that the programmer want to learn "the value of good planning and good coding". That's what I've learned from using this book.

   As a multimedia developer, planning is paramount. I believe this book will show you a way of thinking to help ease the planning process and make the discipline of coding easier. I look forward to working on future projects now in Flash MX, with the confidence of having Mr. Drol's book as a solid foundation and reference to guide me.




3. I always commend the efforts of strong programmers who write books tailored for those of us who are not.As designers we generally absorb and learn information in a totally different manner than programmers and this book addresses that fact well. Most programming books are incomplete because they leave out steps in thier explanations assuming that it's obvious to the reader at some point or another and Mr. Drols' book covers 98% of everything you need to know to understand the foundations of ActionScript and how it works. I am glad I bought it and recommend new users to read it and follow the tutorials thoroughly twice or more to get the most out of it. You will be able to write clean, reusable functions and code for your projects that you thought were impossible.



4. As a newcomer to Flash -- with some animation experience, and a tiny bit of scripting -- and a total novice at programming, I walked away from this book with a wonderful sense of confidence that I could learn how to achieve all of my goals for rich internet application development.

   I can't speak for anyone else, but I can say with absolute certainty that this book was the best decision I made in my internet education involving Flash. At the time of this writing, I'm already moving on to Flash MX 2004, because I started using Flash MX pretty late in the game... due to my loyalty to the now defunct Adobe LiveMotion.

   Since my understanding of graphics and animation was okay, this book took me to the next level, really allowing me to take advantage of the power of organized object-oriented programming in Flash. It taught me how to plan and organize my code, and which allowed me to reach goals I had never before believed I could achieve. I knew others were doing these things (probably with ease), but I didn't really think I could do it myself. This book changed my mind.

   Previously, I had been extremely limited, and was using very backward ways of accomplishing simple tasks. Now, I not only know how to program a bit, but I can actually understand all the tutorials I encounter online. Not only that, but this allowed me to get a handle on other similar languages, such as PHP, and C#.

   The author was extremely helpful and friendly, and offered tons of advice via email. He helped me figure out what type of server technologies were best, and now I'm not only using Flash 2004, but also C# and ASP.NET. I can't imagine where I would have been without his help, and without having read his book.

   Although I haven't had the luxury to read a ton of programming books yet, so far Mr. Droll is the very best technical writer I have encountered. He makes everything so simple, and he doesn't take any shortcuts. His code is clean, easy to comprehend, and very well explained (unlike some other books I bought which made it very difficult for me to understand the included code). This book is not perfect, but it's the best Flash MX programming book for novices I have ever read.

   Writing this review, and recommending Mr. Droll to everyone who might haoppen to read it, is the very least I could do to say thank you for writing such an excellent book, and for providing SUPERIOR personal assistance via email... and not even strictly regarding topics from his books... but about ALL programming topics. I have never encountered such a friendly, helpful author, and I am DEFINITELY going to buy his next book (even though he said he didn't write most of it, because he didn't have time). The book is called Object-Oriented Macromedia Flash MX 2004, which is the next version of this book.

   I'll be looking for further books from this author (if he ever decides to keep writing), and I highly recommend him to others as well. You can view his site at www.billdroll.com.

   All the best to you, Bill, and thanks again.

   Daniel




5. I couldnt read it all. It was just too much for me and all i read is non-fiction. What sucks is as I improve my programming skills the code in this book becomes more and deprecated. Fortunately the concepts are still sound.
   
   From what I did read of it though I was duly impressed.
   If you are all ready a programmer give it a shot - its not bad.

No comments about Computer Animation Dictionary: Including Related Terms Used in Computer Graphics, Film and Video, Production, and Desktop Publishing.

4 comments about Essentials of Flowcharting.

1. its a very good book , advise to read it



2. Someone wiser than us has decided that one should learn how to calculate manually before giving them a calculator. Supposedly this way they have an idea of what goes on in that little black box. Personally I am not interested n how it gets there.

   Following this logic, one should know the "Essentials of Flowcharting" before buying ABC Flowchart or its equivalent. Measure twice and cut once. This has lots of practical examples, unlike those toy charts you make at school.




3. Despite the growing mountain of programming code powering personal, mid-range and mainframe computers - not to mention the spreading virus of World Wide Web pages - there are few lessons available on how to flowchart that mountain.

   Boilet is a professor at a junior college in the Florida panhandle. He wrote a dozen computer books on software and programming languages inthe last two decades. This slim blue book is 154 pages long and combines programming along with flowcharting in the first three chapters. Only in chapter four, Structured Programming, does the reader get a plate full of charting. Here Boilot digs into the meat of flowcharting, covering flowchart modules like Sequence, Decision, Loop and Selection.

   Oddly enough, chapter five starts out withFile Processing, covering much of the basics required before chapter four. He introduces basic definitions and major chart shapes. Chapter 6 deals with arrays and gives flowcharting examples while the appendix gives programming examples and flowcharting exercises. A quick perusal gives brief answers, but little more than that.

   Written in 1995, the book does not even mention AS/400s, RPG, C++, JAVA or the Internet. No where does it deal with charting Web page functions, HTML routines or database relationships. Nor does the book deal with flowchart software in any fashion.

