2 comments about Essentials of Mathematica: With Applications to Mathematics and Physics.

1. Great tutorial for those using Mathematica 6.0. It has a variety of different applications to related fields but overall serves as a guide for how to perform various functions in a software environment that may be very new to some.



2. This book uses a late version of Mathematica 5, NOT 6.0. I specifically wanted a book for 6.0 and got this because of the prior review. Again, not 6.0. The book does have good information on using Mathematica.

5 comments about Object-Oriented ActionScript For Flash 8.

1. It's one of the more painful book I've came across.
   
   Poorly edited,and poor accuracy. If I could get a refund, I shall be happy to.
   
   New concept are added with no mention whatsoever, in the tutorial.
   
   Additions to files are added with no mention to the files names.
   
   From chapter 1 to 12 I've trudged, but I'd say this book needs a strong review.
   
   



2. Overall a disappointing, confused book without much of an audience. This book assumes advanced actionscript skills, the most advanced skills I've seen in books teaching flash/actionscript. Here's an example from the first case study:
   
   static public function setInterval (
   connection:Object,
   intName:String,
   path:Object,
   func:String,
   time:Number ) :Void {
   clearInterval(connection, intName);
   if (connection instanceof MovieClip) {
   if (__listeners[connection] == undefined) {
   __listeners[connection] ={}; }
   __listernes[connection][intName] = _global.setInterval(path, func, time, arguments[5], arguments[6], arguments[7], arguments[8], arguments[9], arguments[10]);
   } else {
   if (connection.intervalID == undefined) {
   connection.intervalID = "int" + (__intervalID++);
   }
   __listeners[connection.intervalID] ={};
   __listeners[connection.intervalID][intName] = _global.setInterval(path, func, time, arguments[5], arguments[6], arguments[7], arguments[8], arguments[9], arguments[10]);
   }}}
   
   If this code looks alien to you, steer clear until your AS is strong enough or be prepared for lots of headscratching. Colin Moock's book, Essential Actionscript 2.0, is far friendlier to intermediate AS users and I recommend getting to know that book from cover to cover.



3. This book is a great introduction to OOP. If you are a hardcore programmer then you'll be a bit bored, but for the rest of us who "kind-of" get it, this is the book for you.
   
   The concepts are good and the application of those concepts are solid. The test code works great. I would reccomend this book to anyone who wants to do more OOP work in flash and is more of an artist than a programmer.



4. I wanted to learn something about the OOP in Actionscript, and first 12 chapters went well, I was satisfied that I understood everything - it even seemed too easy to me (some examples not very practical ones). But from chapter 13 there is a big jump into very difficult matters which I had a lot of trouble to understand (I had to skip many pages). Generally, in the book there are either very easy or very difficult things (beginning from chapter 13), and some examples on intermediate level are missing - as well as some exercises for the readers who could try to do some work on their own (under the author's guidence).
   Anyway, a good book, anybody who has read it and understood everything, can be proud of himself as a great professional. Unfortunately, I am not one of those...



5. So this was the third book I read on Object-Oriented Programming for ActionScript 2. So my thoughts are in context of having already been through Moock's excellent Essential ActionScript 2.0 (which did wonders for solidifying my OOP knowledge), and then the dismal New Riders Object-Oriented Programming with ActionScript 2.0 (VOICES) (which was disappointing at best). So, by the time I read Elst and Yard's Object-Oriented ActionScript for Flash 8 -- hereafter referred to as OOA4F8 -- I was already well-versed in the ways of OOP (and for the record, I'm a full-time ActionScripter). I was actually reading the book for the purposes of evaluating the book as a potential text book for a class I taught. So, my opinions are coming from someone who already knew most of the material.
   
   Friends of Ed books are generally pretty good at taking things slow and not assuming too much; this is a great feature in technical books, and OOA4F8 manages to follow suit for the most part. In fact, the first section of the book that introduced general OOP concepts, without getting too much into actual AS, was probably the best such introduction I've seen, heard, or read. It pretty much sold me on the book as a usable text book.
   
