5 comments about Beginning Game Development with Python and Pygame: From Novice to Professional (Beginning from Novice to Professional).

1. Here's my Pro/Con Opinions about this book:
   Pros:
   - Very easy to read.
   - Great examples that actually work
   - Chapters 1 & 2 give a great intro to python, so this would actually be a good book if you've never touched python before (but did have some programming experience)
   - Lots of info using pygame+opengl
   - A lot of examples use his gameobjects library, so a lot of the grunt-work coding is available to use already.
   
   Cons:
   - My biggest complaint is the lack of discussion on Sprites. Pygame is really a 2D library, and I think he left out a lot of very important information by not discussing how the Sprite class can be used.
   - Only cursory discussion Sound. If you're writing a game and just want the basic sound effects and/or background music, this is ok. However, if you want to do something really interesting with sound, you'll need to dig way beyond what this book offers.
   
   Overall, I think the book is worth getting unless you've already done
   a few significant projects using pygame. It's definately an Intro
   book, and it does a really good job giving the user an idea how to put
   a project together.



2. I wanted to write some simples game for my 3 yr. old son and looking for starting point as I don't know anything about Game programming. I am halfway done reading the book and so far I find this book very useful. The chapters are well laid out and I feel encourages to read page after next, unlike some 500 pages books that goes too far to make one sleep or loose interest. I am assuming some advance game programmer may expect more but a novice like me found this book very helpful and I found the information that I was looking. I think both me and my son will make some use of the money spend on the book



3. I have to say up front that I fit the "Novice" part of the title for this book, but if the book is really intended for such an audience then my review may be helpful for those in the same situation... What I am a Novice at is Python and Device driven programming. Although this is really a very good AND much needed book for the much under documented Pygame library, it missed an excellent opportunity to provide a novice level tutorial in "device driven" programming as supported by Pygame. Although it is possible to muddle through to an understanding (much as I did) by thinking through the implications of the example code, it leaves a lot to be desired to provide a working basis for a real "Novice". As an example, the need to know the function of the lines of code "while True:" combined with "pygame,display,update()" and what they mean about the code that lie between them is really crucial to getting any code using the library to work at all. Although this is addressed to some extent, I found quite a bit of experimentation (on my part) necessary to discover what code needed to be included in this loop and what did not... I hope Mr. McGugan , with his excellent writing skills and obvious enthusiasim for this kind of work, will soon provide us with a second edition that will provide us with more insight into how Pygame actually works, so we won't be programming by rote...



4. I bought this book for my son a few weeks ago. He likes the book and finds it helpful. But the book is falling apart at the binding. Very disappointing.



5. Ch3-6 provide a nice introduction to the basics of writing simple programs in pygame. The example code in these chapters was clear and effective at demonstrating the particular topic. Overall this book was helpful to me in developing a pygame centric design flow for the programs that I am writing.
   
   I would recommend this book to help in jump starting your understanding of this useful python module.
   
   Bryce Himebaugh

2 comments about Character Animation with Poser Pro (Graphics Series).

1. Even if I don't own Poser Pro as yet I have Poser 7 and this also covers that. I see so few actions such as walking and lifting an object by way of animation. There's PoserFusion with Cinema 4D and I only have LightWave 9. Great showing of how to 3D motion reference video.



2. Learn how to bring Poser characters to life through a survey of the latest version of the 3D figure design software, which provides a fine introduction to methods, techniques and character development. Beginning to advanced Poser Pro users receive a survey on integrating animated characters into the 3D applications, including how to fine-tune results. All files needed to create the animations are included on a companion DVD, along with visual training tutorials. Very highly recommended.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

5 comments about Exploring Drawing for Animation (Design Exploration Series).

1. I have worked as an animator, teacher and fine artist for over 30 years and this is the first art text I have ever seen that discusses how solid drawing skill relates to creating drawings for character designs and 2D animation. Most animation `how-to' books include some drawing instruction but do not address the important bridge between drawing and animation.
   
   The authors present an entertainingly written book in an easy-to-read conversational tone along with illustrations that show the well-honed professional drawing and painting skills of this book's creators. It is obvious to the reader that the authors are seasoned artists and educators.
   
   While this book is predominantly for learners of beginning to intermediate levels, anyone with an interest in the interdisciplinary issues within animation and drawing would benefit from picking up this gem of a text. Unfortunately, the title of the book suggests that it covers the technique of 2D animation in-depth, but this is a misnomer. Fortunately, 2D animation is commented on in a more important context: the development of effective observational drawing skills that will produce better animation drawings.



