Game Design Books

I have two main issues with XNA Unleashed: it has a misleading name, and it provides bad advice on how to program a game. Since I am a professional game developer with 12 years of industry experience making several blockbuster titles, I feel qualified in making my critique.

Despite its name, XNA Unleashed is actually a primer of how to make a very basic game engine and a sample game (using just a few elements from the XNA platform). It does not actually "unleash" XNA in any form. As a reader, you are tied to the author's linear recipe for how to make *his* game engine. By the time you're done reading the book, you won't have any fundamental understanding of XNA, nor will you be provided with a comprehensive survey of its features, and you certainly won't be able to unleash any hidden potential that XNA may have. The author just scratches the surface of XNA. Consequently, much of the power of XNA is still leashed away from the reader.

I read the 2008 first edition of XNA Unleashed. Its content is full of mistakes and bad advice. Strangely, the author often admits in his book that what he just described in many preceding paragraphs of code and text is actually bad for a game's performance and/or it is poor software design. So, if he knew it was bad, why did he bother writing such junk in his book? For example, in chapter 16 he writes a page of code that implements a "chase algorithm", and in the next section he states, "Although that gets the job done effectively, it is a little unrealistic because the enemies are moving in a very precise manner." (by "precise" he means stupid-looking). Then he writes a simple function with 4 lines of code that implements a much better "chase algorithm". So, why didn't the author (or editor) remove that preceeding page of crud? Because without all the crud there'd be very little left of the book.

I would have given this book only one star had it not been for the fact that it does at least provide some worthwhile information relating to frequently used components of XNA, HLSL, and game development in general. But these nuggets of good information could have filled a meager 20 pages, or so. Most of the book is merely muck through which the reader is required to march, until they stumble into the next nugget of goodness. There's no good way to find these worthwhile nuggets just by skimming or searching the contents or index.

Caveat emptor!

When i started to get serious about XNA i started looking for a good book to begin learning. Like most people (IMHO) i learn better through books and then self training than reading everything online.

The Microsoft XNA Unleashed by Chad Carter is a great book as it is not merely a skim through from the top for XNA but is very detailed. I have just started and i dont think i will be done with the book very soon.

I like his presentation style as well as the detail. I read all the reviews and sure some folks think it is a good book whereas some folks think otherwise. For me when i started reading through it i immediately liked the presentation style. I think (IMHO) that a good presentation style with good material leads to better learning.

I will post an update to my blog as and when i complete this book. Based on my initial 80 or so pages, i like it a lot.

See my blog http://ilovethexbox.blogspot.com/2008/06/microsoft-xna-unleashed.html for updates to the review.

The book assumes you know C#, and basically takes you through the development of a 2D game and a basic 3D FPS style game. As new functionality is added, the book explains the code pretty much line by line. It therefore shows you two sets of simple game design patterns in some detail.

It also makes the book very linear - as new functions are shown in the context of what has been built already, you can't easily just experiment with the different classes on their own. You really have to follow it through as a sequential tutorial.

What I was more hoping for was a more systematic treatment of the various XNA classes, and more of the underlying theory particularly with respect to using transformations. Matrix and vector maths is barely discussed directly at all.

The linear structure and practical focus also means that I didn't find myself able to "dip into" the book and learn more about XNA whilst watching TV for example.

So if you want an extended tutorial on XNA game programming its fine. If you want to really "get inside" XNA and graphics programming, then its not the right book for you.

This is a very well planned book with game development students in mind. Readers who complain that the writer takes off too quickly should keep in mind that the book is categorized as "Intermediate-Advanced" and quite accurately so.

I'm using this as a recommended text for a module I am teaching to diploma students and it brings them up to speed on programming with XNA.

You should get this if you have programmed in DirectX and/or C++; you'll find it a breeze and be amazed by how many things have been taken care / made much easier by the XNA framework and using a managed language such as C#.

The author, Chad Carter, also actively responds to the questions in the book's discussion forums. This is especially important for a technical book such as this as technology is constantly evolving (we're at XNA 2.0 currently), and it helps to know which parts of the book need to be updated (or not).

