Desktop Publishing Books

For anyone that tells you that you can't so solid code and script development on a Mac, they haven't been introduced to the application TextMate. There are several good options for doing power editing on the Macintosh and TextMate is one of those POWER options.

'TextMate: Power Editing for the Mac' by James Gray is a perfect companion manual for all TextMate users that want to lift the hood off of this power app and get to the nuts and bolts. If you develop on a Macintosh on a daily basis for work or fun and want to learn more about what you can do to make your life easier, pick up this book and you won't be disappointed. Written well and coming in at ~200 pages, there are 12 chapters which will teach you goodies in TextMate like how to create and use Macros, using Find & Replace to quickly edit text, and much, much more!!

The Mac is a great tool for developing code and TextMate is a great app for writing it, make yourself a more efficient coder today!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Books on editors are tricky things... I'm (still) a big fan and user of vi, but textmate is my tool of choice for more project level work for its capabilties. This book has brought me closer to to the keyboard level of productivity that vi allows for with its two modes.

Visuals:
The font size in the Pragmatic Programmers books is a little larger than say the O'Reilly books, which I personally like. Easy on the eyes. Screenshots are clearly printed.

Readability:
I found the reading style conversational and easy to follow. Of course, with this type of book which includes many keyboard short-cuts you really need to be at your computer and using them to commit them to memory. Even a reading of the book will give you insights into the power available at your finger tips with Textmate.

Practicality:
If you spend any amount of time in Textmate, this is really a no-brainer. This book will help you be more productive and get more out of your chosen text editing tool.

Audience:
The book does not list an intended target audience, but if you use Textmate at all I would say you have a bulls-eye right on you.

Overall:
If you use Textmate get this book.

"TextMate is actually a thin shell over a personalized team of robot ninjas ready to do your bidding."

The funny thing is, to people who have never used TextMate for more than a few minutes the above phrase sounds like an exaggeration. It's not. (As long as you can accept the analogy of "really awesome code running on a Mac" = "robot ninjas"...)

Anyway, this book targets a pretty specific market: 1) Humans, 2) who own Macs, 3) and use TextMate. I'm here to tell you that, if you're human you should have a Mac; and if you have a Mac you should buy TextMate; and if you have TextMate you should buy this book. So there, now it covers everyone.

As with all of the Pragmatic Programmer books, I found this book to be concise without missing anything important. You may be thinking, "200 pages about a text editor!? That's crazy talk!" But you would be wrong, my friend. The amount of functionality built into TextMate is incredible, but I didn't even know the half of it until I started reading this book!

I don't want to give away the ending, but:

Three of my favorite simple features I didn't know about until I read this book:
- Pressing [ESC] to complete the word you're typing.
- The built in TODO list functionality (so crucial!!)
- [Cmd-Enter] to add a new line below this one and go to the beginning of it.

Things I wouldn't have been able to do without TextMate and this book:
- Edit some of my Bundles to make TextMate work even more how *I* like
- Complete an after-hours Web Site project *way* under time and budget

Seriously. TextMate is the One True Editor for Mac (it makes me loath using any other editor on any platform) and this is a great book for learning how to *really* take hold of its power.

This book is the perfect primer for what I have found to be one of the most indispensible Mac OS X applications - TextMate. If you are a software developer or web designer or anyone else that edits text on a frequent basis and you have not already discovered TextMate, stop right now and visit http://www.macromates.com.

The Pragmatic Programmers' book, TextMate Power Editing for the Mac is a thorough introduction to TextMate. Edward Gray II has written a very accessible book, that covers the product very well.

The first third of the book is devoted to the basics - things you do every day in your text editor. The second third of the book dives into the details of some really sweet features of TextMate that you'll find yourself using all the time: bundles, snippets, macros and UNIX shell commands.

TextMate ships with over thirty 'bundles'. Each bundle is a directory of related files that provide additional functionality to TextMate. Let's say you're working on an HTML file. The HTML bundle will help you with loads of things related to your document: validate the syntax of the document, open the document in the default browser, refresh the document in the current browser session, insert open/close tags for the current word, strip all HTML tags from the document - just to name a few. Each bundle provides functionality that applies not only to the syntax of the language you're currently working with, but repetitive tasks that would apply as well.