2. I made the mistake of buying this book, and I would like to warn you guys please , please dont waste your money on this title...This book is nothing more than a long overview on drawn animation , It is not and I repeate it is not a how to book , although the authors have tried to present it as a text book, its no more than an introduction to animaton drawing ,the authors try very hard to explain drawing and go all blah...blah...blah....but they dont tell you what to do , whats mentioned in this book can be known via a simple search on the net.I would advice customers to buy a copy of, Vilppu Drawing Manual by Glenn Vilppu and Animation : The mechanics of motion by Chris Webster. These books are practicle , simple , cheaper and would prove to be a thousand times more useful to the animation student.



3. Oh my, where to begin...
   
   I posted some images of a few of the drawings from the pages of this book on the customer images link above. Feel free to take a look at those to see where I am coming from.
   
   The authors of this book need a few drawing lessons themselves, though I'm not sure that would actually help, because they're beyond hopeless. The drawings in the book are beginner level, amateurish drawings and it's really sad to see that these guys are actually teaching students in an art school.
   
   Aside from the obvious lack of personal drawing skill on the authors' parts, there is a lot of bad advice from an animation drawing point of view, like too much emphasis on measuring and copying the model and a completely misunderstood/misrepresented view of the all-important line of action.
   
   Stay away from this book. These guys should be ashamed of themselves for putting this crap out there.



4. I bought tis book a few years ago. It has some good stuff of how drawing relates to animation. It also sheds more light on to the process than a lot of books. However, after a few years of animation art school, I realized how bad the drawings were. If you want to learn about drawing for animation, check out Glen Vilppu's books. (he worked as a drawing instructor/trainer at some of the bigger studios in L.A.)



5. This book has very little to do directly with animation.
   
   Plenty of the drawing principles explained are quite valuable to an animator. Rules of proportion, anatomy, perspective, etc... that are the foundation of most any form of drawing, This book is a decent primer in these principles, although there are plenty of other books that cover them better.
   
   But if you thought you were going to learn the about drawing in the manner & style of 2D animation, think again. Clean-up style linework is only covered briefly and most of the examples of it aren't that great. Most of the art in this book is too rough to be suitable for animation, which is fine for life drawings, but the rest can be little more than conceptual work, which can come from any style of art, really. There's not enough structure taught to create usable artwork for characters, backgrounds or even layouts for animation.
   
   There's definitely things you can learn from this book, but you're better off finding them somewhere else.

No comments about Learning Autodesk Maya 2009 The Modeling & Animation Handbook: Official Autodesk Training Guide.

2 comments about The Essential Guide to Open Source Flash Development (The Essential Guide).

1. I saw one copy of this at Powell's Technical Books in Portland yesterday, and picked it up, figuring it was new. It was--just published in the last few weeks. I haven't delved into it as much I would like, but that doesn't matter here because I carefully reviewed the contents before purchase.
   
   So: why buy this book? If you're working with Flash and ActionScript 3.0 currently, you know the Flash world is a moving target that changes very rapidly, and the main reason for this is the addition of open-source tools and "classes." This book gives us a needed status-check on what's currently available, how to get it and how to use it.
   
   In my case, I was mostly interested in Papervision3D, the Google add-on that has rapidly gone from cute curiosity to must-have in every Flash developer's bag of tricks. However, you don't really need this book for Papervision3D--there's plenty of documentation available online.
   
   Likewise, if all you really want to know is how to implement SWFObject (a popular add-in that lets you update a Flash element by updating your html or external text file), or how to make Flex work with XML, you may not need or want this book.
   
   But if you like to read about some fun new stuff that's available and that you might like to explore--all of kinds of mashups, FUSE, HAXE, Red5 video--then grab this book right away. It's readable, fresh, and informative--like most Friends of ED books. Also like most other Friends of ED books, it will rapidly go out of date as the moving target moves on!



2. Open Source Flash Development is an excellent book for Flash developers that want to enhance their data-driven Flash applications. It covers the most essential about the so presently so used swfObject, AMFPHP, SWXPHP, Papervision3D, RED5 and many more! This book was indeed a must for me, therefore I strongly recommend it.
   Carlos Amaral (Lusoned Interactieve Media, The Netherlands)

5 comments about Photoshop CS3 Channels and Masks Bible.

1. The book does not come with the images used in the book. You cannot follow along and work on the images.
   THIS BOOK is a COMPLETE WASTE of time without the images.
   Who thought leaving out the images was a good idea?



