Game Design Books

Michael and Dennis Cohen have done a great job in this book to help beginning to intermediate users with the iLife suite. I am often called upon to help friends with their Macs. When they have questions on the iLife programs, I find it much easier to refer them to this book than to try and talk them through the problem on the phone or via iChat. Thanks to the Cohens for making my iLife as a consultant a bit easier.

Apple has long said it makes computers for the rest of us, and now with its iLife suite of tools Apple appears to be making software for the rest of us as well. The Teach Yourself Visually series of computer books seems to follow the same philosophy, but where TYV's offerings for more complex programs like Photoshop serve as "scratch-the-surface" introductions, iLife '04 really does look deep under the surface of Apples' popular suite of tools. My favorite section, perhaps because I know the least about it, is on GarageBand, which is the most exciting piece of software I've seen in years.

The Teach Yourself Visually books all benefit from strong integration of explanatory text with detailed graphics, but the text portion of this particular book benefits from clear, thorough, and often quite humorous writing. The author obviously knows the programs-more important, he knows how to communicate that knowledge to his readers (I believe he's the same Michael Cohen who writes the multimedia section of the famed Macintosh Bible). I highly recommend this title-for twenty bucks, it's a bargain.

Teach Yourself Visually iLife 04 is the perfect book for someone who wants simple, easy to follow instructions for using each of Apple's iLife programs (iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, Garage Band). What makes this book different from all the other iLife books are the clear step-by-step instructions, all accompanied by full color screen shots and illustrations, for using almost every iLife feature. The tips that accompany each task save time and effort in using the iLife programs and point out special features that aren't generally known. This is the book to get if you want to learn how to use iLife 04 without having to become a computer scientist, or read pages and pages of text. Get this and start using the software right away while you read.

i had seen this book reviewed in a quilting magazine, and made a vague mental note to look into it. then, i found it at a local quilt shop, looked into it, and bought it.

the author is an award-winning quilter, and it is her work that is featured in the book. her quilts are breathtaking, varied, and beautiful. the photos and illustrations are first rate. the instructions are detailed and straight-forward. the author assumes her readers have functioning brains and the desire to learn and excel. there are instructions for specific quilts in the text and also many additional quilting designs. the author also includes suggestions for adapting designs to quilting which are very helpful.

highly recommnded.

One of the best finishing books I've ever seen. The work by hand is absolutley gorgeous. A true professional we can all learn something from. Really wonderful just to look at photo's. A uniquely wonderful book.

I HAVE PURCHASED JUST ABOUT EVERY HAND QUILTING BOOK THERE IS, AND THERE HAVE BEEN MANY BEAUTIFUL BOOKS, WITH GREAT PHOTOS, AND INSTRUCTIONS, BUT THIS BOOK, WAS THE ONE TO INSPIRE ME TO ACTUALLY TRY MY HAND AND ACTUALLY HAND QUILT MY FIRST WHOLE CLOTH QUILT. THE AUTHORS WORK IS SO MOVING AND BREATHTAKING. HER INSTRUCTIONS, ARE SO CLEAR, AND PRECISE, AND COVER EVERY ASPECT OF HAND QUILTING. I COULDN'T WAIT TO GET STARTED, AND I MUST SAY, IT TURNED OUT GORGEOUS, AND I HAVE BEEN HOOKED EVER SINCE, NOT TO MENTION ABSOLUTELY THRILLED WITH MY PROGRESS! THIS IS A DEFINITE KEEPER! AND WELL WORTH ANY PRICE! ONE OF THE BEST HOW TO BOOKS, I HAVE EVER PURCHASED!!!

A fabulous reseource fore business cards, promo cards and more. From pop art to art deco to avante garde corporate-- this corporate identity guru/author knows his stuff. I paid $35.00 for this book retail and I think it was worth every cent-- you can get it at a much better deal on Amazon.com today. For advertising agencies, design firms, entrepreneurs and anyone who ever thought or uses business cards. Next gen design.

2 Cool Cards is a great resource for designers --the book contains cards from all over the world, each shown in actual size and in color!

It provides infinite inspiration for business card design and shows many unique designs. If you're looking for unique and distinctive card designs, this is the place to check first!

