Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators

Capture the force in your life drawing subjects with this practical guide to dynamic drawing techniques - packed with superb, powerfully drawn examples that show you how to:

* Bring your work to life with rhythmic drawing techniques
* Create appealing and dynamic poses in your drawings
* Experience the figure's energy in three dimensional space
* Use the asymmetry of straight and curved lines to clarify the direction of force in the body
* Build on your foundational anatomy and figure drawing skills to animate your drawings
*Apply the theory of force to your on-location and animal drawing observations


Whether you are an animator, comic book artist, illustrator or fine arts' student you'll learn to use rhythm, shape, and line to bring out the life in any subject while Mike Mattesi's infectious enthusiasm will have you reaching for your pencils!

Mike Mattesi is the owner and founder of Entertainment Art Academy (www.enterartacad.com) based in Southern California. He has been a professional production artist and instructor for the last fifteen years with clients including Disney, Marvel Comics, Hasbro Toys, ABC, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, DreamWorks and Nickelodeon.

Audience level: Intermediate to advanced

Bring your artwork to life with the power of the FORCE! Watch, listen, and follow along as Mike Mattesi demonstrates the fundamental FORCE line and explains dynamic figure drawing techniques through 30 videos that are launched through the book's companion App. Packed with superb, powerfully drawn examples, the updated third edition of FORCE features an all-new section on the "FORCE blob," and dozens of fresh illustrations. Mike Mattesi’s 10th anniversary edition of FORCE will teach readers how to put thought and imagination to paper. Whether you are an illustrator, animator, comic book artist, or student, you'll learn to use rhythm, shape, and line to bring out the life in any subject.

The 10th Anniversary Edition contains numerous improvements. Around 30 videos are embedded within the book and accessible through the FORCE Drawing App.  In the App, click on the image of the camera, point your mobile device’s camera at the page with the symbol, and then finally tap the video card image floating above the drawing to launch the video. Then sit back and watch the video that shows me creating that drawing and discussing my process. Many new drawings can be found within this edition and the addition of color now further clarifies the theory of FORCE.

The newest book in Michael Mattesi’s Force Drawing series takes movement to the next level. Force: Drawing Human Anatomy, explores the different facets of motion and the human body. As opposed to the memorization technique, Mattesi stresses the function of each body part and how gravity relative to different poses affects the aesthetics and form of muscle. The chapters are divided by the different parts of the body, thus allowing the reader to concentrate on mastery one body part at a time. Color coded images detail each muscle and their different angles. Special consideration is given to anatomy for animation, allowing the reader to create a character that is anatomically accurate in both stillness and motion.

Many artists are unsure how to bridge the gap between the many basic 'how to draw' books and the more advanced ones dealing with the esoteric details of composition, perspective and anatomy. Force: Animal Drawing is the comprehensive guide to developing artistic animals that are creative, dynamic and anatomical, bridging the gap between foundational art and advanced techniques. Artists and animators alike all find animal inspiration when animating characters- be they human or inhuman. For a unique 'larger than life' character, readers will learn to apply the unique facets of animal movement, locomotion, expressions, facial features, physical build and personality to their traditional and digital art. Readers will also adapt key industry tricks and techniques to personify animal animations with key characteristics of a human's face. Explore the practical application of force theories and learn from today's leading character designers with the included artist interviews and an extended video tutorial via www.drawingforce.com.

You've researched your character extensively, tailored her to your audience, sketched hundreds of versions, and now you lean back content as you gaze at your final character model sheet. But now what? Whether you want to use her in an animated film, television show, video game, web comic, or children's book, you're going to have to make her perform. How a character looks and is costumed starts to tell her story, but her body language reveals even more. Character Mentor shows you how to pose your character, create emotion through facial expressions, and stage your character to create drama. Author Tom Bancroft addresses each topic with clear, concise prose, and then shows you what he really means through commenting on and redrawing artwork from a variety of student "apprentices." His assignments allow you to join in and bring your drawing to the next level with concrete techniques, as well as more theoretical analysis. Character Mentor is an apprenticeship in a book.

Professional artists from a variety of media offer their experience through additional commentary. These include Marcus Hamilton (Dennis the Menace), Terry Dodson (X-Men), Bobby Rubio (Pixar), Sean "Cheeks" Galloway (Spiderman animated), and more. With a foreword by comicbook artist Adam Hughes, who has produced work for DC, Marvel Comics, Lucasfilm, Warner Bros. Pictures, and other companies.

The present AutoCAD reference guide is, basically, an extension of our teaching, training and working experience in the CAD (Computer Aided Design) field and covers only ~200 commands of AutoCAD. In a productivity war, not only fewer weapons (tools and commands) force us to imbibe the defeat, but more than enough weapons are also suicidal (because we have less time for selection of weapon, too). So a compromising balance has been tried to achieve the optimum.

The available average good books on AutoCAD are horribly containing 2-3 thousands of pages for main text, with dozens of pages, only for their contents. All these mess is full of unnecessary details of even very simpler commands, which user can easily learn intuitively. Even after the bulk of pages they skip some really useful commands, which could otherwise boost the productivity of end user. 

While this reference guide is intended to provide a compact guide of AutoCAD to a wide range of working CAD professionals and students, ranging from engineering streams (architectural, civil, mechanical, electrical, etc.) to non-technical streams. We are relying heavily on the AutoCAD’s user friendly interface while writing the reference guide, as after entering the command alias in AutoCAD, it,  itself, tells ‘n asks for minimum ‘n necessary details through command line. So, practically, there is no need of written procedural details.

As this reference guide book is complimentary with the ‘AutoCAD-Advanced’ and ‘AutoCAD-Professional’ courses of ‘4Dimensions’, most commands given in this guide need at least one time lab training on real projects by an experienced tutor/professional. Each command, once mastered, doesn’t need the whole procedure to be remembered exactly (as different versions may have different procedures).

Content Development Team

4 Dimensions

Good game design happens when you view your game from as many perspectives as possible. Written by one of the world's top game designers, The Art of Game Design presents 100+ sets of questions, or different lenses, for viewing a game’s design, encompassing diverse fields such as psychology, architecture, music, visual design, film, software engineering, theme park design, mathematics, puzzle design, and anthropology. This Second Edition of a Game Developer Front Line Award winner: Describes the deepest and most fundamental principles of game design Demonstrates how tactics used in board, card, and athletic games also work in top-quality video games Contains valuable insight from Jesse Schell, the former chair of the International Game Developers Association and award-winning designer of Disney online games

The Art of Game Design, Second Edition gives readers useful perspectives on how to make better game designs faster. It provides practical instruction on creating world-class games that will be played again and again.

