5 comments about Prepare to Board! Creating Story and Characters for Animation Features and Shorts.

1. Nancy Beiman's book "Prepare to Board" is a must-have for animators. If you're serious about working in the industry then this book is for you.
   
   The quick little lessons are excellent tools for practice and improving skills. This books helps to increase creativity and really gives great advice. No other animation book has achieved what "Prepare to Board" has.
   
   Nancy Beiman knows the ins and outs of the animation world and you can tell why she's worked on so many great projects - she's the best at what she's talking about. Nancy Beiman is a professional and this book will help you along your path to a career.
   
   If you're not lucky enough to know her and have her as a Professor (or even if you do), then it goes without saying BUY THIS BOOK!



2. Well written and well organized, "Prepare to Board!" is a wonderful source for learning the ins' and outs of animation boarding.
   
   Nary a step in the process is glossed over or a stone left unturned. I'm quite impressed with the book all around, and have learned a lot about the inner workings of animation.
   
   A definite recommendation.



3. This is a truly wonderful book filled with practical, concrete knowledge about how to plan for an animated production.
   
   In the past, I have seen a few somewhat superficial treatments of similar topics, and I was initially a little bit skeptical of this book. Suffice it to say that my expectations were vastly exceeded. Storyboarding is a central part of animated movie production, and it has finally gotten a definitive treatment in book form. This book is highly entertaining, beautifully illustrated, and really packed with information.
   
   Many readers of my own book Introducing Character Animation with Blender are interested in creating animated movies. I highly recommend that they take a look at this inspiring and informative book to ensure that they get off to a good start.



4. Ms. Beiman's book is exceptional; it not only discusses storyboarding, but also the entire pre-production process, from character design to art direction to using cinematic lighting and camera angles. I'm never boarding without using tonal drawings again!
   
   I'm going to be the Teaching Assistant for the Storyboarding class at UCLA's MFA Animation Workshop in the fall, and I'm going to tell all the newbies to GET THIS BOOK!!!



5. Prepare to Board! Creating Story and Characters for Animated Features and Shorts - does what it says.
   This book will help you create a story and the characters within. I've read other books on storyboarding, but this book should be the one to start with. Then move on to Ron Bluth's - Art of Storyboard & Wendy Tumminello's - Exploring Storyboarding

4 comments about Typographic Design in the Digital Studio.

1. I am using this book and workbook not as a graphic designer but as an artist and writer who often needs to produce well-designed print presentations. It's a text that welcomes you into it; the introduction, a history of printing and type design, is fascinating, lucid, and thorough, but never descends into mere specialist obsession. The lessons cover both sides of type design: why printed pages look and work the way they do; and how to make them look and work the way they should. I'm finding it both easy to use (even though I'm not in a classroom, but using it on my own) and really illuminating.
   
   This book would be a great intro text for a type design or graphic design course, but also (and this is a real rarity) an excellent tool for working artists and writers and other professionals who need to do handsome presentations. To top it off, it's even suffused with a charming sense of humor.
   
   I'm very happy to have found it.



2. Every year more colleges seem to be dropping dedicated typography courses, leaving it up to those of us who teach computer applications to beef up that extremely important component of our curriculum. This book enhances the digital aspects of type instruction and use, increasing its value compared to the raft of otherwise fine titles out there that are not medium-specific. The structure is intelligent, rational, and obviously written by a teacher for teachers, but college students (and precocious high-schoolers) who recognize the importance of typography will find this an ideal vehicle for self-guided study.
   
   I got the workbook and companion dvd, too.
   
   The adoption of this new text is top priority for my next meeting with my department head. Help is here for design teachers needing to merge type study into computer classes!



3. Typographic design in the Digital Studio by David A. Amdur is a valuable resource for teaching and learning. I am a full time professor of graphic design and find the book to be helpful in that it offers me interesting projects for my course syllabi, quiz resources, exercise assessment criteria and demonstration files for teaching and learning. There is also a companion Application Skills Book that includes QuickTime movies demonstrating software, exercise resources, and type specimens. In short this is an excellent resource for both teacher and student and I found it to be very organized and user friendly.