I've played around with 3ds max for a few years but never really got to grips with it until now.

3ds Max Modelling for Games has taught me more in a month than every other book and DVD I've wasted my money on all together.

The book is extremely simple to begin with, taking you through modelling a box, step by step.

Now I thought that this was a joke initially until I realised that the tutorial was not about modelling a box, but about setting 3ds max up properly with automatic backups, units, scale and the core principles of mapping and unwrapping textures. It even shows how to get a great looking render out of the simplest of models - something I had struggled with in the past.



The book moves on teaching more complex modelling techniques, more complex mapping and even how to take your own photographs and turn them into great looking texture maps - I didn't expect a number of great Photoshop lessons in a 3ds Max book.



Again the tutorials get more complex and cover normal mapping, dirt maps, ambient occlusion, scratch maps, specular maps, and complex lighting and rendering.

But the best thing about the book is that all of the tutorials grow all fit together as pieces of the final finished scene which is an abandoned warehouse. The models, the vehicle, the character - everything all fits together to make a scene with lots of rendering advice to put a good portfolio together.



Finally the book ends with some of the best advice I've ever seen on putting a portfolio together and how to act in an interview.



I haven't been able to put this book down since I got hold of it and I'm now looking forward to the massive character modelling tutorial.



5 stars from me.



p.s. The book has an accompanying website with extra content promised too.

I wrote this book as the definitinve guide to starting out modelling for the games industry.
The book shows you exactly what you need to do to start creating 3d models and textures to be used in todays commercial software titles.

Once you have a good grasp of basic modelling, I take you through texture creation and using photographs to create texture maps in Photoshop.

Once you have a good grasp of modelling and texture creation, the tutorials get progressively more advanced in simple to follow, step by step tutorials ending in some really complex character modelling and texture baking.

To end everything off, I take you through a nice environment modelling tutorial and give you a great professional approach to putting a portfolio together and how to conduct yourself in an interview.

This is the very best guide to getting into the games industry on the market, and is completely up to date with 3dsMax 2009 and next generation techniques.

As well as the book there are hundreds of refernce photos from a photoshoot in an abandoned mental hospital in England - more than enough to keep an artist of any ability busy for the next 6 months. As well as the photoshoot and lots of example models to copy and adapt, there is an acompanying website with new content, photoshoots and tutorials planned throughout the comming months.

highly recommended

Of all the books read - starting with Elements - it was Greg Georges who convinced me that RAW ("digital negative") photography is the quality way to go. Finding 8-bit Elements inadequate to the task, I switched to Photoshop and bought the companion "50 Fast Techniques". Sure wasn't a bit disappointed. In fact, this is a considerable step up in quality as the production is much superior to earlier books (recycled paper, with centerpiece color plates). This book is on a par with other topnotch Photoshop tutorials in being printed on quality paper, with color images on each page, and an attractively conservative layout to bring home the message.

Several unique features put this title on the front burner, not the least are the excellent 'full-strength' unedited images on the CD [Scott Kelby, take note], and the crisp explanations for more arcane (but very productive) features such as the histogram. Moreover, Chapter 1 (first 6 Techniques) is one of the best introductions around to the workspace and how to set its default selections. Chapter 2 (next 6 Techniques) introduces the basics of color correction, and Chapter 4 (5 Techniques) provides excellent guidance to enhancing portraits.

In between are some gems and pearls, while other techniques are more gee-whiz than broadly useful, seemingly in an attempt to fill the "50" numbers quota. In fact, the book no longer is well served by its irrelevant title; the author is fully qualified to go head-to-head with his peers in writing a comprehensive, understandable, and yet eminently readable tutorial to take Photoshop users from newby to medium-skill level, with some advanced bonus teasers thrown in.

I found this book to be loaded with useful, accessible techniques -- all supported by beautiful photographs. So many Photoshop tips books are packed with teasing, stunning images, but with techniques that tend to be difficult and focused on the esoteric. Fortunately, Gregory Georges keeps this one grounded in the real world, beginning with a step-by-step technique for properly setting up Photoshop, and moving on to scores of great effects - some subtle, some "wow" -that have allowed me to take my own photography and "kick it up a notch"! I especially have enjoyed the techniques for revealing detail in shadows and highlights, creating a duotone and adding "punch" to a black and white photo. An added bonus is a set of techniques using third-party plug-ins that are free and easily accessible online, though a few of those were for use with cameras other than the one I own. Mr. Georges is apparently an actual, working photographer, and in this book he always keeps his "focus" on meaningful results.

