Best Electronic Documents
Creative professionals seeking the fastest, easiest, most comprehensive way to learn Adobe Animate choose Adobe Animate CC Classroom in a Book (2017 release) from Adobe Press. He has taught at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and at the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and was the Department Head of the Illustration program at Sessions College for Professional Design.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"good book, didn't know much about animation but the book made it easier but still takes over and over again sometimes."
"On line courses are good .....a book seems to be an easier method for me."
"I love that it is also available off line, in case i'm on the road without internet connection."
"Love these books!"
"Bought this as a supplement to the book required for my class."
"I bought this book at Barnes and Noble and it has been so helpful!"
"Its okay if you are into designing cartoons."
Whether your final destination is print, Web, or film, Real World Color Management, Second Edition takes the mystery out of color management, covering everything from color theory and color models to understanding how devices interpret and display color.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Of course, you can't sell books by saying "Turns astounding difficulty into mere complexity!" That said, I think the vast majority of digital imaging users would gladly settle for pleasing color as opposed to accurate color if they knew what was involved."
"As the authors wryly joke, even Newton chose not to pursue the science of color in favor of a more rigid, less complicated science like plain old theoretical physics or mathematics! Best I think is how the authors address color management from the standpoint of specific software mostly toward the end of the book after they've laid out principles of color management, including explanation, of course, of the need to manage color in a workflow, assuming one has any interest in arriving at quality results, and extensive discussion of why and how to profile an array of devices. Whether one plans on color rendering "true" to a subject or on departing from "true" color in the interest of creativity. It's well worth one's time to try and understand the process even if one doesn't plan to measure a thousand or more little squares of color one at a time. Photoshop is recommended though not essential to color managing a workflow. Fortunately, monitors are the easiest devices to profile and even fun to profile using not-too-pricey equipment that can be purchased here at Amazon. All of a sudden color will look "true," much more like what you saw or intended and also thereby far more easily adjusted, or not adjusted at all if you prefer to print directly from camera to printer through your computer. The more direct the more essential to accurately profile devices both input and output, assuming your objective isn't simply a snapshot, although even then when prints (or displays) are sorely lacking, which all prints and displays will be when devices aren't attuned. (This could also be a book on how to use color management tools available in the better imaging software out there.). But the book begins with an elaboration on the nature or science of color, including how we humans perceive it and then seek to use it. By the end, if you've paid close attention, you ought have a reasonably good working knowledge of color management regardless of type of input and output devices."
"This book has some of the best discussions of color theory and the perception of color in the context of computer systems I have ever seen."
"However, if you get into book publishing or fine art printing, you need to learn what's going on in the box in order to get the color vibrancy maximized. This means, converting an image from a larger gamut, like AdobeRGB down to sRGB will reduce the vibrancy of some colors."
"Excellent book, only half way through, it is quite a intense book, definitely view the book on a color reader, I am reading it on B&W kindle and viewing all the great images on my phones Adobe reader."
"I would say, the author knows his stuff and would be best read in a group and discuss each chapter with the group."
Yes, you’ll be introduced to everything you’d possibly need to know about the publishing world, but Bine-Stock explains every term, every step throughout the process, making it both manageable and accessible for even the newbiest writer." With this guide, you’ll learn how to create your book with Canva, an easy-to-use, inexpensive design tool. From finding an illustrator, to choosing fonts and colors, to design and layout, this step-by-step guide holds your hand all along the way. She continued publishing on her own, winning the International Book Awards for her children's book on dog breeds. Here, she shares her expertise and reveals the secrets of cost, profit, design, layout and production-all the business and creative aspects that publishers don't want you to know.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Wonderful, practical book which contains everything a first-time children's book author should know."
"Great book, easy to read & very informative!"
"But it does have a few flaws - (1) it gets repetitive in multiple places, (2) provides no useful info about publishing board-books (because neither Amazon or Ingram Spark provide a way to do it), (3) it glosses over e-publishing picture books, and (4) the authors only shows how to create books for publication using Canva, shuns using Word for reasons that I have never encountered (e.g. crashes with too many large photos, and page numbering doesn't work), and doesn't mention publishing with Acrobat (the defacto standard for creating PDF documents), while noting that Canva files get converted to PDF in the publishing process."
"Even knowing that this comes from an experienced writer and publisher several times over, it's rather mind boggling to imagine the amount of research that went into this book."
"As a bonus, she includes many useful resources and tips and has worked with graphic artists and other publishing professionals to provide money-saving deals to her readers."