As I mentioned, a couple dozen bundles ship with TextMate and many more are available for free download from various websites. You can even create your own bundles to extend the product in ways that only you can imagine. Here are a few of the bundles that ship with TextMate: Blogging, CSS, HTML, Java, Markdown, Objective-C, Python, Rails, Ruby, SQL, Subversion, Text, Textile, Xcode and XML. Bundles provide you with lots of help editing files and performing related tasks.

Snippets are a smart completion mechanism that go way beyond the simple concept of 'finish this word'. For example, if you are editing a Ruby file and you type array_object.ea followed by the TAB key (where 'array_object' is an arbitrary Array object), the snippet feature will automatically fill in the skeleton of the 'each' iterator, including the opening and closing curly braces, the text '|e|' with the letter 'e' highlighted. You simply type the name of the variable you want to represent the next element (or simply leave it as it is), hit the TAB key again and the cursor will be placed between the closing '|' character and the closing '}' character, ready for you to type in an expression. Very cool. This same trick works for dozens of different scenarios in your Ruby code. And that's just the snippets that apply to Ruby code. There are snippets that apply to a large number of file types.

You've probably seen macros in other editors and TextMate's macro facility works as you might expect: you start recording a macro, perform some actions and save the macro. TextMate saves the macros as XML files, so it's a snap to edit a macro after recording if you need to tweak it a bit.

The ability to fire off UNIX shell commands from within TextMate gives you another powerful tool to use while editing files. You can fire off one-liner shell commands by simply pressing the ^R key on a line containing a shell command. You can also use shell commands to act on all or part of the current document.

For the advanced TextMate user, the tail end of the book shows you how to create your own language syntax for use in TextMate, including how to describe the grammar of the language in terms TextMate will understand. So, if you program in some far out funky language that TextMate doesn't support out of the box, you can add the language grammar to TextMate and program away!

Overall, I found this book extremely useful and easy to read. TextMate ships with an excellent help system that will answer many of your questions. The TextMate Power Editing for the Mac book will take you beyond the built-in help and give you an in-depth guide for this great Mac application.

good book. easy to understand and easy to do the exercises. much easier than the dreamweaver 8 book, this is cs3 and this book works!

This is a really good book to learn Dreamweaver. It talks a little about the subject then immediately lets you try it out. Great way to learn.

This is an excellent step by step book on how to create web pages using Dreamweaver. I would highly recommend this book.

My Dreamweaver CS3 class uses this textbook. I am brand new to web site creation and find this book a great place to start. Instructions are for both Mac and Windows, and the files on the included CD are very useful in teaching the student how to actually create and edit content. I am ordering another book from the Revealed series for Flash.

The book is awesome. Especially for those who like to learn by doing it. Despite few editing issues like miss typo or calling different functions with the same name, i was able to follow with the content. Higly Recommend.

If you are working with Filemaker Pro files on the web, this book is essential. Although the title says, "Advanced," I think it would be perfect for beginners also.

I particularly appreciated the expository style of the book. In a way that I haven't found in many other computer manuals, the authors start with a real problem the reader has and show how to solve it, adding interesting general commentary along the way. For example, I had a problem developing an XSLT document to import variable numbers of repetitions of a field - there, on pp. 330-333 is a brief statement of the problem, specification of a solution, and clear explanation of the code. I recommend this book to any FMPro user who wants to work with FMPro and CDML, PHP or XML/XSLT. Well done! I hope these authors produce other books of the same calibre.

This is more than a book, it is really a course in web development. The authors communicate the material in a way that is easy to understand, and the book is filled with examples that you can do as you read. Although the focus is on FileMaker, the knowledge you'll glean will apply to web development efforts with other databases as well. I reviewed and skimmed the chapters out of sequence in order to get a sense of what the book had to offer. Once I had that overview, I began to read the chapters in sequence and I think that's the best approach, as material in succeeding chapters builds on the previous chapters. No stone is left unturned as XML/XSLT, Instant Web Publishing, CDML, Lasso, PHP and Web Services are covered concisely, yet in depth. Take your time with this book; after working through the material you'll be prepared to do web development using any of the aforementioned technologies.