4. I haven't had this book very long, so I can't provide an in depth review of it... I will say that while the written information seems very well laid out and useful- the author does assume you will purchase the "Application Skills Module" book & accompanying CD in order to complete the activities at the end of each chapter. I cannot find these additional materials and am very frustrated with my apparent need for them. Considering how much I spent on this book, I think it should include everything I need to work through it. I will hobble my way through- for the text is certainly worthwhile, but I do feel as though I'm missing out on a huge part of the experience I was expecting and paid for.

5 comments about Principles of Three Dimensional Computer Animation.

1. While Mr. O'Rourke's book does a very good job of explaining in depth the terminology of 3d computer graphics, the book is very sparse in illustrations that display how the concepts translate into final rendered imagery. With the exception of the middle of the book, which has glossy reproductions from actual computer generated 3d scenes, the book looks and feels like a high school algebra textbook.



2. I agree with prior reviews that this book is well written and provides an excellent introduction to 3D computer graphics. If you're new to the field and want to learn about the general terminology and techniques of 3D computer graphics then this would be a top choice. Just don't expect, however, that after finishing you'll be ready to plunge into creating your own rendering engine or even be up to speed on using an existing engine. If you're looking for technical detail, then you'll have to look elsewhere.



3. As an instructor in 3D computer animation I find this book to be an excellent text for the classroom. O'Rourke knows his stuff and presents the material in a well-thought out, logical format. The only negative is that it's time for a new release.



4. I'm entirely new to 3D modeling and animation. I found this book to be exceptionally well written. The author provides a clear and concise explanation of the principles of 3D computer graphics, with easy-to-understand examples throughout. As stated in other reviews, it is not software specific. If you are looking for an introductory but thorough 3D primer, I recommend this book without reservation. It should provide a solid foundation for those who have little or no prior computer graphics experience.



5. This book is excellent in giving the reader the "big picture" of foundational knowledge needed to learn technical animation. I strongly suggest using this book in introductory courses that teach technical-based animation, looking at techniques, not creativity.

4 comments about Don Bluth's Art Of Animation Drawing.

1. This book was not what I thought it would be. The title is very misleading.
   
   It's NOT a 'how-to-draw' of any of Don Bluth's characters. It has a more 'historical' feel to it.
   
   It shows a few topical hand-drawn examples as it speaks on a topic, but it's not a how-to-draw book.
   
   If you're interested in a broad overview of the animation process, then this will help you.
   
   If, however, you're a fan of Don Bluth's characters and would like several step-by-step examples of how to draw them, then you will be diappointed.
   
   Have a look at this book before you buy it. I was disappointed.



2. I looked through this book at a bookstore. Its focus is on the animation process; it talks about backgrounds and models and voice actors, and it gives examples of how to match a character's mouth movements with a vocal track. It also shows how to punctuate a character's animation with frames that show extremes of emotion. There's a reason, though, why this is in the "Filmmaking" section of a bookstore, and not the "Drawing" section - the emphasis of the book is on the techniques used to bring an animated character to life, NOT on how to draw them. There are lots of pictures of lots of characters from lots of Bluth projects, everything from Banjo the Woodpile Cat to Dirk the Daring to Space Ace to Anastasia to Rasputin to Mrs. Brisby to Jenner and more, and the pictures would be really interesting to someone with some drawing skills; there are some character sheets in there, and lots of rough animation drawings showing the characters in various poses. This is not a "how-to", nor is it a comprehensive history of Bluth's work, but it's still a really interesting book.



3. It's always beneficial to have a simple book to guide you when animation gets complicated, and this is one of those books.



4. It has decent information. It goes over all the techniques that animators have used, including the authors own. This would be a book for a person who's beginning in animation.

2 comments about Creative Suite 3 Integration: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Flash Pro, Acrobat, Bridge and Version Cue.

1. I love this book. It's very helpful and I would tell everyone to look in to buying this book if you want quality.



2. I had problems with this book from the first. I thought it was because I had insufficient background in most chapters - but thats why I bought the book. When it came to the Dreamweaver chapter, which I know somewhat, the deficincies became apparent.
   
