Studios Books

American Car Design Now is the benchmark book in car design as business management, as sculpture and as psychology. It lays a foundation and sets a standard for intelligent writing on car design, writing that trains your eye to see more. The book is built on interviews with key designers and design managers at Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. In three major sections it reveals and explores how managers make decisions about the broad concepts and how basics such as proportion and line, as well as defining details make or break the visual success of a design. The author coaxes inarticulate designers to reveal how they work, how the mind, the eye and the hand create car designs that thrill or bore us. Visual concepts in the mind of the author reveal things that would go unnoticed by designer and observers unequipped with these concepts. Visual analyses of the designs of specific cars show how and why many great car design concepts become dull blobs when translated into production cars. Analyses refer to photos illustrating the author' points. A rich set of interviews with significant car designers is appended. Finally there is a fundamental glossary of car design terms that is a must-have.

Car-design is a complex intersect of art, business and psychology that this book captures but does not simplify. You will earn what you learn from this book, but your effort will be rewarded. My only complaint that this book's handsome graphic design often does not track the text closely enough. Some photo references are incorrect, missing or distant from their discussion. Nevermind that: this book is essential reading for anyone involved in car design. Buy it now; get express shipping; take time off to read it.

I first read this book in 1994, when a friend from Tucson sent it to me. It's a pity it is out of print, since I find that it expresses the wonders of nature in an intensely personal and internal manner. The perceptions of the Natural and nature are expressed through the poet's mind, rather than a sense of sight or touch. Charles Jones has died, I am told. What a shame that such an intense spirit, so in tune with natural things and places, should be stilled. - Gretchen Schoonmaker Ellis

My mother actually gave me this book and although she is not as extreme as Amy's mom she is a mother. Once you pick this one up it is hard to put down. As soon as you finish you immediately want all your girlfriends to read it. Most daughters would appreciate this book!

This is a really fun video for any age. Denzel Washington's Caribbean accent and UB 40's funky music are real treats, and the cartoons are cool. This video even managed to capture our oh-so-cool and very hard to please seventh-graders! I heard plenty of "yah mahn's" around the halls in school afterwards. Enjoy this video of the clever teeny-weeny spider who tricks both the longest and the strongest animal in the jungle!

the colors are beautiful, it's a fun book to read and play with my son.

These are some of the finest illustrations for children that I have EVER seen, and I see a lot of children's books throughout the year.

From the Bologna International Children's Book Fair comes this annual compendium of originality and talent in children's book illustration. Chosen from over 600 entries worldwide, the 94 featured illustrators represent a spirit of excellence which pervades better children's books, respecting the child's intelligence and boundless imagination.

Included is important biographical information about each of the chosen artists, the art schools they attended, their publishers, their primary medium, and a sampling of their work -- reproduced magnificently in full color. In some cases, an excerpt from the book is included.

An ideal reference for illustrators, graphic designers, editors and art directors, children's librarians, art schools, and all who delight in the ageless creativity of contemporary children's book illustration.

Wilder is one of the best screenwriter/directors that there has ever been. His partnership with Diamond reached its creschendo with this magnificent screenplay. Winner of the best screenplay in 1960 The Apartment is one of the funniest films that has ever been made. It is the best example of how to weave drama and comedy into a seamless whole. After this Billy Wilders career never reached the same heights. Which is unfortunate because while you are reading The Apartment you realise just how truly great he was. The film was named in the AFI 100, just read the screenplay and wish you could write anything half this good.

Taken from back of box...

Tap into the advanced authoring toolset of Apple DVD Studio Pro 4 to create everything from DVD dailies, to highly interactive commercial titles in both SD and HD. VTC author Nathan Haggard shows how to get the most of the application's sophisticated design tools, templates, and transitions, offering unparalleled creative freedom. High end features and integration with graphic programs allow for unlimited customization. Pre-built templates and artwork allows one to easily create a professional DVD in minutes.

VTC Training CDs use a simple method to transfer knowledge -- narrated QuickTime movies that take a user through the steps of learning complex software applications. Each VTC CD contains many hours of these movies, created by skilled trainers who are experts to their field, and presented using an interface that allows for easy access. While the movie is playing, a student can fast forward, rewind or jump to any point in that movie. Features of the player allow the user to search for movie topics of keywords. Other applications can be in use simultaneously -- any tutorial can be called up as required for specific help with an unfamiliar task.

This and Terra Primate are the two games Eden Studios has done and not heard many sung praises for. The premise for Armageddon is simple: a near-future World War 3 setting involving demons and angels, because something else threatens to destroy reality. Armageddon is the first Eden game to have a massive power scale, going from normal humans right up to godlike beings. In fact, I think it's the most diversly spread Unisystem power level to date. This game uses Classic Unisystem, of Witchcraft, All Flesh Must be Eaten, Terra Primate, and Conspiracy X 2.0 fame

In this way, it reminds me of Nobilis (search books for that one, you can't miss it), save the baddies are basically Cthulu with the serial numbers filed off (great tentacled beasts from beyond). In fact, I initially discounted it because I already had Nobilis, and let my prejudice cloud my judgement.

I was wrong. While Nobilis fits at the demigod level exceedingly well, Armageddon sets this toward more "realistic" war action. I say "realistic" as a genre in this sense, not as an actual nod toward true realism, which would take much more math than this 350 page book could contain. That said, it does it's job admirably.

Several different races are listed in the game, all with pulpy overtones (norse gods, atlanteans, immortals, etc). There's also another big difference from Nobilis: humans.

In Nobilis, humans are playthings of the gods. In Armageddon, humans are (as the good book says) made in the likeness of the creator. While Angels and Demons are more powerful physically and spiritually, both will not adapt or evolve, unlike humankind which will advance to near the power of the creator.

And here's why I think Armageddon has been put under wraps. It could bother people who think the game is mocking a real world faith. CJ Carella (the author) has a disclaimer proclaiming that it, like all RPGs, is a complete work of fiction, not meant to be taken as "an occult manual or religious work". While it may contain many elements of real world religions, anything it says about them it claims upfront are completely bogus when placed next to their real world counterparts. CJ looks like he did his homework when writing the setting, but never once does he claim to be a theology scholar or any other type of expert in the field, and never once does he claim that anything he says is a fact. Quite the reverse, actually.

Anyway, with that unpleasantness out of the way (it had to be said), I'll continue on to another merit of the system in my eyes: mechanically, it treats Angels and Demons as the same thing: Seraphim. While they may have fallen, Demons still are basically the same beings. They have wings, holy fire, and can weild a blazing sword. The only difference is the power source (divine or infernal).

The other great element is free will. Nephilim are half-Seraphim, half-humans. While socially looked down upon, they are more and more a great asset in the war, as they have human's spirit, and angel's blood. Another step I like: Nephilim aren't just watered down Seraphim. While at a lesser power level, Nephilim have unique powers all their own, and unique differences as well. Seraphim can learn magic, while Nephilim are practically immune to it's application (and for obvious reasons may never learn it).

The fast and loose Unisystem mechanics shine like always, bleeding into the background. There's even a section on Cinematic Combat which takes the game a step toward Cinematic Unisystem, the version of Buffy, Angel, and Army of Darkness fame, which happens to be my favorite version as of this moment.

The artwork is of average quality throughout, save the cover, which is quite good.

Overall, I think a person could look to a much worse place than this to start his Eden Studios collection, and a fan without this game should get it right away.

Seller was great. He helped me get what i want. Game was in great condition, like promised. Got it quick, even though i'm in afghanistan. thanks.