The only improvements I can recommend for the next edition (XNA 3.0) are:
1. Consolidated list of errata on the author's website (xnaessentials.com) to make it easier to find and update my own copy / students' copies of the book.
2. Teaching / supporting materials. However, I must admit that going through the exercises in the book will give you a good deal of ideas and inspirations already.

In short, thanks Chad, please keep up the excellent work.

At first I was hesitant to get this book since it based on the 1.0 refresh. However, I wanted to get started right away and seeing how this technology will simply continue to grow, there is no better time than the present to start learning.

I have all of the current XNA Books available and this one is by far the best. I love this guy's coding style ... it is nice when an author using .NET is actually using .NET styled code. If there is only one XNA book you can buy -- get this one.

I really enjoyed his perspective on performance. It helped me in my day job as well ... can you say Garbage Collector? I bought this book to do 3D and I have been happy with my results. I am using 2D to supplement my 3D game, but it seems the community is obsessed with 2D games at this point. The physics chapter is great. I also enjoyed the chapter on Artificial Intelligence. Both are short, but to the point and helped me know where I need to look for more information. The particle system is excellent. I liked the force field created by particles ... cool.

I am a programmer by trade and have dabbled in computer graphics in the past, but it was just too much work to get anything valuable. With XNA and this book as a guide, I was able to go so much farther than I ever did with DirectX and the books I bought on that subject. I have created a full 3D game that I plan to put out on Xbox LIVE Community Games when it is available. There is no way I would have a completed game without this book -- sound, game states, input, polish -- it is all in here!

I liked how the author didn't waste time on rendering a single triangle ... he did a rectangle (two triangles) ... and then later used that code to create a skybox. The chapter on the content pipeline was excellent. I enjoyed the advanced topics he has as well like Render Targets, Parallax and Relief Mapping.

In regards to changes with 2.0, he has updated the code on his site and it runs with no issues at all! Fortunately, the code is about identical to what it is in the book even with new code. I guess it just proves that not too much had to change between 1.0 refresh and 2.0.
I would buy this book again. In fact, I will when the author comes out with the 3.0 book.

Get this book ... and don't waste any more time ... make a great game -- it really is within grasp!

This is a great book that gives you well laid out instructions with invaluable visual aids throughout the book. I am constantly referencing this book for tips and techniques, and I have also combined many of the different areas I have learned into new effects. I would certainly recommend this book if you are looking for usefull tutorials that you can use in our work on a regular basis.. The best part is, this book is helpful for everyone from the beginner, to novice, to advanced users.

There are a lot of good ideas provided in this book for some very cool effects. However, please know that many of the effects/settings are very specific to the images they use in the examples. Your results will vary greatly with your own photos so it will take quite a bit of tweaking.

I am a firm believer that cookbooks should remain in the kitchen. This book did not really provide me with any new recipes of use. The one recipe I did want to use for a client operation, I resourced the online materials and followed it through but was unable to have it turn out. If the experiment was a cake, it would have been in the compost bin.

Most of the book is taken up with two page layouts that show you how different effects work. Well I have been pretty familiar with the graphic pen filter for a long time, so most of the book which touched on those was wasted pulp.

There was nothing here that really wowed me about either the work, the layout or the subject matter. Maybe a first entry user of Photoshop might find it interesting , but I can't really recommend this title to a serious Photoshop user. I couldn't even give this book away at my user group meeting.

I have been Fooling around with Photoshop-CS2 for years, i have been able to produce Amazing Effects. Many of my greatest Photoshops were done by Accident, because i wasn't sure were to start or in what direction to go in. I got this book and right away i saw some i have done but wasn't sure how i did it. Plus they have Tons of other effects you can do, by the time your done you will have Museam Quality Photos. Most people will ask you to do Photos for them to hang up in there house as a Center Piece.

Just a pretty rehash of photoshop filters and effects.
Skip it if you know photoshop
If you don't and like big picture learning this will teach you effects...but it won't teach you photoshop.