"If you've got a picture book you're thinking of publishing yourself, grab HOW TO SELF-PUBLISH A CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOK by Eve Heidi Bine-Stock to see what you're getting into (and to get tons of great help)!"
"I recommend this book to all aspiring children's book authors!"
Best 3D Graphic Design
Reflecting both academic and in-the-trenches practical experience, the authors teach you how to describe objects and their positions, orientations, and trajectories in 3D using mathematics. He was a technical director for the Walt Disney Company at Wideload Games in Chicago, where he was the lead programmer for Disney Guilty Party , which won IGN's Family Game of the Year at E3 2010.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I hadn't seen much math or geometry since high school, but this book does a great job at easing you into the underlying concepts of some pretty heavy stuff. I tried to wade through the CG "bibles" ("Real Time Rendering", "Principles of Computer Graphics in C") and quickly realized that if you're not either a CG major in college or an experienced CG pro, those books are like being in heavy seas without a life vest."
"I had a quick browse through the book, I don't have the time to work through it now I bought it for next year but from what I could digest from the sample pages I read it is very good."
"This was a great book."
"A lot of times the explanation does not translate to directly explain the provided example code, but this was an invaluable starting point for programming 3D maths."
"I have tried to learn 3d programming from reading other books on this topic and found myself getting confused before finishing the first couple of pages. This book came to my house and I began reading chapter 1, before I knew it I was on chapter 5 (2 hours later) and knew a good bit about Vectors, Matrices, 3d Coordinate systems and the such."
"Unfortunately, the later chapters look (Starting from the chapter on Quaternions/Euler angles and going until the end of the book) like they were quite rushed which was disappointing considering the nice flow of the previous chapters."
Best CAD Graphic Design Guides
Used in hundreds of educational institutions around the world as the primary text for CNC courses, and used daily by many in-field CNC programmers and machine operators, this book literally defines CNC programming. This powerful software includes an amazing array of features, including those not found in competitive products. Support for many advanced features is standard, and the included macro interpreter can simulate Fanuc and compatible macro toolpath programs Detailed section on CNC lathes with live tooling, including examples Image files of many actual parts, used as examples More programming examples (both in printed text and on the CD-ROM) Optimized for the latest Fanuc and related control systems Additional formulas, calculations and handy reference material Fourth axis programming (indexing and rotary) CD-ROM based projects, including several as interactive PDF forms Improved index for better search of topics.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The z coordinate moves along the axis of rotation of the shaft or workpiece with the x coordinate being the radial distance (signed) of the cutter from the axis of rotation. The distance advanced in one revolution is then (1/t) inches per thread or revolution.The rate the cutter must travel along the z direction is then (1/t)xRPM where RPM is the rotation rate of the shaft in revolutions per minute. Next for the review: You're assumed to know how to read prints and mainly how to picture in your mind or sketch the object from a standard 3 view orthographic projection drawing (front view, right side view, and top view). The front view actually gives y and z coordinates of the points of your object, right side view gives x and z, top gives x and y. For a lathe a 2 view or even single view will suffice."
"Machining and want to be great at programming this has it all, great examples."
"So it spent half its trip within 5 miles of my house without coming to my house."
"I have not finished this book but it is obvious that this is one book that everyone who wants to learn anything about CNC needs to read."
"Very detailed, well written, all the information you need and then some I can see this becoming a reference book after i finish my first read through it,"
"I used this text initially for course study, now for refining my programs."
"I have been walking through the programs with the help of this book and it has been really helpful in learning the programs."
"Otherwise an acceptable book however as a beginner to CNC, the CD-Rom was the reason I chose this particular book."
Best 3D Printing Books
The 3D Printing Handbook provides practical advice on selecting the right technology and how-to design for 3D printing, based upon first-hand experience from the industry's leading experts. "3D Hubs draw on the thousands of 3D printing hours they have clocked up and bring this experience to the reader" - Michael Petch, 3dprintingindustry.com.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Like others have said, if you are a beginner hoping to learn the basics of 3D printing then this book will be great for you. But if you REALLY want to learn about 3D printing, skip the book, save up and buy an actual 3D printer."
"It is written with cohesive understanding of the entire 3D printing landscape, thus it functions as a manual providing surface to semi-advanced information on all 3D printing technologies, including lesser-known types."
"Amazing book, it has everything about the 3D printer process and all the details wroten by experts."
"very nice survey of 3d printing."