Andrew Glassner's Notebook is a regular column in "IEEE Computer Graphics & Applications". The articles from January 1996 through March 1999 are collected into the first book of the series. Mr. Glassner uses everyday phenomena and an accessible style to present mathematics and algorithms for performing all types of computer graphics effects. The following is a brief synopsis of each of the 16 articles comprising the first notebook:
1 SOLAR HALOS AND SUN DOGS - how to create dot patterns that capture the beautiful solar phenomena that occur when light passes through hexagonal ice crystals suspended in the air.
2 FRIEZE GROUPS - the applications of linear symmetry patterns to computer graphics. Glassner gives a descriptive "proof" of why there are only seven frieze groups, and discussed how to recognize which of the seven any given pattern was built upon.
3 ORIGAMI POLYHEDRA - a popularization of the work of Tomoko Fuse, and Rona Gurkewitz and Bennett Arnstein. The column shows how to build the five platonic polyhedra by simply folding up pieces of paper. Next three of the Archimedean solids - the truncated tetrahedron, the cuboctahedron, and the icosadodecahedron - are dealt with. Glassner shows how to fold these, and how they lie halfway between the duals formed by pairs of Platonic solids.
4 GOING THE DISTANCE - tracing curves for 2D implicit surfaces.
5 SITUATION NORMAL - Gouraud and Phong shading and how the shapes of surfaces are not always what we would have expected from these algorithms.
6 SIGNS OF SIGNIFICANCE - different ways of representing characters with digital displays.
7 NET RESULTS - building interesting polyhedra based on their unfolded representation, or net. Also discussed are the five Platonic solids, the unfolding flower, and how to make a kaleidocycle, as well as the connectivity relations for making continuous pictures across the face of a kaleidocycle as it turns.
8 THE PERILS OF PROBLEMATIC PARAMETERIZATION - a little-known mathematical curiosity called the Schwarz paradox. It's a technique for chopping a cylinder into triangles that all lie on the surface, with the unusual property that as the triangles get smaller and more numerous, the sum of their surface area actually goes to infinity. At first it looks like sleight-of-hand with limits, but it's a real phenomenon. It's a cautionary tale about being too casual when choosing a polygonal approximation for a curved surface.
9 INSIDE MOIRE PATTERNS - the geometry of various types of Moire patterns. One can control them and reduce them when desired and also have fun creating new kinds of Moire effects.
10 UPON REFLECTION - the relationship between the geometry of reflection in a line, and specular reflection in a mirror. The article also shows how to use specular reflection to compute a light triangle, which is the smallest-perimeter triangle that can be inscribed in another triangle.
11 CIRCULAR REASONING - shows an interesting property of circles: if you draw a line from point P and it cuts a circle in points Q and R, the product of distances PQ and PR is equal to the value of the point with respect to the equation of the circle.
12 APERIODIC TILING - the world of creating non-repeating patterns that fill the plane.
13 KNOW WHEN TO FOLD - the ubiquitous corrugated cardboard box, and some of the mechanics behind how they're designed and made.
14 THE TRIANGULAR MANUSCRIPTS - tentative translation of some strange manuscripts discovered in the back of a dresser.
15 POLYGONS UNDER THE COVERS - a fascinating relationship between the Fourier analysis of signals and polygons.
16 STRING CROSSINGS - About those string-art figures you may have made at camp by hammering a bunch of nails into a board, and then tieing metallic string from every nail to every other nail. Graph theorists call this a complete graph. How many crossings are there in such a pattern? The path to the answer involves noticing and making use of all sorts of unexpected patterns that keep showing up in the formulas and geometry.
I really enjoyed reading this little book. Only some of the ideas have yielded graphics programs for me, but all of the articles were interesting. It's the kind of book that gets you seeing the geometry, patterns, and graphics in everyday things. I highly recommend it.