   You have to have a good understanding of what the book covers. It goes over important matters very quickly.
   
   Bottom line - I gained very little by reading this book.

5 comments about Introduction to Computer Graphics.

1. This would be an excellent book if it weren't for the annoying printing errors in the highly useful 'Geometrical Transformations' chapter. Especially considering that the book is aimed at students this is a real shame. Anyone interested in this field - including students - should consider forking out another $20 and get the more comprehensive "Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice" which contains the same chapter on geometry but without the printing errors




2. This new introductory text to computer graphics is an adaptation of Computer Graphics: Principles and Practice,Second Edition, which remains the most comprehensive and authoritative work in the field. While retaining the currency and accuracy of the larger book, this abbreviated version focuses on topics essential for all beginners in computer graphics and provides expanded explanations for readers with little or no technical background. Worked examples have been added to illustrate important concepts and techniques, and program code has been written in the C language to enhance the book's usefulness. In addition, the book contains an extensive illustration program, with more than 50 full-color images.

   
   

   This book authored by James D. Foley, Andries van Dam, Steven K. Feiner, John F. Hughes, and Richard L. Phillips and is an adaptation of the "Computer graphics : principles and practice".

   
   

   I give this book a rating of 10 for obvious reasons. Take a look at the FULL table of contents at this link:

   http://heg-school.aw.com/cseng/authors/foley/intr grafix/intrografix.toc.html
   This is the trimed down Table of Contents
   (Note: At the end of each chapter the book gives you extra exercises as well as a summary)
   1. Introducing: Computer Graphics
   2. Programming in the Simple Raster Graphics Package (SRGP)
   3. Basic Raster Graphics Algorithms for Drawing 2D Primitives
   4. Graphics Hardware
   5. Geometrical Transformations
   6. Viewing in 3D
   7. Object Hierarchy and Simple PHIGS (SPHIGS)
   8. Input Devices, Interaction Techniques, and Interaction Tasks
   9. Representation of Curves and Surfaces
   10. Solid Modeling
   11. Achromatic and Colored Light
   12. The Quest for Visual Realism
   13. Visible-Surface Determination
   14. Illumination and Shading
   Bibliography
   Index
   This book features :
   

   Adaptation of the definitive computer graphics book in the field--half the length. Presents key concepts geared toward students with minimal technical background. Provides worked examples in C. Retains the high level of teaching standards of the parent graphics text.




3. There are plenty of equations and theory for the mathematician, but even better for folks like me (hackers), there is a nice sprinkling of C code and example images. If you need the most comprehensive reference, go with the unabridged version ("Computer Graphics: Principles and Practicies", all 1175 pages of it!), but if you are looking for an introduction, I would recommend this book.



4. This is the 3D programmers bible for 3D graphics. It is far from a breeze to read as the nature of the beast is not an easy subject.

   One of the most wonderful things about this book is that it supplies an extensive bibliography about each subject covered.

   It isn't a "how to" for DirectX or OpenGL it's more of a "here are the equations" for 3D in pretty much every aspect.

   You have to have it.

   You don't? Buy it!

   Expect to brush up on your maths tho! (unless yur a math head :) )

   Regards,

   Ian




5. Are you tired of spending hours of your time searching for 3d documentation on the net? Are you tired of searching for books? Are you tired of spending $50 on a book only to find out that it doesn't cover any of the subjects you were hoping for? Introduction to Computer Graphics covers every aspect of 3d theory to get any beginner started. It is true that some of the math requires more than high school education, but that didn't stop me when I read it in 9th grade. And if I can understand it, pretty much anybody can. If a person reads this book straight through, he not only will learn nothing but will have wasted his time too. Why? Well, half the book is full of mathematical equations and formulas. The author basically thinks like this: I supply you with the formulas and why they work, you figure out how to put it in your program. Although I'm not trying to attack the way the author wrote the book and a lot of his formulas come with C++ code, there's some stuff he doesn't explain like: HOW TO PUT IT ALL TOGETHER! A book like this could be classified as an excellent source of reference. The reason that this book stands out from all the rest is that information isn't hidden in the words. It's all straightforward explanations and formulas with a lot of graphics to reinforce the reader's knowledge. Also at the end of each chapter the author gives you a number of exercises to do for those people out there that got too much time on their hands. All together I loved it and I learned a LOT of valuable information.

