Animation Books

Don has a terrific ability to teach. I had the good fortune of having him show me the essentials of 3d, while he was working on this book. He was working at News in Motion at the time, which had such a tight schedule that he not only was able to knock out the daily animation, but was also able to explain to me the basics of 3d modelling and animation in the few minutes between processing. He is a true expert in the field, and from his thorough understanding of the subject, is able to simplify some very complicated and confusing concepts. Thanks again, Don, you've been a big help.

This is a great book to get you familiar with the concepts behind 3D modeling and animation for the Macintosh. 3D modeling and animation is growing on the Macintosh because the machines are getting faster and the OS is getting more robust. Now is a great time to start learning the art of creating 3D worlds and animations.

For the complete dummy to concepts in 3D, the full-color illustrations and explanations are top notch. If you're looking to get your feet wet on how 3D is handled by computers this IS the book for you. PC owners can benefit from it also (just disregard the Mac specific concepts located near the end of the book). It covers most of the big concepts found in virtually all 3D applications such as modeling, textures, shadows, lighting, and animation. Seasoned animators will want to look elsewhere unless unless you're in need of filling "holes" in your knowledge of the basics.

There's not doubt that Terry Gilliam is a contemporary genius and a master of the cut-out animation.
Throught this wonderfully created book, you can discover the complete process of making one of this amazing animations, that appeareds between some python sketches and other popular tv shows.
From the finest political humour to kinda simple kiddie humour!
Terry Gilliam at his very, very best!!

I acquired this book when I was in high school, having just discovered Monty Python. I was fascinated by the strange cutout animations that joined the skits, and that's what drew me to the book originally. Now, it is a rare, classic treasure. Mainly, it is a book overviewing cutout animation. The fun part is the documenting of a body of work that Gilliam has now moved away from as a film director. There are a few political cartoons, not used for Python, and some pages of raw sketches that show the darker side of animation. Plus, as a bonus, you get a running gag about a black spot and a badger that keep trying to hijack the actual book as you read it.... Technically beneficial to animators, a Holy Grail of acquisitions to Gilliam fans.

Terry Gilliam is a wonderful animator, the success of Monty Pythons Flying Circus was to a large part because of his graphic abilities. Everyone who has seen the opening titles with the big foot squash will know what to expect from this book. In this book, he goes to great lengths, to help you make graphics that can be funny. Even more importantly he shows you how to make animation with very little effort. This book was a lifesaver for me when I made my first Hollywood animation back in the early 1980's. Absolute essential reading for every cut-out animator or pixilator, and recommended to all who aspire to amuse others. Suitable for all ages, as my three children loved it.

This book is absolutely beautiful. It caught the corner of my eye while I was at the bookstore, and those Winnie The Pooh colors were unmistakable.

At first, I was drawn to it because of the interesting interpretation of Winnie on the cover. I was happy to find that this was a theme carried out through the whole book.

Amazing works of art, it was so wonderful to see Winnie through the eyes of all those different artists.

Highly recommended for any Disney or Pooh fan, or even for anyone who isn't either.

I thoroughly enjoy this book! It probably helps that our son, a Disney artist, drew one of the entries and credited me for his love of Winnie the Pooh but it is more than just his drawing that inspires me to look at this book. Although it would be considered a coffee table book, I have looked at the pictures over and over, something I don't always do with this type of book. There is so much variety in presentation, the size is delightful, and the autobiography bits about the artists are like reading a playbill on Broadway. If you love Pooh like I do, don't miss the opportunity to enjoy this book.

Picked this book up last week. it makes a great coffee table book. has some great versions of famous artists work done up as winnie the pooh. i keep wanting to cut the book apart and frame every page.

I just happened upon this book when I was shopping for manga and thought it looked like a good read. Well, it's a great read! Finally a book in English about Tezuka!

Schodt does an amazing job breaking down Mighty Atom/Astro Boy along with Tezuka. He actually knew Tezuka so he brings a great insight to this work. The images in the book are great as well, especially the color inserts at the beginning of the book. Included are a great index of all the manga and anime episodes, and a character guide with both Japanese and English character names.

