Books about Three dimensional from Amazon.com

Crafting a perfect rendering in 3D software means nailing all the details And no matter what software you use, your success in creating realistic-looking illumination, shadows and textures depends on your professional lighting and rendering techniques. In this lavishly illustrated new edition, Pixar's Jeremy Birn shows you how to:

• Master Hollywood lighting techniques to produce professional results in any 3D application
• Convincingly composite 3D models into real-world environments
• Apply advanced rendering techniques using subsurface scattering, global illumination, caustics, occlusion, and high dynamic range images
• Design realistic materials and paint detailed texture maps
• Mimic real-life camera properties such as f-stops, exposure times, depth-of-field, and natural color temperatures for photorealistic renderings
• Render in multiple passes for greater efficiency and creative control
• Understand production pipelines at visual effects and animation studios
• Develop your lighting reel to get a job in the industry
  

.
Price: $31.90 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Blender is a free and open source 3D creation suite that is a real alternative to commercially available 3D design software A cross-platform software package with millions of downloads annually, Blender is now one of the world's most popular 3D design tools.

Although Blender is free, it's intended for design professionals and others motivated to become 3D artists. The Essential Blender will provide you with the knowledge you need to help integrate Blender into your work and begin to master its powerful creation tools.

If you've never tried 3D design before, an introductory chapter will familiarize you with relevant terminology and concepts. If you're already experienced with commercial 3D software, The Essential Blender will get you up to speed with Blender quickly. After a tour of Blender's 3D modeling, animation, and rendering capabilities, you'll learn how best to use Blender for these tasks:

Object manipulation and animation

Mesh and sculpt modeling and shape animation

Materials and texturing (including UV unwrapping)

Lighting and rendering

Particle animation

Character rigging and animation

Node-based composition

The book is modular in its approach, with each topic addressed independently and accompanied by hands-on tutorial sections.

The combined expertise of key members of the Blender community, coupled with the experience of editor Roland Hess, bring you The Essential Blender-the definitive guide to Blender. You'll find a wealth of 3D design information inside that will help you to unlock your artistic potential and get the most out of Blender.

Includes a Complete Version of Blender 2.44 on the CD-ROM. Covers Windows, Mac OS X, Linux (x86 and PowerPC), Solaris, FreeBSD, and IRIX..
Price: $26.48 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The new edition of this perennial bestseller is the ideal initiation to 3D and Maya. Starting with the basics, it builds from the ground up, combining straightforward text with practical examples that make it fun and easy to learn Maya's core tools while introducing the latest Maya 2008 features. Follow clear-cut, step-by-step lessons while you learn by doing using a wealth of hands-on files provided on the CD. You'll also find compelling examples in the full-color insert..
Price: $21.39 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Let this in-depth professional book be your guide to Blender, the powerful open-source 3D modeling and animation software that will bring your ideas to life. Using clear step-by-step instruction and pages of real-world examples, expert animator Tony Mullen walks you through the complexities of modeling and animating, with a special focus on characters. From Blender basics to creating facial expressions and emotion to rendering, you’ll jump right into the process and learn valuable techniques that will transform your movies.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file..
Price: $21.33 [Notify me when price goes down.]

The power of the image of the nude--the expressivity of the flesh--has inspired artists from the beginning An understanding of human form is essential for artists to be able to express themselves with the figure. Anatomy makes the figure. Human Anatomy for Artists: The Elements of Form is the definitive analytical work on the anatomy of the human figure.
No longer will working artists have to search high and low to find the information they need. In this, the most up-to-date and fully illustrated guide available, Eliot Goldfinger--sculptor, illustrator, scientific model-maker, and lecturer on anatomy--presents a single, all-inclusive reference to human form, capturing everything artists need in one convenient volume. Five years in the making, and featuring hundreds of photos and illustrations, this guide offers more views of each bone and muscle than any other book ever published: every structure that creates or influences surface form is individually illustrated in clear, carefully lit photographs and meticulous drawings. Informed by the detailed study of both live models and cadavers, it includes numerous unique presentations of surface structures--such as fat pads, veins, and genitalia--and of some muscles never before photographed. In addition, numerous cross sections, made with reference to CT scans, magnetic resonance imaging, and cut cadavers, trace the forms of all body regions and individual muscles. Information on each structure is placed on facing pages for ease of reference, and the attractive two-color format uses red ink to direct readers rapidly to important points and areas. Finally, an invaluable chapter on the artistic development of basic forms shows in a series of sculptures the evolution of the figure, head, and hands from basic axes and volumes to more complex organic shapes. This feature helps place the details of anatomy within the overall context of the figure.
Certain to become the standard reference in the field, Human Anatomy for Artists will be indispensable to artists and art students, as well as art historians. It will also be a useful aid for physical and dance therapists, athletes and their trainers, bodybuilders, and anyone concerned with the external form of the human body. With the renewed interest in figurative art today, this will be an especially welcome volume..
Price: $44.59 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Over the past three decades, sculpture has retaken its position at the forefront of contemporary art, with artists redefining the medium in remarkable and revolutionary ways. SCULPTURE TODAY is the only book to provide such a wide-ranging and richly-illustrated overview of contemporary sculpture. Thematic chapters examine the diverse subjects that have inspired sculptors in recent years, including the body, gravity, color, light, architecture, and clothing. A wide range of works is discussed, offering an insight into the incredible range of ideas, styles, materials, techniques, and locations explored in this versatile genre. This authoritative yet accessible text ensures the book's appeal to a wide range of readers..
Price: $39.12 [Notify me when price goes down.]