5 comments about The Mathematica Book, Fourth Edition.

1. The mathematica book is the best manual ever written
   for some piece of software.
   
   I would even say, the major advantage of mathematica
   compared to other computer algebra systems is that
   it comes with decent documentation.
   
   I would love to have all software manuals to meet the
   standards set by the mathematica book.
   
   The most important feature of this book is that
   it is organized in learning stages
   which helped me a lot in speeding up my personal
   learning process.
   
   This is the outline
   Chapter 0 = first two hour of reading:
   overview over the possibilities
   
   Chapter 1 = first two days of reading:
   standard solutions for standard problems
   
   Chapter 2 = first two month of reading:
   general principles and ideas
   
   Chapter 3 = as time goes by:
   technicalities
   
   After six months you can be done with the book,
   and will have to use the mathematica usenet for
   special questions you may encounter in your daily work.



2. I ordered this book and eventually amazon cancelled the order because it was not available. They then ask me to review it? Where is it?
   
   Rev brucee
   
   Update: now it's available for free download.



3. Iin terms of speed and functionality, the program Mathematica is the most amazing program I have ever used. It is an indispensable tool for research in many areas of the sciences and mathematics. From the evaluation of mathematical formulas to the graphing of three-dimensional data over time, it can handle almost anything that you need to process or analyze. Surprisingly user-friendly for such a capable program, it takes very little time for even a novice to put it to productive use. However, with all that capability there is a problem with the sheer number and detail of the options, which is why the documentation is so critical. While there is extensive online documentation with Mathematica that is easy to use, there is still a need for the documentation in physical form.
   This book, in its fourth edition, is complete, and easy to use, with the exception of requiring a bit of physical effort to lift. That's correct - the book contains 1,470 pages. In my extensive use of Mathematica, I use the book and online help in about equal amounts. Generally, I use the online help when I don't remember a precise syntax and I'll use the book when I'm concerned more with the details of the behavior or the nuances of an operation or a capability.
   I consider this reference book essential to the efficient use of Mathematica and well its procurement, if the software package you have does not contain a copy. This fourth edition contains excellent tutorials, a myriad of examples, and a wonderful gallery of graphic images.
   
   Published in Mathematics and Computer Education, reprinted with permission.



4. Mathematica can be a very daunting program for first time users. I remember when I first started using it back in 1997, and I was amazed with its power and conciseness. This is the best book on the subject and probably the only one you'll need by the author of the program himself. The book starts out with very simple concepts and builds on them to include just about anything you'd ever want to do with Mathematica, including the solution of indefinite integrals. The explanations are to the point, the examples are of sufficient complexity to demonstrate the features but not too complex, and the use of figures in the book is excellent. If you don't need the program's fancy graphics or sound capabilities, you won't have to suffer through inexplicable examples that use them. The author isolates the explanation of that portion of the program in its own chapters.
   
   There is a fifth edition of this book, but it is out of print, and sellers are asking ridiculously high prices for copies. Since an electronic version of this book comes with every copy of Mathematica you should do fine with this earlier in-print version.



5. First I will say that I am not a Math nut and I have had to spend 3 months learning Vector math and Mathematica 5.2 to do some modeling. While I can get many things to work and plot. The syntax problems associated with the software are numerous and very difficult to resolve. Using version 4 of this book I have found that the issues I need to resolve are not easy to find in this book. Of course the writers of the software assume a certain familiarity with the type of maths employed and certain programming skills, but they have made it much more difficult for the casual user to use the software. This book is not much help in that regard. Instead I have purchased Mathematica Navigator by Heikki Ruskeepaa and am starting to go through that book in the hope that it will help me. The CD with that easily installs into Math 5.2, but not version 6. The latest software has a lot of new functions and a useful debugging window which helps update code, but the old style help index has gone. Thus, the software is not fully backwards compatible. Where this leaves us with these books for earlier versions of Mathematica I am not sure. Hopefully there is enough of 5.2 remaining in Mathematica 6 to make my purchase worthwhile. If not I am back to 5.2 and to building my own set of nested functions to do rotations and translations in 3D.