2. When I first opend the book I was a bit dismayed as it seemed like a basic review of Photoshop information. This was true for about the first 145 pages or 30% of the book. Once I arrived at the channels and masks area, I found the book that I was looking for. The remaining 70% of the book, almost 350 pages, covered all aspects of channels and masks. There was significant information regarding power selections and the creation of masks, as well as clipping masks and the creation of selections in channels. Mastering channels and masks pushes the Photoshop user to the next level in terms of being a power user.



3. Stephen Romaniello's PHOTOSHOP CS3 CHANNELS AND MASKS BIBLE probes the heart of Photoshop's strength - and one of its potentially most confusing aspects. From using channels and masks for faster workflow and understanding how digital color is converted to working with single and multiple document selections and layering masks, this is a pick any serious Photoshop library can't miss.



4. I had really high hopes for this book at first, because it had a lot of pictures and step-by-step tutorials in it. The instructions *seemed* clear enough at first, but I'm now on page 335 and have grown increasingly frustrated with the left-out steps in the tutorials. I have only been able to duplicate about 35% of the tutorials; the others leave key steps out, and with my limited knowledge I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. There are sample images throughout the tutorials, and the some of the images don't match the instructions that are given. It's very frustrating.
   
   Another reviewer is correct in that the book doesn't come with a CD or provide online images so that one can follow along step-by-step, without coming up with one's own photos, and some of the images needed have certain prerequisites that make it difficult to just come up with a photo on the fly.
   
   I'm still trying to muddle through this book but I'm just as confused as ever by masks and channels.



5. As already stated, this book doesn't get going until you are most of the way through, a book on channels and masks shouldn't have to describe all the other nuances of photoshop especially as one shouldn't be diving into this area unless they already have a basic understanding of all the tools and bridge etc to begin with. However when it does get down to it, it does it well and I would still recommend it if you are a novice.
   As for the negative on Windows comamnds and the lack of Mac commands, come on! You only need to know two things to do it both ways already, Control=Command and Alt=Option/Alt key!! I for one am tired of reading the lines "Command on Mac, Control on PC" when every shortcut key gets mentioned in a book lately, just state the command equivalents at the beginning and get on with it!

2 comments about OpenGL(R) Programming on Mac OS(R) X: Architecture, Performance, and Integration (OpenGL).

1. This book has a lot of shining points. First, all its explanations are crystal clear, focused into the concepts and techniques OpenGL developers really need. Furthermore, the book comprises OpenGL architecture and configuration on OS X, and the various APIs we can use in order to create OpenGL applications, specifically, CGL, AGL, Cocoa, (our old buddy) GLUT, and X11 APIs. A chapter focused into API interoperability is also included. But there is much more information in this book: history notes, a germane review of Mac's hardware, OS X programming, compatibility between Mac platforms, and a discussion about OpenGL extensions. Appendices contain an useful Glossary and notes about Cocoa API for OpenGL in Leopard. Last but not least, the book is the OpenGL/Mac companion we were demanding.
   
   This, however, is not a book for starting to learn OpenGL (use the OpenGL SuperBible or the Red Book instead). This is a book aimed at two categories of programmers: Mac developers in general, and those with OpenGL foundations who want to explore the enormous benefits of OpenGL development on Mac OS X. I do strongly believe that any OpenGL developer will benefit of studying this great book.
   
   Personally, Chapter 11 is the one I've enjoyed the most. The technical wisdom revealed in such chapter almost justifies by itself the full cost of the book. It's such a fine chapter. The almost 5 pages covering the "Axioms for Designing High-Performance OpenGL Applications" are very interesting, particularly the care we must have when doing our OpenGL drawing in Object-Oriented programs; we could easily incur considerable glVertex overhead, if our code is not properly structured. The little tutorial section "Putting It All Together" includes a detailed optimization of an OpenGL program, "Please Tune Me". Delicious. Very Recommended.



2. The text describe the nitty gritty of coding or porting your OpenGL applications to the Mac OS X environment. To a limited extent, the book has a general treatment of programming in OpenGL. But it is not meant as a text on the latter. Instead the focus is on the "issues" that making for possible problems on OS X.
   
   One of which is that OS X has 2 types of windows, Carbon and Cocoa. It might perhaps be nicer if there was only one. But this is what you have to deal with. The Apple OpenGL (AGL) is the interface to Carbon, while you need the Cocoa OpenGL for Cocoa. It is slightly unusual that a major platform would have 2 types, and you may want to code just for one type. The book gives many details about both APIs, as well as the GLUT API. An evenhanded discussion. Different readers might well have different preferences.
   
