Computer Graphics Books

This textbook is one of the best science textbooks that I have read. The figures are amazing in detail and attract the attention of the reader. Genetics is fun with this textbook!

Conservation and the Genetics of PopulationsGenetics: A Conceptual ApproachIntroduction to Genetic Analysis

This book explains genetics concepts in a clear manner. It is was described to me as both teacher friendly and student friendly. I can easily see how it could indeed be both, though I can only comment on it from a teacher p.o.v. It is the book I've chosen to prepare my class from, and I would highly recommend it for any Genetics class.

I started using Groove and it is a great piece of software.

Get in the Groove: Building Tools and Peer-to-Peer Solutions with the Groove Platform is a great book as the Groove documentation, while excellent, lacks a lot.

To many people, p2p software and networks are synonymous with unauthorised copying of music or video. Hence all the to-do about Kazaa, Gnutella and BitTorrent. But along comes Stanhope with his explanation of what you can do with Groove, to put a different spin on matters.

He shows how you can use Groove as a framework for ad hoc groupware, for a set of users scattered over the Internet. Prior to the Web, the concept of groupware certainly existed in the 1980s. Groove is a natural extension of those ideas. Plus others that have also proved fruitful. Like using XML to encode configuration settings. And Groove supports several programming languages, like C++, Visual Basic and C#. Alas, no Java at this point.

The book can be intense. The author assumes you are already experienced in one of those languages. He dives in quickly into the gritty details of coding. Which is probably what you need.

Stanhope deserves credit for helping show that p2p can be used for valid and serious purposes.

Packed with very useful information and examples for the developer. It hits the ground running - just pure code that gets you up & developing in no time. Lucid text, content & layout, tips & cautions, tools and sample code on CD-ROM - a great way to start developing for the Groove platform. I am eagerly awaiting the sequel to this book - developing for Groove with C#/.Net ;)

If you are interested in computer graphics, this is one fine book. The kind you devour by a crackling fire, or take glimpses of before you turn out the lights to have sweet dreams. The kind you take your time to savor. In short, a beautiful book!

     Janet Ashford and John Odam have teamed up to produce Getting Started With 3D to offer aspiring and seasoned graphic designers alike with the perspective they need to create outstanding 3D graphic images that can be used for a variety of uses, including Website designing. With the heavy emphasis that is placed on Web graphics today, serious web developers cannot afford to ignore the visual impact that good 3D graphics can have!      Creative graphic design plays an integral role in the development and success of any Website. The quality and thoughtful manner in which graphic images are created and put to use will say a lot about the companies, organizations, products, services, and other information represented on the Internet.      There are a number of programs available today that can produce impressive 3D graphics images. Many of them are highly recommended. Samples of their work are provided and their general features are covered in this book. However, to fully appreciate and understand what is involved in creating 3D graphics one needs to develop an artist's eye for creative design. The authors provide a panoramic, in-depth education in 3D design concepts to aid in the design process. The use of shadowing, alignment, and textures are dramatically brought to light. The use of outstanding 3D illustrations, explanatory text, tips, and sidebar comments provided throughout the book contribute to a very fine educational experience!      The large 8 1/2" by 11" format of this book makes for easy reading and viewing. Readers will be inspired to become more creative graphic design artists by what they see and read in this book! They will have no trouble at all achieving favorable results. Highly recommended for every Web graphic image designer!

Whoever you are, whatever you know, you'll always discover something new and often extraordinary in an Ashford/Odam book. I first became a fan when I bought their "Start With A Scan" (best value of any book I ever purchased - yes, ever). Here, our talented and skilled authors have done it again. Marvel as they demystify the somewhat daunting 3-dimensional world. Learn about light, study shadow, let bevels bemuse. Often complex information is presented simply and beautifully. Something I enjoyed hugely about this book is the very clever and appropriate choice of illustration. If, like me, you thought 3d was the domain of adolescents and fantasists you'll be delighted. These are the graphics of the working digital artist - graphics that you and I can learn to create, graphics that delight the eye, that enthrall and attract the shopper. And we all know what happy shoppers make - yes, happy clients! If you want a comprehensive guide to everything 3d, without finding you're tied to using a specific program, this is the book you need. Elegant, informative - perfect.

I enjoy the .hack series as a story even though the games blow it's a really interesting read for science fiction buffs. I do recommend you order elsewhere though since it's not only more expensive on Amazon, but the book itself was in extremely poor condition. It looked like it had been manhandled by a 4 year old or bought from somebody's yard sale. I was very unsatisfied having to wait nearly 2 weeks for it to arrive and receiving such an inadequate copy of the series that I've been buying in stores since it was first published in this country. DO NOT BUY ANY READING MATERIAL WHATSOEVER FROM AMAZON!! I cannot stress this enough!