5 comments about Programming Flex 2: The Comprehensive Guide to Creating Rich Internet Applications with Adobe Flex (Programming).

1. This is a solid, well written into to Flex 2. I would highly recommend this as a starting to learning Flex 2 or 3. In about a week's reading time you will have a well grounded knowledge of what Flex is capable of. After reading this (along with the documentation provided by Adobe) I'd highly recommend: ActionScript 3.0 Cookbook; Essential ActionScript 3.0; and Flex Solutions: Essential Techniques for Flex 2 and 3 Developers.



2. Programming Flex 2: The comprehensive guide to creating rich media applications with Adobe Flex is a great book for more advanced Flex developers. This book covers many important topics like working with UI components, advanced component concepts, working with media and data, client and remote data communication just to name the few. The authors, Chafic Kazoun and Joey Lott, are very experienced long-time Flash developers. They are well known in the Flash community, and are among the elite of the Flash development world. Chafic and Joey has been using Flex for a long time and it can be noticed by reader during reading this book which is full of practical leads.
   
   This book is intended for anyone looking to learn more about Flex 2. The authors recognize that the audience for this book represents a very diverse group of people with many different backgrounds. In my opinion this book is a great resource but not for the beginners. Lots of original ActionScript and MXML code examples help reader to look deeper inside Flex 2 internals.
   
   I definitely recommend this book!



3. Reading the reviews for this book made me nervous about picking it up in the first place, but I'm glad I did. I'm primarily a J2EE developer wanting to get his feet wet in the world of Flex2 RIAs, and the authors seem to have written this just for someone like me. And in that respect, the topics are at the right level of depth - the authors clearly indicate that this is not meant to be used as an API reference.
   
   Flex 2 can be a bit much to bite off, even for experienced programmers, since it sits over a very mature and complex development platform (Flash Player) that has its own established authoring tool. Happily, the authors tend to chart their course firmly through the Flex Framework, avoiding diversions into Flash Player arcana (which some other books either assume you already know, or visit too briefly to be of much help.)
   
   The breadth of topics covered is also awesome - whether its Web services, states/transitions, event dispatching/handling, and the use of the free Flex SDK.
   
   That last one is of particular interest to me since I'm not a fan of the Deux Ex Machina aspects of IDEs, especially when I'm learning a new language/framework. Hence, being able to see how everything fits together using just the Flex SDK and mxmlc is a lot of fun.
   
   I also don't particularly like long, artificial examples that proceed from chapter to chapter, which means that you can't really jump into a topic that interests you without first having read all the previous history of the application being developed. Fortunately here, each chapter can be read by itself, and in any order. In fact, I skipped over many of the UI and media chapters just to get to the web services treatment which is closer to the end.
   
   To summarize - if your background/needs match mine, then this book will be well worth a visit. You may not leave knowing everything, but you'll have the 3000 foot overview which will position you better to ask the right questions, and to determine which topic has the most interest for you. (Of course, you might choose to wait for the Flex 3.0 edition of this book.)



4. It is a well organized book.
   However, some example codes are incorrect.
   I find this problem in many of O'Reilly books and am not sure if they test all the source codes before they publish their books.
   It is really annoying.



5. This is generally a well written overview book. Its chief problem is that it never gets beyond the basics, and that the "Flex Developer Guide" that Adobe provides for free on their web site is far superior.

1 comments about The Student's Introduction to Mathematica : A Handbook for Precalculus, Calculus, and Linear Algebra.

1. This book is designed to jump start the reader's experience with Mathematica. Since people learn best by example, reviewing "basic" math examples (Algebra, Calculus, and Linear Algebra) provides a "painless" introduction to the new environment. This book is not intended to be complete in any sense. But it WILL make you feel comfortable with the daunting new interface of Mathematica.
   
   This is the only Mathematica book that I have finished. It was a great introduction, and I still use as a reference.
   
   If you are thinking about buying Mathematica--DON'T get it without some introductory book. This one as a good start.