Become a Player in the Business of Video Game Art
Every year video games generate billions of dollars and some of the most dynamic and engaging artwork today. It’s an ever-growing field that holds great professional opportunity, but you need the right skills and savvy if you want to stake your claim. In How to Become a Video Game Artist, veteran video game designer Sam R. Kennedy provides the inside track on everything you need to forge a career in the world of video game art. Starting with the basics of game creation and a look at the artistic skills necessary to get started, Kennedy spotlights specific, key roles for creators—from concept artists to character animators to marketing artists and beyond. Each chapter features screenshots from popular video games like Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon and World of Warcraft; interviews with video game art professionals who’ve worked for top gaming companies like BioWare, Blizzard, and Ubisoft; step-by-step examples of actual game art; and detailed breakdowns of the training and portfolio samples you’ll need to make these jobs your own. For anyone who wants to go from gamer to game designer, this book contains all the secrets you’ll need to rise to the top of one of the most exciting industries of our time.

The visual arts are rapidly changing as media moves into the web, mobile devices, and architecture. When designers and artists learn the basics of writing software, they develop a new form of literacy that enables them to create new media for the present, and to imagine future media that are beyond the capacities of current software tools. This book introduces this new literacy by teaching computer programming within the context of the visual arts. It offers a comprehensive reference and text for Processing (www.processing.org), an open-source programming language that can be used by students, artists, designers, architects, researchers, and anyone who wants to program images, animation, and interactivity. Written by Processing's cofounders, the book offers a definitive reference for students and professionals. Tutorial chapters make up the bulk of the book; advanced professional projects from such domains as animation, performance, and installation are discussed in interviews with their creators.This second edition has been thoroughly updated. It is the first book to offer in-depth coverage of Processing 2.0 and 3.0, and all examples have been updated for the new syntax. Every chapter has been revised, and new chapters introduce new ways to work with data and geometry. New "synthesis" chapters offer discussion and worked examples of such topics as sketching with code, modularity, and algorithms. New interviews have been added that cover a wider range of projects. "Extension" chapters are now offered online so they can be updated to keep pace with technological developments in such fields as computer vision and electronics.InterviewsSUE.C, Larry Cuba, Mark Hansen, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Jürg Lehni, LettError, Golan Levin and Zachary Lieberman, Benjamin Maus, Manfred Mohr, Ash Nehru, Josh On, Bob Sabiston, Jennifer Steinkamp, Jared Tarbell, Steph Thirion, Robert Winter

Discover the lessons that helped bring about a new golden age of Disney animation!

Published for the first time ever, Drawn to Life is a two volume collection of the legendary lectures from long-time Disney animator Walt Stanchfield. For over twenty years, Walt helped breathe life into the new golden age of animation with these teachings at the Walt Disney Animation Studios and influenced such talented artists as Tim Burton, Brad Bird, Glen Keane, and John Lasseter. These writings represent the quintessential refresher for fine artists and film professionals, and it is a vital tutorial for students who are now poised to be part of another new generation in the art form.

Written by Walt Stanchfield (1919-2000), who began work for the Walt Disney Studios in the 1950s. His work can be seen in films like Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book, 101 Dalmatians, and Peter Pan.

Edited by Academy Award®-nominated producer Don Hahn, who has prduced such classic Disney films as Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.

This video book will quickly teach you what every photographer needs to know about Photoshop CC, including:

 * Removing blemishes and distractions

 * Creating amazing, natural-looking portraits

 * Changing the color of clothing and hair

 * Changing the shape of bodies and objects

 * Using layers, adjustment layers, and masks

 * Replacing skies and backgrounds

 * Straightening lines and buildings

 * Compositing multiple images together

 * Changing facial expressions and poses

 * Creating complex selections and masks

 * Creating panoramas

 * Creating actions to automate tasks

 * Choosing the best image formats

 * Customizing and configuring Photoshop CC

Tony & Chelsea go beyond teaching you how to use Photoshop; they teach you why and when to use each feature to create stunning, natural images. When Photoshop isn’t the best tool, they suggest other alternatives.

Combining the benefits of video training and book learning, this video book gives you over 10 hours of video and dozens of images to practice with. If you learn better with video, watch the video training and refer to the book for quick reference. For best results, walk through each procedure in the book using the provided sample images. Then, watch the videos to learn more advanced and artistic techniques. If you still have questions, or want peer review, join our Photoshop group on Facebook and get feedback from other Photoshop users.

Tony and Chelsea cover every aspect of Photoshop in-depth, but structure their teaching so that both beginner and advanced photographers can learn as efficiently as possible. If you just want a quick start, you can watch the first video or read the first chapter and you'll know the basics of photo editing in less than an hour. If you want to know more about a specific feature, switch to that video or jump to that chapter in the ebook. If you want to know everything about Photoshop, watch the videos and read the book from start to finish. 

With 18 years under his belt in the game industry, a key contributor to the MotorStorm series, and the creator of the 3ds Max in Minutes video series (at FocalPress.com), Andrew Gahan delivers the expert techniques in 3ds Max Modeling for Games, 2nd edition. This updated edition is packed with new tutorials that will enhance your modeling skills and pump up your portfolio with high-quality work in no time. Along with Anthony O'Donnell and a team of experts, Gahan covers all of the fundamental game modeling techniques, including character and environment modeling, mapping, and texturing. Finally, a bonus section in 3ds Max Modeling for Games offers readers insights and tips on how to get their careers started in the game industry.

New, expanded tutorials take readers of all abilities through full character and environment modeling from beginning to end

Companion website (3d-for-games.com) offers a robust, supportive forum where readers can get commentary on new work, develop skills and portfolio art, as well as network with other game artists on a variety of projects. Also features project files for all tutorials in the book and enough support images and photos to keep the budding artist busy for months

Completely updated gallery allows the reader to build on various models

Photoshop CS5 is more amazing than ever, but it can be overwhelming if you're just getting started. This book makes learning Photoshop a breeze by explaining things in a conversational, friendly style -- with no technical jargon. After a thorough introduction to the program, you'll delve deep into Photoshop's secrets with expert tips and practical advice you can use every day.Learn your way around. Get a guided tour of Photoshop's efficient new workspaceUnlock the power. Learn the best ways to use layers, channels, masks, paths, and moreBring images to life. Discover how to effectively retouch, resize, and recolor your photosBe artistic. Create beautiful illustrations and paintings, and use text effectivelyShare your work. Produce great-looking photos for print and the WebWork smarter and faster. Automate common chores and install plug-ins for complex tasksGet bonus online content. Find more great material on the Missing CD page

Written with the clarity, humor, and objective scrutiny, Photoshop CS5: The Missing Manual is the friendly, thorough resource you need.

