Revit Architecture has revolutionized how architects design, develop, and deliver projects—and now you can join the\revolution with this expert guide. Authored by a team of Revit aficionados and experts, this in-depth book uses clear explanations, detailed tutorials, and practical examples to show you how to best implement Revit in the real world.

Starting with a focused look at the basics of Revit and Building Information Modeling (BIM), you'll move quickly into setting up and customizing your Revit tools, preparing your office/project templates and settings, and creating your library of components. From there, the book guides you through a wealth of information, from how to start conceptual modeling, use smart workflows to fine-tune your designs, explore design variations, and create rich construction documents. Packed with practical techniques and tips, this is the perfect resource to help you understand and appreciate Revit, unleash your creativity, and be more productive, no matter what your current skill level.

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Nik Lever takes you through the journey from the basics of 3D manipulation all the way to morph objects and sub-division surfaces. On the way you get Visual C++ project files to study and software that runs on the Windows desktop. The free CD-ROM gives you a full-featured development environment for 3D character animation, so even if you find some of the maths and the code hard to follow straight away you can still create your own games. The game engine (Toon3DCreator) provided free and fully functional on the CD-ROM, even has an ActiveX control that allows you to distribute your work on the Internet. All source code for Toon3D is included on the CD. You will also get an insight into the artist’s problems; learn how to keep the characters interesting while not exhausting the game engine.

Understand the complete picture and make the most of your skills to help you succeed in, or break into the computer gaming industry with this comprehensive guide to programming for real-time 3D character animation.

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If you're interested in creating cutting-edge code-based art and animations, you've come to the right place! Processing (available at www.processing.org) is a revolutionary open source programming language and environment designed to bridge the gap between programming and art, allowing non-programmers to learn programming fundamentals as easily as possible, and empowering anyone to produce beautiful creations using math patterns. With the software freely available, Processing provides an accessible alternative to using Flash for creative coding and computational artboth on and off the Web. This book is written especially for artists, designers, and other creative professionals and students exploring code art, graphics programming, and computational aesthetics. The book provides a solid and comprehensive foundation in programming, including object-oriented principles, and introduces you to the easy-to-grasp Processing language, so no previous coding experience is necessary. The book then goes through using Processing to code lines, curves, shapes, and motion, continuing to the point where you'll have mastered Processing and can really start to unleash your creativity with realistic physics, interactivity, and 3D! In the final chapter, you'll even learn how to extend your Processing skills by working directly with the powerful Java programming languagethe language Processing itself is built with. (more…)

Learning Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2008 | Foundation is your shortcut to learning 3ds Max quickly and effectively. Youll get hands-on experience with the key tools and techniques through easy-to-follow, step-by-step project-based lessons, while learning to model, animate, apply materials and render in both the games & design visualization pipelines. By the end of the book youll have a sense of the entire production process as you work on real-life production examples.

Whether youre a game artist or a graphic artist, Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2008 has the tools you need to succeed.

Game Artists will gain in-depth knowledge of the world-class Biped character animation toolset, unparalleled polygon modeling and texturing workflow.

Design Visualization Specialists such as architects, designers, and graphic artists, will gain the power to visually inform the design process through conceptual exploration, design validation and visual communication.

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Create believable CG character models with this unique book and DVD package. The stunning color images show just what you can achieve, and the detailed step-by-step tutorials show exactly how to achieve them.

Jason Patnode takes you from low to high-resolution modeling - helping you span the gap between game and film industry skills. Based on Maya 2008 and ZBrush 3.0.

Youll learn: Pipeline and modeling guidelines Overview of Maya Introduction to ZBrush modeling Concept art Anatomy Creating a video game character Creating a hyper-real character Creating a photo-real character UVs and texturing How to create a demo reel.

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Filled with tips and techniques from veteran game designers at Sony, Blizzard, Disney, LucasArts, Activision, 3DO, and many others!
Plan, design, and create enthralling game environments complete with richly animated characters and objects by applying the expert techniques described in this one-of-a-kind resource. Veteran game developer Tom Meigs covers the foundations of game design, including previsualization, level stubbing and layout, lighting, texturing, behavior scripting, and using particles, and explains in detail each stage of game development and design. Each chapter features an in-depth interview with a game industry expert as well as case a study based on Tom's real-world experiences working on Sony PlayStation games and various other projects. Plus, you'll get priceless advice on how to get into the game development industry now with details on the different types of jobs available.

-Develop a comprehensive previsualization process for your game project
-Create topographic maps and reference drawings for level planning and layout
-Build up your game scenes with lighting, texturing, particles, effects, and audio
-Place actors, props, and items and tune specific camera details
-Learn about game design by genre sports, fighting, RTS, role-playing, FPS, sims, MMOG, and others
-Script action events using JavaScript, Visual Basic, Python, Perl, and other tools
-Develop and design games for wireless devices including PDAs and mobile phones
-Implement a testing loop
-Learn how to avoid mistakes and set yourself up for success

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The Windows Presentation Foundation is a key component of .NET Framework 3.0, which is a part of Windows Vista and available for Windows XP. With the Windows Presentation Foundation, 3D images can be displayed regardless of the video-display hardware on the users machine. Focusing on developing user interface objects or simple animations, this book builds on a readers knowledge of Windows Presentation Foundation essentials to demonstrate how to effectively create 3D graphics for Windows. You get the fundamental information for using the Windows Presentation Foundation 3D application programming interface (API), as well as in-depth coverage of mesh geometries. (more…)

Poser 7 is one of the most enjoyable applications for creating realistic animated 3-D characters. In Poser 7 Essential Training, instructor Larry Mitchell explains how to design, pose, and animate 3-D characters using the program's intuitive interface, tools, and workflow.
The training covers everything from essential animation principles to working on the intricate details of individual body parts and complicated facial expressions. Larry also teaches the minute steps required to create characters that can lip-synch to recorded sound files. Advanced topics, such as incorporating HDRI lighting, animating to reference videos, and integrating Poser 7 and Vue 6, add to the full learning experience. Exercise files accompany the tutorials.

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The Academy Award–winning Maya 3D animation and effects software is the top choice for film and video artists, game developers, and 3D design professionals. Learn to build, render, and animate your own digital models and scenes, and begin to develop professional-level Maya skills with Introducing Maya 2008.

This new edition of a 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 to inspire you.

The enclosed CD features images, movies, and scene files that let you view material from the book. The support files will enable you to complete all of the tutorials. The CD also includes Maya Personal Learning Edition software.

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Turn 3D models into film-worthy digital animations by mastering mental ray rendering once and for all. This must-have guide is the only book on the market to focus exclusively on mental ray in Maya, 3ds Max, and XSI, and it's packed with techniques and insights you can't get anywhere else. Best of all, the book's advanced rendering concepts apply to other rendering software as well, including V-Ray, Brazil, Maxwell and RenderMan.

From scattering light to reducing render artifacts to deciphering rendering and shadow algorithms, you'll get a high-level look at advanced lighting, camera, and workflow techniques that usually take professionals years to figure out. This valuable book also covers the very latest on HDR image editing, viewing, and compositing tools—and features a sixteen-page color insert that showcases final rendered images.

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