Soon as I got home with this book I just started up ready to read and didn't want to stop for anything. I was excited an everything in it caught me off gaurd and from not even finishing the game to part 3 or 2 got my heart racing like being in a speeding car. I didn't even want to put the book down for 1 second becasue of the fear of the exciting part coming and missing it. I loved the art, the details the everything and when i was done i wanted the last book right then and there. It took me 2 days to finish but i wanted more, this kept me happy even when i was going to sleep it was in my head. But when the day started again there is was waiting to be read and i couldn't resist the call of the book.

So far I own the three books and love each one of them. They keep me wonder what the next book will bring.

I have several books designed about creativity and this is the best one that I've read. It is filled with solid information, not gimmicks.

HOT-WIRING YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS: STRATEGIES FOR PRINT AND NEW MEDIA DESIGNERS tells how to recognize and believe in creativity, using inspiration past and present to evaluate work, develop new experimental applications for standard tasks, and more. Any designer who would streamline creativity and develop more efficient work habits will find HOT-WIRING YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS comes packed with tips on how to put into practice an array of creative techniques.

Being creative is very difficult for me. The movie actor and singer Judy Garland was called "one take Judy" because she could act a scene or record a song perfectly in one take. Creativity doesn't come that easily for me. Sometimes it becomes so difficult that I want to give up, close up Photoshop and just write computer programs for a living. Programming is comforting. There are rules to follow and as long as you don't break them, your program will work. But eventually, I find myself back into Photoshop trying again to be creative. If you want to be a professional artist, you need to be creative "on demand" and, to make things even more difficult, the project concept is usually not yours. So what do you do? I am always in search of that "secret" which will help me become and, even more importantly, stay creative. One thing that can help, until you find that magic pill, is to study how other artists are creative.

This book, by Curt Cloninger, has some very useful ideas for increasing your creativity. He uses quotes, tidbits and interviews to share his and other artists' creative process. He begins by breaking down the creative process into four steps; predesign, design, development and implementation. He discusses how each step is influenced by the needs of the artist and client. He then shows several ways to stay creative from brainstorming to using a set of cards by Peter Schmidt called Oblique Strategies: Over One Hundred Worthwhile Dilemmas.

Another source of creativity is what has been done before. Cloninger discusses how to recognize good design and ideas from history and how they might be applied to your current project. He then moves on to software and grids. He tells you not to be afraid to use these tools to free you to be more creative especially when you use the software in ways it was not originally designed for.

Next, he discusses five realms of design; media constraints, audience needs, client needs, professional ethics and aesthetics. Finally, he tells you it is OK to fail. According to Cloninger, failure is what leads to successful creativity.

Curt Cloninger is a successful artist, designer, author and instructor in Multimedia Arts & Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. His previous books include Fresh Styles for Web Designers: Eye Candy from the Underground. His artwork has been featured in popular publications such as How Design and FILE.

I'm not sure of the edition I read; someone is borrowing itnow, but if this edition is anything like it, I would highly recommendit. The HyperCard in a Hurry book that I read was an excellent book that got me up and running on HyperCard in no time at all. First-time computer users can learn a great deal about their Macs as they learn how to use HyperCard productively. More experienced computer users will race through the book and come out with plenty of new skills. Beekman leads you through a sample project instructing you all the way in the use of all the tools used. Beekman is a good teacher. Beginners are able to build interesting and useful projects in only a few hours using the book. The presentation is extremely clear and simple and the whole process is a lot of fun. I have to warn buyers that HyperCard is like peanuts and with the skills you learn in this text, you will be immediately hooked and begin shirking your other chores in favor of imagining and then developing projects in HyperCard. Beekman's book was my first experience with HyperCard and soon after reading it I wrote two projects that both sold on their first trips out to publishers. What's more, one of them caught the fancy of an acquisitions editor and got me a book contract with a major publisher. Mil gracias por todo, Mr. Beekman.

I taught myself how to program HyperCard by just sitting down, reading the book, and doing the examples. Very clearly written

I taught myself how to program HyperCard by just sitting down, reading the book, and doing the examples. Very clearly written

This is a vast improvement over previous versions. I can't wait to get six when it comes out. I volunteer at a local TV studio and we use iMovie to edit all of our productions. We are just learning Final Cut Pro, but iMovie is just as good.