Practical Maya Programming with Python is a practical tutorial packed with plenty of examples and sample projects which guides you through building reusable, independent modules and handling unexpected errors. If you are a developer looking to build a powerful system using Python and Maya's capabilities, then this book is for you. Practical Maya Programming with Python is perfect for intermediate users with basic experience in Python and Maya who want to better their knowledge and skills.

This book provides all the advice artists need to transform their digital painting--from brush, lighting and color basics to special effects, working with layers, and speed and matte painting. The 100+ expert tricks provide quick and easy solutions to all aspects of digital painting through clear instructions, step-by-step demonstrations and breathtaking annotated art.

The book is divided into core elements of digital painting providing beginner, improver and advanced techniques to ensure progression and relevance to all skill levels, making it ideal for beginners and essential for more experienced digital painters. This is the ultimate tool to help emerging CG artists get started with digital painting, and help advanced CG artists improve their digital painting techniques.

Apple’s new Photos app lets you do a whole lot more than simply store and edit pictures and videos on a Mac or iOS device. With this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn how to import, organize, and share your digital memories, as well as how to improve, print, and use your photos in creative projects. With Lesa Snider’s step-by-step instructions and expert advice, you’ll master Photos and tame your image library—and have fun along the way!

The important stuff you need to know:

Migrate from iPhoto. Learn how to make a quick and smooth transition.Organize your collection with ease. Master the many ways to import, group, and categorize images—and set up iCloud Family Sharing.Find your photos quickly. Employ Photos’ powerful labeling, keyword and facial recognition features to optimize searches.Sharpen your editing skills. Skillfully use Photos’ impressive image- and video-editing tools on your Mac or iOS device.Access photos anywhere. Sync your library to all of your Apple devices so your photos travel with you wherever you go.Share them online. Show your shots to everyone on your list by using shared albums, creating web galleries, posting them on Facebook, and more.Dive into creative projects. Build pro-level slideshows to share with others, and create gorgeous gift books, calendars, and cards.

This book is aimed at those familiar with the basics of Blender, looking to delve into the depths of the Cycles rendering engine to create an array of breath-taking materials and textures.

The SketchUp to LayOut book is the essential guide for woodworkers, carpenters, architects, contractors, builders, and designers who already know the basics on how to use SketchUp, but are looking to create stunning presentations to visualize their ideas with their clients using LayOut.Learn the workflow for creating models specifically for LayOut

Before you even begin modeling that first rectangle, you'll need to fully understand which type of model you should be building for LayOut. Don't make the mistake of creating twice the amount of work for yourself because you didn't properly organize your model ahead of time.

I'll teach you how to save time and frustration by organizing your model so YOU are in control of how your model viewports look.

The entire first half of the book is dedicated to preparing your model for LayOut. From organizational workflow, to scenes and styles. I share with you my 5 point method I use to visualize and prepare every scene I create for LayOut.

Not only will you understand exactly what those five points are, you'll learn multiple ways to control them. Using these methods, you will gain complete control over the look of your viewports in LayOut. You will master every aspect of a SketchUp scene and style, to enable you to create impressive presentations and drawings in the least amount of time possible.

Is this too advanced for me?

This book is designed for construction professionals who don't have any prior experience in LayOut at all. But it's also structured in a way that lets you look up specific tasks or methods without having to read the book cover to cover. I’ll save you all the time and frustration that I went through when I first learned LayOut by quickly orienting you with the workspace, then jumping right in to creating your own titleblock, inserting SketchUp models, and adding dimensions.

You should have some basic knowledge on how to use SketchUp. But if you're just starting out, you'll have complete access to my entire library of tutorials and videos for free on my website to bring you up to speed quickly.

Every important aspect of LayOut is explained in the book, with step by step instructions for you to follow along. Learn exactly what you need to know and skip over all the little details you don’t need to worry about. The book has been updated for 2014 so you'll even learn about the new Auto-Text tag feature, saving you a ton of time on those redundant text edits.

You’ll see REAL examples

The sample projects in the book are real projects, not hypothetical meaningless shapes and boxes, so you can see exactly how to apply the concepts you learn in context with the real world. Plus, the SketchUp and LayOut files are included with each book download so you’ll be able to follow along and discover for yourself how to organize a similar project of your own. The sample projects include a woodworking table project, akitchen project, and a three story house project.

At the same time, each step by step instruction can be read and followed independently from the project. So if you need to go back and reference a certain part of the book to learn how to do something specific, you'll be able to do that too.

Advanced Techniques

I’ve consulted with many of the best SketchUp gurus in the world! I’ve hung out with Nick Sonder at the SketchUp basecamp conference. I’ve interviewed Aidan Chopra, SketchUp evangelist and author of “Google SketchUp for Dummies”, Eric Schimelpfenig from SketchThis.net, and Alexander Schreyer, author of “Architectural Design with SketchUp”. I’ve also consulted with Mike Brightman, author of “The SketchUp Workflow for Architecture”, Daniel Tal, author of “Rendering In SketchUp”, and many other great SketchUp experts.

Dreamweaver CC is a powerful tool for designing all kinds of websites, from those with simple, static pages to interactive, media-driven sites for desktop, laptop, and mobile devices. But the program still doesn’t include a printed guide to its amazing capabilities. That’s where this Missing Manual comes in. With hands-on tutorials and coverage of every feature, you’ll learn to build, deploy, and manage sites whether you’re an experienced designer or just getting started.

The important stuff you need to know:

Dive into page design. Quickly learn the basics of working with text, images, links, and tables.Edit pages in Live view. Dynamically add elements to live pages and immediately see the results.Design once, and for all. Build fluid-grid sites that adapt themselves to desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.Troubleshoot your HTML. Use the new Element Quick View to reveal the hierarchy of page elements.Style with ease. Tap Dreamweaver’s enhanced CSS Designer to copy and paste styles.Enhance Dreamweaver. Get new program features with add-ons that integrate directly with Dreamweaver.Bring your pages to life. Use jQuery UI to add interactive page elements like tabbed content panels.Create universal pages. Avoid browser incompatibility with workarounds.

Focal Press' Pocket Lawyer series serves as a legal toolkit for independent producers and artists in the creative industries.

The Pocket Lawyer for Comic Book Creators is designed to help emerging artists and veteran professionals in the comic book industry build a solid foundation of business and communication practices that they need to thrive in today's ever-changing, uncertain world of indie comics. Readers will learn to protect their copyrights, negotiate publishing deals, hire artists so everyone wins, and learn the ins and outs of key contracts with this helpful resource. 