I regret I only had chance to peek at the book at the friend's place. The book took me away for half an hour - not enough to really enjoy it, but enough to decide it's going to be in my library.

Glassner's style is fresh, precise and highly readable; illustrations are eye-catching. I admit I had to skip the math, but I know I can go back and find the *details* there.

The only bad taste left after reading this book is, that Graphics Gems series (of which Andrew Glassner was editor) is (probably) dead.

Andrew Glassner is one of my favorite CG writers and I expected more Graphics Gems to come out ... and (sadly) this is not a right replacement.

I'm going to be homeschooling my three kids and we're starting next year with a world tour theme in Kindergarten. My search for multicultural resources led me to this book but I resisted buying it because the price is so much steeper than for others out there. I kept coming back to it though, hoping there would be a new review to tell me more. Finally I bit the bullet and bought it because I wanted richer art experiences for my kids than what I found in other sources. Specifically, I had already purchased Global Art: Activities, Projects and Inventions from Around the World and I found it lacking in pictures, historical/cultural linkage of the art, and authenticity of materials. It felt much more crafty than artistic to me, although there were quite a few good ideas in it and I do think it was worth the price. I also have Discovering Great Artists: Hands-On Art for Children in the Styles of the Great Masters (Bright Ideas for Learning). I do like it but its scope is fairly limited in terms of time (mostly Renaissance to modern) and culture (mostly Western). That said, this book has far exceeded my expectations.

I have a big problem with the abundance of arts and crafts in schools while true arts programs are being dumped left and right. A morsel of the latter is worth buckets of the former, in my opinion. I think arts and crafts have a use and they're fun for kids (albeit short-lived fun without as much pride in craftsmanship that can come from creating original art). This book, however, is not about arts and crafts. In contrast, it is full of history and culture. The author instructs educators about art from a wide variety of cultures and gives them the tools they need to help kids create similar art. Sometimes the medium is altered because the original material is not practical or is unavailable. Solid gold is out of my budget and I don't have any whale bones lying around!

Because these activities are so visually interesting and based on history, I think they would actually appeal to kids from K-12. As the author points out, kids of different ages will obviously get varying results based on skill level. The author gives instructions for modifications to make activities manageable for younger kids. As a special note to homeschoolers, I should say that because most of us have more one on one time to spend with our kids during these activities, many of the modifications might not be necessary. They just might need more direct guidance.

I'm thrilled that this book pulls true art forms from all over the globe and then presents projects based on that art. Below is an outline of the projects included.

West Africa - tie-dying cloth, traditional dashikis, papier mache masks and sculptures
Ghana - Adinkra designs on paper and cloth
Nigeria - Adire Eleko cloth designs and Counter-Repousse (metal work)
Egypt - plaster hieroglyphic tablet, jewelry/clay beads, tapestry
Israel - paper and tile mosaics
Iran - Persian miniature paintings
France/Spain - prehistoric cave paintings (impressive - they make a whole caves system from cardboard!)
Cro-Magnons in Europe - stone engravings
Ancient Greece - sculpture
Great Britain - stained glass (originated in Middle East but famous in cathedrals)
Sweden - cookie stamps (she even includes a recipe)
Poland - Wycinanki (paper cutouts)
Ukraine - Pysanky (decorated eggs)
Belarus - straw designs
Germany - flower arts (pressed, woodcut)
China - calligraphy, paper making, woodblock prints
Japan - haiku and sumi-e ink paintings, accordion books, fish banners, fish prints, decorated paper
Burma - lacquer work
India - marble inlays
Indonesia - Javanese shadow plays, batik fabrics
SE Asia and Taiwan - kites
Central/Northern Asia - felt rugs and balls
Hawaii - canoes
South Pacific - Tapa (decorated barkcloth) including Fiji for stenciled designs and Tahiti for fern designs
Tonga - design tablets
Micronesia - gift-giving bowls
Australia - Aboriginal bark paintings, didgeridoos, carved Emu eggs
Mexico - Huichol Indian yarn painting, Amate paper cutouts and paintings, clay figures and suns
Central America - Cuna Indian Molas (cotton panels), gold/silver sculpture
Peru - embroidery
Caribbean - maracas
Puerto Rico - seed necklaces
Haiti - steel designs
United States - Pueblo Indian pottery, Navajo weaving and sand painting, Plains Indian Buffalo Robes, Headdresses, shirts and vests, Woodland Indian quillwork and beadwork, Inuit stone sculpture and printmaking, early American applehead dolls, scrimshaw (carving in whale bone and ivory), and weathervanes