   But then I read the rest of the book. Now, for the most part, the explanation of concepts and techniques was adequate to good. However, the further along in various techniques the book took me, the more I disagreed with the approach taken by the authors. One standout example for me is the "IntervalManager" (or perhaps it had a different name, but it was the class that managed your setIntervals). At first I thought, oh, that's a cool idea. It might make the whole making-sure-you-clear-before-you-set thing a little easier. Or maybe it would automatically control the number of repetitions for you. Or something more robust like the Timer class in AS3.
   
   Unfortunately, I saw no value in the IntervalManager. It did not allow you to write less code, and it did not add any functionality beyond what was already available. I may be remembering it wrong now, but you still had to manually clear intervals before setting them, and the code to set up an interval with the new class was virtually the same as what I would normally do, except with a different API.
   
   My recommendation depends on how programmatically-minded you are. If you're a decent ActionScripter already and just need to make the transition from procedural AS to OOP AS, the go with Colin Moock's Essential ActionScript 2.0. It's detailed, technical, and assumes a certain level of knowledge going into it. I found it extremely well-written and made several advanced OOP concepts clear to me. However, if you're a little more left-brained and need a gentler introduction to all things OOP, I would recommend this book, and ideally, then follow it up with Moock's book to iron out some of the disagreeable practices from OOA4F8.

3 comments about LightWave 3D 8 Character Animation.

1. Finally, a comprehensive book on the art of character animation that goes beyond "push this button, now push that one".
   With a background of traditional animation (like Brad "incredibles" Byrd and John "Pixar Honcho" Lassiter), Timothy Albee focuses on how to use the tools within Lightwave to create characters with personality. And it's the character's personality that makes an animation memorable. This is the best book on Character animtion using lightwave that I've seen, and a great resource for learning about the art of animation regardless of your tools of choice.



2. This book is very good for learning animation, regardless of the software package you use. The one think I must say is that its hard to just jump to a chapter and start from where you want. From chapter 9 on is what interested me the most, the book didn't make it easy to just pick up from there and run. Well written, and great to practice from.



3. This book is 482 pages long, and the second half of it is not Lightwave-(or even 3D)-specific: general concepts of animation like follow-through, squash-and-stretch, etc. Everything in this section has been said before, and more eloquently, in many other books on the topic of animation.
   
   The first half (which IS Lightwave-specific) is a step-by-step tutorial for building a rather esoteric IK rig for a humanoid character. I didn't find it helpful--nothing in the exercises seems designed to expand the reader's understanding, it's just a recipe for reconstructing Albee's rig. I suspect any reader without a previous understanding of how bones work in Lightwave will be completely frustrated.
   
   If you're a beginner looking for a technical resource to animating in Lightwave, this is definitely *not* it. Any potential buyers should browse through a copy before buying this.

No comments about Managing Interactive Media Projects.

No comments about Game Development Essentials: Game Artificial Intelligence.

5 comments about Visual Basic(r) Graphics Programming: Hands-On Applications and Advanced Color Development, 2nd Edition.

1. I am happy with my decision to buy this book, it has what I was looking for and even more than expected.

   Highly recomendable.




2. If you just HAVE to develop graphics apps in VB, this is your best bet.



3. This book is very close to perfection in covering topics of the graphics manipulation, which up to the current times was an option of C/C++ developers ( as far as availability of information and samples). It's good for novice and seasoned developers alike.



4. This is an excellent book. It covers many aspects of Computer Graphics including Vector Graphics, Raster Graphics, Animation, Curves and Surfaces, 2D and 3D Transformations, and Rendering. Each chapter comes with lots of sample code on the CD. The underlying mathematics are also nicely explained.
   
   I only wish their was a 3rd edition for VB.NET.