Whether you’re a photographer, scrapbooker, or aspiring graphic artist, Photoshop Elements is an ideal image-editing tool—once you know your way around. This bestselling book removes the guesswork. With candid, jargon-free advice and step-by-step guidance, you’ll get the most out of Elements for everything from sharing and touching-up photos to fun print and online projects.

The important stuff you need to know:

Get to work right away. Import, organize, and make quick fixes with ease.Retouch any image. Repair and restore old and damaged photos.Add pizzazz. Use dozens of filters, layer styles, and special effects.Share photos. Create online albums, email-ready slideshows, and web-ready files.Find your artistic flair. Use tools to draw, paint, work with blend modes, and more.Use your words. Make text flow along a curved path or around an object or shape.Unleash your creativity. Design photo books, greeting cards, calendars, and collages.Make yourself comfortable. Customize Elements to fit your working style.

Master the art of linear perspective.

If you’re an animator, illustrator, comic book artist, game artist or anything in between, you need to be able to create images that accurately and realistically show space, dimension and form. Simplifying Perspective is the one and only guide that thoughtfully and clearly breaks down the principles of perspective into something that’s easy to understand and use. With approachable lessons and clear visual step-by-step instruction, Robert Pastrana provides you with powerful techniques that help you turn a troubled drawing into a living, breathing, dimensional scene.

With Simplifying Perspective, you’ll never have to wade through dense, complex technical manuals again – this comprehensive guide to perspective is tailored specifically for artists who need to learn the ins and outs of one, two, and three-point perspective, measuring, shadows, reflections, and more. Simplifying Perspective presents complex drawing concepts in an easy-to-follow, approachable manner so you can finally learn the essentials of perspective without the anticipated frustration.

Provides clarity, depth, and a wealth of examples – this is your must-have guide to understanding and using linear perspective

Detailed visual instruction includes hundreds of color coded, step-by-step diagrams that allow you to easily follow the technical process of each construction

Comprehensive companion website includes additional resources on perspective with a range of work to help further your skills

Don't create boring e-learning!

Cammy Bean presents a fresh, modern take on instructional design for e-learning. Filled with her personal insights and tips, The Accidental Instructional Designer covers nearly every aspect of the e-learning design process, including understanding instructional design, creating scenarios, building interactivity, designing visuals, and working with SMEs. You'll learn all about the CBT Lady and how to avoid her instructional design mistakes. Along the way, you'll hear from a few other accidental instructional designers, get ideas for your own projects, and find resources and references to take your own practice to the next level.

The Accidental Instructional Designer is perfect for the learning professional or instructional designer who is just getting started with e-learning—or the more experienced practitioner looking for new ideas. In addition to sharing proven techniques and strategies, this book:

covers best practices and what to avoid when designing an e-learning program presents e-learning in action through various case studies shows how you can go from being an accidental instructional designer to an intentional one.

The classic reference, with over 25,000 copies in print, has been massively expanded and thoroughly updated to include state-of-the-art methods and 400+ all-new full color images!

"At ILM, compositing is one of the most important tools we use. If you want to learn more, this excellent 2nd-edition is detailed with hundreds of secrets that will help make your comps seamless. For beginners or experts, Ron walks you through the processes of analysis and workflows - linear thinking which will help you become deft and successfully tackle any shot." --Dennis Muren ASC, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic

"Ron Brinkman's book is the definitive work on digital compositing and we have depended on this book as a critical part of our in-house training program at Imageworks since the 1999 Edition. We use this book as a daily textbook and reference for our lighters, compositors and anyone working with digital imagery. It is wonderful to see a new edition being released and it will certainly be required reading for all our digital artists here at Imageworks." --Sande Scoredos, Executive Director of Training & Artist Development, Sony Pictures Imageworks

The Art and Science of Digital Compositing is the only complete overview of the technical and artistic nature of digital compositing. It covers a wide range of topics from basic image creation, representation and manipulation, to a look at the visual cues that are necessary to create a believable composite. Designed as an introduction to the field, as well as an authoritative technical reference, this book provides essential information for novices and professionals alike.

17 new case-studies provide in-depth looks at the compositing work done on films such as Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Golden Compass, The Incredibles, King Kong, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Sin City, Spider-Man 2, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Star Wars: Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith.Includes new sections on 3D compositing, High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging, Rotoscoping, and much more!All disc-based content for this title is now available on the Web.17 new case-studies provide in-depth looks at the compositing work done on films such as Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Golden Compass, The Incredibles, King Kong, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Sin City, Spider-Man 2, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and Star Wars: Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith.Includes new sections on 3D compositing, High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging, Rotoscoping, and much more!

Physically Based Rendering, Second Edition, describes both the mathematical theory behind a modern photorealistic rendering system as well as its practical implementation.

A method known as literate programming combines human-readable documentation and source code into a single reference that is specifically designed to aid comprehension. The result is a stunning achievement in graphics education. Through the ideas and software in this book, you will learn to design and employ a full-featured rendering system for creating stunning imagery.

This new edition greatly refines its best-selling predecessor by streamlining all obsolete code as well as adding sections on parallel rendering and system design; animating transformations; multispectral rendering; realistic lens systems; blue noise and adaptive sampling patterns and reconstruction; measured BRDFs; and instant global illumination, as well as subsurface and multiple-scattering integrators.

These updates reflect the current state-of-the-art technology, and along with the lucid pairing of text and code, ensure the book's leading position as a reference text for those working with images, whether it is for film, video, photography, digital design, visualization, or gaming.

The book that won its authors a 2014 Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencesNew sections on subsurface scattering, Metropolis light transport, precomputed light transport, multispectral rendering, and much moreIncludes a companion site complete with source code for the rendering system described in the book, with support for Windows, OS X, and Linux: visit www.pbrt.orgCode and text are tightly woven together through a unique indexing feature that lists each function, variable, and method on the page that they are first described

Expand your animation toolkit and remain competitive in the industry with this leading resource for 2D and 3D character animation techniques. Apply the industry's best practices to your own workflows and develop 2D, 3D and hybrid characters with ease. With side by side comparisons of 2D and 3D character design, improve your character animation and master traditional principles and processes including weight and balance, timing and walks. Develop characters inspired by humans, birds, fish, snakes and four legged animals. Breathe life into your character and develop a characters personality with chapters on acting, voice-synching and facial expressions. Expertly integrate core animation techniques with your software of choice featuring step-by-step tutorials, highlighting 3ds Max, Maya and Blender workflows. Adapt the tips, tricks and techniques for unique projects like character design for rotoscoping and motion capture. Advance beyond the fundamentals of 2D and 3D character animation with the companion website which includes short demonstration movies, 2D and 3D exercises and fully rigged character models.