This book arrived in fast time and in good condition. I was surprised at how quickly I received the item.

This is a lovely book for those who are interested in fabric imbellishment. I was looking for something a bit more contemporary and elaborate, but this book has enough to keep me busy for a while.

If anyone wanted to research early 1990's fashion for a Beverly Hills 90210/Wilson Phillips/Shanice/Alannah Myles/Milli Vanilli biographical movie, take a look at the photographs in this book. The pictures are awfully dated but the techniques are less dated. Why do designers get caught up in such non classic fabrics and colors (sandwashed silk and purple with red)? Still a useful book too if you want to set up a hippie craft stall at your local bazaar.

I was a bit disappointed in this book. The designs are not very modern nor old in a cool way. I don't think the techniques shown are very creative, but if you are looking for standard simple techniques like simple ways of applying beads or how to do binding and piping, this book is for you. I think there's too much text and not enough pictures.

This book was pretty ordinary, if you've been embellishing cloth/clothing for any length of time. I bought it hoping for inspiration, but there was no inspiration to be had. Not only that, of the things that were included, I would never use. Today's clothing? Hardly. The techniques/effects were more suitable to vintage sewing than modern. If you must, buy this used, and then pass it along to others. In fact, I'll sell you my copy.

I enjoyed reading this book a lot compared to the other Flash books I've read. If you are trying to make Flash games and don't know where to start this might be the book you should buy! :)

I bought this book hoping to take steps from mid-level ActionScripter to a more advanced coder. In a world of how-to books that just regurgitate the same ol' techniques this one not only met, but it exceeded my expectations. I was hoping to improve my techniques for interactivity and thought a book on ActionScript gaming would be the quickest, most thorough and most fun way to do it and this book came through big time. Great examples, and good explanations of every step taken. Sometimes I needed more of an explanation but I think that's a trade-off of having more examples. So not really a complaint since I can find explanations online, but good examples are far more scarce. An absolute must-have...as someone said even if you are not into gaming. I'll also add that its still a must-have despite ActionScript 3 being out...but hopefully they put out a new edition covering that.

To respond to the negative reviews: 1. Want to see classes and OOP...that would be an issue if this book claimed to be an AS3 book, but considering it is AS2, when OOP and classes weren't as en vogue, I don't think that is a valid complaint. 99% of Flash CS2 books hardly mentioned classes and didnt code that way. 2. Bad habits/naming conventions...I didn't think so but I think that is a preference and if you don't like his "style" no one is forcing you to continue coding that way after you finish the book. Every author has their own style, and I didn't think his coding broke any conventions. 3. Nothing you can't learn yourself...just not true. I've found a lot of great stuff online, but it was a big help and hugely time-saving to have this wealth of info in one place AND with great instruction...and a bonus general ActionScript chapter that is better than many Flash books out there!

The book provides several examples that progress the reader through the programming of gradually more complex games. The reader should have a basic knowledge of Flash and Actionscript, as the book brushes over beginner-level concepts. At the time, the book is fairly up to date, however there is supposedly quite a jump between Flash 8 and Flash CS3, which uses Actionscript 3.0. Nonetheless, the concepts taught in the book are universally applicable regardless of what Flash version you are using. The inclusion of a CD-ROM is an added bonus and a must with this kind of book.

I found the book easy to read and very practical. The use of examples to explain things is great. And of course, examples that do work is great also!!!

It's the right book for those that already know something about flash and actionscript (doesn't need to be an expert), and want to learn to develop some games in flash, and perhaps aplly those technics on other apllications.

The book is great fun!!!

As a physicist, I looked at the chapter on "Physics for Games". It's very introductory Newtonian mechanics. Applying these in time-discrete form for moving objects in the game. Gravity is considered for vertical motion, and wind is incorporated to affect horizontal motion. Freshman level stuff. If you are developing a game where you need to seriously incorporate physics, there are entire books devoted to it, like Physics for Game Developers.

