Animation Books

reviewed by Dr. Eric Flescher, Olathe, KS: (dreric1kansas@aol.com)

Author: Chad Fahr
Publisher:McGraw Hill Osborne www.osborne.com
Released: 2008
Pages: 192
$30 USA
$39 Canada
15 UK
# ISBN-10: 0071498656
# ISBN-13: 978-0071498654

Strengths: This book has screenshots which are easily readable but are a little lackluster in terms of visuals. This book has a nice objective oriented listing in the inside cover of the front cover page as well as a nice website resources listing on the inside of the back cover. The index is nicely done and a helpful glossary is included. The Chapters are well thorough out and and have easy to read numbered tutorials. A few tips and notes are sprinkled within the chapters. ) Good solid information for both Macintosh and PC/Windows users was well done.The index is well written.

Weaknesses: The book has only black/white text which makes the chapters a little drab. There a few screenshots and they don't have screen pointers or anything else within these to explain how to use hardware or software.

Novice/Intermediate/Advanced

Rating: 5/5

Introduction


Who would have thought YouTube would have been such a success. But it has "blossomed" and grew. Even now it is changing how we think and display all videos. Also our elections process have integrated with YouTube for video conferencing . While I have started working with Youtube, I still have a lot to learn. But I think I found a real good book to improve my work with YouTube that could also help you. It is called How to Do Everything with YouTube. While it might not explain all you need to work with Youtube, it sure is a great one to start out with or improve your "Youtubing " skills.

The author is an author, filmaker, has worked extensively with video editing , hardware and software and has created his own films and videos. While my experiences include these on a much more rudimentary level as , I have much to learn. I wanted to see what else I could learn from his much more extensive experiences especially how to use Youtube in many ways. And his experience and knowledge are evidence in many ways throughout the book.

There are only 7 chapters but they are packed with useful information. These include starting off with YouTube; Shooting professional-quality videos; learning how to edit your videos with Windows Movie Maker, iMovie, and Remixer; sharing and uploading your videos; joining the YouTube community and sharing ; customizing your YouTube Channel and the utilizing of special tools and finally publicizing and promoting your YouTube experiences. While I have dabbled with YouTube, the book let me know more of my potential.

What I particularly liked is his information about adding audio tracks with AudioSwap, helpful hints on using lighting and adding sound and special effects. Learning how to create a short film, vlog, or video mashup was very insightful. Optimizing and uploading, creating playlists, subscribing and customizing channels, and participating in groups and ways to promote the audience had some really helpful and sensible ideas.


Conclusion

The black on white text and the lack of color within the chapter makes things a little dull. But while the dull visuals do not "stand out" the insightful chapters do. What I enjoyed about this book is not only the breadth and depth in which the author explains how to use the hardware and software information but even more importantly, specific helpful techniques concerning what kinds of videos to create with YouTube directing your messages, ideas, creativity and more. The screenshots will not explain visually how to use YouTube especially if you run into a little trouble. But what I have found YouTube is not that difficult to use and this book can help start and master using the Video editing and sharing capabilities. If you need more information another book may suffice.

As a confirmed Macintosh user, I like that the author included information about iMovie 6 and the new one iMovie 8, as well as PC/Windows related information. The author includes a section about the compositional use of video involving "the rule of thirds". I thought this was really nice as I found this idea this technique only used for photography. It is "little" specific gems, like this, that are integrated throughout the chapters and really make this book a very good one for learning about YouTube.

In short, this book is "crammed" with good solid information that will not only have you " up and running " in no time but also help you in your improvement of your YouTube movies, ideas and creativity. Mostly for novice or intermediate users, even Advanced users may learn a trick or two as I did.

Step by step instructions and illustrations help you understand the steps. A good introductory book for beginners. If you know the basics, then get a more advanced book.

This book contains a wealth of information about the history of animation as well as the art and science of creating an animated film. This well written and very readable book reflects the hard earned experience and wisdom of a true expert in the field. The book is also chock full of useful and amusing illustrations by the author. No student or professional in the field of animation should consider his or her library complete without a copy of this book. But this book will not get dusty sitting on a shelf. It's a wonderful resource that you will want to refer to time and again.

David Whitley's excellent book is remarkable for many reasons, chief amid which is that he is supremely sensitive to the way Disney-made animated movies (and he usefully differentiates between later movies made by the Disney studios and those overseen by Walt Disney himself) have shaped our ways of seeing nature. He takes the trouble to observe not only what the movies present but precisely how they do so - and in the process reveals some fascinating insights into the ways we have seen and continue to conceive what `Nature' might be.