If you are a fan of anime, manga, or both, you will want to read this book to know why the two art forms are so popular today, not only in Japan, but all across the world!

I don't think the onslaught of Japanese pop culture would not take fruition if not for the talented work of Osamu Tezuka. He influenced his country men for many generations and his manga books are still published today and are fresh as they were printed over 60 years. The man has left a mark on more artists/animators than Walt Disney ever did. Frederik L. Schodt delves into the framework of this genius who set the blueprint to all manga and anime that we are used to. If not for Osamu Tezuka, I think Japanese manga and anime would be dormant, as with the Beatles a slew of bands followed them, but there was only one Beatles and they will always be standing tall in their heap in the part pop culture as will Osamu Tezuka will be for the Japanese culture, his name is under every breath of new creation that comes from that part of the world and has crossed oceans with his universal ideas and will leave a giant imprint for many more years yet to come. Astro Boy Collection Box Set

You will not believe me when I try to tell you about Osamu Tezuka. He drew over 150,000 pages of manga in his lifetime, more than 700 separate series, and more than 70 anime, films and movies. He was a pioneer every genre, from hard sci-fi to mahou shoujo to adult films. He developed the drawing and animation techniques that still dominate the industry today. Today's greats, from Rintaro to Yoshiyuki Tomino, worked and studied with him. He was a political activist, writing against war, racism, environmental exploitation, medical corruption. He was a national hero of Japan, and under consideration for the Nobel Prize in literature when he passed away in 1989. Astro Boy, Black Jack, Kimba the White Lion, Metropolis, Phoenix, Buddha and Princess Knight are only the best known of literally hundreds of creations which have impacted every corner of the manga world. If you think this sounds like too much for one man to plausibly accomplish in a lifetime, you're far from the only one who finds Osamu Tezuka a little superhuman.

Fred Schodt, author of Dreamland Japan Manga! Manga!: the World of Japanese Comics and translator of Phoenix, Astro Boy and more, was a personal friend of the "God of Comics" and his translator when Tezuka visited America. In his long-awaited Astro Boy Essays, Schodt gives a concise and detailed introduction to the life, influence and significance of Tezuka in the history of Japan and the international comics world. Focusing on Tezuka's best known work, the anti-racist children's classic Astro Boy, it gives efficient, approachable portraits of Osamu Tezuka's life and personality, the atmosphere in Japan during and after WWII and their effect on the manga industry, the nightmarish behind-the-scenes production schedule that birthed Japan's first animated TV series, and the spread of Astro Boy as a Japanese, and later an international symbol of peace, technology, hope for the future, and above all of Japan itself. The rocky history of Astro Boy's American distribution gives a fascinating look at the beginnings of American anime fandom, and how many barriers had to be broken to achieve the comparatively-smooth licensing and distribution system in place today. All the material is presented in a format beginners can understand, but with enough details that even experts will find themselves learning more with every page. The Astro Boy Essays is an invaluable contribution to manga scholarship, and provides a window for American otaku to finally learn about the "God" who made anime what it is today.

For more information about the book, see:
www.stonebridge.com/AstroBoy/AstroBoy.html

For more information about Osamu Tezuka, his life and works, see:
TezukaInEnglish.com

I bought this author's Autodesk VIZ CD and liked it so much I decided to try the AutoCAD 2000 CD because that's what I use. I really liked it too. The things I like best are:

1) Its cheaper than other CD's and covers more commands.
2) It also covers more than even the big books like
Inside AutoCAD. Its _all_ tutorials so its easy to
understand.
3) Its easy to install. Just follow the directions.
4) Its easy to use. I like using ALT + TAB to switch back
and forth between it and AutoCAD. The READ THIS FIRST
page is the only thing I had to read in order to
understand exactly how to use it.
5) Its easy to print the tutorials. I set my properties
when I print to put two pages on each piece of paper
to save printer ink. I read the tutorials like magazine
articles - they very easy to follow because there are lots
of pictures. You should do this too. The tutorials are long
sometimes.
6) No animations, which is good because they suck up space
and you can't print them, and they are boring to watch -
if I wanted animations I would buy a video which there
are two million of.
7) The index is very good - commands are easy to find
8) It covers everything - beginner, intermediate,
advanced topics. Lines, arcs, circles -> object tracking
and dimension styles -> dimension families, plot style
tables -> 3D commands & custom menus/toolbars. I think
its like 80 hours or more of training. I haven't finished
it yet.
9) The author writes back if you email her questions about
the tutorials. I didn't understand Otrack (even after
I did the tutorial which I didn't read carefully enough)
and she wrote back when I emailed her. She knew exactly
what I was doing wrong. She's very polite.

I recommend this CD very highly. In fact I like both the
things I purchased from this company. The VIZ CD is very good too.

One warning - this isn't a "for dummies" product. Its for people that actually want to learn the product and use it to do real work. If you are looking for something really easy this product might not work well for you.

Easy to install, lots and lots of projects, covers the easy stuff and works up to the hard stuff. I bought it for my office and now everyone is borrowing it. The publisher does answer questions about the tutorials by the way. You email them - they email you back. Pretty cool.

I can't believe this CD is so good! I never knew it was possible to get training, REAL TRAINING, without going to a class. But this CD really delivers. In under two weeks, I've gone from a beginner to an Expert. (Well, I'm making 3D models which seems like expert stuff to me.) Oh, and I got stuck and sent an email to the publisher. Within 24 hours I had an ANSWER from a REAL LIVE PERSON that got me going again. Tell me another publisher that cares enough about its readers to answer their questions. This CD is like a teacher in a box!

The Best of the Harveyville Fun Times packs in a great deal of research. Culled from some of the best articles in the fanzines history, many pieces focus on the various Harvey characters in many different media; television, films, and comics. Indeed, you could spend many hours here, but sections of the material can be slightly repetitious since some show up again in various articles.

While a great deal of scholarly research has been done on Carl Bark's Uncle Scrooge character, this is one of the first editions done on the Casper and Richie Rich characters. In fact Mr. Christopher Barat makes some interesting comparisons to the comic book adventures of Casper and Richie with Disney's richest duck. He also does a great job summarazing and analysing many of the Richie Rich and Casper stories while looking for originality and other creative highlights in these hundreds of stories, which can get very maudlin after a while.

Something that caught my attention is when Richie Rich, who has always been faithful to his girlfriend, Gloria, has a unique encounter with the antagonist Mayda Munny in a dream sequence. Hmm. . . Maybe Richie is a bit more complicated than we thought. Anyway,it took Mr. Baret to draw this to my attention.

I also have to give Mr. Baret credit for using the word, "discombulate." Hey! Anybody who can use a word like that is all right in my book.

The text amply has interviews with the surviving Harvey company personal,episode guides to various Richie Rich tv programs, histories on Sad Sack (a favorite of mine), and volunteered art from a variety of people.

If there is a second edition, it would be nice to include an episode guide to the ninties Casper series, (which is up on the website) and a few other odds and ends. Another possible article could be on the best Richie and Casper stories that might have had a "bittersweet" feel to them. I also thought there was something poignant with Casper and Wendy's relationship due to the fact that Casper was ultimately a ghost while longing to be human. Wendy, however, was still a human girl, though a sorceress, which must have made things difficult for the two of them at times.

And on a totally trivial note, I'd also love to hear a bit more the short-lived, "Fruitman" comic from the sixites?

While this book might not be for everyone. It's essential to comic book historians who need to know there was more to to the industry that just superheroes and Disney. Invaluable alone for the Sad Sack material.

Sincerely,

James Smith III
carolyn@dia.net

Is it too self-serving to review my own book? I think not. I just wanted to let you know that I am really excited about this as my goal for a number of years was to publish a book. I know that everyone is not necessarily a comic book fan and especially not a Harvey Comics fan, but if you are, please give this a read. I have worked on this book over a 16 year period, and am very proud of the results. Also, please let me know what you think by posting your own review here.