This is one of the first books that goes beyond a mere rehash of the manual, like most FileMaker books out there. This book is a treasure trove for those who already have their feet wet in FileMaker and are looking to go to the next level.

This is a very good book, and if you're looking to web-enable your FileMaker 6 application, this is pretty much the only source for in-depth information that's available.

However, this book definitely left me wanting more. I have been building a fairly sophisticated web application in CDML using the Web Companion, the web toolkit that comes built into FileMaker 6. This topic gets less than 50 pages, and feels light. Many of my questions went unanswered. This topic could have been 100 pages, easily.

Two other toolkits, Lasso and PHP, while great options, require you to acquire and install add-on software. Each gets 60+ pages in the book. It's great that there's additional information (possibly required to cover installation), but devoting that much space to things not built into FileMaker, while not giving enough depth to the built-in component, seems like the wrong focus.

Another flaw with the book is that it doesn't really cover larger-scale applications. You get information about how to access, search, modify, and delete data, but you don't really get advice about how to structure a full-blown web application. Things like managing user sessions, authentication, etc., really are not covered at all. You'll need another book (which won't use FileMaker as an example at all) to get information about these basic web application topics.

In the end, this book gave me enough information that I could get started, and a good enough CDML reference that I've been able to figure out a lot more on my own. That makes it quite a good book, well worth the money spent. I would love to purchase an expanded 2nd edition.

I should note that it remains to be seen how well this book will hold up after FileMaker 7 Advanced Server is released. There's a lot of changes in FileMaker 7, and all of the web functionality has moved to the Advanced Server (not yet released), so many things may change...

This book is great for the self taught person with significant insignificant questions. In completing this book, all those questions answer themselves. None of that "cutsie" just great tutorial. Instruction is easily to understand and follow. I've gone through the book a couple of times and discovered something new each time. When I finished with this book, I knew what I was doing and why.

Money well spent on this book.

Straigh-forward writing with no pretension. Some knowledge of 3D graphics vocabulary is helpful but not necessary.

Book is one example from beginning to end; presumably the author. Starts with some pictures and, step-by-detailed-step, ends with an avatar.

The only fault I found is that he doesn't mention Poser in the list of 3D modeling programs for human figures.

If you want to learn how to model a detailed digital human,this is THE book for you! You start out with totally empty viewports,and if you follow the book you'll end up having created a model with an incredible amount of detail.

The author explains in great detail the process of modelling every body part (head,neck,arms,hands,legs,feet and torso) with anatomical references where they're most important.

I wanted a book which I could use as a definitive guide to model a detailed and anatomically correct human body or body part,and I'll look no further when I have to do so. It's also got a clever chapter about modifying the same model to create very different ones, and a good chapter about texturing and UVW unwrapping. Finally, it refers to cloth and hair (somewhat briefly) and,no,it DOESN'T cover rigging. But it does cover, extremely well, human modelling, which is what mr.Brilliant had set out to do,I assume. Very very good!

I used this as a class textbook and it worked fairly well. This is not a single program book so this will work well with whatever program you model with. Although, depending on what you model with, depends on if you need to go out and find plug-ins that will do what he does. The book is really good going through step by step. Although there are some occasions where he leaps forwards ahead with really telling you what to do. Also, sometimes when he gives instructions, there aren't any images to go along with them, so you have to end up guessing what to do.
This is modeling for realism/cinematics and if you want to use this book to model in-game characters, you are out of luck. The was he teaches you to model is extremely high poly (especially in the head). The CD doesn't do much for you, it mainly just has naked pictures of the guy he models on it so you can copy exactly what he does. The book does give good information on the differences between modeling men and women, although it is fairly brief. He does go into UV mapping pretty good as well as modeling hair. The book doesn't, however, go into modeling clothing fairly well, just a short chapter. The book also doesn't even mention rigging, which I think is a crucial part in character modeling.

