Applications Books

The companion CD comes with Maya 7 Personal Learning. (The key reason I wanted this book.)

You can't install the software, because it requires a software key.

The link provided to obtain the software key doesn't work.

It brings you to the download page for Maya 8.5 PLE. Maya 8.5 requires Windows XP or MAC OX X. (I'm on Windows 2000, bummer for me, eh?)
Maya moved from Alias to Autodesk.


Basically, this book provides some helpful theory. General theory you could apply to several different software packages. Also, good for improving photography techniques.

was very pleased and excited to see such a great new refreshing book on texturing. Great book for a beginner or advance maya user. Great visuals and will touch on many different topics and will show you technigues on creating difficult textures in maya.

I had certain expectations when I chose this book and I found that it lived up to almost all expectations I had. This book gives you an overview of a large range of Maya's texturing and lighting utility nodes and it explains to the reader all their individual attributes. At the end of each chapter useful tips and tricks are explored in the form of step-by-step tutorials - from lighting to texturing and rendering techniques. One chapter is devoted entirely to Maya's lighs, another to only 2D texturing nodes, a third to 3D texturing nodes, and so on.
It is a good book for people who have already some experience in using Maya and want to broaden their knowledge.
That said the book contains 13 topical chapters plus a 14th chapter filled with "additional techniques". However, the last three chapters (12-14) can only be found as PDF files on the accompanying CD. The printed book itself finishes with chapter 11. The book could also do with an update to bring it in line with the extensive changes to Maya's UI since the release of version 8.5, but if you use your brain a little you can use Maya's online reference to help you locate menus that have been moved or renamed since this book was published.

This book is written for intermediate Maya artists and it begins by covering some basic skills. In addition to lighting and texturing it goes on to cover a lot of valuable techniques. Since textures and lighting require good rendering setups, the author explains raytracing, mental ray, global illumination and HDRI. Those subjects are covered in more detail in other books but the author goes a long way in introducing them. Overall, it's a great way to advance your skills.

I bought this manual to help me ugrade from Maya 7.0 to Maya 8.5 and it's become my most prized and relied upon resource. Every tutorial I've gone through has worked perfectly (no missing steps or errors so far), Mr. Lanier writes coherently & well, and each new topic is presented in a straightforward and matter-of-fact fashion.

As a professional Video Game Artist, I've reccommended this manual to our enitire company of 300, and will continue to do so to everyone else. In the past, decent documentation on the finer points of Maya has been elusive, but Mr. Lanier has saved us! I will be adding his other manuals to my library.

This book teaches with extreme clarity everything you need to know to program for Director/Shockwave 3D. A rarity amongst programming books due to the didactics, organization, and clarity/accuracy of code. It is current with Director MX 2004 and I suspect it is current with Director 11 given the information Adobe just released. You cannot go wrong with this one. The only problem is that it is hard to find, I had to buy my copy from a reseller.

I have every book publish about developing interactive 3D using director. This is the best one of the bunch. After reading this book I wish I hadn't purchased any of the others. Although the book is for director 8.5 it still the best book for Director 3D +

As anyone knows reading this review knows Director is the only program that will allow you to create 3D games and programs for the web. Hopefully Adobe will update it rather than let a very powerful program fade away.

This is an excellent book for Director and Director 3D. It is very in depth and involved, although a bit hard to understand at times. This book is not for beginners and requires a lot of hard work to obtain its end results, but they are very much worth it.

Other reviews have captured the gist of this wonderful, accessible, and thorough treatment of Director's 3D functionality. What I would like to add is that Catanese's book is just as current with Director MX as it is with Director 8.5.

If you plan to do 3D in Director MX, either games or presentations, you owe it to yourself to read this book.

I'm an IT student and possessing VB & C/C++. I have never learn about 3D and Director before. So when I want to make a Director project (game), I need a book!
And this book is the great answer. Everything you need about Director 3D is in this book! (although this book doesn't cover about Havok Physics Engine).

This book tells you WHAT and HOW, I mean, this book not only tells you HOW to make something (ex: primitive object) but also explains about that thing. (ex: what is a primitive object). So, you're not only able to programm but also understand about WHAT are you doing.

This book explains from basic and the last page explains advance technique. So, if you start from first page and finish the book, you'll become an advance 3D Director programmer (even before you read this, you're nill in 3D Director).

OK, I'll tell you what I get from this book, here is my project: a Multiplayer First Person Shooting (FPS) game! (like Counter Strike, Quake, etc). Notice that this is my FIRST 3D Director project! And I got A!

