Studios Books

That last review said it all. I agree with everything. Needs a little conversion to 3.5 but that's no biggie. Great artwork, original characters, nice format, excellent product.

Buy it.

I recently received the Red Star compilation as a gift, so imagine my surprise upon learning that the same team of artists had also published a D20 supplement. Quality tends to follow quality, so I picked this up for my own game as well.

Dramatis Personae provides profiles and full background on 24 primary characters from levels 4 to 11. These NPCs run the gamut from brave warriors to evil monks to wizards and criminals. The character concepts are distinct and fresh for the most part; some are downright unusual, although there are one or two clichés as well (not necessarily a bad thing in D&D).

Essentially, whenever you need a quick and interesting villain or ally, this book allows you to take any of the characters within and plunk them down anywhere in your campaign as needed with little to no work on your part. Full statblocks are provided for each character, along with a detailed description, background, and combat preferences. For the most part the NPCs are all of moderate to major importance and ability- no bartenders here.

Following the character section there is also a healthy selection of new magical items as well as a handful of new feats and spells. Most of these are tied to the NPCs themselves.

As a GM aid this book could prove indispensable in a pinch or as a resource for new ideas. For players it might be somewhat less useful, but it could still provide hooks for a memorable character.

Now let's get to the artwork. It is unfortunate that the entire book wasn't done in color, because the cover is truly stunning. The interior pages are black and white with gray shading, but even so, the character pictures (which are done by some very respected comic book artists) are on par or better than the artwork in any other D20 material out there.

I'd also like to make note of the fact that this is just about the most error-free D20 product I have ever seen. The errata, which can be found at the Archangel Studios website, lists a mere handful of typos.

Dramatis Personae uses the D&D 3.0 rules, but if you're the GM, then your players don't have to know that. However if you really are that anal, then the changes to 3.5 are minor.

Overall, I was extremely pleased with this purchase, especially considering its modest price. I would recommend Dramatis Personae to any GM who was seeking to spice up his or her campaign, or to anyone who simply wanted a useful, high-quality D20 supplement that can take a place of pride in any collection.

And yes, the cheesecake fairy on the cover is also in the book. No, you don't want to mess with her.

among the best of the on line web comics to get publish this is a wonderful tale that put a child comedy twist of the idea that the nightmare on elm street films created on how real dreams are. Especially with the main character putting his sword from the dream world to the waking world.

This second volume in an ongoing story continues to meet the standards set by the first volume, and those were high indeed. A young man returns to the world of his childhood dreams after an 8 year absence, to rediscover long-lost friends, to discover who he is, and embark on a quest even as he tries to come to terms with a world he can only visit in his sleep.

As a graphic novel, as a display of characters, as an absorbing story, this saga scores highly on all three measures. The artwork is beautiful - if anything it deserves a larger page size to do it full justice. A labor of love by Scott Christian Sava and the talented folk who have helped him realize this world, The Dreamland Chronicles may be a work of fantasy, but it will reopen your eyes to the joy of wonder.

While the whole work to date can be found online, the books have the advantage of being portable and allowing you to share this world with others without having to drag a computer along. By all means, check out the story online first if you wish - but you'll want to be able to hold it in your hand as well.

Highly recommended.

The first hundred pages of this ~300 page book deal with the history of tabletwoven bands: who made them and why, where they were used, design sources, historical tablets and looms, and some technical information about the bands. The next ~170 pages lists historical bands. Each listing gives culture, time-period, materials, and any other information available. Many (most?) also have a pattern for the design. The last couple dozen pages are the note and bibliography. I found this to be an excellent source of both general and specific information about historical tablet-woven bands. It is also obviously aimed at those who wish to recreate for themselves something documentably from times long ago.

As a Scadian i am costantly searching for peroid and DOCUMENTED patterns. Well this is the MECA of all of them. Documentation and pattern in one. I am very glad i got this book and will recomend it to everyone.

This book is really a captivating mystery disguised as an artful novel. The main character, a doctor, has a mystery (or really, several), hidden in his past. As his story unfolds, we are riveted by the plot -- what is in his past? How did the action happen? I would call this book a "reverse mystery" -- the events happened in the past and are only now being revealed by the main player.

The very fine writing makes unravelling this mystery a pleasure. I had to read the book all in one sitting because I couldn't wait to find out what had happened. I would recommend this most highly to anyone interested in an artfully told story.

THE EIGHTH DAY OF THE WEEK is an extraordinary first novel. Both my wife and I were mesmerized by its dark, barroom moodiness, its many poetic passages, and, of course, the mystery and intrique. The narrator, a doctor, tells his story, which we gradually realize is a confession,to a young woman in a bar. In a booth nearby, another woman watches and waits. We slowly gather clues about who this woman is, and what her relationship is to the younger woman who looks like her, or as she might have looked years ago. The story the doctor tells, in what has become a ritualized retelling, involves his wife, his troubled children, eventually his wife's lover, her child by him, and, as we slowly and painfully discover, an unimaginable, almost unpardonable sin. The air of mystery, and growing tension, between the story he tells and the barroom frame story in which the story/confession is told -- this is what kept us hooked from page one. In fact, it's almost impossible not to read the novel straight through. I recommend it to anyone who's interested in clear, expressive writing, and in the strange workings of memory, guilt, and loss -- and also love, how it weaves its delicate web to catch and hold us.