This book will take you on a journey to understand the workflow normally used to create characters, from the modeling to the rendering stages using the tools of the last official release of Blender exclusively.

This book helps you create a character mesh and sculpt features, using tools and techniques such as the Skin modifier and polygon merging. You will also get a detailed, step-by-step overview of how to rig and skin your character for animation, how to paint textures and create shaders, and how to perform rendering and compositing. With the help of this book, you will be making production-quality 3D models and characters quickly and efficiently, which will be ready to be added to your very own animated feature or game.

All professional animators know a handful of secrets that give them an edge in a production environment. "How to Cheat in Maya" puts these secrets in your hands! Learn time and energy saving techniques tested in real Hollywood productions in this book, jam-packed with screenshots and scene files designed to get you up to speed quickly.

From menus to modeling, lipsync to lighting, How to Cheat in Maya 2013 covers all of the methods available in the latest version of Maya. Get up to speed quickly and produce stellar results with these insider workflows. With new, updated cheats for the latest version of Maya, "How to Cheat in Maya" is an essential guide for amateur and professional 3D animators alike. Fulyl updated with gold-mine coverage including: expanded sections on production workflow, all new chapters covering rigging cheats and Maya's referencing tools,  and brand new project files demonstrating production-proven techniques.

The companion website includes complete scene files for exercises and techniques, extra rigs, Quicktime movies of full projects, and video tutorials.

Artist imaginations continue to grow and stretch the boundaries of traditional animation. Successful animators adept and highly skilled in traditional animation mediums are branching out beyond traditional animation workflows and will often use multiple forms of animation in a single project. With the knowledge of 3D and 2D assets and the integration of multiple animation mediums into a single project, animators have a wealth of creative resources available for a project that is not limited to a specific animation medium, software package or workflow processs.

Enhance a poignant scene by choosing to animate the scenic background in 2D while the main character is brought to life with 3D techniques. Balance the budget demands of a project by choosing to integrate a 2D or 3D asset to save time and expense. Choose which medium Hybrid Animation, learn the systematic development of the 2D and 3D assets and the issues surrounding choices made during the creative process.

OpenGL Shading Language 4 Cookbook is a hands-on guide that gets straight to the point – actually creating graphics, instead of just theoretical learning. Each recipe is specifically tailored to satisfy your appetite for producing real-time 3-D graphics using the latest GLSL specification. This book is for OpenGL programmers looking to use the modern features of GLSL 4 to create real-time, three-dimensional graphics. Familiarity with OpenGL programming, along with the typical 3D coordinate systems, projections, and transformations is assumed. It can also be useful for experienced GLSL programmers who are looking to implement the techniques that are presented here.

Creative professionals seeking the fastest, easiest, most comprehensive way to learn Creative Suite 5 choose Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium Classroom in a Book from the Adobe Creative Team at Adobe Press.

The 8 project-based lessons show readers step-by-step the key techniques for working with all the applications in the Creative Suite. Readers learn what they need to know to create engaging layouts for print or web publishing.

This completely revised Creative Suite 5 edition covers designing for mobile devices and creating animated Flash documents. The companion DVD includes all the lesson files readers need to work along with the book.

This guide is ideal for beginning to intermediate users and provides countless tips and techniques to help them become more productive.

“The Classroom in a Book series is by far the best training material on the market. Everything you need to master the software is included: clear explanations of each lesson, step-by-step instructions, and the project files for the students.” –Barbara Binder, Adobe Certified Instructor, Rocky Mountain Training

Classroom in a Book®, the best-selling series of hands-on software training workbooks, helps you learn the features of Adobe software quickly and easily. Classroom in a Book offers what no other book or training program does–an official training series from Adobe Systems Incorporated, developed with the support of Adobe product experts.

Note from the publisher:

FREE Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 updates are available for this title. Simply register your product at www.peachpit.com/register and you will receive the updates when they become available.

The classic work on animation principles, now fully updated for the digital age.

The art. The craft. The business. Animation Writing and Development takes students and animation professionals alike through the process of creating original characters, developing a television series, feature, or multimedia project, and writing professional premises, outlines and scripts. It covers the process of developing presentation bibles and pitching original projects as well as ideas for episodes of shows already on the air. Animation Writing and Development includes chapters on animation history, on child development (writing for kids), and on storyboarding. It gives advice on marketing and finding work in the industry. It provides exercises for students as well as checklists for professionals polishing their craft. This is a guide to becoming a good writer as well as a successful one.

The latest edition of this bestselling game development reference offers proven tips and techniques for the real-time rendering of special effects and visualization data that are useful for beginners and seasoned game and graphics programmers alike.

Exploring recent developments in the rapidly evolving field of real-time rendering, GPU Pro6: Advanced Rendering Techniques assembles a high-quality collection of cutting-edge techniques for advanced graphics processing unit (GPU) programming. It incorporates contributions from more than 45 experts who cover the latest developments in graphics programming for games and movies.

The book covers advanced rendering techniques that run on the DirectX or OpenGL runtimes, as well as on any other runtime with any language available. It details the specific challenges involved in creating games across the most common consumer software platforms such as PCs, video consoles, and mobile devices.

The book includes coverage of geometry manipulation; rendering techniques, handheld devices programming, effects in image space, shadows, 3D engine design, graphics-related tools, and environmental effects. It also includes a dedicated section on general purpose GPU programming that covers CUDA, DirectCompute, and OpenCL examples.

In color throughout, GPU Pro6 presents ready-to-use ideas and procedures that can help solve many of your daily graphics programming challenges. Example programs with downloadable source code are also provided on the book’s CRC Press web page.

John Vince explains a wide range of mathematical techniques and problem-solving strategies associated with computer games, computer animation, virtual reality, CAD, and other areas of computer graphics.

Covering all the mathematical techniques required to resolve geometric problems and design computer programs for computer graphic applications, each chapter explores a specific mathematical topic prior to moving forward into the more advanced areas of matrix transforms, 3D curves and surface patches. Problem-solving techniques using vector analysis and geometric algebra are also discussed.

All the key areas are covered including: Numbers, Algebra, Trigonometry, Coordinate geometry, Transforms, Vectors, Curves and surfaces, Barycentric coordinates, Analytic geometry.

Plus – and unusually in a student textbook – a chapter on geometric algebra is included.