NB: if you're NOT a programmer and don't WANT to possessing 3D Director programming SERIOUSLY, I don't recommend this book, for this book is code heavy, full of code programming, just try "Macromedia Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio for 3D: Training from the Source" (by Phil Gross).
Just a note: I learn about Multiuser form Director 8.5 Studio (you won't find about Multiuser in Director's Third Dimension).

Captivate is a very useful elearning, simulation/demo program that lets you do a multitude of things. This book touches on many of those topics. I work for an instructional team that works with Captivate students and we find this book to be very boring. The sample files are drab and while some of the files on the CD rom in the back of the book are useful, many of the files are bit silly - such as the sound bytes - not real world enough. It does have a decent section in the front that briefly discusses script writing with accompanied files.

I don't agree with some of the author's opinions and the choice of a sans-serif font throughout the book - makes it a difficult read.

The tech support from Iconlogic has been good. I would like to do plenty of business with this company, but would like to see a better organized book that I can easily use in class.

Overall, you won't lose by buying this book. The book and student files could be a bit more interesting.

This is a very user friendly book. The ony thing that would make it better is if it were geared for Captivate 2. After going through this book, I feel that I don't need any organized teaching sessions for the skills.

"Essentials of Macromedia (now Adobe) Captivate" is the
title of the book. The promise is maintained when you buy it,
read it and follow its step by step exercises.
If I'm right, "essentials" are the things that come first and
foremost. When you are new to a jungle, a subject or an
application you want to get the essentials as fast as you can.
If the application you want to learn is Captivate, then Kevin's
book is the buddy on your side, the one with more
experience, the one that helps you with clear instructions and
useful tips.
The exercises on the CD are well written and work. They take
you step by step through the major features of Captivate.
The language is simple. Even for those, like me, that have
English as a second language.
In a matter of days you are up and running, creating your own
multimedia instructional materials.
Then you'll probably need other books, because Kevin's
Essentials has brought you, fast and safe, to the point you
can take another leap forward, to reach Station "Advanced".
Last but not least, Kevin Siegel is a "real person" that stands
behind his product. Like other reviewers before me, I wrote
him an Email and he answered promptly.

I really think this is the best software tutorial I have ever used, and I have used quite a few in my trillion-year career as a technical writer. It has just the right level of detail. So many tutorial writers leave major concepts and steps out because they assume that you know what they know. And you don't, that's why you bought their stupid book. But this one guides you gently through all you need to know to get firmly established in using Captivate. It was a great help to me when I suddently found a Captivate project on my desk and didn't know exactly where to start. Essentials of Macromedia Captivate helped me start at the appropriate beginning point. It also provided lots of handy tips that I'm sure helped save me a ton of time that I would have spent if I had tried to figure out the software by myself. I would reiterate, as others have here, that you need to follow all the steps in the book to get the most out of it. But doing so is well worth your while.

This book is the cheapest class you may ever have, and it is a good class. As you may have noticed there are not many books written on Captivate. It's a shame because Adobe's Captivate really is great program.

I am a freelance web designer and Flash animator in the Seattle market. Last year I wanted to learn Captivate and realized there are no classes in the Puget Sound area and only 3 books on the market.

I purchased this one and it taught me the program just working on the exercises at night. The book has not typos, a nice flow and they cover most of the program. It is a productive book and you see results quickly. Since then I have added E-learning to my list of skills I offer thanks to this book and the Adobe's Captivate.

I do admit I also purchase the Visual Quick Start book. But when I need to reference something I go to Essentials first. I will look at the example in the exercise I did and it will click right away, "Oh that's how I did it".

In one word WOW! You have to have this book, Matt explains things in simple terms and makes using PSE easy to use.

Bill

MATT KLOSKOWSKI DOES AND EXCELLENT JOB. VERY EASY TO FOLLOW! MATT'S HUMOR IS A DELIGHT. THE EXAMPLES MAKE IT EASY TO LEARN.

THE ONLY NEGATIVE IS THE BINDING ON THE BOOK. IT IS OK SO FAR. BUT I USE A BOOK HARD, I AM CAREFUL. BUT MYEXPERIENCE WITH THIS TYPE OF BINDING IS NOT GOOD. THEY SHOULD USE A SPIRAL BINDING.

This is a wonderful book. I have had it now for almost a year and use it constantly. It reads like a recipe book, which makes it extremely user friendly. I use it alone and in conjunction with "Photoshop Elements: The Missing Manual".