   Some of you should check out the discussion about multithreading, if intensive graphics performance is needed in your applications. The OS X OpenGL engine is said to have much better performance due to its multithreading, than typical serial engines.

5 comments about Foundation ActionScript Animation: Making Things Move! (Foundation).

1. I will atest that this is a great book IF you are an actionscript junkie, but if your not you will hate this book. I was looking for a book to help my students with thier Flash animations and this book was way beyond where I wanted to take my students.



2. I was tasked with producing eight Flash simulations for an engineering dynamics course this past summer. I programmed the simulations using ActionScript with algebra and calculus introduced to control the behavior of a variety of objects -- no small task if you consider that I am an English teacher and not a programmer or engineer.
   
   By doing and redoing the problems posed by Peters, I could eventually understand them well enough to be able to program similar modules for my project. No idea seems too difficult for him to explain in a manner a beginner can understand, particularly with the working models at the FriendsofED.
   
   I purchased nine books on the subject at the beginning of the project. I ended up using this one more than all of the others combined.
   
   I also recommend his ActionScript 3.0. Being the same book written for two different versions of ActionScript, the two books give us a really good opportunity to compare and contrast the two languages.



3. Foundation ActionScript Animation: Making Things Move! is a surprisingly well-written book. I started with Flash 3, moved to server-side languages with Flash MX, and now, years later getting back into Flash has been a journey to say the least. This book, more than the five or six others I have purchased, has made the transition fairly easy.
   The author has done an excellent job in breaking down Flash math for those of us old school, tellTarget, gotoAndPlay, motion tween people. The best part of this book... the examples are error free. Which should go without saying, but in this day and age it is surprising how many tech books out there (their authors in a rush to publish) have irrelevant or incorrect example code. Highly recommended.



4. I'm only on chapter 5, but this book really lays out all of the tools you need to prototype and/or develop video games in Flash. At first I was a little upset because the author seemed to skip over some elements for the beginner, or rather the rusty flash programmer, but he explains just enough so that if you want to dig into it you can. This book probably isn't for the very beginner. You need to have had some Flash experience and/or some Flash programming experience to really get everything, but a couple of tutorials should be enough. Highly recommended.



5. I have read a lot of books, covering a lot of subjects. This must be one of the more complex subjects (trigonometry mainly), yet one of the easiest to understand. Keith Peters does an awesome job of explaining every little trig secret you never thought you needed to know.
   
   I was lucky enough to glance inside this book, just when I was starting with actionscript. I own this book for about a year now, used it's contents extensively and I'm still only halfway through; Busy exploring the possibilities from previous chapters while the most exciting stuff is yet to come. Seriously, there isn't a single chapter I'm not interested in.
   
   But the best thing about this book is how it breaks down all the fundamental concepts of movement into easy bits of math, so you're able to selectively use any one technique or a combinaton without having to untangle them from context or code.
   
   One of the most usefull and best written books I have ever read, you can not go wrong with this one!

5 comments about Physics for Game Developers.

1. If it wasn't for the poor code examples, I would have rated this book four stars.
   
   The problem is, instead of building new examples on previous ones, author has decided to repeat same code over and over again with only minor tweaks. This lack of generalization unfortunately obfuscates the point of the examples and (besides other instances of bad programming practice like abundant use of global variables or excessive copy/paste programming) makes me grind my teeth.
   
   However, the text portion of the book is written well. It's great introductory material to the subject.