So Here I am once again everyone. Hello, this is Chris, and I first started my review project with my video camera, a JVC GDR-270 purchased at Best buy for $299 and iMovie HD, The missing manual, and started to record everything I saw. Using the camera was not difficult but iMovie HD was at first. When opening the application, seemed almost intuitive. But any assisted guidance sure helps in the production process. Having said this, I used the book as I did my work following the guided pictures. I imported my video and began my personal version of a Hollywood production studio (Watch it Warner or Paramount, I think I found my niche,) and edited my movie for final output. During the process, there are tools in iMovie HD that will help make your movie look a bit more professional. What is not there is someone to help in which the book did well. Using the iMovie HD help file can be tedious, and can be very time consuming going back and forth, but with this book in one hand and a mouse in the other, I simply glided through the pages very easily. From start to finish, it was easily explained. I had no problems finding out how to utilize the video from my DV cam. I could explain the process of using iMovie HD but that is a whole other review, my review is on the book and I am glad I did. iMovie HD, the missing manual was a well organized, color photo book with easy to use guides and tips. I am glad I had the opportunity to review it because without it, I would still be importing my video 30 days later. Following the book was easy. But it is lengthy, over 400 detailed pages to follow. But with enough patience, not only will you be able to use iMovie hd on the fly, you will be on your way to utilizing more professional applications like Final Cut express an Final Cut Pro.

Jeff Carlson's Visual Quickstart Guides for iMovie are the best software manuals I've ever used. I've been dipping into the Visual Quickstart Guides for a number of programs for 5 years and I find them easy to read, direct, and clear as a bell. It's a great series and for people who are slow learners like me, they're a pleasure. I also teach iMovie and this is the book I recommend to my students.

This new edition of Inside AutoCAD 2002 the best-selling classic by the collaborative team of David Harrington, Bill Burchard, and David Pitzer provides rock solid information on the latest changes and enhancements to the past two AutoCAD releases. Inside AutoCAD 2002 gets readers up to speed fast by clearly outlining what is new from the previous versions and showing how to apply these improvements to real projects. Inside AutoCAD 2002 explains how to use dimensions, explores 3D modeling, teaches how to plot, and uncovers dozens of other features just waiting to be utilized. From Attributes to Xrefs, Inside AutoCAD 2002 details the features that put readers on the fast track to AutoCAD success. 1264 pp. (1 CD-ROM)

I spent a long time looking for a good AutoCAD reference book. The problem I had with other AutoCAD references was that they based their teaching methodology on an creating an independent drawing. I'm sure this would be great in the classroom, but it was hard to translate the information to the projects I do at work. Basically, I needed a User's Manual on Steroids. And this is it! I've been using the book for 6 months now, and it's never failed to answer any of the oddball questions that come with using AutoCAD. Pretty amazing, considering how quirky the program can be. And it does it in straightforward language, unhindered by heavy doses of jargon. I would recommend this book to any 2002 user, especially to anyone who uses 2002 in their professional practice.

This new edition of Inside AutoCAD 2002 the best-selling classic by the collaborative team of David Harrington, Bill Burchard, and David Pitzer provides rock solid information on the latest changes and enhancements to the past two AutoCAD releases. Inside AutoCAD 2002 gets readers up to speed fast by clearly outlining what is new from the previous versions and showing how to apply these improvements to real projects. Inside AutoCAD 2002 explains how to use dimensions, explores 3D modeling, teaches how to plot, and uncovers dozens of other features just waiting to be utilized. From Attributes to Xrefs, Inside AutoCAD 2002 details the features that put readers on the fast track to AutoCAD success. 1264 pp. (1 CD-ROM)

Collaboratively written by David Pogue (computer columnist for the New York Times); Joseph Schorr (software product manager and Macworld contributor); and Derrick Story (professional photographer and manager of the O'Reilly Network), iPhoto: The Missing Manual is a straightforward, comprehensive, authoritative, and thoroughly user-friendly guide to the free iPhoto 1.1.1. software for the Macintosh OS X. iPhoto: The Missing Manual is a superbly written and presented introduction to making the best use of iPhoto ability to create works of art from the footage of a digital camera. From setting up slide shows; to designing pages in a photography book; to file management, lighting techniques, and more, iPhoto: The Missing Manual is a "must-have" instructional reference for anyone seeking to make the most of their iPhoto software.