I echo the comments from everyone else. This is the best choise book to buy to learn how to use this product.

I have uesed this book more than any book I have on photoshop. This is my seconed copy. My first I gave to a friend. Everyone who sees this book wants it. Mat makes everything so easy, you will wonder how you ever did with out it. I give this book five stars. I would love to give it 20 stars,but they only give me five. You will be working in elements and photoshop like a pro in one day. Debbie

No obtiene la quinta estrella por no hacer referencia alguna al manejo de los archivos BVH. Por lo demás, genial!

This book has become one of my references for Poser 6. It's clearly written and covers topics from basic to advanced. I recommend this book for anyone learning or using Poser 6!

It was very easy to follow and made it easy to learn Poser 6.

I avoid buying software books because many of my past purchases were a complete waste of money. The authors rehash the software's free manuals and provide explanations and tutorials so basic that it seems their target reader is somebody who bought their first PC just last week.

Based on strong reviews, I took a chance and bought Practical Poser 6. I'm not going to cover the content, which is already described very thoroughly in other reviews here. I'll just say that if you have tried to use Poser without any tutorial or learning aids, this book is for you. I had a copy of Poser 5 and had just bought Poser 6 a few weeks before getting this book. My measure of a good instructional book is how much it taught me that I didn't know already. I estimate 50-60% of this book contains info that I'd only have learned by painful trial-and-error, and was really useful to me. And this is not to say that it's for experienced users only -- whether you're just starting out with Poser or already have a few years of experience, there's some explanations, tips and general good reading in this book for you. Highly recommended!

I found Practical Poser 6 a valuable training tutorial into the world of 3D graphics. Not only did it explain the functions and usages of Poser 6 in understandable terms, it illustrated examples in easy to follow, step-by-step instructions. This book is a recommended must-have for individuals who are thinking about entering the realm of 3D graphics or serious artists who want to refine their technique and squeeze a little more 'mileage' from their programs. A first-rate, well written book in it's field.

This book gets five stars, because from the first time I picked it up, it helped solve a problem I had at work with a highly annoying colleague who constantly went over my head to report to higher management anytime she even suspected I or a member of my team might be doing something wrong or not the way she would do it. Resorting to outright lies and spreading office gossip was not below her. Asking her to stop, being nice to her or being angry with her did no good. By following some of the advice in this book I was able to start to turn things around within a single day.

That is the really great thing about this book, it provides practical advice from experience project managers not only about tools and methodology of managing projects that work, but also the pitfalls of office politics and how to successfully deal with them.

The methods and tools presented in this book are very good, and are what the authors have found works in their projects. You might find that some of this is not applicable to you if you work in an organisation that already has an established methodology, or if the client insists things are done a certain way. It certainly presents some new ideas and tools to try that might improve your current proccess.

Another great thing about this book is its simplicity. There are many techniques for everything from project estimation to software testing, some of which require a high level of expertise. The techniques presented here are ones that are simple and easy to implement.

It is always good to learn from other peoples success, and this book gives you an insight into how its authors successfully manage their own projects that is valuable to every project manager.

I bumped into this book by way of "Head First PMP", also written by Stellman and Greene. Because I liked the PMP resource so much, I thought I should give this book a chance and I was not disappointed. Packed with useful information, case studies and examples, this book is a resource any technical project manager will want to have in their collection.
One bonus I did not count on was the companion website which includes downloadable templates, PPT slides and other electronic assets.

Highly recommended!

This is a nice book, everything about it is so neat and nice. I am glad I purchased this book from Amazon.

Applied Software Project Management
Reviewed by Steven D. Sewell, PMP
Project Management Institute, Tampa Bay Chapter

Having been peripherally involved as a software release project team member in the past, I knew enough to get my piece of the puzzle delivered. The information in this book allows me to broaden my perspective and actually comprehend the picture I see on the puzzle box cover. The book is written in a straight ahead manner. If you are one who like examples of what is being discussed, then this book is for you. The use of clear definitions makes each topic understandable and the analogies make them memorable. Tables and scripts are used throughout to exemplify each tool and technique. Most useful in practice are the sections that aid in the diagnosing of problems that can be encountered. This book definitely hits its goal of delivering a practical guide into the hands of a software project manager. The only improvement would be to have "handbook" or "guide" placed somewhere on the cover.