It's not a small point - as Whitley remarks, Bambi was in 1990 the third highest grossing movie of all time, having had a run of nearly 50 years at that point, and it has shaped attitudes in adults and in children alike. As those children became adults they carried their prejudices into a modern world that has been less than sympathetic towards nature in any guise.

Whitley's analysis is especially illuminating when he comes to look at Pocahontas and to untangle for us the cultural evasions that the movie embodies on both sides of the arguments about colonization. While the Europeans tended to see America as a place to gather wealth so they could return home, the attitudes of the Native Americans were hardly as simple or as naïve as they have been presented to us over the centuries, and so in Pocahontas we see an attitude critical of the colonists but also surprisingly unquestioning of the peoples they discovered. Gently, Whitley brings us into contact with our own blind-spots about what we imagine our history to be and how we tend to look at the natural world, shaping it in ways that say a great deal about our human capacities for delusion.

If we're to come to some realistic understanding about what our relationship to the natural world might be - and as we destroy more and more forest and ransack unspoiled land in our economic rapacity for raw materials it's a good question to pose - then we'll need such sensitive and intelligent assessments of our world as Whitley supplies.

Whitley's admirable close readings, his extensive and eye-opening research, and his lightness of touch when dealing with these movies reveal them in a whole new way. This is a book to own, to re-read, and to treasure.

Allan Hunter
[...]

This is a pretty good book. I would of named the book, The Animated Short - A blueprint for creating your own animated short. As that is what this book is.

I have spent the last few years studying this material on my own. Buying writing books, going to seminars, buying directing / acting / filmmaking books, all to learn the various topics necessary to begin creating a 3d animated short.

This book would of saved me quite some time, before I talk more about what this book is, I think it is important to say what it is not.

This book covers no 3d package. It does not show how to model for animation, the best rigs for different situations, what type of render works best, workflows on setting up a small render farm to render out your animation. Guidelines on what resolution your render should be, ideas for light placement, etc. This book does not cover the 3d aspect of this.

In a way that is a good thing, if it did, the book would be dated, and isolate many people who are interested in this topic. It is unfortunate that the topics are not mentioned, as it would be interesting to hear different approaches, but what it does cover is fantastic, and I will share my insights with you.

The main format of the book is this:
Introduce a topic (acting)
Tell the audience some tips on how it relates to your 3d short, give you some good ideas to impelement on your own current shorts, give a background.
Then recommend (usually 5) books on the subject (and these are really good books that are recommended, I have most of them, and can attest to their usefulness)
Followed by an interview after a summary with a person working in the field (really good material here as well)


What this book covers is the following:

Chapter 1 - Story background and theory. Here they give ideas on creating a story, and some pretty useful advice. As with all chapters in here, the topics covered are only to whet your appetite, you do need more information, and the books chosen here (and the dvd) are quite good.

Chapter 2 - Building better context - tips and ideas to consider while still in the design stage of your project

Chapter 3 - Acting - how you need to learn acting, the basics, and more

Chapter 4 - Building character and Location - ideas for designing your characters

Chapter 5 - Building Story - Tools and tips on making a better story

Chapter 6 - The Purpose of Dialogue - I think you can figure this one out

Chapter 7 - Storyboarding - Thoughts on making storyboards - this is a pretty good chapter, and covers a huge amount of this topic

Chapter 8 - Staging - Really good stuff, but a tad to short.


So, am I glad I got the book? Yes. I wish it would of come out years ago, as it would of saved me from buying some books that did not help at all.

Is this everything you need to know? No. The book does not cover creating scripts, it doesn't introduce simple formats or formulas, It does not cover ideal times for animations (though it does say 3-5 minutes) It would of been great for some kind of generic structure for this kind of time frame. 5 minutes does not allow much story to be told. Most scriptwriting is 1 page per minute. I was really hoping for more information on this, but this book does not cover it in enough detail for me.

This book would of been "MUST HAVE" material, if it had followed the making of a 3d animated short, even leaving off the 3d aspects. From story development, from the concept art phase, all the way to setting up the shots, then showing the final piece (as that is how the book is structured). One sample, all the way, would of made this book 10x better.

This book does not cover voice acting. I really thought this would get mentioned, it did not. You should research this yourself, as it is important.

Sound design is another topic missing from this. It does not discuss this in any length. We need advice on creating ambient music, sound effects, scoring your film, and again changing voices.

The book is a pretty short book. At around 250 pages, it is a very quick read (It will take you around 2-3 days, as the topics are interesting, and the book is well written (save several glaring editing problems). I enjoyed reading the book, I was hoping for more, but I cannot knock the book because of it.