5. I'm not a VB programmer, but I was able to understand the theory in this book, and I could easily work through the code examples to translate them into Delphi and C#. It's very hard to find a book (for any programming language) that explains 3D graphics in simple terms, and with useful code examples. Even though this book is getting a little dated, this book will still be among my highest recommendations for years to come. The basic theory does not change, even though programming languages evolve.

5 comments about Hollywood 2D Digital Animation: The New Flash Production Revolution.

1. This is a great book to keep encouraging you to work work work at your ideas and goals. A good insight for the flash industry with lots of information and personal industry views.



2. Bought this much hyped, stylish book and found out that the book (and CD that comes w/ it) DOES NOT have any character animation tutorials. What it DOES have is some SFX tutorials, simple Flash movies, templates (maybe you'll need 'em, maybe not) and a few very short & simple Flash animations (w/ all the layers for you to tweek). It's NOT a step by step, "how-to" book and more than 3/4 of it talks about all the animation stuff you've heard a million times before (animation history & principles, production pipeline, interviews). It talks about what Flash CAN do, but not HOW to do it. A good book for Flash people who know nothing about animation production, but not for animators who want to learn Flash techniques.



3. Let me just say right off the bat that this book is not for beginners. Apart from one chapter on effects animation, (a topic that could almost be a book in and of itself) there's just not much coverage of the actual ins and outs of animating in Flash. Unfortunately, Sandro Corsaro's other book, "The Flash Animator," which focused on Flash animation techniques, in now out of print.
   
   For those who have a solid working knowledge of Flash, this is an invaluable resource for using Flash for any level of 2D animation production. For people accustomed to traditional animation, you'll learn how Flash can work as a efficient alternative to the usual production pipeline.
   
   Much of this book may seem a little out of scope for those not in the big time of the animation industry, but even if you're a studio of one, there's plenty of tips to help cut down the amount of time you spend cursing Flash. Through proper pre-planning and design one can make the best use of Flash's time saving re-usability of elements. The ability to draw storyboards directly into Flash in another way to streamline the animation process.
   
   The interviews peppered throughout the book give some great insight on how Flash can best be used in the production process. Although you'll have get over the irony that most of the interviews came from people working on the now infamous Flash feature Lil' Pimp.
   
   Again, if you're new to Flash, you might want to hold off on this one for a bit, but if you have some experience and you're ready to make the most of animating in flash Hollywood 2D Digital Animation is a must-have.



4. This is a must have book for Flash Animators who really want to do character animation in Flash. It requires a general knowledge of Flash however the interviews with industry professional are worth buying the book alone. While not a traditional "HOW TO" book the technical insights, short cuts and tips especially in the special effects chapters can help animators move their projects to the next level.



5. This is the book that you want for practical, professional techniques for using Flash for animation. It takes you from the planning stages all the way through the finished product ready for broadcast. It also has interviews with the people who use Flash in production environments, including the Spiridellis brothers at [...] I highly recommend this book to any aspiring animator, be they hobbyist, student or pro-am.

5 comments about Beginning .NET Game Programming in C#.

1. Let me start by saying that I have no intention of being a game developer, but since I need .NET for my job, I thought this would be an interesting read. It doesn't disappoint at all.
   
   What stand out is the author's repeated advice that you need to "just do it" from end to end to understand the process of creating a game. I think that's true for most tasks in programming, but it's especially true here. There are a lot of basic concepts that apply to nearly all games, and it's funny because you begin to think about them when you play one!
   
   Clearly if you want to get deep into 3D math, you'll need another book, but this one gets you started at least with an understanding of the basic DirectX tools.



2. I'm surprised this book has gotten the reviews it has (I actually ordered it based on them). The errors in the code/instructions are horrendous, and I'm only on the second chapter. (Many steps seem left out) I suppose I cannot understand why someone would write a instructional book and then fail to follow their own steps to check if they work.
   
   That being said, the book is not all bad. I've learned a few neat things from the previous chapter. I suggest, in the future, the author(s) include source for each 'step' in the projects and have others check their instructions. I would be entirely lost without the downloadable source code (apress.com), but it's a shame readers have to rely on it.
   