Given that you are already familiar with some type of modeling software, this book is the best resource you could have! The non-software specific approach of the book keeps it focused on the concepts of creating a good model rather than the user interface. Every detail of the body is covered with step-by-step diagrams, and a lot of it focuses on creating a topology that is animatable and will subdivide correctly (ie the mesh is mostly in quads). It also covers texturing, rigging, facial animation, both modeled and simulated hair, and simple clothing. The book discusses anatomy to the extent that it is needed to create a realistic model, and uses those concepts to demonstrate how the male model you create can be changed into a female, or into a fantasy character that looks completely different.

One thing that did make it a little difficult to use was that in the screenshots, the mesh was transparent and therefore you couldn't tell whether vertices were at the front or the back of the model. More screenshots with an opaque mesh would have made it easier to see the topology.

Overall, the explanations are concise and makes the task seem efficient, easy, and fun.

The book is well layed-out, and descriptions are clear and concise. The first 95 pages or so are relatively basic. I have used a crusty version of Homesite to create a few basic Websites in-the-past, so those first 95 pages didn't teach me anything that I didn't already know. Except perhaps for the design and paper and pencil preparation.

After page 95 (or so), you jump right into Dreamweaver and are instructed as to its' functions. The Webpage you're building is a basic HTML page, and does not use any server-side technology like ASP, or PHP, or CGI/Perl.

It too is well layed-out, and step-by-step. I only wished that a deeper discussion of CSS integration was employed.

So, for the beginner, or for someone who likes to paper & pencil prep, I'd have to say that this is a worthwhile buy.

For the more advanced user, I'd have to say that you may be better off with more of a reference-style tome.

All said, I do not regret the purchase.

If you are looking for website building software, you might want to take a look at Dreamweaver 8: Design and Construction. This book educates the reader on the various aspects of Dreamweaver 8. It also shows the reader, step by step, how to build a website using this software. The author also includes all sort so tips, illustrations of what the reader will see as he or she builds their site, and helpful tech talk boxes that explain some of the more technical issues in an easy to understand way. Everything in this manual is suitable for those with little or no knowledge of website design or website design software.

I believe that the best way to choose website software is to understand what that particular program can do and how this may or may not suit your needs and your abilities. It doesn't help to buy software that can do seemingly magical things if you don't have a clue how to actually make it work. This book helps the reader understand the basics of the Dreamweaver 8 program with a taste of some of the more complex things that can be done.

This book takes you from web-site zero through building a basic client-side only web site using Dreamweaver 8.

My only critique is that it seemed like we didn't even get to actually using Dreamweaver 8 until about page 100. Before that was an intro to general web-site concepts and HTML.

Anyway, it's an attractive and informative book that is priced lower than most.

This book is well written and laid out well (for the most part), but the lack of color really, really hurts this Dreamweaver 8 guide. Perhaps I am being a bit of a stickler, but a book in 2006 not only needs to have good content, but it need to also have a great layout as well. Deciding to go with 5 major colors (white, black, grey, blue, dark blue) not only makes the book seem dull and drab, it detracts from the reader the good content within.

For anyone that uses Dreamweaver 8 on a daily basis this is a great reference guide but the layout editor could have done a much better job. If you care about content more than pizzaz, I think you will be happy with this book

**** RECOMMENDED

Are you new to Dreamweaver 8? If you are, then this book is for you! Author Marc Campbell, has done an outstanding job of writing a book for people who are new to creating their own web sites from the ground up and all that it entails.

Campbell, begins by showing you how to devise your plan. Then, the author shows you how to develop a blueprint for your site. Next, he shows you how to add just about anything to the pages of your site. Finally, the author shows you how to take the working prototype that exists on your computer and publish it to the Web for all of the world to see.

This most excellent book serves an introduction to creating web sites using Macromedia Dreamweaver 8. More importantly, the focus throughout this book is that sound design and usability are inextricably linked.

What a great book, with beautiful and easy how-to's! The color photos really help. Great unique ideas! Great job.