Though to be fair, the book is about learning Flash and its effects. Other chapters offer code fragments. Of necessity, these are all elementary, from a programming complexity standpoint. But they help explain how to apply Flash.

The most intricate part of the book seems to be when you model a 3d world. Nice rendering examples. Doesn't go very deeply here. Flash almost certainly has more advanced functionality.

I am nearly done with this book and I must say that it has been a rather grueling experience at times. The author needs to improve how he writes his instructions. He'll tell you to do something but won't tell you HOW to go about doing it. And this book is for beginners? It has nothing to do with the software. Maya may have a high learning curve, but if you are willing to work hard at it everyday you will get through it. That said, it seems that the author was in a hurry to write this, and at times rambles on about nothing.

Some people may find this book a bit difficult because of its style. The way this book works (besides for explaining the concepts very well,) is it teaches you how to do something and after taking you through it a few times, the author will tell you to do something based on what you just learned and you will have to do it on your own. So you really end up with first hand experience.

I come from the computers/engineering field into 3D computer graphics. This was the first book that I read. The book delivers what it promises - it is a good first step for 3D newcomers. It is easy to follow - exercises are explained step-to-step wise and it covers the most basic features of Maya. The book prepares you well for the Alias-book Maya Foundations, which gives you enough background to start making small animated films.

This book is an introduction to the 3D software Maya. The format was split between general discussion and step-by-step exercises. There is also a CD that included the exercise files and a copy of Maya Personal Learning Edition (PLE).

First of all, I did find the step-by-step exercises to be quite frustrating. The steps could have benefited from more detail or even a few more images. I just found myself getting lost to easily. Sometimes experimentation or trial and error were the only ways to get through a particular step. I did spot a few errors - most related to entering values. Sometimes depending on the view (or perspective) the required values would be different. As a beginner, minor errors made things even more difficult then they already were. Surprisingly, the book's use of grayscale images didn't create any problems except on a few occasions. Ultimately, it took me a lot longer to finish the exercises and the book than I would have wanted.

One of the reasons I got this book is that it included a copy of Maya PLE. But, the included version is only 5.0. Which is strange since the book is supposed to be an introduction to Maya 6. I couldn't get it to install anyways so I ended up just buying Maya PLE 6.0 from Alias.

With the problems aside you will still learn plenty just by reading through the material. I found the general discussion to be excellent. There was plenty of good information about the animation production process and great insight about each topic. I was surprised to find out that one of my favorite animated comedies was created with Maya.

Maya is a large and complicated program. The frustrating exercises just complicated things further. Especially since this is supposed to be an introduction to the topic. The exercises just needed to be a little clearer or more specific at times. The book may have been intended to be used with a formal class. In the end, and not without some struggles, I was still fairly introduced to Maya and 3D.

After reading the reviews of this book I was a little apprehensive but my fears proved baseless.
I can confidently say that this book has enabled me to graduate to an intermediate level Maya user.
The trick is to actually read the entire book in sequence and not just jump straight into the tutorials. I found the language used to be straight forward and easy to understand.

If you are new to Maya, or 3D visualisation, then I would highly recommend this book.

Well written, clear, easy to follow instructions for learning Photoshop Elements 3. Deke McClelland, as usual, is an excellent teacher.

I am excited to learn how to edit photos. I am just a beginner, so this book is good as it is at my level.

I got rid of both the full-fledged Photoshop and PhotoShop Elements from my hard drives, so I'm a biased reviewer. The programs are needlessly complex and counterintuitive, but this book is helpful. I tried PhotoShop Elements 5 and got rid of it, too. Too slow, too stupid. But the "Dummies" series is helpful if you want to invest in the learning curve.

I have six books for Photoshop Elements 3. This one is the best of the lot. Written so I can understand it. Unlike the others, this one does not assume that I am already an expert on the program. If I knew what the others assume I know, I wouldn't need their books.

Let's hear it for the Dummies.