I think this is a book anyone interested in this topic should have. I also think anyone considering buying this book should know, it will only lead to you buying more books. As you need more books. You are making a film, it is supposed to be very difficult, and it is. But with the help you get from this book, it will make your R&D Much quicker.

I really hope more authors will tackle this topic, and hopefully in more depth. I wish they would of mentioned some 3d topics (Ideas on set design, poly counts, rigs, lighting) but you can get this information other places.


I hope this review was helpful for you. I have bought many new books the day they came out, and usually the ones with no reviews scare me (especially the ones with "fake" reviews, which you can always tell). That is why I made this review so long. I want people to really know about this book prior to making a decision. The main thing being, this book is a blueprint, with a small lecture on each topic. It will save you tremendous time, but it is not the only book you need. It is the map to take along your journey.

I also want people to know that the book does not cover your normal 3d topics. This book is more of a project overview, and assumes you know how to model, animate, texture and rig. I think this book has the making of the type of book to build a course off of in college.

The bonus dvd includes "MANY" useful features. An acting video, many shorts, among other things. It is a great all around package, and should help your formulate some great ideas. This is why I give the book 5 out of 5, even though it does not cover all the topics (nor does it claim too), I am glad I own the book, and I think most others will be too.

iMovie and iDVD are two of the iLife programs that ship with your Macs. Many folks think that, because they are the "simple or basic" programs, that they don't have a lot of features or can't do professional looking movies.

The fact is, you can get VERY nice results with these applications. There was a fellow who won a prize at Sundance Film Festival for a movie he made entirely with a cheap miniDV camera and iMovie. If you have budding aspirations as a filmmaker, or you just want to video a birthday party or wedding, you can get great results, too.

Jeff Carlson's book is aimed at beginner-to-intermediate users. It takes a visual, step-by-step approach. Everything is explained well and accompanied by lots of photos.

I was really pleased to see that he devotes the first 50 pages of the book to explaining how to use the DV camera, including how to take good video to start out with. He covers focus, depth-of-field, lighting, composing your shots, how and when to move the camera, etc. The term "garbage-in-garbage-out" was invented for computers, but it is really true with video and photography, as well.

Part 2 covers iMovie in logical order. He starts with an overview, then tells you how to import footage, edit video, edit still pictures for video, edit audio. He pays nice attention to the audio portion, including how to adjust the audio that came with the video, adding sound effects, music from iTunes and GarageBand, and adding audio from other sources. He also covers transitions, adding titles and making them look good on-screen, and adding visual effects to the movie.

Carlson calls Part 3 "Sharing." He tells you how to get your finished movie back to video tape or export it in other formats, such as QuickTime. Depending on the QuickTime compression scheme, you can put your movie on a CD, the web or send it via e-mail. And ... of course, you can send it to iDVD, complete with chapter markers.

Part 4 tells you everything you need to know to make a DVD. He tells you how to apply themes, customize them, create sub-menus, add chapters to an existing iDVD project, and creating slide shows with background audio. Then, he shows you how to create a project archive and burn the DVD. He finishes up with a chapter on troubleshooting.

iMovie Fast & Easy is just that...FAST AND EASY! Kevin Harreld does an incredible job of breaking down the information for the beginning user and helps them turn bad video into entertainment. The easy-to-read format and helpful tips create a great "beginner's guide," and a book that even the seasoned user will refer to over and over!

INCREDIBLE!

Friends, it difficult to tell you everything about this book. But in a nutshell this book is really very good.There are a lot of topic like making various models,materials,textures, rendering effects which are covered in depth. This book teaches you to make vareity of complex models and how to make it look more realistic.. Stevens has given good example which are easy to follow. This book guides you through to become a professinal in the field of 3D Studio. On finishing this book , I am sure, you will definately feel confident to work on this graphic package. Stevens has made the whole 3D Studio look very simple. people who have never worked on any graphic packages, will also find this book very interesting. As you read this book there will always be a curiosity to know more....... so start venturing into a whole new world of 3D Animation.Its very exciting. Good luck and good bye.

I love Jack Nicholson. I recommend this book for anybody who wants a serious study of his best acting roles. Don't buy it if you're looking for a glossy 'star' fan book, as this is a collection of essays by film critics. It makes a refreshing change to see Jack's work taken this seriously.

the book focuses the japanese motion graphic studios rather than works.
tons of infamous creative boutiques and their some great stuff. I wish this book much bigger. 9.7 x 6.5 x 0.9 inches