For the basics and for the best news photog.
Eisenstaedt's Guide to Photography is one of the best books.

This book was published in 1978 and is a pleasure. Eisenstaedt used Leica rangefinders and Nikon SLRs. The book contains many pictures and Eisenstaedt explains how he made each one. His favorite combination was the Leica M and a 35 mm lens. He used a tripod as needed. Eisenstaedt cautions to "keep it
simple." "The most important thing about a camera is that you feel comfortable with it," he says. Good down to earth advise throughout the book. Photography is not about equipment and technique; those are givens. It is about vision.

There are many great examples of basic image processing techniques in this book. Topics like Image Filtering, Edge Detection and also some Wavelets. There is both theory and detailed examples which really helps when trying to get the DSP in a symbiotic relationship with Matlab, CodeComposer Studio and MS Visual Studio.

There is a logical flow in how information is presented. First a basic description of the algorithm. Second some Matlab or pseudo-code. Then third he describes exactly how to implement it on the c6x dsp. Not only are there implementation details but also interfacing explanation for both Matlab and Visual Studio.

Overall this is an excellent book for getting a project up and running in a timely fashion.

This is an extremely well laid out and understandable text. The coding examples are easy to understand and can be easily demonstrated on the TI DSK's. As a current TI employee with little experience with the C6x line of DSP's, Qureshi's book allowed me to learn a large amount of image processing background in a short time while becoming familiar with the workings of Code Composer Studio and the DSP. The book starts very simply and has clear instructions on how to obtain the tools to run all of the code samples on real DSPs.

Starting with an overview of the tools involved and the C6x architecture, Qureshi moves into simple image processing concepts, such as contrast stretching and window/level processing. After clearly explaining the concept and the implementation, the reader is led through the process of optimizing the code for the DSP environment. Later topics, such as edge detection and wavelets leave the reader with a clear understanding of the fundamentals of image processing, as well as code examples that make implementation a breeze.

Overall, an excellently written book and a must for anyone interested in image processing, whether on TI DSPs or not.

It's such a great book; great pictures. I think it may be a little too complex for 4-5 year olds. But kids older than this would benefit. Read it w/your kids.

This is a wonderful book that is used as a teaching tool. It is a beautifully illustrated 3-d book on the facts of life. One can use this book to explain to their children about the facts of life...pregnancy and childbirth. Practioners can use this book to explain to their patients about pregnancy/fetal development and child birth. This book is for everyone. A great book to have on your bookshelf. Definitely worth the money!

What an amazing calendar filled with magical faeries that seemed to breathe beauty and life! I loved the introduction to each faerie and learning their unique message and purpose. I found the holiday and calendar dates included to be very intesting too. Opening this calendar is like beginning a new adventure into the mysterious realm of the faerie family.

"Delightful, beautiful and insightful..." that is how I would describe this gorgeous calendar. I bought last year's calendar as well and was waiting for the 2006 edition to become available. The perfect Christmas gift, I gave 20 away as presents and plan on doing the same this year. It is unique because the Faerie Journals interactive website has an on-going diary by "The Journal Keeper" which he (or she, we don't really know) updates like every 6 weeks, because this story is happening now, in real time - and invites the reader to write in advice or experiences they may have had. The inside cover of the calendar condenses the whole story, which makes it easy to pick up where the story had last left off. The imagery in the calendar is truly "other-worldly" and really creates a feeling of believability to the story. I also love the environmental message; that the reason the fairies are helping us is because there is a greater task at hand and that is the salvation of our planet. Humanity needs to wake up to the devastation we have caused and work together for the future. I agree! I highly recommend this calendar, not only is it functional - but magical as well.

I needed a replacement and couldn't resist the faeries. I figured it would just have a lovely cover, but every page that separates the letters of the alphabet is covered with beautiful artwork depicting faeries. I absolutely love the address book. The pages are also large and each entry slot contains plenty of room for various phone numbers, including mobiles.

If you adore the land of fae, this is indeed a wonderful address book to buy. It has many different paintings by faery artists!

this is truly a great book. I have been a friend of Johns for over 14 years now and he has tought me more than almost everyone else in my life. This book is still one of the best in its class, and every portrait photographer doing families needs it. In a word, buy this book. YOU NEED IT

Although this book is about 12 years old, it is still one of the best out there on how to enter into the world of profitable professional portrait photography. Many of John's ideas in this book are timeless and time-tested. If you are interested in succeeding, REALLY succeeding in the portrait photography of any kind, you need to get your hands on this book and anything else John Hartman has written. I firmly believe he is responsible for making more photgraphers financially successful than any other educator in the history of the industry.