This book covers concisely all the modern aspects os software project management, without the complexity found in more formal PM sources like the PMBOK. Moreover, the job of translating the broad and general concepts covered in the PMBOK to practical day-to-day scenarios is the major benefit from buying it. It won't, however, cover an specific issue like estimation to the level that enables you to be an estimator (this subject, for instance, is only 17 pages long), but will provide you the guidelines and references to additional material to do so.

I won't do a lengthy review... just read the other 5-star reviews and you'll get the drift. This book is so easy to understand you can learn without a PC in front of you (if you're a VB6 developer looking to understand .Net). The explanation of what ADO.NET is all about is worth purchase price alone. No chapter is super comprehensive, but it's a great text to get you rolling in VB.Net right quick. As an MCSD and MCDBA certified developer, I wouldn't write such a great review on just any book. Buy it.

There is so much that is lacking in this book. First, it is not user friendly. It is difficult to follow. Second, it simply does not cover enough information that one needs in order to truly be able to use .Net technology.

Cover to cover this book sails through the hype dispensing nuggets not to be forgotten!!! .Net and C#-aholics had breathed so much hot air, I was having trouble find a place to start. Once received I put everything else aside. I used to use arrays, types, RDS, and ADO to get the plumbing done but now its OOP, and serialization from now on!!! I got so many good pearls from this book its ridiculous.

I have been programming in VB since 1992 and decided to move to VB.NET when it was released but found the learning curve was immense - until I bought the book of VB.NET. This book is my Bible, it sits besides my computer all the time. Without delving into the VB language, it simplifies the transition to VB.NET for the experienced VB Programmer. It's not for VB learners nor does Matthew propose that it is. If you know VB this is the book to ease the quantam leap from VB to VB.NET - explained in logical steps with excellent examples. I have had to EMail Matthew with a few queries and the response is always prompt and helpful.

There are certainly other books you need in your arsenal - such as Francesco Balena's Microsoft Reference - but this one is a must.

This book has a very good intention and concept - to introduce VB6 developers to VB .Net. In general it is a very good book. Not very deep, but good enough to start working with VB .Net and bee reasonably productive. So, if not for sloppy writing, I would probably give that book all 5 stars.
What do I mean by sloppy? For once, author uses terms object and class interchangeably throughout the book. Sometimes it is contextually understandable what he means, but often it might be very confusing, especially for people relatively new to OO. Then there are errors and typos in code examples. Some of them are also very confusing. For example: on page 80 author introduces the new VB concept - delegates. For VB6 folks this is something fundamentally new and strange.
In code example author defines delegate type and calls it ProcessFunction. Then he defines variable of this type and calls it ProcessDelegate. After that on the same page he shows how to use delegates and assigns value to ProcessFunction and retrieves value from ProcessFunction.
From the context one should understand that in the last two cases the variable ProcessDelegate should be used instead, and that this is just a typo. Yet, given that VB .Net now supports shared properties and methods, when Class (Type) name can be used where one expects to see Object (Variable), this types of mistakes are very confusing and annoying.
I would not go here into more examples of books imperfections. There are some more. Not terribly many, but enough to frustrate.
Would I recommend this book? Yes, if you have patience and some other VB .Net book to resolve inevitable confusions.
This could become a great book in its next edition if author takes time to make it a bit more accurate and precise.

It was recommended by my instructor and has proven to be a healthy resource for knowledge of both after effects and motion graphics. Definitely the first book I would by if you are trying to learn MG.

Well, I finally finished the book. I guess I will join the many 5 star reviewers. After reading this book, I have a great foundation of all the features AE offers. I didn't want to do too much as far as working the tons of examples the book offers this go'round, I just wanted to learn the "language". Now I will go through the book again. This time tackling the projects along with my own ideas.

I was a novice going in, and still am to an extent, but the Meyer's takes the intimidation out of you and teaches you principles where when you do speak to other seasoned artist you understand and can execute anything they do.

Excellent and well supported work. Starts from the very basics and gets into the esoterics. I use this work as the primary resource for mastering After Effects.

This is a great book. It has a little bit of beginner stuff (enough to get you started if you don't know AE) and then goes into intermediate and pro stuff.

I would not consider this book to be only pro level techniques, but still full of good stuff. The content on the CD is really nice to add to the collection although some (well, all of the Artbeats stuff) is watermarked in the lower right corner. Most of the other footage is not.

This book makes a nice companion to After Effects Cs3 Studio Techniques by Mark Christensen (another awesome AE book)

--
Kevin

I used this book after finishing up with the Meyer's fantastic "After Effects Apprentice" book. This book, "Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects", was a great way to firm up what I had learned from other sources.