   If you can, check it out at a library for a week before you buy.



3. Quick Advice:
   
   Download C# Express from Microsoft's website, it is free right now. Also download the Summer 2003 edition of Direct X.
   
   Everything will compile except Space Wars 3D (I am so happy now, see below). I am missing files, its 3:00 am, I will look for my (or their mistake) in the morning.
   
   Also go to the Apress website to download all the code including the VB.Net version of the book. It seems they left out key files (Like images for chapter 3) for the C# version that you can get in the VB.net download.
   
   My Story:
   
   I got this book because I wanted to learn C# and have some fun. I certainly enjoyed the first 3 chapters. They were very nicely written and friendly, which is why I bought the book. I also like that the book explained the basic concepts clearly (which is all I am looking for right now). So far, fairly self-explanatory, follows with what I already knew and expected (it confirmed how I thought it all worked procedure wise).
   
   However, when I tried the book code in visual studio 2003 I kept getting errors. Mostly from me copying what the book had. I then had to tweak everything to get it to work. I later found it much easier to just load the code from the website. However, this does not help learning if you just compile and view. The step-by-step examples for the later chapters would have been nice for these early ones.
   
   After a short hiatus (6 months of wasteful job searching, which I am still on) I came back to work on chapters 4 onward. I found these to be very difficult to work with. I kept getting errors. After a few 5:00 am nights, I discovered it's not the code it is VS 2003 it just won't run it for some reason. Gives me a .net compilation error. I bet it has to do with patches or version differences of the .net framework.
   
   I was about to bag the book and write a bad review (mostly because I could not find quick help anywhere) when I decided to check Microsoft's website. After downloading their tools and converting the files to VS C# Express everything ran great. By the way, online resources say to use this with 2003, but I keep getting a greater version used error when working with 2003, so they must have done this in 2004. My advice on what to get is above.
   
   So after a bit a fun and a lot of short-term frustration I am happy once more and can continue my studies. My goal is not video games, but research and development for engineering. I just wanted a pretty way to render my results.
   
   To note, Direct X has had some major changes so the book is now dated, but the logic on Direct3D, collisions, and general procedures is still good. Direct Play is out, I am not sure about Direct Sound or Direct Input.
   
   When you buy a book you expect to get higher quality material then what you would find online. Overall, I would say it is better then some information I have found online, but it certainly lacks in certain areas such as better explanation on DirectX functions, though it does a good job where needed. For instance some spots in the DirectX documentation is lacking, the book does a good job of explaining those parts.
   
   Microsoft has plenty of new resources online now including better explanations on what was missing before, so I am unsure if this book is a buy anymore. I will say it is a good first start.



4. I got a used copy of David Weller's book: "Beginning .Net Game Programming in C#" from Amazon.
   First of all, using the word Beginning in the title of this book is deceptive. It's not a book for beginners in any way.
   The author not only assumes you are an experienced Windows programmer, but that you already know how to work with graphics and are more than familiar with Creating Event Handlers using OnPaint, etc.
   In the first chapter, in the classic Microsoft style of documentation, he begins by bragging about all the wonderful graphics things you can do with C# like; Gradients, Alpha Blending, Cardinal Splines, Transformation, etc. but doesn't have the courtesy to supply a single code example to show you how to do any of these wonderful things!
   In fact, if you leaf through the book page by page, you will find that there is not a single complete code example in the entire book. What the author refers to as "snippets" are nothing more than poor, incomplete code examples. As we reach the first code "example" the author says "The following code shows how to draw a simple red rectangle... " No it doesn't! All it is, is a lonely OnPaint method. The author doesn't bother to explain how to make it work, but proceeds to tack on one of those little Note: fields saying that you need to create an Event Handler. The example supplied however, is an Event Handler for something else entirely! The next example shows you how to create graphics objects from an image but doesn't bother to explain how to import the image! You are expected to magically how to do that I guess.
   It is clear that the author: David Weller doesn't even understand the topic material. What he did was go to somebody that DOES understand how to program and got a half dozen cheezy programs which he devoted a chapter each to, with a feeble attempt to tack a bunch of comments inbetween.
   If you want to make a Tetris clone and not much else, there's a very slim chance you might get something out of this book. Although you will have to type up pages of code yourself before finding out whether it will even run or not because there is no CD included with the book. The author assumes you know so much about programming already that, quite frankly, if you knew that much, you wouldn't need his lame book.
   The author is neither a programmer, nor a writer. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. It gives me a big knot in my stomach thinking how many other sincere beginners will end up wasting perfectly good hard earned cash on this complete waste of trees.
   Dillinger