"But if you're interested in FDM printing (which the book terms FFF), that is, printers that work by laying down a thin layer of semi-molten plastic through a heated print head, i.e., the process used by probably 90+% of the printers sold, you will find precious little to assist you. It would more accurately be titled "3D Printing Technologies Review", because its main strength is describing the various 3D printing technologies, and comparing them for the types of parts they produce."
Best Desktop Publishing
With 500 pages of full color photos and illustrations, the book delivers all the basics that a novice grower needs, as well as scientific research for the experienced gardener. All aspects of cultivation are covered, from the selection of varieties, setting up of the garden, and through each stage of plant growth all the way to harvesting. Ed Rosenthal has been teaching for more than 30 years.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book is like a 100 or 200 level college course book."
"Even if you dont grow, This book is an interesting read... lots of pictures with good information on several aspects of this fascinating subject."
"The overall theory was very informative, but for the beginner, like myself, would have liked to have more day to day care, especially related to hydroponic management."
"I recommend other books for specifics breeders and growers bible, lets grow a pound, and some others for specific topics, but this one is definently jam packed with info on all aspects."
"A very necessary addition to furthering knowledge."
"Ed’s got it all covered, from first seed all the way to enjoying your finished product...and everything in between!"
"Just started reading the book but it seems to have all the information needed to grow your own healthy plants."
Best Computer Modelling
Getting to Know ArcGIS , fourth edition, is a comprehensive introduction to the features and tools of ArcGIS for Desktop. He has worked for Rand McNally Canada and for Esri, where he developed cartography for books, and edited and tested GIS workbooks.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book is designed for even the least GIS inclined person."
"Book includes a six month license for ArcGIS."
"Awesome book with code to use on computer."
"I thought the the old ARGIS 9 Version was more readerr friendly."
"Great book with exercises."
"Good Book."
"Excellent workbook to get anyone started in ArcGIS."
Best Rendering & Ray Tracing
It also presents a solid theoretical framework and relevant mathematics for the field of interactive computer graphics, all in an approachable style. This latest edition is as relevant as ever, covering topics from essential mathematical foundations to advanced techniques used by today’s cutting edge games.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Make no mistake, there is a lot of math in this book. All in all I think it was a great read, and I feel a lot more comfortable with the basic concepts of rendering after reading the book."
"DON'T get the kindle version, it is just pdf images (table of content links don't work, page takes up only half of the phone screen, cannot zoom in)."
"Their intention is always to describe the best up-to-date techniques to implement solutions to every aspect of real-time 3D graphics, with only enough general or historical discussion of each topic to provide a foundation to understand the current state-of-the-art. It is a perfect complement to special-purpose books on specific APIs (OpenGL or DirectX) or GPU shading languages (GLSL or CG or HLSL) that describe the specific graphics environment and software tools you need to implement your 3D applications."
"It gives a really good description of just about everything, I was happy to see how it has a section to go over the GPU architecture, and uses the Playstation 3 and XBox 360 as examples."
"It's the best book I've found for up-to-date information about GPU rendering."
"If you understand the basics of rendering already this book will give you detailed coverage of rendering theory, its not an implementation example book."
"Amazing overview of real-time rendering techniques."
"This is a must have book for everyone who wants to dig deeper into real-time rendering and games."
Best User Experience & Website Usability
If you’ve read it before, you’ll rediscover what made Don’t Make Me Think so essential to Web designers and developers around the world. Steve Krug (pronounced "kroog") is best known as the author of Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability , now in its second edition with over 350,000 copies in print.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As the subtitle, "A Common Sense Approach", and Krug's consultancy's name, "Advanced Common Sense" ([...]) convey, many great design considerations today involve some simple approaches to dramatically improve your web user experiences."
"This should be required reading by ALL marketing execs, ALL web designers and developers, ALL graphic designers, ALL product designers and inventors, and ALL copywriters."
"Krug breaks the issues of usable web design into simple, digestible form for anyone who depends on a website for promotion or income."
"That fact makes this book a good read for anybody who is involved in any aspect of a websites operation, Web Developer, Marketing, Sales and Management (from mid level to upper level)."
"Many of the ideas and resources in the book have been incredibly valuable to me in my work, and it's almost always the first book I recommend to anyone asking questions about User Experience related topics."
"Unlike a boring text book, Krug makes the book really fun with helpful (yet obvious) examples that bring some concepts to life."
"This book was on the "suggested" reading lists for an interface design class that I took in college."
"But how is though to follow common sense when building a website! I use it on my daily work, to guide my business partners in the construction of the websites for my B2B Clients, and after reading it, is quirte amazing how you can immediatelly spot in the web the websites that follow its principles and those that don't."