When I wrote this review, Mark Arnold, editor of this book, had the only other review of it. But I'm glad he reviewed his own book, which he may have been somewhat hesitant to do, because he certainly made me want to read it (along with the blurb from Scott Shaw! an astounding artist whose work I have followed for a long time). Arnold has, as they say, some chops for writing this book, as he for some sixteen years has edited a Harvey Comics fanzine, The Harveyville Fun Times. This book is called The Best of the Harveyville Fun Times because that's what it is: a whopping 11 X 8 color cover paperback weighing in at nearly 400 pages of reprints of the THFT.

At first I felt a bit ripped off since, had one been a long time subscriber, one would already have all these issues. But then I thought, "Why go to the trouble to rewrite the whole book from the fanzines rather than just reprinting them? Obviously Mark had the same idea. Great minds think alike, and so do we.

This is the best sort of browsing book, jammed with about a zillion pictures as well as Harvey trivia approached from every angle. Who knew Jerry Lewis did Sad Sack movies? Where did my favorite Harvey comic star, Hot Stuff, come from? What's the relation of the Famous/ Paramount cartoons to the comics?

I myself eagerly await each issue of a Little Lulu fanzine called The Hollywood EcLLectern, and I can't think of anything better than if all those issues were bound together in a book. What a happy thought that Mark Arnold has been there and done that with the big H comics, and even better that I can kick back with this enthralling volume and another H (Hefeweisen) and delve into the Harvey Fun Times.

As an experienced graphics user with a number of graphics books, this one was a breath of fresh air. All of the aspects of Carrara are covered with information and instructions that should be easy for a beginner to follow while also having what an experienced user needs as well. The examples are top notch and not only show off what the software can do, but does it using examples that are not normally seen. A lot of quality tips and tricks in the book as well. A CD with a lot of quality content is included and it is too bad that some of those execptional images did not make it into the book as well. Certainly worth spending time on. It also includes the full demo copy of Carrara 3, the latest version. A great way to explore the software before you put down the full price for it. With the execptional output from this software and the high quality of this book, you will want to keep both close by.

This book is a must buy, specially for novice Carrara users. In fact, you need to buy this book and shelve the user manual, because the user manual is no where near being a tutorial. The book is a handy on guide to the most important 3D concepts and Carrara features, with practical exercises throughout every concept treated. Being paperback and printed in black and white with no color insets I do think it is an expensive book. But you get your buck back from all that you'll learn.

This is one of the best software handbook I have ever bought.
(I started buying computer books in 1979, incidently. I'm new to 3d modelling though, started 3 months ago.)
The author has the ability to take you through a sequence of learning stages, using very clear language, but achieving sophisticated and complex outcomes, in a painless manner.
Covers all the key aspects of Carrara 3, and gives insider tips that aren't in the manual, on key board short cuts, for example that really speed up your workflow. Might not suit everyone, but it suited my learning style perfectly. Doesn't replace, but complements the manual. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

I love to have my coffee and my quiet time, and flip the next page of the calender over to see what new picture is for the day. It may sound foolish but I have had disney calenders on my desk for years and look forward to reading each one. I havent noticed repeats for there shouldn't be with so many different movies but I like to see if my favorites come up for the day. I think it is also just a daily reminder of my youth and brings a smile to my face when I see an old one come up LOL, and I can remember it!!

Disney Days Calendar 2001 upholds the standard of excellence established by those of previous years. Anyone who loves Disney will love having a beautiful new image to look at each day. The pictures are wonderful to use for making homemade cards or postcards, and with some double-sided tape, the little black and white flip-animation pictures on the bottom-right can be turned into cute sealing stickers for the backs of envelopes. Enjoy!

Sigh...if only they made a calendar for people like me who like the Disney animated features but not the short cartoons, life would be perfect. :) Just kidding, but it would be closer. Still, this is a beautiful calendar, and you can cut the prettiest pictures out after you're done with them and put them up somewhere nice! ESPECIALLY not to be missed if you're a fan of Sleeping Beauty, but if you're looking for Hercules shots, you'll be puzzled by the complete absence of Megara in this calendar.

it's a brilliant book - the author is extremely knowledgeable and, although the subject is presented in detail, it's easy-to-follow and the book is attractively laid out. It's a masterwork!