Highly recommended!

I bought this book based on the raving reviews I read on Amazon from other users, but when I received it I found some MAJOR issues. This book is a true and utter disappointment for any intermediate or low-intermediate designer.

The Good
- This book is very comprehensive and good for TRUE BEGINNERS as it covers the basics of html, xhtml, php, javascript, and image editing.
- The only mildly useful bits for the hobbyist web designer are the PHP and Javascript chapters... but you can find the same, or better information on the basics of these two technologies posted for free on the net. You don't need to pay 40.00+ bucks for this info.

The Bad
- This book is extremely, extremely outdated. Most of the design tips date back to the time when IE 5.5 and 6 were the cutting edge, and the examples are aimed at IE and Netscape Navigator users! Hence, the tips & techniques are virtually useless now that IE 7 is standard, IE 8 on the horizon, and FFox 3 about to be released.
- This book is filled with statements such as "PNG-8 and PNG-24 formats have only recently received FULL support from the most used-browsers, Netscape Navigator 6 and Internet Explorer 5"(pg 290). THAT's how old this book's tips are.

DO Buy This Book...
- If you have NEVER built a web page before
- If you want the basics to build a personal web page, a hobby web page, a static site with less than 10 pages and no functionality other than a mailto form.
- If you don't mind building your site for primarily for IE users.
- If you don't mind your web page looking like the Geocities Sites of back in 1999.

DO NOT Buy This Book.
- If you know how to style a paragraph using CSS.
- If you have ever used an editor like Dreamweaver, or Adobe Golive, or even FrontPage.
- If you want a site with any sort of interactive functionality like wikis, blogs, discussion boards, etc.
- If you are aware that the world has moved on from Netscape Navigator 6.

In summary, I found this book to be a giant pile of rubbish. In the future, I would strongly recommend NEVER buying a Web Design book that has been published more than 1 or max 2 years before your actual date. Its 2008, DON'T buy anything written prior to 2006 in order to learn basic web design. You'll end up wasting your time, as I did.

This book is outstanding. It covers everything you need to know about web design. It was highly detailed, explaining everything you need to know. And it's well written.

Inside the chapters are small sections that they refer to as Tips, such as Explaining the Uses of a Table as a layout tool. With the tips, it makes it a lot easier to go back and look over something you forgot or don't understand.

Overall, exellent book, and I highly recommend it as a resource

A friend of mine recommended this book to me. I read it in about a week. It was very simple and understandable. Plus I learned some very intresting things I never knew about CSS.

The best coverage of PHP that I have found. Excellent discussion of tweaking server, appl, and session variables. Security discussion was very easy to apply.

I found this book to be excellent. It is very rare today to find a computer science book that is thorough, logical and well organized, yet brief and to the point. This can be said for all of the chapters in this book. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn about web programming.

In his book, "Information Security Intelligence", Professor Thomas Calabrese grants his audience two things of note. First, he discusses the topic of Information Security with great passion and loads each chapter, topic, and subtopic with key facts, historical insight, and real world application. Second, he writes with a clarity and expertise that I could only posit as unrivaled; this man's education, life, and professional experiences have obviously lent him a great deal of information on Information Security which he gladly presents to us simply and directly, and without beating any topic into the ground.

'Information Security Intelligence' articulately and clearly discusses the major issues of Information Security. The book keeps the reader engaged with challenging and interesting labs. The author's background as a professor comes through in his ability to cleary express the complex issues surrounding Information Security. A very informative and useful book.

Mr. Calabrese has written a wonderful book. Complete with examples and in an easy to understand format. The mathematical principles behind cryptography were a lot easier to understand than other books I have read on the subject. The CD is very helpful and the personal touch where you can see and hear Mr. Calabrese answers questions was very helpful. If you are interested in information security or cryptography this book is a must have.

'Information Security Intelligence' by Thomas Calabrese is a very informative and interesting book. The author has done a superb job of explaining principles and illustrating his points through easily understood examples. This book does a great job of presenting the issues that organizations face and the importance of securing their information. I would highly recommend this book.

"Information Security Intelligence" by Thomas Calabrese is a very easy read for the non-infomation security professional reader. Although, very detailed and analytical when working through the cryptography algorythms, the first and third sections are very readable and provide a thorough understanding of how organizations can protect their most important asset!! I would highly recommend this "how-to-book" to any IT professional tasked with protecting their business' information.