From Snow White to Shrek, from Fred Flintstone to SpongeBob SquarePants, the design of a character conveys personality before a single word of dialogue is spoken. Designing Characters with Personality shows artists how to create a distinctive character, then place that character in context within a script, establish hierarchy, and maximize the impact of pose and expression. Practical exercises help readers put everything together to make their new characters sparkle. Lessons from the author, who designed the dragon Mushu (voiced by Eddie Murphy) in Disney's Mulan—plus big-name experts in film, TV, video games, and graphic novels—make a complex subject accessible to every artist.

The must-have book on the leading suite of software for graphic and web designers

Fully revised and updated this hands-on resource offers a one-stop learning opportunity through eight minibooks dedicated to each product inside Adobe's Design & Web Premium Suite. The minibooks include Adobe Creative Suite Basics, InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks. The book contains information on new image enhancements to After Effects, 64-bit versions of Illustrator and Flash Professional, and a new tool, dubbed Helium, that will enable designers to create content using HTML5 and CSS3.

Offers the depth needed by novices and long-time professionals Covers the key features and tools users need to master individual programs to their fullest capacities Helps designers to be more creative and productive Filled with tips and techniques for using the 8 design programs

This popular package gives designers a full review of the most popular design and development tools on the market.

Put the power of Expressions to work in your animations with controls and efficiencies impossible to achieve with traditional keyframing techniques.
No programming skills are required. Foundation concepts and skills orient the new designer and serve as a handy reference to the experienced one. Basics of creating expressions, variables, commands, and expression helpers precede the leap into javascript and math essentials for more advanced expressions that include randomness, physical simularions and 3D.
Full color illustrations display the scripts and the resulting effects, pickwhip techniques, and sequential animations. Downloadable companion files include Quicktime movies of the demo animations, and AE project files that permit you to examine the Expressions. Extensive notes are provided to aid you in implementing the extensive library of Expressions available for your use on Adobe LiveDocs.

Just add talent!

Award-winning animator Tony White brings you the ultimate book for digital animation. Here you will find the classic knowledge of many legendary techniques revealed, paired with information relevant to today's capable, state-of-the-art technologies.

White leaves nothing out. What contemporary digital animators most need to know can be found between this book's covers - from conceptions to creation and through the many stages of the production pipeline to distribution. This book is intended to serve as your one-stop how-to animation guide. Whether you're new to animation or a very experienced digital animator, here you'll find fundamentals, key classical techniques, and professional advice that will strengthen your work and well-roundedness as an animator.

Speaking from experience, White presents time-honored secrets of professional animaton with a warm, masterly, and knowledgeable approach that has evolved from over 30 years as an award-winning animator/director.

The book's enclosed CD-Rom presents classic moments from animation's history through White's personal homage to traditional drawn animation, "Endangered Species." Using movie clips and still images from the film, White shares the 'making of' journal of the film, detailing each step, with scene-by-scene descriptions, technique by technique. Look for the repetitive stress disorder guide on the CD-Rom, called, "Mega-hurts." Watch the many movie clips for insights into the versatility that a traditional, pencil-drawn approach to animaton can offer.

Create amazing animated effects such as fiery blazes, rippling water, and magical transformations. Animation guru Joseph Gilland breaks down the world of special effects animation with clear step-by-step diagrams and explanations on how to create the amazing and compelling images you see on the big screen. 'Elemental Magic' is jam-packed with rich, original illustrations from the author himself which help explain and illuminate the technique, philosophy, and approach behind classical hand drawn animated effects and how to apply these skills to your digital projects.

Learn time-saving techniques and tested production-ready tips for maximum speed and efficiency in creating professional-level architectural visualizations in 3ds Max. Move from intermediate to an advanced level with specific and comprehensive instruction with this collaboration from nine different authors from around the world. Get their experience and skills in this full-color book, which not only teaches more advanced features, but also demonstrates the practical applications of those features to get readers ready for a real production environment. Fully updated for the most recent version of 3ds Max.

This book provides a versatile and lucid treatment of classic as well as modern probability theory, while integrating them with core topics in statistical theory and also some key tools in machine learning. It is written in an extremely accessible style, with elaborate motivating discussions and numerous worked out examples and exercises. The book has 20 chapters on a wide range of topics, 423 worked out examples, and 808 exercises. It is unique in its unification of probability and statistics, its coverage and its superb exercise sets, detailed bibliography, and in its substantive treatment of many topics of current importance.

This book can be used as a text for a year long graduate course in statistics, computer science, or mathematics, for self-study, and as an invaluable research reference on probabiliity and its applications. Particularly worth mentioning are the treatments of distribution theory, asymptotics, simulation and Markov Chain Monte Carlo, Markov chains and martingales, Gaussian processes, VC theory, probability metrics, large deviations, bootstrap, the EM algorithm, confidence intervals, maximum likelihood and Bayes estimates, exponential families, kernels, and Hilbert spaces, and a self contained complete review of univariate probability.

Francis Glebas, a top Disney storyboard artist, shows how to reach the ultimate goal of animation and moviemaking by showing how to provide audiences with an emotionally satisfying experience. Directing the Story offers a structural approach to clearly and dramatically presenting visual stories. With Francis' help you'll discover the professional storytelling techniques which have swept away generations of movie goers and kept them coming back for more. You'll also learn to spot potential problems before they cost you time or money and offers creative solutions to solve them.

Best of all, it practices what it preaches, using a graphic novel format to demonstrate the professional visual storytelling techniques you need to know.

The one reference book every Photoshop user needs!

Adobe Photoshop is the industry leading image-editing software, and the newest version boasts exciting new features. This must-have comprehensive resource gets you started with the basics and then highlights the latest updates and revisions to the new Photoshop CC (Creative Cloud). You'll learn every aspect of Photoshop CC, from image editing basics to techniques for working with the histogram palette, Lens Blur, Match Color, and the color replacement tool, as well as keyboard shortcuts.

• Explores retouching and color correction, working with Camera Raw images, preparing photos for print or the web, and much more

• Details what beginners need to know and shares intermediate-level information on key tools and procedures

• Delves into techniques for retouching, color-correcting, manipulating, combining images, as well as all the new features and enhancements in the latest version

Photoshop CC Bible is essential reading for everyone from photo hobbyists to professionals in graphic design, publishing, video editing, animation, and broadcasting.

The polygon-mesh approach to 3D modeling was a huge advance, but today its limitations are clear. Longer render times for increasingly complex images effectively cap image complexity, or else stretch budgets and schedules to the breaking point.