I am extremely impressed with these activities which are firmly rooted in the history of the cultures from which they originate. They would add so much to school art programs as a supplement to history. This is a book I know we will use for years. The kids won't be ready for the Javanese shadow plays for quite some time but until then, I'll be looking forward to the experience! I can't recommend this book highly enough. With this book and the Dick Blick art supply catalog, I know my kids have an incredible wealth of art activities ahead of them.

As a side note, a few other resources that I love for our homeschooling program are

Art in Story: Teaching Art History to Elementary School Children Second Edition

30,000 Years of Art

Artistic Pursuits, Book One: An Introduction to the Visual Arts and the rest of the program that takes kids from Kindergarten through high school.

I've done many of these projects with children, and they are both educational (the book gives some cultural and historical references on the projects) and a cut above some of the really simplistic projects found in a lot of books. I go back to it again and again! I'd highly recommend it.

Penny Baillie-De Byl's ARTIFICIAL LIFE POSSIBILITIES: A STAR TREK PERSPECTIVE examines what the future might bring in creating exceptional artificial environments such as Star Trek has featured. Using Star Trek's innovative concepts as a foundation, artificial intelligence researcher Dr. Penmny Baillie-De Byl considers artificial life forms depicted in the TV series and the state of current technology to consider the potentials behind creating advanced AI systems.

The author has picked an interesting way to examine the state of the art in artificial intelligence. It is an interesting turn around. The originators of the TV series Star Trek looked at the research that was being done and extrapolated this research into their characters. In turn, these characters were looked at by researchers to see how their research might really be carried forward.

In this book, Dr. Penny Baillie-de Byl, an Australian university lecturer has in turned looked at the research being conducted and tied it back to the TV show characters. She looks at androids and at purely projection characters such as those that are generated on the holodeck.

The chapter I liked best was her discussion of the Turing Test, a test Alan Turing devised to determine if a machine could think - (what's think, what's a machine). Have we passed the test yet? Then again, I see some humans once in a while that I don't think could pass the test.

This book is great if you're interested in how games can enhance learning, both for ideas and for practical tips. The book has tons of examples from all over, as well as a lot of details on a range of projects from the authors lab. Many of the ideas for games he talks about are pretty novel, but after you read them they seem like natural ways of using computers to help people learn. The various examples cover a wide range from elementary through college through museums and other informal learning settings. For practitioners, the discussions of how to foster collaboration among a group of students using a game is particularly interesting. Definitely recommended, especially for people trying to make educational software themselves.

Eric Klopfer presents an engaging, thorough overview of augmented reality, an emerging, powerful technology for learning. His book sketches a vision for the evolution of this interactive medium and documents research findings about its current strengths and limits. The growing power and ubiquity of cellphones underscores the importance of understanding the potential of augmented reality for both schooling and informal learning.

This is a great purchase for those who really need a foundation in the world of broadcast design. I have purchased other material from rich and glen before and they have really helped me out in alot of directions so once again my hat goes off to them. You get so much more for the price they charge and this book needs to be on your shelf. Great tips and insights!!!!!!!

The latest On The Spot book from CMP Books titled Broadcast Graphics, their very informative and short book of the hottest tips, was very informative with great nuggets of useful information. Not too much in any one gulp yet still gives you the "aha" factor. This book focuses mostly on Photoshop and After Effects in the broadcast arena (hence the title) and they even say this book is for those in television. However, the book also delves into keying, Illustrator, and script automation - so there's a little something for everyone. Let's face it, as a filmmaker you need to have a solid understanding of just about every facet of production and post-production and this book, with it's quick tips, can be helpful in a pinch. It's another arsenal in your toolbox. I only wish they had a quick index listing their tricks so when I'm really in a pinch I don't have to search thru the book trying to remember what chapter I saw the helpful hint. All in all, a great productivity time saver and quick read.