   Although the best selling charting software on the market today (what is number two?) the Visio manuals do not deal with mid-range or application programming except in a peripheral fashion. It is something that you can glean from the rear view mirror, but it is not what Visio is driving at.

   While Visio 200 for Dummies (Debbie Walkowski, 2000, IDG Books Worldwide) is a much better book for learning Visio than the ones that come with the software, this book does not deal directly with system or database flowcharting either. Yet, if you are using Visio for flowcharting, you will find information that is more useful in the "for Dummies" book, than you find in the Essentials of Flowcharting.

   In the Visio program folder are a number of flowchart samples (C:\Program Files\Visio\Samples\Flowchart). These help display a variety of charts without telling what they mean or precisely how they were created. Yet, the samples do not cover the same type of system flowcharting that the Essentials book covers. A few basic chart samples of system or database programming in the Visio program, or manuals, and you would not have to peruse the Essentials book at all.




4. I beg to differ with the other reviewer that blasted this book. But keep in mind this is my personal opinion just as the other reviewers was their opinion. I found the book to be enlighting where other books assumed you knew the basic unlying heart of the subject. Logic, simple algebra and algorithms. Its what I needed, I am a beginner.
   Although this is a used book and its a second edition which has references to punch cards which is a thing from computings' past. I got a lot of info to help me grasp the beginning building blocks to programming logic. Which my class text book " Logic and Structured Design for Computer Programers " by Harlod J. Rood for programming logic CIS 168 does not.
   This class is supposed to intoduce us to the logic not confuse us, and I find this "Essentials Of Flowcharting" By Boillot, Gleason, and Horn approach to be helpful. It explains things that are assumed you know.
   While you will not get any progamming specific info out of this book it will give some of the basics that other books leave out. Like the diffence between a variable and an expression. How a value must be assigned to variable like X before a replacement statement can be can be processed. Thus X=X+2 (to solve you must first be told that X=10) Then X=10+2 can be processed. The value of X after processing is 12 since X+2=10+2=12.And there are lots of simple flow charts to practice tracing or solving.
   Accumlation, sums, loops and answers to the flowcharting exercises. Oh a brief bit of BASIC statements.
   If your not getting it this book may help you. Or not, its always subjective, it helped me, it may not you. I find I often need a couple books to pick out the parts that increase my understanding of the concepts.And there are lots of simple flow charts to practice tracing or solving.

No comments about Exploring 3D Animation with 3ds max 7 (Exploring Series).

5 comments about Sams Teach Yourself DirectX 7 in 24 Hours (Teach Yourself -- Hours).

1. This book has a lot of negitive reviews, I would like to point out some things. Unlike many of the other "beginner" books on DirectX (take Windows Game Programming for Dummies as an example). This book does make a great effort to attempt to cover all aspects of DirectX, and devotes much of it's text to Direct3D. Nost books only cover select topics, most are broken up to: DirectDraw, DirectSound and DirectPlay.. or just Direct3D, this book attempts to do all this in 24 hours.

   The 24 hour bit can be a bit misunderstood. One can take it to mean a cover to cover read knowing nothing about topic or related topics in 24 hours (and this is very unrealistic) or one can assume the total reading time of the book will be 24 hours, this doesn't account for personal research and experimenting on the topics discussed.

   The book does only touch on many of it's topics, it could not be part of the "24 hour" book series if it did not, and you can read this book in 24 hours, providing you also add in at least 4 hours of further research (though the DirectX SDK documentation and samples) and personal experimenting for each hour of read time, you CAN walk away learning quite a bit.

   Learning DirectX takes effort and hard work, if you want a hand-holding book the ..for Dummies book I mention above is fantastic, if you want a good over-view of DirectX 7 that assumes you know what a computer is, what a compiler is, how to program in C++, etc... get this or some other more specialized book on DirectDraw or Direct3D.

   Only 3 stars because there are some errors in the text and samples and it can be a bit misleading as most readers of the "24 hour" books may be expecting something a lot more stright-forward.




2. I usually work my own code from the examples in the text, and don't even bother with the author's code on the CD. But after comparing my non-running code to the code in the book, and finding no difference, I resorted to grabbing the code from the CD just to compare it. Imagine my shock to find that the samples in the book didn't match the CD! He's got DirectX 4 code on the CD! So I changed his DirectX 4 calls with the DirectX 7 calls he gives in the text, and it didn't work! His own examples don't work! This guy should be told to compile and run his code before he releases it. And Sams should insist that the code on the CD matches the code in the book!

   And to make matters worse, each chapter builds on the last, so now how am I supposed to continue?

   Don't bother with this book. Find another book, a class or just read the documentation that comes with DirectX.




3. There were many things wrong with this book. From a lack of Windows programming (which in my opinion is very important if you are programming in windows) to incorrect code on the included CD-ROM, this book was a great letdown. Many of the examples pull code from previous chapters and do not let you know what you have to modify, which can cause a lot of confusion. The examples on the CD-ROM which are supposed to match the code in the book, are incorrect. Instead, they are writting in DirectX4, which makes things even more confusing.



