No comments about Flash CS4: The Missing Manual.

No comments about Ivory Coast in Pictures (Visual Geography. Second Series).

4 comments about Real-Time Rendering Tricks and Techniques in DirectX (Premier Press Game Development (Software)).

1. Hi! I guess I'll start by saying what do you have to know and have in order to benefit from the material covered in this book. First of all, you must have some experience in win32 programming under windows, because the author does show you the code required for your app to work, but doesn't explain it. Second, you have to have a VC++ 6.0 compiler and Dx8.0 RunTime/SDK to compile and write any sample programs. Third, you have to know some Object Oriented Programming, such as classes and pointers. And the last thing you have to have is the enthusiasm to fuel your work. Now on to the review. The author provides very good and clear examples, as well as very much actual code needed to accompish them. The book teaches D3D from top to bottom, everything from simple polygons to complex model loading and pixel/vertex shaders! I must go ahead and agree with the 1st review that this book has everything the "Special Effects" book lacked. By this I mean it doesn't just give you function prototypes and leaves you stuck by fuguring out what to put in them, it actually provides very good and concise code. So if you really want to start learning power of D3D at its best, for your apps/games/anything you better go ahead and grab this book! This will skyrocket you skills to the next level. I highly recommend this book for beginning gamedevelopers!(like me). With the huge incomes in entertainment industry in the future you will place yourself in a very good position.



2. This book helped me understand vertex shaders and pixel shaders, which was the point of the book. The only thing I did not like about the book was that some of the code had bad logic. But its very readable code and I must give the guy props, he must have coded this super fast. Plus his chapter on video was werid and hard to understand and the code was akward and to me was out of place in the book. It had way to much source code and no explaination of why it works. His other book on curves was good too ... check it out.



3. This book helped me understand vertex shaders and pixel shaders, which was the point of the book. The only thing I did not like about the book was that some of the code had bad logic. But its very readable code and I must give the guy props, he must have coded this super fast. Plus his chapter on video was werid and hard to understand and the code was akward and to me was out of place in the book. It had way to much source code and no explaination of why it works. His other book on curves was good too ... check it out.



4. I picked this book up about a year ago as it seemed to start from the beginning and cover much ground. Little did I know at the time that this would be the best book I'd find on the topic a year later. The coverage on shadow volumes and shadow maps is impressive. The discussion of things such as the depth buffer and stencil buffers is good. Plus having access to the various vertex and pixel shaders code made it easy to learn from just reviewing the code.

   Outside of the SDK, this is the only D3D book that I continue to reference, even as I move to DirectX 9.

No comments about High Fidelity Haptic Rendering (Synthesis Lectures on Computer Graphics and Animation).

5 comments about The Web Wizard's Guide to Photoshop (Addison Wesley's Web Wizard Series).

1. Yaah! Finally a book about Photoshop that even a beginner like me can really make sense of. The Web Wizard's Guide to Photoshop has introduced me to the joy of improving the images that I download from my digital camera. My friends and family are delighted with the much improved, innovative, and high quality, images that I am now able to create using this fun, user friendly, program. The clear and simple explanations in this book have encouraged me to move on to the next step. I am now in the process of designing my own web page. What fun!!! If you're interested in improving the way you work with images and/or in trying your hand at designing a website, this is definitely the book for you. If you try it, you most definitely will like it.



2. I am an amateur when it comes to using any Web design software as well as software that can be as intimidating as PhotoShop. That's why I think Sherry Hutson's book is so good. She is a teacher, and that shows throughout the book. She is able to break everything down into steps that are clearly understandable. Too many of these guides skip just enough steps that you can't follow. Not this book. It has helped to take me from being an amateur to not being afraid to try different things with Photoshop. The index is very helpful, too. I have a question, go to the Index, and invariably find the topic I'm looking for. You can't go wrong with this book even if you have never used Photoshop at all.



3. Sherry Hutson has produced one of the most informative and consise books on Photoshop that I have ever read. It covers all tehniques of a very complex graphics program in an easy to read (and learn) format.
   
   As a former student in many classes taught by Sherry, I can attest to the value of this book (I now design web sites, myself). A definate value for beginners and a strong resource for the expert.



4. Sherry Hutson obviously knows exactly what we Photoshop beginners are facing and what language to speak... no arrogance in this `how to' masterpiece. I have books on other programs in my bookshelf, as well as on Photoshop, which are about 800 pages and my eyes just gloss over so I've never even tried. When I started this book, though, I just followed step 1 and kept going because it was easy to understand and stuff miraculously started happening.
   