Recently I had the opportunity to hear Bob Connolly speak in person. After hearing Mr. Connolly's presentation, I immediately ordered his book.

The book is impressive in layout as well as content. Mr. Connolly backs up his skill and puts it into real time production with this book. The accompanying CD (in Adobe PDF) is identical to the books layout, but includes the interactive Rich-Media presentations.

I have not found another book with the most up to date information on interactive PDFs. Mr. Connolly uses the interactive Rich-Media CD to reinforce the subject matter of the book. A must read for those working with or planning interactive Rich-Media technology presentations.

This is a great book to take you from the start of PDf right to what Bob thinks is the end out come of the next generation of the internet. What a vision it is and he explains it all along the way showing you the true powers of Adobe and its master piece PDF. This book will truly drive your mind wild with all the things that one can do with the right tools at their fingers. It has wonderful examples that if you use the inserted CD, come to life right in front of your eyes.
The only down side to the book is that all he does is talk about all the wonderful, great things PDF do but he tends to leave you hanging on how one can go about getting all these tricks done. Really, this book is for an advanced user of Creative Suite and someone that is looking for the "WOW" factor when it comes to sales, marketing and website design. If this book does not inspire you to create rich dynamic interactive PDF nothing will. I really enjoyed the book but I also learned that when it comes to PDF I am a novice.
If you are into design this your book but also search for other books that teach you all the things that Bob talks about and I do mean OTHERS. You will not find any of this information in one book unless Bob wrote a HOW TOO as well. Come on BOB, I will be waiting.

I love that the author was able to fit so much into so few pages. If I had to carry my old math books from college, I would have to hire a chiropractor.

It's important to point out that this isn't really the text to learn math from; however, it's a great little refresher that's to the point. So if you're rusty, get this book... if this is all new to you, I'd look into more indepth books.

First off, here is what you should expect when buying this book: it's a mathematical quick-reference book, and as such, it contains absolutely no code. What it does contain is background information and formulas for a bunch of the most common situations you'll encounter in computer graphics.

This book covers a lot of ground in relatively few pages, making it a tight read. It moves through Algebra, Trig, and Geometry, along the way covering such topics as 2D and 3D transforms, perspective, and Beziers. Most of the topics in the book are explained in sufficient detail in a small amount of space. The author makes great and liberal use of diagrams and pictures, which I find particularly helpful to understanding the material since math isn't one of my strong points.

There are also straightforward examples that demonstrate the mathematical principles, although there is usually only one or two examples per topic. This can be difficult if, like me, you have problems "getting it" without lots of examples to chew on.

As a software engineer, I enjoy figuring out how things work. And in that respect, this book is great. I have some experience dabbling in OpenGL, and I've read several other computer graphics texts that were laden with code examples but lacking in adequate explanations of the math being used. I have also read basic math books that were not geared towards computer programming topics, which made application and transfer of the mathematical threory difficult. This book filled the gap for me, taking me from thinking things like "Hey, look what I can do with OpenGL" to "Hey, I know how OpenGL is doing that!!" Well, maybe I don't know *exactly* how OpenGL works behind the scenes, but because of this book I have a much better understanding of basic computer graphics.

Highly recommended, especially if you don't have a strong math or computer science background.

This book is terrific. The word "fast" in the title hints that you are only going to get a superficial overview of various topics, but this is not the case: you actually come away with an UNDERSTANDING of the topics. The chapter on interpolation is a case in point... I came away being able to derive cubic interpolants, which means that I UNDERSTOOD cubic interpolants. The discussion on quaternions paved the way for me to be able to use them, and the chapter on Bezier curves and patches also gave me an excellent foundation on which to begin using them in OpenGL. In short, I guess this is just one of those magical books in which the author knows how to explain complex subjects in a simple, direct manner. This book is excellent, and I heartily recommend it.