Valerie Randall's thought of everything to help make any party a whole lot more fun with her FanCraftic Party Crafts. One big help is that she guides you through party planning and creating a timeline, then provides wonderful ideas and easy-to-follow instructions to turn a simple party into an event!

Although there are fabulous ideas for most any party occasion, my favorite is the Pizza Party, which she provides nifty ideas for invitations, a banner, hats, a menu, place cards, placemats, and even a customized beer label. That's not all. She's even thought about providing to-go boxes for the morning-after pizza breakfast! So everyone will have a lasting way to remember the party, there's also an iron-on T-shirt transfer.

This book is very thorough and clever. It is a must for anyone who enjoys throwing parties and wants a fun, easy way to encourage their crafty nature while making a party more exciting and memorable!

This book has so many wonderful ideas which easily coordinate with other projects. Besides the great book and easy-to-follow instructions, the software is easy to use. This book is filled with color photographs so you can easily see the details. The crafts in this book are inexpensive to make and are NOT time consuming. I have a small collection of computer crafting books and they are all unique in their own way. I'm happy that I have added this book to my collection. I have had the opportunity to email with the author. She is a wonderful person who has so many crafty computer ideas. I can't wait for her next book!!

This is a practical, user-friendly and HIGHLY creative publication. It is the perfect tool for people with a little computer savvy who want to make their own party and gift supplies but need direction. I especially like the fact that it does not require additional purchases--just a few simple tools and paper! An added bonus----it is full of ideas even for people who do not wish to use the computer. This will make a wonderful gift, because it will be useful for years and years, just like a good recipe book.

I recently coordinated a small baby shower for my sister and used this book/cd to design all the decorations etc. It was very easy to understand and the decorations really looked professional and her friends could not believe that I made them myself on my computer. I had an extra FanCraftic book as one of the prizes for a baby-name game we played--it got a bit competitive...I love the book and the beautiful projects and mostly how really easy it is to make things that actually look as good as they do in the book. Hoping to see more soon!

This book is a great guide for all FileMaker Pro developers interested in working with XML. Beverly Voth clearly has a strong grasp of both FileMaker Pro and Markup Languages. I found this book well organized, easy to follow and filled with useful information.

I've read many books regarding FileMaker Pro. In the few that mention XML, it is an afterthought. Beverly Voth's book is in depth, detailed and formatted in a manner that makes it readable, understandable and usable to both novice and professional developers.

The page layouts and presentation of the code and formatting is first rate. I was able to put what I learned into practice on day one of reading the book. This is a must have for all FileMaker Pro Programmers. I've recommended it to all my programmers. I recommend it to all who plan to ride the wave of the future with FileMaker Pro's XML features.

Ray Clements

Beverly Voth has written the "bible" on FileMaker Pro/XML integration. She takes what can be a daunting subject, and leads you logically from topic to topic, with demo files and plenty of code examples to illustrate her points. From the eight-page table of contents (in outline form) to the detailed index, this book is exceptionally well laid out, and has plenty to offer both the novice and the veteran FileMaker developer. This book does not suffer from the "we didn't have time, budget or inclination to proofread adequately" syndrome that plagues so many computer books these days... it flows beautifully, and I have yet to find a single typo.

The release of Beverly Voth's Guide is well worth our wait. While exhaustive, the writing is clear and not exhausting. She has given us the definitive textbook on this thorny, difficult subject, starting at the outside and working in. While breaking apart the various layers into edible morsels, Ms. Voth does not sugar-coat the complexities of her subject; she simply makes them disappear.

Finally a handy book that clearly explains XML and XSLT from a FileMaker perspective.

It is obvious when reading through this material, that Beverly Voth writes from experience. Her book is well researched, has a firm grasp of the FileMaker XML grammars and provides lots and lots of examples that make it easy for a developer to adopt this technology.

This book is full of useful tips, hints and clear explanations. There are many simple step by step exercises, XML and XSLT examples along with many do's and dont's that take the pain out of the development cycle.

The guide is complete with a useful list of resources, links and references and a glossary of acronyms and terms.

