Flash 3D: Animation, Interactivity, and Games: 3D space is the latest enhancement to the ubiquitous Flash environment, enabling Flash content developers to enhance content delivery and the interactivity of web sites, games, and interactive learning systems.

Date Added: 3/3/2011 10:20:36 PM | Visits: 31419

Beginning Blender: Open Source 3D Modeling, Animation, and Game Design: A new world of creative possibilities is opened by Blender, the most popular and powerful open source 3D and animation tool. Blender is not just free software; it is also an important professional tool used in animated shorts, television commercials and shows, as well as in production for films like Spiderman 2. Lance Flavell�s Beginning Blender will give you the skills to start shaping new new worlds and virtual characters, and perhaps lead you down a new professional path.

Beginning Blender covers the latest Blender 2.5 release in depth. The book starts with with the creation of simple figures using basic modeling and sculpting. It then teaches how to bridge from modeling to animation, and from scene setup to texture creation and rendering, lighting, rigging and ultimately, full animation. You will create and mix your own movie scenes, and you will even learn the basics of games logic and how to deal with games physics.

Whether you are new to modeling, animation, and game design, or whether you are simply new to Blender, this book will show you everything you need to know to get your 3D projects underway.

Date Added: 3/3/2011 10:20:07 PM | Visits: 33097

Animators Unearthed: A Guide to the Best of Contemporary Animation: Animators Unearthed: A Guide to the Best of Contemporary Animation /by Chris Robinson. "Animators Unearthed" is an introduction to some of the world's top animation filmmakers, whose faces and voices remain largely unseen and unappreciated outside of the animation community. Chris Robinson discusses why it's been neglected and where you can find the work. He aims to bring this art form, and its creators, to the forefront by tracing the history of this personal and artistic animation.
Throughout its history, animation has been primarily defined as cartoons that make people laugh, a medium of gags, caricatures, animals and fart jokes. Most people have no idea that there also exists a more personal, provocative and poetic side of animation, one that is not made for money and mass audiences. Robinson profiles 20 animators, known in the field, including: Patrick Smith, Don Hertzfelt, Chris Landreth (2004 Oscar winner for "Ryan"), John Canemaker (2005 Oscar Winner for "The Moon and The Son"), Joanna Quinn, Run Wrake, Chris Hinton (Oscar nominee), Bob Sabiston ("Waking Life", "A Scanner Darkly"). After spending 16 years fighting the stereotype that animation exists for kids and laughs, Robinson's tome spreads that message to introduce these incredible artists to a wider audience. Most of all, he hope that people will come away with the feeling that animation is a great art form that rivals any of the classic arts.

Date Added: 3/3/2011 10:19:45 PM | Visits: 32192

Lynda.com - After Effects Apprentice Basic Animation: Trish Meyer leads beginners through a gentle introduction
to Adobe After Effects: from creating a new project and
importing sources, through arranging and animating layers,
applying effects, and creating variations, to rendering
the final movie. However, this is no paint-by-numbers
exercise. Trish demonstrates how she makes creative
decisions and saves time through the use of keyboard
shortcuts and smart working practices. Additional movies
explain further details about how After Effects works under
the hood. Her measured pace helps even those completely new
to After Effects understand the program so that they can
use it effectively on their own projects. Exercise files
are included with the course.

The After Effects Apprentice video lessons on lynda.com are
designed to be used on their own or as a companion to Trish
and Chris Meyer�s acclaimed tutorial book, After Effects
Apprentice.

Topics include:

* Starting a project from scratch
* Building a composition
* Arranging and transforming layers interactively
and numerically
* Animating parameters including motion paths
* Applying and re-using effects
* Creating variations and rendering the final movie
* Importing layered Photoshop files
* Understanding alpha channels
* Avoiding common mistakes

Date Added: 3/3/2011 10:19:14 PM | Visits: 33704

How to Cheat in Adobe Flash CS5: The Art of Design and Animation: Need to solve problems quickly to develop creative projects to time and to budget? Want to hone your Flash skills so you can concentrate on your animation? Then How to Cheat in Flash is for you! Chris Georgenes shows how to work from the problem to the solution � from the viewpoint of an animator who has been commissioned to create a job and is working to a deadline and to a budget. With his in-depth knowledge of the little-known secrets used by the pros to produce creative, professional animations, Chris is the go-to guru for designers and animators who want to create great animation, applications or motion design with Flash. Fully updated for CS5, How to Cheat in Flash CS5, is a goldmine of artistic inspiration, timesaving practical tips, tricks and step-by-step workthroughs that you�ll wonder how you survived without it.

Each techniques is designed as a double-page spread so you can prop the book up behind your keyboard or next to your monitor as a visual reference while working alongside it. Many of these workthroughs are real-world client projects, with the source files supplied for you to open and explore. With these real-life professional projects you�ll discover how to: bring objects to life with cool motion effects, make it rain, snow or set your world ablaze, develop flash mobile applications and many more tips and tricks not found anywhere else!

* Work over the shoulder of Chris Georgenes, renowned Flash expert, and apply the practical techniques, tips and tricks to your own projects with downloadable Flash source files, examples and tutorials, available at howtocheatinflash.com.
* Bestselling How to Cheat coverage of Flash CS5 � proven format for successful learning
* Learn a myriad of tips and tricks based on real-life working methods to help you work faster and more efficiently and to budget!
* Work from the problem to the solution, to gain the best possible results from Flash CS5!