Comprised of contributions from leaders in the development and application of this technology, Point-Based Graphics examines it from all angles, beginning with the way in which the latest photographic and scanning devices have enabled modeling based on true geometry, rather than appearance.

From there, it’s on to the methods themselves. Even though point-based graphics is in its infancy, practitioners have already established many effective, economical techniques for achieving all the major effects associated with traditional 3D Modeling and rendering. You’ll learn to apply these techniques, and you’ll also learn how to create your own. The final chapter demonstrates how to do this using Pointshop3D, an open-source tool for developing new point-based algorithms.

The first book on a major development in computer graphics by the pioneers in the fieldShows how 3D images can be manipulated as easily as 2D images are with Photoshop

Photoshop CC in easy steps provides the essential building blocks for the reader to develop a clear grasp of the power and sophistication that Photoshop has to offer.

The continual expansion, refinement and development of Photoshop can make learning the software a daunting experience for the first time user. But there is no need to feel intimidated. The answer is simple, take it in easy steps. That's exactly what Photoshop CC in easy steps is designed to do. In clear, concise, simple language this book breaks down the complex and complicated into small easily digestible learning chunks.

Photoshop CC in easy steps delivers a solid, secure and lasting foundation that you can build on as you explore Photoshop and develop more and more control over one the most creative pieces of software available today. The author’s extensive knowledge and understanding of the requirements and needs of the new user is distilled in this book which is written in simple, clear language with step by step instructions, breaking down complex functions into easy to follow learning sequences.

Grasp the basics of color, file formats, key graphics and design terminologyMaster Photoshop window and the Tool panelLearn the tricks of the trade for image editingExplore Selection tools, Layers, Paths and Color adjustments to create your unique imagesOptimize images for print, web or multimediaCreate effective animations for the webDownload example images used in the book and get updates to the features covered – FREE

Photoshop CC in easy steps gives you a solid foundation to build on, allowing you to master the basics so you can proceed to unleash the full creative potential of the software.

Covers Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud (2014 edition).

This book is an example-based guide that will help you create professional grade paintings using Sketchbook Pro. As you progress from one chapter to another, you will learn how to virtually draw visually stunning paintings that are digitally drawn but look exactly like orthodox artwork.If you have had prior experience in developing digital artwork and are looking to add to your knowledge, Sketchbook Pro Digital Painting Essentials is a guide that will help you seamlessly translate what you do with traditional media to digital media.

In this vividly written, compelling narrative, award-winning journalist Neil Henry confronts the crisis facing professional journalism in this era of rapid technological transformation. American Carnival combines elements of memoir with extensive media research to explore critical contemporary issues ranging from reporting on the Iraq War, to American race relations, to the exploitation of the image of journalism by advertisers and politicians. Drawing on significant currents in U.S. media and social history, Henry argues that, given the amount of fraud in many institutions in American life today, the decline of journalistic professionalism sparked by the economic challenge of New Media poses especially serious implications for democracy. As increasingly alarming stories surface about unethical practices, American Carnival makes a stirring case for journalism as a calling that is vital to a free society, a profession that is more necessary than ever in a digital age marked by startling assaults on the cultural primacy of truth.

The book will provide insider tips, traps, and techniques on how to create 3d assets for use in computer games and simulation systems. The book will consist of a series of tutorials, starting with simpler models and moving up to more complex builds. As the book comes to us directly from successful game artists within commercial game development circles (Gahan + contributors) aspiring game artists will also find keen insights on how to get ahead in the game industry, i.e. how to prepare your personal portfolio to provide an edge in this extremely competitive world of game development.

The strength of this book is that it teaches all of the important game modeling elements of 3ds Max: character modeling, environment modeling, mapping. The book covers how to model, texture and animate credible game characters and levels using 3ds max. As readers move from tutorial to tutorial, they will be building their own portfolio of high quality work.

The DVD contains countless examples of what's hot and what's not in 3D modeling and also enough support images and photos to keep the budding artist busy for months; Features:
-step-by-step project files for each chapter
-all the relevant texture files and source photos used to create the texture maps applied to the 3D projects.
-extras: panoramic skies, small scene objects and a many texture maps and models so that artists can create whole scenes very quickly without starting from scratch each time.
-royalty free stock photos that artists can use in their own texture maps, models and scenes.

Polymodeling is a modeling technique used in 3d modeling. Unlike box modeling, or other forms of modeling where you start out with a basic form or primitive object that determines the mass of an object, artists can use the polygon (the basic building block of all of the primitives available in 3ds Max). This approach allows for more control over the flow, placement and detail of the meshes that are built. Placement of vertices/points, edges and all other sub-elements that build our models is determined by the user, rather than pre-determined by a computer generated primitive.

This book is a collection of tips, tricks and techniques on how to create professional models for advertising on T.V and the web. The author has tons of industry experience using Max toward this end, and he shares the secrets of his trade. As Production Modeler for some of today's hottest studios (including GuerillaFx, Coke Zero, MTV, Old Navy, Nike, Target, HP) Todd Daniele brings real-world experience to the book. Daniele teaches the technical aspects of polymodeling, while showing how to ultimately create content in a dynamic, efficient manner.

Associated web site offers instructional files that show the models in progressive stages of development; plus a supporting internet forum: readers can log-on to this forum to ask questions or comment on anything covered in the book.

This book focuses on the history of video games, consoles, and home computers from the very beginning until the mid-nineties, which started a new era in digital entertainment. The text features the most innovative games and introduces the pioneers who developed them. It offers brief analyses of the most relevant games from each time period. An epilogue covers the events and systems that followed this golden age while the appendices include a history of handheld games and an overview of the retro-gaming scene.

Perfect the art of creating CRYENGINE games through exciting, hands-on game development projectsAbout This BookCreate CRYENGINE games from scratch with CRYENGINE Blank Game Starter-kitDiscover good working practices and tips to quickly jump into making a new level in the gameBuild practical game projects and discover advanced concepts of CRYENGINE game development using the examples in the bookWho This Book Is For

This book is intended for CRYENGINE game developers, wanting to develop their skills with the help of industry experts. A good knowledge level and understanding of CRYENGINE is assumed, to allow efficient programming of core elements and applications.

What You Will LearnCreate a CRYENGINE game from scratch with the Game Starter-kitAdd custom methods to allow the player/AI to use a weaponCreate complete “start” and “end” game menus using Scaleform and C++Discover how to use highpoly modeling workflow and techniques within the pipeline for the SDK to useUse the Crytiff exporter from PhotoshopExport the CHR—the format the engine needs to read the skeletonIntegrate the character in the engine using the character toolBetter understand the rules to create and author skeletons to rig characters designed for CRYENGINEDebug common setup issues that might appear during production with useful toolsIn Detail

CRYENGINE is a game engine developed by Crytek for PC, Playstation, Xbox, Android, and iOS. It can be used to create AAA games, movies, high-quality simulations, and interactive applications. It is most popularly used for game development.