4. I bought this book mainly for it's 3D section, but also to learn about DirectX in general. I had hopes of writing a simple 3D game (maybe even a 2D one), however it quickly became apparent that the Author has probably never used DirectX for that purpose!! I honestly found myself wondering, "Why else would you use DirectX if not for programming games?"

   I worked through a few of the lessons (attempting the 24 hour goal), however after the first few lessons, I just couldn't continue. The lessons were so damm boring. I mean - the whole point of DirectX is to bring games to life, if not games, then at least bring the screen to life! This Author killed any spirit I had to create a "laser gun battle while driving to a fight scene in my Hover-Ferrari dodging laser fire from monsters with laser-cannons grafted to their chests!"

   Instead we get a [bad] picture of a two dimensional, badly drawn taxi, moving to the left of the screen slowly (but smoothly), while the background moved a little bit and a sound moved from one speaker to the other. I mean really!!!! I have not seen a game like that EVER in my life - except for something designed for toddlers whilst learning to tell the difference between a horsy and a cow! Granted, this particular topic was only a demonstration of some DirectX techniques, but I had to wonder in what kind of game I would use these techniques? It just wasn't interesting at all - completely boring beyond belief!

   The most complex example in the book involved several textured buildings, with a single stationary car and a moving helicopter that you got to fly, except fly is the wrong word! It quickly became apparent that the Author doesn't know how to program the DirectX 3D stuff. When the helicopter rotated, the buildings changed shape! I was absolutely dumbfounded!

   SAMS put their name to this book, but instead of that being a good thing, it's now a warning label when I go shopping. Obviously SAMS do not require a high standard for their books, or their Authors.




5. i borrowed this book from a friend, and must note that there are SEVERAL SEVERE errors in Hour 5 (i havent got past it now)

   for instance, they modify the bitmap_surface function, yet do not disclose the new one, or how to modify the existing one to handle the RECT they've added... im not a new programmer, and i STILL cant get this working via the book...

5 comments about Introducing Maya 6: 3D for Beginners.

1. This book is an introduction to the 3D software Maya. The format was split between general discussion and step-by-step exercises. There is also a CD that included the exercise files and a copy of Maya Personal Learning Edition (PLE).
   
   First of all, I did find the step-by-step exercises to be quite frustrating. The steps could have benefited from more detail or even a few more images. I just found myself getting lost to easily. Sometimes experimentation or trial and error were the only ways to get through a particular step. I did spot a few errors - most related to entering values. Sometimes depending on the view (or perspective) the required values would be different. As a beginner, minor errors made things even more difficult then they already were. Surprisingly, the book's use of grayscale images didn't create any problems except on a few occasions. Ultimately, it took me a lot longer to finish the exercises and the book than I would have wanted.
   
   One of the reasons I got this book is that it included a copy of Maya PLE. But, the included version is only 5.0. Which is strange since the book is supposed to be an introduction to Maya 6. I couldn't get it to install anyways so I ended up just buying Maya PLE 6.0 from Alias.
   
   With the problems aside you will still learn plenty just by reading through the material. I found the general discussion to be excellent. There was plenty of good information about the animation production process and great insight about each topic. I was surprised to find out that one of my favorite animated comedies was created with Maya.
   
   Maya is a large and complicated program. The frustrating exercises just complicated things further. Especially since this is supposed to be an introduction to the topic. The exercises just needed to be a little clearer or more specific at times. The book may have been intended to be used with a formal class. In the end, and not without some struggles, I was still fairly introduced to Maya and 3D.



2. After reading the reviews of this book I was a little apprehensive but my fears proved baseless.
   I can confidently say that this book has enabled me to graduate to an intermediate level Maya user.
   The trick is to actually read the entire book in sequence and not just jump straight into the tutorials. I found the language used to be straight forward and easy to understand.
   
   If you are new to Maya, or 3D visualisation, then I would highly recommend this book.



3. I come from the computers/engineering field into 3D computer graphics. This was the first book that I read. The book delivers what it promises - it is a good first step for 3D newcomers. It is easy to follow - exercises are explained step-to-step wise and it covers the most basic features of Maya. The book prepares you well for the Alias-book Maya Foundations, which gives you enough background to start making small animated films.



4. Some people may find this book a bit difficult because of its style. The way this book works (besides for explaining the concepts very well,) is it teaches you how to do something and after taking you through it a few times, the author will tell you to do something based on what you just learned and you will have to do it on your own. So you really end up with first hand experience.



5. I am nearly done with this book and I must say that it has been a rather grueling experience at times. The author needs to improve how he writes his instructions. He'll tell you to do something but won't tell you HOW to go about doing it. And this book is for beginners? It has nothing to do with the software. Maya may have a high learning curve, but if you are willing to work hard at it everyday you will get through it. That said, it seems that the author was in a hurry to write this, and at times rambles on about nothing.

No comments about Visual Programming for HP-VEE (2nd Edition).

No comments about Exploring Flash MX 2004 (Design Exploration).

No comments about The Dictionary of Computer Graphics and Virtual Reality.