5. This text presented the concepts of game programming well. However, the examples available with the book were not complete. They were missing classes that need to be purchased/downloaded from a third party.
   
   Part of learning a new programming/technology concept is having a working model. This book failed this portion of the learning process

5 comments about Flash 5 Cartooning (with CD-ROM).

1. As someone who has quite a bit of experience with animation programs, but little exposure to Flash, I found this book to be very useful. It's written in a lively, entertaining manner and Mark Clarkson manages to describe difficult procedures in terms even those new to Flash can understand.



2. I'm sorry but I didn't achieve the goal for my cartoon with this book. I get frustrated easliy and this book being a partial culprit. Sure, I learned a little actionscript. But I recommend the The Art of Flash Cartooning over this one. There are also free online sources that will provide some very important instruction on staging and layout which this book covers briefly(Staging is too important to have a brief walkthrough) The CD gave me the urls to some cool sites and some cartoons to watch other than that this book isn't of much use to a flash animators, particularly beginners. In order to do something it is best to do it right the first time or not at all.



3. Clarkson's book on Flash 5 for animating offers a great foundation for animators who want to learn Flash. Probably not the best book for those interested in other aspects handled by Flash, like Web Design, but the title says it all. Well-paced and easy to digest, his book also goes easy on the tech-speak that loses most casual learners. All in all, a good start.



4. This book is great for begginners i loved it. I had just gotten flash to play around with for fun and i did some online tutorials but they only taught me the very basics (like drawing and keyframes with motion tweening). It was a start. After reading this book i would consider myself a mediocre flasher. I can make reat movies now. Now that i have learned this i am moving on to actionscripting which is the only thing this book lacks. But all-in-all this is a great book and i still use it every now and then for reference.



5. Flash 5 Cartooning is a good book for beginning flash cartoonists. I recommend getting this book from the Amazon.com used book marketplace in order to get more bang for your buck. Once you have a grip on Flash Cartooning, you may want to start creating some flash games.
   
   I also recommend and have the following books:
   "How to Cheat in Flash CS3" by Chris Georgenes, "Cartooning: Animation 1 with Preston Blair (HT26)", "The Big Book of Cartooning", "Dreamweaver MX / Fireworks MX Savvy", "Flash MX Savvy", "Flash 5 Bible" and "Macromedia Flash 5 ActionScript for Fun and Games". The "Flash 5 Bible" has a small section on cartoon animation.

4 comments about Flash 8: The Missing Manual.

1. As per usual, the Missing Manual line hits another solid ball with Flash 8: The Missing Manual, but this time it's not out of the park. Packing 14 chapters and nearly 450 pages with solid material and great writing like you would expect from this line, I cannot do anything but give five stars for the writing and instruction. Unfortunately, when one opens the book and finds that there isn't even a SINGLE color page in the entire text, this is big mistake. If this was a book that covered something like Word or Excel (except for any graphs that might be used) this might not be such a bad thing, but for something like Flash where the entire premise is flashy graphics, smooth animations and crisp, clean vector graphics, to not have any color at all is a mistake. If you want to use Flash you cannot go wrong with this book, but this major decision faux paux I consider a huge fumble and it's the only thing stopping me from giving my usual Missing Manual 5 star rating. Hopefully this can be improved in the 2nd edition or with Flash 9.
   