5 comments about Macromedia Flash MX 2004 for Dummies.

1. I am writing to thank you and Gurdy Leete for your wonderful book. I am creating an animated, web-enabled presentation for our non-profit association and consider myself an expert in PowerPoint. Many of my PowerPoint presentations include audio/video which plays through several slides. I have learned through my Microsoft research that when converted to HTML many of the wonderful effects and transitions in PowerPoint do not work. Thus I made an investment in Flash.
   
   I spent about 15 hours working with my new software via the help menus. I was so frustrated by this past Friday that I went in search of help. Thankfully I found your book. It is Sunday and I have created a one scene, four frame small example with a movie clip on the first slide, compliments of the included CD. It will run slide by slide or you can select automate with the button. I am so pleased.
   
   I am sure in your world this is a small accomplishment, but I just wanted to let you know that your book covers the simple to the complex in a clear and orderly manner. Being able to complete the animated logo by page 28 provided much needed positive reinforcement for me.
   
   Again, thank you for the excellent training manual. I am sure it will serve as my major point of reference for a long time to come.



2. Finkelstein and Leete have written the perfect introduction and reference for Flash.

   I recently started using Flash because one of my clients' legacy websites had a couple of Flash animations that needed to be updated. I stumbled around with Macromedia's documentation and a couple of online websites, but somehow Flash kept doing things I didn't expect.

   Finally, I found this book and read it cover to cover. "Oh, of course!" I kept saying as I read. "There's a neat technique for layering. That's how to reduce the file size. That's how to make it run faster. That's how to get the sound to synchronize with the motion." On and on. Macromedia should just ship this book with their software. Plus the book comes with a CD-ROM packed with useful stuff.

   My client is thrilled with my new versions of his Flash animations.

   I want to especially commend the authors on Chapters 12 and 13, "Putting it all together" and "Publishing your Flash files." This is where I found that information that showed me how to put out a clean professional final product.

   I've gotten so into Flash that I rewrote a complete interactive game in Flash. It used to be in Java, was 500,000 bytes (not to mention the 2Mb Java library), and only seemed to run correctly on a handful of machines. In Flash, the whole thing is under 100,000 bytes and runs EVERYWHERE no problem.

   I couldn't have done that rewrite without this book.

   When you're done reading this book, I also recommend "50 Fast Flash MX Techniques" by the same authors, to take your animations to "WOW!"




3. Before reading this book, I had never used Flash and had only created websites by writting my own HTML. After reading the first few chapters, I was able to create my first movie! This book is definitley for beginners like me and is a great book to get you up and running. I would certainly recommend it for those starting out.



4. This book is pretty good but has some flaws.

   1. Although I haven't read the previous Dummies book for Flash MX (non-2004) by these authors, I get the feeling that the book inherits much of its content from it. Some of the features mentioned in the book just don't seem to exist in my copy of Flash MX 2004 Pro, like the common sound library. I purchased & downloaded my copy of Flash from Macromedia, so perhaps I didn't get the sounds because of that. Next time, I'll definitely get the CD...

   2. The examples from the CD are old and most of them give the warning to save in Flash MX 2004 when you close them, that is, they are from previous versions of Flash. The first example even uses an image file that I had to load & export using a graphics program to correct the transparency of the image. That said, the examples are not horrible, but most are contributions from others and not designed/developed by the authors.

   3. There are some worthless chapters and appendixes like some of the top 10 chapters and how to install Flash appendix. Considering how sites come & go on the Internet I'm surprised space was used to list the authors top 10 favorite Flash sites. It's only a couple of pages, but might fit better on the authors web site where updates can be more current.

   Overall, about 90% of the book will be relevant but there may be other books that are more focused on the MX 2004 version of Flash. If you don't know anything about Flash, you'll come away knowing how to do a lot of the basic stuff after reading this book.




5. A horrible book to introduce you to Flash and a waste of money. At the end, I really didn't understand how the program worked - only how certain tasks are done. There's a lot of fluffy chapters. A much better book is Rosanna Yeung's Flash MX 2004 Hands-On Training.
   
   I bought this Dummies book based on the quality of other Dummies books I have, but this one was a real disappointment.