2. If you wish to add more realistic environment interaction or object behavior to your games, you will benefit from this book. This book is much better for beginners than more recent books on the subject that maybe talk in more detail about game physics, but do so from the standpoint of some specific physics engine that the author has put together. I have personally lifted several pieces of code from this book, adapted them to Java, and placed them in a multimedia application I have been writing with no trouble. The book goes over the basics of adapting Newtonian physics to games, and then uses these ideas to set up the motion of simple projectiles, cars, hovercraft, and ships. 3D issues are also discussed at length.
   To be sure, you do not need to be a physics expert to learn something from this book, but it is assumed that you have a basic level of understanding of classical physics. Anyone who has taken high school or college level physics should have no trouble understanding the material. You should also be proficient in trigonometry and vector and matrix mathematics. Certain topics in calculus are also discussed, so some degree of familiarity would be useful, but is not required. However, a strong C++ programming background is required if you are to tackle integration of a physics system into your existing game engine. This book is a great starting point for readers who aspire to understand "Game Physics" by Eberly, which is far more advanced and academic in tone.
   I shall talk about the details of the book in the context of its table of contents:
   PART 1 - MECHANICS PRIMER
   This consists of chapters 1 through 5 and starts out with simple concepts such as Newton's laws and builds up until you get to rigid body dynamics. If you are already are up to speed on mechanics, you can skip these chapters.
   PART 2 - REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES
   Chapters 6 through 10 focus on modeling so that you have a solid understanding of the nature of certain physical systems. The craft selected were chosen because they best illustrate the specific physical phenomenon and concepts that are relevant to a wide variety of problems. The systems modeled are projectiles, aircraft, ships, hovercraft, and automobiles.
   PART 3 - REAL-TIME SIMULATION
   This field is discussed as it applies to games in chapters 11 through 17. These chapters focus on the fundamentals by walking through the development of the 2D simulation of hovercraft, a 3D flight simulation, a generic multibody simulation in 3D with collision response, and a simulation of cloth using particles and springs.
   The appendices show implementations in C++ of classes for vector operations, matrix operations, and quaternion operations. The book's bibliography provides information sources for mechanics, mathematics, and specific technical subjects such as aerodynamics. All of the code for the book can be downloaded from the book's website at O'Reilly and Associates. I highly recommend this fun and comprehensive book for anyone getting started in adding physics to game programs.



3. I would have rated this book as great, but:
   
   1 - Why in the name of everything that is good and wholesome would anyone use imperial units when writing about physics?
   
   2 - The code in the examples is appallingly bad. There are abundant global variables, poor comments etc...



4. It gives a decent coverage on 2D and math vectors before it jumps right into kinetics, rigid bodies, momentum, torque, etc. Other people complain about the junk C code used to explain things here, but I just care about the concepts and understanding them and the book meets that goal. So buy it if you are like me?



5. This book covers most of the physics problems that a game developer may face. From the basic laws of motion to car and aircraft simulation. It includes clear examples and formulas that can be implemented right away. On the more complex subjects, it also includes source code listings.
   
   I read this book expecting to get an insight into game and simulation physics and was disappointed. On most cases, the book gives quick introduction to the problem and then jumps straight to the equations. Therefore, if you just want to implement physics for your game without learning all the principles involved, this is the book for you. On the other hand, if you want to get a feeling of physics and go a little deeper, it is not.
   
   Furthermore there are some details that you may want to consider. First, the book works mainly with the imperial system of units which I find confusing. Second, all the source code is for Windows. Third, there are lot of places where statements are made without a hint of an explanation or a reference, which is annoying if you want to understand what is happening.
   
   Overall, the book is clear and concise. It gives a good set of equations that you may need for your game programming, and is good to have around for quick reference. But if you are serious about physics I recommend getting a more advanced book.

5 comments about Digital Compositing for Film and Video, Second Edition (Focal Press Visual Effects and Animation).

1. This is a very complete and engaging book.
   It's generic enough so that you can learn a lot regardless of your software/manual tools;
   But it focuses enough on certain programs, that it is still useful for those specific users as well.
   It was a gift for a relative, but I spent a few hours reading before giving it away...



2. I bought it based on the first Edition and I wasn't wrong.
   Its even better.



3. If you've ever been on set and heard the catchphrase "fix it in post" this book is for you.
   
   Not only is the information detailed and thorough, but also extremely readable. Some ironic asides demonstrate Wright has the experience to back up his text. He covers all levels of compositing, from basic luminance keying to green-screen/blue-screen, to color corection and matching foreground and background elements, motion tracking, alpha-channels (to premultiply or not premultiply) and the differences between film and video.
   
   The book is not software specific, and the enclosed exercises and demonstrations can be done on most software with compositing features -- including Photoshop!
   
   Why four stars and not five? The extra money demanded for addional exercises seems to be an unfair gouge. But the book is definitely worth the cover price! Even if you have no immediate aspirations at all to composite something, you'll at least see just how tough it can be.
   
   Producers, Directors and Camera departments (aspiring or experienced) can all learn something here -- and with any luck they'll learn it before they light their next green/blue screen.
   
   Too bad the cover is so damn ugly.



4. I found the second edition to be a worthy upgrade from the already very good first edition.
   
   For those looking for an image slice tool as used throughout the book, if you use Adobe After Effects you can get the image slice tool as part of the Test Gear plug-in for After Effects.
   
   (Disclosure: I helped create the Test Gear product. But the image slice tool *is* a very useful tool and it's otherwise not commonly available, despite it featuring prominently in this book.)



5. I use Shake, and for simpler stuff, Final Cut's little compositor or else and old version of After Effects.
   Wright's approach to principles makes the shifts easier. He explains well.