Date Added: 3/3/2011 10:18:38 PM | Visits: 31866

Beginning Blender: Open Source 3D Modeling, Animation: A new world of creative possibilities is opened by Blender, the most popular and powerful open source 3D and animation tool. Blender is not just free software; it is also an important professional tool used in animated shorts, television commercials and shows, as well as in production for films like Spiderman 2. Lance Flavell�s Beginning Blender will give you the skills to start shaping new new worlds and virtual characters, and perhaps lead you down a new professional path.

Beginning Blender covers the latest Blender 2.5 release in depth. The book starts with with the creation of simple figures using basic modeling and sculpting. It then teaches how to bridge from modeling to animation, and from scene setup to texture creation and rendering, lighting, rigging and ultimately, full animation. You will create and mix your own movie scenes, and you will even learn the basics of games logic and how to deal with games physics.

Whether you are new to modeling, animation, and game design, or whether you are simply new to Blender, this book will show you everything you need to know to get your 3D projects underway.

What you�ll learn

* How to create models using sculpt mode, extrusion modeling, and more
* Go beyond playing with color to learn procedural texturing and UV mapping
* How to use light and depth of focus to make are realistic-looking model
* Adding rigging and realistic animation
* Using the compositor for movie mixing and lip-syncing animations
* How to put the games engine and physics to work to create full-featured games

Who this book is for
This book is for those who are starting out in 3D, animation and games design. It also appeals to those who know about 2-D design and photography and would like to expand their skill set.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: What is Blender?
2. Getting to know Blender
3. Mesh Editing & Basic Modeling
4. Texturing
5. Lighting
6. Basic Rigging
7. Advance Rigging
8. Animating
9. Mixing Movies: The Compositor
10. Games Engine
11. Physics Simulation
12. Going further

Date Added: 3/3/2011 10:18:05 PM | Visits: 33920

Gesture Drawing for Animation by Walt Stanchfield: Walt Stanchfield (1919-2000) was an artist who taught life drawing classes for animators with a special emphasis on gesture drawing.
For each weekly class session, he wrote informal handouts to emphasize the theme of the current class session, to comment on work done in the previous class, or discuss whatever topic struck his fancy. Over a period of years, these notes were lovingly shared, studied, and treasured by animation students everywhere.
Mr. Stanchfield personally gave copies of his collection to interested students, and was happy to see them distributed. According to many people who were lucky enough to study under him, he wanted to publish them as a book. Reportedly, the studio did not pursue this opportunity due to the difficulty of obtaining copyrights for the student drawings.

Date Added: 3/3/2011 10:17:23 PM | Visits: 32336

Elemental Magic the Classical Art of Special Effects Animation: 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. * Create stunning animated effects such as sparkling pixie dust, roaring tidal waves, and raging fires* Apply the theory behind effects animation to your traditional and digital animation projects* Written by animated effects guru, Joseph Gilland, who has worked on such feature films as Lilo & Stitch, Brother Bear, Pochahontas, Tarzan, and Mulan.

Date Added: 3/3/2011 10:16:49 PM | Visits: 33431

Advanced Animation and Rendering Techniques: An exposition of state-of-the-art techniques in rendering and animation. This book provides a unique synthesis of techniques and theory. Each technique is illustrated with a series of full-color frames showing the development of the example.
Features
Contains a wealth of practical implementation detail includes practical algorithms backed up by details of their implementation using RenderMan all animation techniques based around real case studies of commercially produced work includes 36 pages of color images.
Advanced Animation and Rendering Techniquesoffers a balance between theoretical concepts and implementational detail that will be invaluable to professional programmers and students alike.

Date Added: 3/3/2011 10:13:41 PM | Visits: 32369

Computer Animation Algorithms and Techniques: What many digital animators fail to realize is that someone needs to make the software that's used to bring images to life. Without the tools, the ideas can never be materialized. In Computer Animation: Algorithms and Techniques, the concepts and formulas used behind the scenes and under the hood of contemporary animation software are clearly explained for the programmer and the technical director.

Hardbound, liberally illustrated, and with an eight-page color gallery, there are six chapters and three appendices. The book starts with an overview of animation and works through some technical background information, and then delves into interpolation and basic techniques for representing 3-D motion and space on a 2-D display. Later chapters walk through advanced algorithms (kinematics, rigid body simulation, constraints) and then a discussion of ways to represent natural phenomena. There's also a focus on modeling and animating articulated figures. It's important to note that these chapters are not about which buttons to push in a given software package, but rather about the use and explanation of formulas for representing a specific simulation.

Perhaps the best feature of the book is the information and samples available on a companion Web site. Rather than include a CD-ROM, which raises the cost of the book and whose information can grow stale, the reader can find sample animations and ready-to-use code snippets, as well as links to other relevant Web sites.

There are any number of books available on computer animation software packages, but precious few on how they do what they do. Computer Animation: Algorithms and Techniques is an invaluable resource, a textbook for anyone interested in computer animation programming or for anyone who simply wants to get under the hood of their favorite animation application.

Date Added: 3/3/2011 10:12:05 PM | Visits: 33483