   **** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED



2. The book dissapoint me at the begining because i consider the contents to be too soft, like totally for beginners, I thought "oh no, I just bought another "flash for dummies" sort of book, where you get told how to use tool by tool, but not how to put everything together, the keys of how to actually create a professional flash website. But I totally start to enjoy the book from episode 10 where the author explains how to control your animation with actionscript. It happen to be very clear and useful to me.So, yes, i would definetly recommend this book to everyone who wants to start to get into flash. Not for Medium-Expert users anyway.
   
   However, the quality of the illustrations that are used as examples are of really poor quality. So if you are looking fordward see pretty graphics not purchase this book. And it's in black and white too.



3. Are you a Webmaster who has given up in frustration because of distracting and annoying elements on your sites? If you are, then this book is for you! Author Emily A VanderVeer, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that explains all of the tools and shows you step-by-step how to create animations from scratch; as well as, why you want to do each step--in English, not programmer-ese.
   
   VanderVeer, begins by guiding you through the creation of your very first Flash animation, from the first glimmer of an idea to drawing images, animating those images, and testing your work. Then, the author shows you how to manipulate your drawings by rotating, skewing, stacking, and aligning them; add color and special effects, and multimedia files such as audio and video chips; slash file size by turning bits and pieces of your drawings into special elements called symbols; and, create composite drawings using layers. Next, she shows you how to add ActionScript actions to frames to create automatic effects and to buttons to create audience-controlled effects. Finally, she focuses on testing, debugging, and optimizing your animation.
   
   This most excellent book will show you tips and shortcuts for making Flash easier to work with; as well as, making your animations as audience-friendly as possible. More importantly, this book is designed for readers of every skill level except the super-advanced-programmer.



4. This is my first Missing Manual book that I've read through. I'm sure that humor is something difficult to perform in a step by step text. Still, as the text droned on and on with too limited a vocabulary, I found myself fighting harder to make it through this book.
   
   The lady author did make a joke here and there, in fact I think about every 70 pages there was a joke or two until later in the book. Somewhere in the 300s, the lady changed her vocabulary from simple explanations to simple explanations with some American slang in between. The sentence with 'muff' was my personal favorite in the book. That sentence flowed so natural, I felt as if she was talking to me in a conversation. After that, it went somewhat downhill with slang she didn't seem well adapted to, and later getting better toward the end of the book. Other than lack of vocabulary, she took nearly a hundred solid pages and used 'she' instead of 'he' in her sentences. English wise, she 'muffed' up. A better choice would have been 'individual' or 'person' or if she so desired 'dude' or 'dudette'. In that case, the slang would have been obvious, and loose rules would be applied.
   
   As far as teaching, the book does provide the necessary information to use Flash to produce an animation, basic web page, or an animated GIF. There are a few notable shortcuts given, such as #Static, which were worth the last hundred pages you made it through to read them. Actionscript is very lightly covered. It seemed that she was tired of this book somewhere in the middle of the 300s, which is understandable, as I was tired of the book at least thirty pages before it was obvious the author was. Covering Publishing, Publishing Profiles, and Exporting was well done excluding her PICT explanation where she didn't explain dpi(dots per inch) or postscript, which was definitely not any of the prior options of gif, jpg, or png which she compared the export PICT option menu to.
   
   The book also makes many references to programming, but seems bound by the presentation and audience of the book to achieve that depth. This book would have been better if the times when the author found herself bored, she consulted a thesaurus to vary the vocabulary.
   
   Even though I've spoken of some annoyances, the missing manual book does it's job. Flash 8 basics to intermediate usage was taught. The step by step instructions were simple and easy to understand. There is enough explaining to understand and learn what is going on. While the book does fail to achieve and maintain an 'interesting' status, the book succeeds in it's objective to be a simply understandable guide to Flash 8.