I use FileMaker applications everyday, I write stylesheets and now I always keep this book next to my computer as a quick reference and useful guide.

This book has helped me a lot for the TV commercial to be created in Flash..I thank the author of the book for this wonderfull help..

In order to use the examples in this book you will need a MacIntosh. You will also have buy quite a number of third-party plugins. If you own a Mac and have money for plugins than this is a very helpful book.

But look elsewhere if you only have a Windows computer and want to use only Flash for video work.

An excellent Flash book. It goes through every aspect of the production process, from writing the script to exporting to videotape. It tells you how to prepare your Flash animations the right way, and provides information on the correct project size, frame rate, title & action safe guides, etc. for broadcast. This information is invaluable if you ever intend to submit your Flash animation to a festival or studio, and you have to export your movie out to videotape. I also found the interviews with seasoned Flash animators to be very insightful. You will not regret buying this book.

If you're a traditional animator or a web-based flash animator (all levels), "Flash MX Design for TV and Video" IS the definitive guide to taking your flash animation to video, television and DVD. Not only is this book chock full of animation techniques, it also explores working with sound, flash video capabilities and limitations, visual storytelling and cross-purposing, the process of designing your project with a variety of delivery options in mind. This book is a must-have for every serious Flash Animator seeking to take their flash stories to the next level. We are proud to recommend it to our FlashTV members.

Nicholas Da Silva, ...

Its just a mater time before more quality content shifts from the workstations to the living rooms of the world. This is the definitive guide on bridging Flash content for the Web to Television. A truly indespensible reference for any Flash professional wanting to make the transition.
Janet Galore and Todd Kelsey lay it all out clearly and write in an easy to read style that doesn't skimp on details. The entire book is laden with terrific artwork and helpful screen grabs that support the text. Very undaunting for the visually inclined.
The sections on video exporting, and postproduction effects was particularly eye opening. this section alone cleared a lot uncertainty for me.
While this book won't make the reader a better Flash animator/designer, it most definately will make any level Animator or designer a more informed artist. It will open a lot of doors personaly and in the hands of a talented, creative person, change the ever evolving face of the Flash community indelibly.

I've been a professional animator for over 10 years and I found this to be a valuable resource. It's written by some very talented people over at Animax Entertainment, who have tons of production experience. It offers great organizational tips and tricks for building and animating your characters. It also gives so much insight from the perspective of working on a larger productive team. Sure it's easy to develop your own ways of working when you work by yourself, but the suggestions in this book are a very smart and efficient approach for working on any sized project. They also give you a list of plugins that will help... and even describe how to make them work for you. And the information on how to make use of After Effects is just fantastic. I've adopted so many time-saving ways to work... things I never knew about in all of my years using Flash! I am using this book constantly for reference as I work on my new cartoon project. Thanks guys!

I found very helpful the guides given by the authors. I was trying to figure out how develop a short cartoon animation in a correct way and after I read this book I found the answers. Thanks!

If you're looking for a book that teaches you how to draw in Flash, this is not the book for you. It will, however, teach you the nuts and bolts of animation, the technical information necessary to make animation less time consuming, which is a must-have imo.

This book is a must for everyone who is tired of animating on paper and wishes to digitalize their work completely in Flash or After Effects. The book covers many great aspects including; making shortcuts of your workflow with user made extensions, brilliant tips & tricks and personal advices how to make life easier for the animators.

This book is also amazing for those who already have knowledge of Flash or After Effects, but wish to enhance their skills or take their production to the next level.

After reading this book, my animation workflow and quality improved.

Best recommendations from here.


-Alex Volkov (Flash Animator)

There are many books about cartoon animation in Flash. What sets this book apart from the rest is the approach the authors have taken to make this book much more than just another step-by-step book about drawing and animating characters. Foundation Flash Cartoon Animation is for the animator who needs to stretch beyond the mechanics of the Flash tools and perfect the decision-making process necessary to become a productive animator. One of the biggest questions that is answered in this book is when to use Flash and how to use it most efficiently. The next question is what tasks are beyond Flash's capabilities and when to turn to another software such as After Effects.