Another excellent Missing Manual product. There is more to iPhoto than meets the eye, and this book covers every detail in a conversational and user-friendly tone, without being cute or obtuse. You'll learn not only how to use iPhoto, but how to overcome some of its limitations, such as creating additional photo libraries after the first one fills up. The layout is attractive and legible. The detailed coverage of digital photography basics - buying a camera and taking good pictures - is another bonus.

As I've said of other Missing Manuals, if I were to write a guide, I'd want it to read like this one. Highly recommended.

This is a must have for any digital photographer planning to use iPhoto. Many books of this sort aren't much more than an explanded version of what should be in the program's help files. This book goes way beyond. One of the co-authors is a professional photographer; the first quarter of the book is his well written explanation of the essentials of composition and (digital) photography. The bulk of the book describes not just how you can use iPhoto, but how you ought to use it and why. I found the advice provided practical and non obvious; it has made me much more productive in my use of this software. As well, the authors provide pointers to some downloadable plug ins that make iPhoto much more useful - I can't imagine going without the iPhoto library manager and the betterhtml plug in. The only downside of the book is that it will be much less useful in a year or two after Apple has updated their product - but in the meantime, but it, use it, and enjoy it.

I have learned sailing, chess, computor languages, photography, tennis, and other skills out of a book. Personally Photoshop is a very user unfriendly software package but also the most capable one as well. After getting this book 1-2 years ago, it has been used extensively. The directions are excellent and the clarity is remarkable. Without question, I would recommend this book to any begginer using Photoshop. There really is no better book. I still refer to it often.

Before I use a book, I give it a feel test. I'm looking for a useful feel; is it inviting, does it compel me to open it, are the pages easy to read, is it easy to navigate, does the index work? Julie King's Everyday Photoshop for Photographers, passes all my preliminary feel tests with high marks.

The pages are laid out so the chapter headings flip across the top in an easy to read fashion. They are large and descriptive, so when I searched for masking, I flipped quickly to Chapter 6, Selective Editing: Masking in Photoshop. The right hand page lists the Part section in vertical type. I really appreciate a book that flips well.

The information presented utilizes brief concise paragraphs with lots of bulleting and bold headers. Snippets of important information are specifically color coded to content, Remember(Blue), Watch Out!(Red), and Time Saver(Green). These are strategically placed with excellent information.

However, when working with a subject such as Photoshop, it is extremely important to visualize the techniques discussed with images reflecting sometimes subtle differences. There's just nothing worse than portraying Photoshop results with lousy pictures. King has an excellent collection of high quality images that faithfully reproduce the techniques discussed. They are bright, clear and visualize even the most subtle Photoshop effects. The qualities of the images are crucial to the text and often self-explaining.

Included are excellent screen shots of Photoshop's tools and palettes. They are easy on the eyes in the context of the text. Tables list speed keys for tools and commands. King also added Tool Tricks, more blocked snippets of ready to use information such as:

Press a number key to adjust the opacity of the next stroke you paint with the Brush tool or Clone tool. Press 0 for full opacity, 9 for 90 percent opacity, 8 for 80 percent opacity, and so on. To adjust opacity in increments smaller than ten, type the specific value: 85, 23 or whatever.

King provides a basic background on the use of Photoshop, how to move around within it, providing basic element descriptions using common, everyday language that a novice user can understand and relate easily. She discusses manipulating photographs via cropping and color controls, masking techniques, levels filter use to control exposure and color variances, remixing and replacing colors, fixing defects with the cloning tool and healing brush. Her text will be useful to the novice or the expert.

Mary Kuster
Member, D-MAG.org

This is the second book about Photoshop that I bought. I started with How to Wow Photoshop for Photography... when I found you already need quite a bit of foundations to work with this book (I will let you know how it works when I get there). So the following week I went to the bookstore and go through all the beginners Photoshop books I could find.
This one caught my atention and I have to say that it has totally opened my eyes to PS. I haven't finished reading it yet (four chapters to go) but I am already able to adjust exposures and colors with levels and curves, adjustment layers, crop without altering the quality of the image... Awesome, all that in two weeks! Every single effect explained in the text has worked for me. The flow of the book, although a little boring at the beginning (two chapters making selections), works very well (I had to go back to those two chapters many times).
Also appreciated the lack of technical language and the moderate sense of humor that keeps you up without feeling you are being fooled with stupidities.
Overall, I am amazed of the profusion of details, for both PS 7 and CS, Windows and Mac operating systems, tricks to speed and improve your work, pictures ilustrating the before and after of the technique and almost every step in between!.
If you have been scared of Photoshop as I was, this is your book. It will help you go through the basic operations you need to improve your photographies and prepare them to print or share on the internet.