In this book, you will start off by exploring the CRYENGINE “Blank” Game Starter-kit, creating a completely playable character from scratch and controlling its movement. You will learn how to implement a weapon and ammo class, and will create complete “start” and “end” game menus using Scaleform and C++.

Additionally, you will learn some key texturing techniques for PBR and how to create and bake maps to the lowpoly model. You will also explore how to get a static model from Maya and shaders setbup in the SDK to check the textures during creation, and create all the necessary engine files to export and see the game character's animations in your engine.

In the final third of the book, you will learn how to create objectives, set up saved games, layer on audio polish to help immerse the player in the experience, and debug game issues.

Style and approach

An easy-to-follow, practical guide covering three exciting projects. As you work through each project you will explore new topics including complex animation, advanced scripting, and complex character motion. All the code used in each project is explained in detail.

This book contains the research on modeling bodies, cloth and character based adaptation performed during the last 3 years at MIRALab at the University of Geneva. More than ten researchers have worked together in order to reach a truly 3D Virtual Try On. What we mean by Virtual Try On is the possibility of anyone to give dimensions on her predefined body and obtain her own sized shape body, select a 3D cloth and see oneself animated in Real-Time, walking along a catwalk. Some systems exist today but are unable to adapt to body dimensions, have no real-time animation of body and clothes. A truly system on the web of Virtual Try On does not exist so far. This book is an attempt to explain how to build a 3D Virtual Try On system which is now very much in demand in the clothing industry. To describe this work, the book is divided into five chapters. The first chapter contains a brief historical background of general deformation methods. It ends with a section on the 3D human body scanner systems that are used both for rapid p- totyping and statistical analyses of the human body size variations.

If you are a NAV consultant and developer or a designer of business applications, you will benefit most from this book. This book assumes that you have a basic understanding of business management systems and application development with working knowledge of Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

Creative professionals seeking the fastest, easiest way to learn design with Adobe Creative Cloud choose Design with Adobe Creative Cloud: Classroom in a Book from the Adobe Creative Team. Project-based lessons show readers, step-by-step, the key techniques for working with multiple Adobe applications. Readers learn what they need to know to create engaging layouts for print and web publishing. This completely revised edition covers new tools and essential performance and workflow enhancements, including how to set up assets in Bridge CC, use Content-Aware tools on images and edit video in Photoshop CC, create accurate image tracings in Illustrator CC, design print layouts and documents for mobile devices in InDesign CC, and build a website that works across desktop and mobile devices in Muse CC without writing code.

 

Lesson files and assets are included as a download so readers can work step-by-step along with the book.

 

“The Classroom in a Book series is by far the best training material on the market. Everything you need to master the software is included: clear explanations of each lesson, step-by-step instructions, and the project files for the students.” –Barbara Binder, Adobe Certified Instructor, Rocky Mountain Training

Classroom in a Book®, the best-selling series of hands-on software training workbooks, helps you learn the features of Adobe software quickly and easily. Classroom in a Book offers what no other book or training program does–an official training series from Adobe Systems Incorporated, developed with the support of Adobe product experts

In this time-saving guide, design expert Conrad Chavez provides an introduction to the Adobe Creative Cloud. Conrad demonstrates how the Adobe Creative Cloud can enhance your workflows to meet the challenges of today’s creative projects. Coverage includes designing an app for iPad, designing a website without writing code, creating a photography portfolio website and more. Fully updated for the latest release of the Adobe Creative Cloud, this guide covers the latest CC software.

While comedy writers are responsible for creating clever scripts, comedic animators have a much more complicated problem to solve: What makes a physical character funny? Comedy for Animators breaks down the answer by exploring the techniques of those who have used their bodies to make others laugh. Drawing from traditions such as commedia dell’arte, pantomime, Vaudeville, the circus, and silent and modern film, animators will learn not only to create funny characters, but also how to execute gags, create a comic climate, and use environment as a character. Whether you’re creating a comic villain or a bumbling sidekick, this is the one and only guide you need to get your audience laughing!

Explanation of comedic archetypes and devices will both inspire and inform your creative choices

Exploration of various modes of storytelling allows you to give the right context for your story and characters

Tips for creating worlds, scenarios, and casts for your characters to flourish in

Companion website includes example videos and further resources to expand your skillset--check it out at www.comedyforanimators.com!

Jonathan Lyons delivers simple, fun, illustrated lessons that teach readers to apply the principles of history’s greatest physical comedians to their animated characters. This isn’t stand-up comedy—it’s the falling down and jumping around sort!

"Video Games Are Not Art", or so it is said.

Of course, this contention could be left well enough alone, and the video game industry would continue to make its yield – (an output that surpassed Hollywood’s gross income many Academy Award ceremonies ago). But should it be left alone, should it even matter who or what is artistic or what is art?

The author addresses the notion with a series of counter-attacks upon the common arguments and usual offenders who deny this status to the world's most lucrative form of entertainment. Addressing each of the typical criticisms of the artistic merit of games, "Are Video Games Art?" is a comprehensive deconstruction of these complaints, and provides sound, down-to-earth arguments for the positive position.

Re-issued with a new Afterword and update by the author: 15 June 2013.

Created to provide an experience closer to drawing and modeling with
real objects, SketchUp has won over a host of loyal users year after
year. SketchUp stands out for its speed and ease when creating
volumetric objects and studies, being used to produce from simple to
highly complex designs. The unique presentation quality that strays from
the usual and the ability to exchange information between various
programs in the CAD industry are also important distinctions.
This book aims to provide a high quality learning experience. All the
described procedures are illustrated. At the end of each chapter there
is a summary of the main topics addressed and exercises to be downloaded
from www.thesketchupbook.com!

Why take months to learn every button in 3ds Max when you can create great visuals with just a few key tools? Utilize the tool of choice, 3ds Max 2015, for generating realistic environments, seamless CG effects, and jaw dropping games in a matter of hours. You can use the memory-hogging methods that choke your display and take forever to render, or you can get it done quickly and efficiently.

Michael McCarthy offers a goldmine of artistic inspiration, timesaving tips & tricks, and step-by-step walkthroughs—you’ll wonder how you every got by without it! This new edition has been completely revamped for 3ds Max 2015. Start animating today with detailed tutorials, source files, bitmaps, and video demonstrations—all featured on the companion website.