I've had Photoshop Elements for some time but was only scratching the surface on what it could do. This easy to read book has shown many, many functions to me that has made the money spent on the software much more of a value to me. I've jumped around chapters to focus on what was most important to me. Don't feel you need to sit and read cover to cover - start with what you want to learn. At times a boring subject the authors fit in humor.

I'm not a usability expert, and this didn't quite match up with what I hoped to get out a of class on software evaluation for librarians (but that has more to do with the professor's slant on the subject and choice of book), but the book was easy to read and I felt that it covered some good points. It is, however, starting to show its age in some of the details, like the assumption that many software users will be unfamiliar with PCs and using a mouse to interact with a PC.

If your specialty is the user interface, you need to read this book. If you are interested in developing a user interface design process, you should read this. If you are a software developer who wants to know how to build good interfaces, skip it. It is too much about perfecting the design process.

I was looking for 'use this button for x and this widget for y'. In other words, here are the rules for a good user interface. What I got was 'here is the process for studying users and their interfaces, and here is a mountain of statistics to back it up'. No fault of the author, I just mis-understood what I was getting.

Having said that, if you want to make your living studying and perfecting interface design, read this book.

If you are an experienced user interface designer who thoroughly understands what usability is about you probably don't need to read the book (although I would find it strange that you are experienced and did not read this book which is attributed to have coined the term "Usability Engineering").

So who should read the book. Everybody that is going to develop any form of software. No, it won't make you an expert, but it will get you thinking.

On the negative side, some of the examples may some be slightly old (but its a 1993 book!). Sometimes you're also going to feel that you could stress this concept in half the space. However, the information and the thought process behind the information is extremely relevant and is well-worth the effort of reading the book.

If you are new in software development this book is an absolute must. In a sense it helps you develop "a way of thinking" rather than giving any specifics.

However, if you are looking for specifics, Chapter 5 deals with usability heuristics, presenting 10 of them. When looking at the list of 10 heuristics, they may seem obvious, trivial almost. It is quite amazing, however, how often those seemingly trivial things are overlooked or ignored. Just use some programs on your PC...

I think it would be worthwhile any software developers time to read Chapter 5 and think long and hard about what is said - then go back to your software and be honest with yourself. It might be some of the best lessons you'll ever learn.

In lots of ways this book has everything that classics are made of - except occasionally the ease of reading.

The title I use is an old portuguese proverb. It is a good description of this book. In page 115 it says: "User interfaces should be simplified as much as possible,...". And then it takes almost 8 pages to explain it. Read it. His advices are pure gold. But don't build your user interface like this book was built: overcrowded with unnecessary details. There's another funny thing about this book. It's about design, mostly graphical. But doesn't talk to much about "creativity".

If his own principles had been applied to the book it could be reduced to a a few bullet points.

*the web is slow, less is more.

*tell people what a link leads too before they press it, and make sure it does.

*use standard fonts in easy to read colours.

*use standard web conventions where ever possible as they are familiar.

*check for spelling mistakes and grammar errors.

*write concisely and arrange depth of detail in hierarchies, like they do in errr reference books.

*tell the user where they are, and how they got their, um like a path prehaps.

*some people have small screens, some don't even use microsoft browsers, not everyone has the latest plug ins, allow for it.

*don't employ frustrated artists to design your site, use an engineer.

Jakob proudly states he has multiple patents in the field of usability, maybe following this book will infringe them, or maybe he just kept the good stuff for himself.

The assembly diagrams are hard to follow, occasionally calling for parts not included in the set and the robots are flimsy and generally don't work. The book is no longer supported by the publisher even though the cover gives a web address for a free additional robot plan. The only thing to learn from this book is what not to do.

Again, why doesn't Lego publish these books, Syngress though has definitely filled the gap in the industry, and I can't put these books down. Awesome Star Wars themed dudes, great graphics

I run a LEGO League Robotics team and we were thrilled with the idea of "Dark Side" robots. Unfortunately, since a key part is no longer available, we are trolling e-Bay for parts. This title is a great concept, but it's very unpleasant that it's still being marketed when mission-critical components are not reliably available.