   Although I'm not a website designer, my work requires me to create and maintain the company website along with my other duties. In small companies, the few wear many hats and it's terrifying to create a website when you don't know what you're doing. My nephew recommended the Web Wizard's Guide to Photoshop and I decided to go for the `keep it simple' approach, using the book's "Do's" and "Don'ts." Now feel like I've published a site as appealing as some of the big corporate ones.
   
   Under "Features" on the back jacket of the book, the list reads, "Assumes no Photoshop experience . . .; Progresses in a natural order . . .; Contains extensive reference material, including a Web-Safe Colors chart, keyboard shortcuts, and annotated tool bars . . .; Provides tutorials in each chapter . . .; Uses full-color screen shots, so what you see in the book is exactly what you'll see on the computer screen." I'm usually pretty skeptical at such claims, but it's all true for once.
   
   Don't be afraid. Just get the book and start in. I bet you will be surprised at how quickly, for example, you catch on to working with and correcting pictures, and the different types of image formats and when to use them. I had tried to figure out layers once before, but now I understand exactly what's happening. I've done the exercise on how to make an animation and it's amazing. The eagle actually flies.
   
   This book is straightforward and very much a "fast start for beginners." I'm giving it five stars.



5. mick rasley, Sculptor,silversmith, September 20, 2004,
   Breath of fresh air
   Well spent $s. It costs more to get film developed today.This book was what actually cured my of 'film',and put me in the world of digital photography(and comfortably too).Glad this book was recommended to me ,and I will for sure pass on the 411.

4 comments about How to Do Everything with Macromedia Flash.

1. This book got me animating after the first chapter. I like the way it's organized. It made it very simple to learn Flash. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has never used this program before. It's also not boring. Thumbs up



2. You will be amazed at how quickly you'll be up and running using this book. I had no experience in flash before I picked this book up and now I use it as a dogeared reference and a tutorial. I liked this book because it takes you from absolute novice and shows all of the interface tools and alot of techniques, all in plain english. It reads like a textbook but with no excercises at the end of the chapters. Although actionscripting is introduced and used in about the last 3rd of the book, it doesn't go heavy into that subject matter, and is honest about it. The bent is definitely more on how to use the tools, importing sound, using text, the timeline, and other graphic concerns. Those are important subjects to master before one dives into actionscript. All of the examples actually work (extremely important). You can download the examples from the website since there's no cd. There was probably extensive editing, which I appreciate...I can't find any typos or errors. The only errata I found were some of the keyboard shortcuts didn't work, but that was a relatively minor hiccup. Overall, I found this to be an excellent resource for learning Flash MX. Kudos to Bonnie Blake!



3. This is not a book that deserves a read. You could find all the materials, presented better, from Macromedia site. It is also not a reference book because a lot of topics are not covered, though it is called "do everything".



4. This book got me going right away creating websites in Flash and it's the first book I reach for when I'm having trouble or trying something new. It's an easy read offering enough detail to let you explore a subject without being overly technical.

No comments about Mathematica Computer Manual to accompany Advanced Engineering Mathematics, 8th Edition (Advanced Engineering Mathematics).

5 comments about Developing Microsoft Visio Solutions (Pro-Documentation).

1. Don't let the modern-looking cover fool you. This book has been around for almost every version of Visio, and has been continually updated for every subsequent product release.

   This is the quintessential reference book for Visio developers. A complete ShapeSheet and Object Model reference, this book will cover every object, method, property, event, and ShapeSheet formula you would ever want to know. In particular, much attention is paid to creating "SmartShapes", meaning using less "code", but taking advantage of the ShapeSheet and it's power to create highly intelligent Visio shapes. While most coders jump right in to coding, they do not realize that in Visio, good applications start with "shapes first", then "code later".

   This book doesn't cover automating Visio's extra dll's and vsl's, like the UML, Organizational Chart, and Database Modeling solutions, but those add-ons are not really part of Visio's native object model (you'll have to dig a little harder for info of those).




2. This is a good starting reference source for anyone interested in doing more advanced VBA development with Visio. This is not a book for the average Visio user who wants to use Visio as a presentation tool like Powerpoint.

   This book lays the foundation for using Visio as an automated development tool, it introduces many of the advanced features of Visio and provides some samples. You need to have a solid understanding of VBA before you use this book.

   The overall quality of the book is good. Samples are good, it has a CD that includes all samples, so you can cut and paste. The only negative that I have about the book is that it does not go into enough detail with the Visio VBA properties or the Visio Object Model.