An insightful, up-to-date look at creating in the digital environment
In a practical, easy-to-understand format, The Art of 3-D Computer Animation and Effects covers every aspect of creating and outputting fully rendered three-dimensional computer still images or animations, including visual effects for live action. Along with helpful insights into the newest techniques available in the latest software programs and hardware, this new edition provides solid conceptual and critical basics through a combination of technical explanations and creative techniques. Creative vision can be brought to life on the screen through an easy-to-understand, step-by-step approach supported by full-color sample work by such leading companies as Pixar Animation Studios, Square, DreamWorks SKG, Fox, Disney, and many independent artists and studios.
Isaac Victor Kerlow (Los Angeles, CA) is Director of Digital Production at the Walt Disney Company and a longtime active member of SIGGRAPH and the Visual Effects Society..
Price: $37.02 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Featuring techniques for assemblage and surface alterations never before seen in a mixed-media art book (kit-bashing, wiring, egg-shell texture, casting and more), Altered Curiosities offers a new twist on a hot topic.

A fresh variety of projects (such as hair barrettes, jewelry, a drawer pull and a bird feeder) prove that artistic assemblage and collage styles can be expressed beyond wall art.

Readers will learn a new storytelling approach to their mixed-media art. Altered Curiosities goes beyond construction techniques to help readers discover how to create a personal narrative with objects and visually tell a story, not just infuse a piece with meaning or symbolism.

Two very important things make this book stand out from the crowd of other collage, mixed-media and assemblage titles: the projects (full of oddities and the unexpected) and the techniques--several of which have never been published before. A common element of Jane Wynn's style is to find an object, break it and put it together again (sometimes more than once), and she loves using anthropomorphic associations to tell stories in her projects. Step by step, readers will learn her unique method and her sought-after techniques. Along with surface alterations (faux-aging, patinas and the use of unusual household products) Altered Curiosities teaches metal etching with rubber stamps, simple wiring to create dramatic lighting, instruction for altering simple toy figures (making two-headed animals, for instance) and more..
Price: $6.44 [Notify me when price goes down.]

As an introductory guide to three-dimensional design and sculpture, SHAPING SPACE offers an engaging, in-depth exploration of aesthetic and practical considerations of working three-dimensionally. By presenting both conventional artistic wisdom and new approaches that stretch and transcend the old definitions of what can and should happen in a work of art, SHAPING SPACE challenges students to encounter ideas that have never occurred to them and to become more aware of the limitless potential of shaping space. Now in full-color throughout, the text explores the latest changes and applications in the field including computer-aided and computer-made sculpture, craft techniques, multicultural art, art as social and political commentary, architecture and industrial design conceived sculpturally, public sculpture, sculpture parks, and performance art. To help introduce and broaden three-dimensional awareness and technical skill, suggested studio projects provide structured assignments that relate directly to textual materials..
Price: $83.59 [Notify me when price goes down.]

Considerably easier to use than other 3D software, Google SketchUp has found a niche in architecture, landscape design, real estate development, furniture building, and other design professions. This book provides an accessible approach that assumes no previous 3D modeling experience and explains the basic concepts involved in 3D modeling. Wiley Pathways SketchUp shows you how to build a 3D model, print it, share it, export it to another professional design package, export it to Google Earth, and create a 3D animated tour. The book will also help you harness the power of Google SketchUp so you can populate Google Earth with 3D buildings, monuments, and other sculptures..
Price: $42.48 [Notify me when price goes down.]