The robots described in detail in this book are really cool, and once you look at them, your patience will be tried until you get to the assembly stage. Constructing the robots is easy, each one is split into a series of small steps where the parts to be added are listed in a caption and the placement of the parts on the robot are highlighted on a second figure. We have all faced situations where we had to follow directions to put something together and struggled to make sense of the diagrams. In this case, that should not be a problem, these are some of the most understandable diagrams that I have ever seen.
The robots are all from the Star Wars series of movies and associated novels, which makes them even better. Most people with an interest in robots have seen the Star Wars movies, so it is wondrous to watch the robot gradually grow into something you have seen in action.
Lego Mindstorms is a robot kit that can be effectively used in class work from elementary school up though graduate school. In this book you will learn how to build some of the best robots, which will appeal to students throughout this spectrum.

The description should state this! My 8 year old son, who is a Mindstorms genius, has wanted this for so long! How disappointed he was Christmas morning. "This doesn't use my pieces, or even my RCX" he said--very disapppointing, and I think it should clearly say this is not for the CURRENT version of mindstorms. This book is completely useless to us, he cannot build ANYTHING in the book with his Mindstorms RIS 2.0 set.
We have another book from this line, and it is for RIS 2.0, and my son loves it.
Update: We learned this book is for the Lego Mindstorms "Dark Side Developer" kit (Star Wars). It is no longer made, but we found a set on ebay. Son loves it--and now this book, too!

I bought this as a present for my daughter who is majoring in
Graphic Design. SHE WAS SO THRILLED!

This book had the most in-depth reference for output, which is the information I was looking for. Other books that are in the market are gear toward chapter by chapter 'training', and does not cover this information extensively like the Bible does. The Bible explains print output for your printer as well as for commercial printing, basic and advance output set up with explanation of what each set up do and what to do to get the results you want. This is a great reference for design/print professionals who are new to the field as well as experts.

With no exception this book is other great and complete InDesign (CS3) reference from Galen Gruman and Wiley Publishing.

For whom is this book? Really, for very wide auditory of InDesign users. I can recommend this books to people who consider themselves as beginners or advanced users of this program. This books will be also helpful to any designer making the switch from QuarkXpress to InDesign. Using the side-by-side comparison of features is much faster than trying to find the answers online, because in order to look up how to do something, you have to know what it's called in InDesign. With this book, you don't.

In fact, Bibles are the most convenient form of explaining of what software does that I've ever seen.
You have all information under your hand in any time of night and day. And users of Microsoft Vista will be very exited as book stays up-to-date. Book is written as for Windows users, as for Macintosh ones.

This Bible will sit next to you all day long. You can read it front to back and use it as a reference during your projects. And this book is worth it if you have or plan to purchase CS3, upgrade to CS3 or want to know more about InDesign CS3.

This book represents an excellent value. You will find anything you wanna in this book: starting from creating frames and using tables, applying color, special effects, working with images, master pages, using grids, and guides, shapes up to small color management course and output fundamentals.

If you just started with InDesign, most likely you not familiar with such terms as "leading", "kerning", "bleeds", "slugs" or other typographical terms mean, but you won't be lost in the jargon any longer. This book will bring you on right level with fine explanations.

End of the book represents summary of what we found out in whole book. Or from other hand maybe it's exactly the place to start read this book for people who just switched from QuarkXPress or PageMaker to InDesign. You can also in once to remember the most usable short cuts that will save you a plenty of time in future (in real there is 10 pages of short cuts but just start from couple and in time you will remember them all).

The most easy way to study yourself smth - just to start. Make some fake project for yourself and how to make it - this book will tell you. And i'm sure that after a couple of projects you will feel yourself almost a pro in InDesign CS3 (previous and versions that will follow, because main part of using program you will already know as 2x2).

I advice you also to pay attention to end of book to chapter number VIII and IX. If you familiar a bit with programming you will see the true value in chapter number X.

So, if you searching for good InDesign CS3 reference, put your finger on this Bible.