   This book is very much like a sampler platter. It gives you a little bit about everything. It is 10 feet wide and 2 feet deep. Needless to say, this book is still better than most that are available on Visio and VBA. There is another book that might be of interest to you and seems to have much compliment from other developers. Look for book by Graham Wideman.




3. If you have limited Visio or VBA experience, this book might be worth the money. But if you have worked with Visio for a while, have written VBA code in other applications, and you know how to use MSDN, spend your money elsewhere.
   
   This book only touches basics of Visio VBA, it doesn't show any brilliant, heavyweight techniques.



4. This book is worth its weight in gold if you intend to develop Visio solutions with automation. The Microsoft Website presents the entire Visio model, but doesn't compare to this book as a reference when it comes to understanding the sometimes arcane syntax of the Visio brand of Visual Basic. I highly recommend this to anyone trying to add automation to Visio solutions.



5. If you really want to become an expert this is the book to have. It is full of detailed approaches to typical Visio applications.

5 comments about Living Life inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation.

1. I love reading stories from animations golden age and this book is especially charming.
   Most people don't know it, but the ink and paint departments in all the major and minor studios were the real unsung heroes of the cartoon business-many ladies being accomplished artists in their own right and having the ability to take well drawn line drawings and just adding the right touch to each cel that the scenes would really shine. Water effects being one of the areas of animation that without great inkers and painters could tend to look "hokey".
   I give this book 5 stars, but I wish it had more pictures!!



2. When Chuck Jones received his special Academy Award in the mid-1990s, he wondered aloud from the stage where all the "laughing faces of Termite Terrace" had gone. They're right here in Martha Goldman Sigall's wonderful book. Martha was a central participant in the Golden Age of the animated short: she inked and painted on timeless, classic films directed by Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, Bob McKimson, Frank Tashlin, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, and others, and almost certainly contributed to more animated films than all of them combined, probably without receiving a single screen credit in that era. But she sketches the men and women who sketched Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry masterfully in this extremely well-written book, which, like Martha herself, is very warm, funny, and people-oriented. Her personal portraits of artists like Treg Brown, Virgil Ross, Ben Washam, and many others are a crucial contribution to animation history as well as a fun and funny reading experience.
   
   This is the best book on the Schlesinger studio (birthplace of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and many others), and provides perhaps a thousand important details about that historic cartoon studio and MGM's that aren't found elsewhere. Martha sketches the 1941 strike, the Red Scare, wartime Hollywood, and other events from the animation community's perspective, and also sheds light on the historic industry locations such as 861 Seward, where six different studios sought shelter through the years; the neat and clean (but long gone) MGM building in Culver City, and the shabby Van Ness home of Leon Schlesinger and his "kids".
   
   In what may be the last major eyewitness account of the classic era of animation, Martha raises the spirit of those long-gone laughing faces, and humanizes the creation of the great cartoons and timeless characters that will last forever. The joy she obviously felt in her career infuses the book and the reader.
   
   Martha and her husband Sol, who, happily, is also heard from here, have always been like beloved grandparents to animators in Southern California (one of which this author was for a few years), but in 1996 they kindly donated themselves to the Warner Brothers Museum and are now officially public treasures. If you're not in the area, you can claim your share of them right here in this wonderful book. They should designate a rating higher than five stars for it.



3. I know the son of the writer and was eager to read her book. I have done computer animation and presently am in involved in video production. I found this personal history of the early days of animation to be fun, informative, and came away feeling I had a better knowledge of the people involved in this wonderful form of visual art!
   
   If you love animation, history of early animation days...this book is a wonderful read!



4. If you've read any other animation history books, you've gotten a basic idea of how things were during "Golden Age" of the 30's and 40's. But not only is Living Life Inside The Lines one of the few books written someone who actually worked in animation during that period, it's the only book I've seen written by an ink & paint artist, which gives it a point of view of the animation world that other books never mention.
   
   Sigall also tells stories of people like Irv Spence and Phil Monroe who were a big part of animation history, but have never gotten much mention in books. And having worked at numerous studios and ink & paint houses, she has very broad perspective on how the animation industry has changed from the 30's thorough to the 80's. Plus her pleasant demeanor makes for a nice, easy-going read.
   
   If you're interested in animation, this book is a perfect supplement to your library.



5. This is such a treasure! It shows life inside Termite Terrace and preserves the history like a textbook. The author shares stories that aren't covered in other books and talks about the people who weren't in the spotlight of the Golden Era. I was amazed to find someone who had lived through it and been there had written this. Any students of Looney Tunes, animation, or cartoon history should read this book.

No comments about Around The World In Eighty Days.