The authors assume that the reader has a basic knowledge of Flash and the principles of animation. Because of this, you will find only a few step-by-step examples. What they do cover thoroughly is every phase of the production process for cartoon animation from planning, storyboards and animatics to post-production and delivery. The approach for this book is to examine working examples which can be downloaded from the publisher's website.

If you have ever created a complex character animation including lip synching and facial expressions, then you know that your character must be divided into a large number of individual animated parts. This is why the authors dedicate a whole chapter to organization and using the Flash library system to build character libraries. As you progress through the process from head comps and onward, the authors show when it is best to draw from scratch and when to use Flash symbols. Storyboards and animatics are next in the production process and the book covers several decisions that must be made such as choosing between traditional, hand-drawn storyboards and the digital method in Flash.

Moving from the planning stages to character creation, the authors discuss the technical and organizational issues such as Flash file structures and project architecture. They take a look at several working examples to give the reader a comprehensive overview of this topic. One of the most helpful aspects of this book is how the authors help you decide when Flash is not enough to get the job done and how to expand Flash's capabilities with plug-ins. They discuss several of their favorites, how to find more on the web and when to make your own.

One of the most important decisions that an animator will need to make is the choice between traditional frame by frame animation and tweening. The authors share their four step process for frame by frame animation and then discuss tweening and how to avoid common mistakes.

I mentioned earlier that the authors discuss the use of a dedicated motion graphic software such as After Effects to take your Flash project to a higher level of quality and sophistication. They discuss some of the advantages to using After Effects for editing and composition such as complex camera movements and 3D effects.

Flash has been plagued by one major drawback since its conception a decade ago and that is the extreme "digital" look of the vector artwork created in Flash. The authors share several tips and suggestions for enhancing your Flash project to achieve a more "hand-drawn" appearance to your animation including line styles and color choices. They also cover the digital equivalents for traditionally hand-drawn special effects such as distortion, drag, fade in/out and blurs.

This book was a joint effort of several authors. Tim Jones is an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer and head of production at ANIMAX Entertainment. Barry J. Kelly is an Emmy Award-winning editor and artist and is also a member of ANIMAX Entertainment. Allan S. Rosson is animation director at ANIMAX Entertainment and has over twenty years experience as an animator. David Wolfe was an animator at ANIMAX Entertainment and is now with Cartoon Network Studios.

This is the best max/Viz book I have used. I've been learning Max/viz on my own for about 4 months now and after getting this book the program has been completely demystified. Max has a really complex interface that scares people away and does not lend to trial and error and that is exactly where this book excels at. The step by step tutorials are helpful even though I'm using Viz4.
This is the best book for anyone serious about Max/Viz because it simplifies the modeling aspects a lot and even helps 3d novices to understand the gist of 3d modelling. Unlike a lot of Max books it dedicates a sizeable amount of time to modelling through tutorials. Most Max books I've come across treat modelling as a step child and dive into animation and materials. How do you animate without modelling?
Anyways I recomend this book to anyone learning Max/Viz it will prepare you for more advanced levels.

Over the course of the last year I have been teaching myself 3d studio viz. When this book finally shipped I immediately ordered one, and am I glad I did. I find every chapter gives me some tips for modelling in this powerful program that I never would have thought of on my own. Every chapter is well written but be advised that you should have an understanding of viz before working through this book. If your just starting with the software, do the tutorials that ship with the software before moving on to this book. The tutorials are quite good at reinforcing the concepts but assume that you have some viz experience under your belt. A great book - period!

Forget any of the other books on Max or Viz. This one is the BEST for Architects & Designers. I learned more from this book than I did in an entire semester at school. I used it on Viz 4 -and other than a few differences, mainly the sub-object button, the instructions are the same.

Great, Great, Great book. Just the right material for the intermediate to the advanced, with great tips and tricks. I found the format of the book easy to follow and the lessons very intuitive.
I cannot wait for the VIZ 4 book!!

I learned more in the first chapter of this book than I did by following ALL of the tutorials included with Viz. A great self-teaching guide.