P.S. - If you just came from QuarkXpress, i would also recommend you other book of Galen Gruman "QuarkXPress to InDesign: Face to Face"

This book has been a pretty good help to me. It helped me learn the program even before I got a copy of it. It is set up for just about any level of experience with the program and is organized into labeled chapters so you can skip any content that you already know or will never use (which may happen a lot if you are not a completely serious publisher). But I think this is a good help for me and I plan to keep it and use for future references with the program.

I knew very little about Indesign CS3 when I purchased this book. Easy to read, extremely well-organized and cross-referenced, this in-depth book gave me everything I need to take a document from "File-Open" to Printing production. The author writes in a clear and, surprisingly, engaging style (because long books about computer programs often work better than Narcotics to help you fall asleep). I learned priceless secrets as well as indispensable basics - I will read it again and again to pick up on more and more good, solid material that will continue to help me grow as a desktop publisher. I recommend this book without reservation!

This book was pretty good, although it was a little more "begginner" than i would of liked. Also, if you get a used copy, it might have a few dings but who cares right? as long as you can read it.. I love Maya books and this is a great addition to my Maya library!

It is always the same thing that in other editions. When you will stop to copy and to put something new.
The covers and the works of the experts in 3D, are perfect. The price is also something expensive, being the same thing that in previous editions. I Offer you that you can be but original. Thank you and a cordial greeting.

This is a THEORY book. If you don't understand the theory behind maya, pick this up. If you want tutorials, pick something else up.

This book is not another picture book, and its not really a tutorial book either. Its more of an explanation of how maya works and what things are used for, in a general sense. If you're picking up Maya for the first time I'd recommend Learning Autodesk Maya (and your version, which I'd recommend 8, which so far the tutorials are working fine in 8.5) If you're already a novice or higher maya user, and know your way around, this could prove useful.

After you've covered the material in a big tutorial book, keeping this one handy will help if you were to struggle on a specific task or forget how to do something, because theres plenty of explanation in this book.

I like how it explains the typical work pipeline, if you're doing this as a hobby but want to enter the industry someday, it will explain to you how daily work usually goes for each person, when working in teams on a pipeline, or how one person can control the entire pipeline when working alone.

A useful add to any maya users library, and one book can never cover everything there is to know about this program. This is my 2nd book covering just maya and found it interesting to read, but I'd start with a tutorial book for new maya users like myself.

You know how some companies offer really slick little illustrated booklets detailing their products, the advantages they offer, and all the features they have in an attempt to get you to buy the product? Well that's basically what this book is. It's essentially a 200+ page advertisement for Maya. It doesn't really attempt to teach you how to do anything in particular using Maya, but it does gloss over most of the features and the sorts of things you can do once you learn it.

As a new Maya user and being brand new to 3-D modelling in general, I actually found it to be a decent and useful read. But I have to admit that I was hoping for, and expecting more of a tutorial. But it still gave me a decent "view from 10,000 feet" of the program, which is something few if any other books will give you. Also it is well written and very well illustrated, it just wasn't at all what I expected.

If you are considering buying it to learn Maya, look elsewhere. But if you are looking for a decent overview of Maya, or are evaluating various 3-D tools, this may be a decent book to buy.

I think some readers may be confused by the title, "The Art of Maya." This is not a coffe tale book showing some art made by Maya users. The title is a play on Sun Tzu's book, "The Art of War." That is exactly what this book is, it is a soup to nuts explaination of the "art" of using Maya.
This is a beginer's book that goes into great detail about the concepts of using Maya. Many newbies might prefer to just by advanced books and learn all the WOW tricks that Maya has to offer. Of course then those users don't know why they went through the process they did to create a stunning image, and are left without any creative energy.
This makes this book a MUST HAVE for beginers and intermediate users. Every bit of the under lying logic in how Maya works is explained.
This is also a good "reading" book too. The problem with other Maya books that have projects is that you can not sit down and read them without being in front of your computer to do the projects. With "The Art of Maya," you can set it next to your nightstand and just read a chapter or two before bedtime; you can learn things without having to sit in front of the box.