Get Jeremy Birn's book first By A Customer Before you even think of buying this book you should first read "Digital Lighting & Rendering" by Jeremy Birn. Birn's book covers many more subjects in much more detail. Fleming's book presents some useful theories about clutter. Other than that compared to the Jeremy Birn book "3D Photorealism Toolkit" has little to recommend it.
Useful and Readable I found this book despite being fat and very full of text on a technical subject to be VERY readable. The author leavens the subject with a sense of humor and with personal experiences. I also was going from page to page going oh is THAT how you do that.The only downer was that he was giving directions for how to capture images to use with a Polaroid camera and a scanner. Apparently this book was written before digital cameras took off. However most of what he said to take pictures of and why still apply so it translated to current technology. And that was mostly only in one chapter out of many.The directions are NOT software specific which means you can use the book with whatever you're using not with the software he's using. Which is goodthe software I'm using wasn't even listed in his book.I'm very glad I bought this.
Realism in theory I found Bill's methods valuable but his images are not photorealistic enough and may not be too helpful for beginners.Most annoying thing is that most of images are printed only in grayscale and only few are in color. If reader want's to see color versions he/she has to download images from writers website. Due to grayscaleproblem there were some troubles to compare images properly to see differences in them and I was not always sure what Bill really meant in his text unless I saw color versions. Writer also keeps repeating same things over and over across different chapters and more tighter writing style would get the job done more easily. I would shorten this book about half and drop price alsoand include at least one photorealistic image to see what the subject really is.
A must Have I bought this book over 3 years ago and I keep going back for it for reference. The book covers photorealism as principles and guidelines that establish much more understanding concering producing 3d imagery.The problem that it's lighting section is a bit weak and it does not have almost any color pages.If you would like to become a better 3d artist buy this one.
Excellent as always from this writer.. Fantastic book. I am an editor with 3dnation and really found this book helpful to me when making my animations. He makes you think about what makes up the image and surrounding enviroment. What I really found valuable in this book is the chart in the back to make objects take on the characteristics in the real world.. want that pager to have a rubber surface..look it up page 316. Other animators usually do not want you to have this information. Bill does..
get [digital] lighting and rendering By A Customer This book does indeed contain true insight into creating photorealism and using Fleming's concepts it is easy to surpass his own attempts at photorealism. This book would be however much more valuable to a 19 year old kid who just got his hands on TrueSpace than to a professional artist. If you are looking for a quick and helpful read about many of the same concepts but presented more concisely and technically read [digital] lighting and rendering or so I believe it to be called.
Good technique so so implimentation I found many useful techniques in the book and I have been able to apply them in a way that makes my work more photorealistic. Bill's writing style is not for everyone. On the whole it is pretty casual and some chapters lack clarity. The supplied images are ok but have a certain cartoonish read not photorealistic quality to them mostly because his techniques are overused and the color is overly saturated. The book does supply some valuable information but it isn't the last word on photorealism.
Photorealism made easy This book discussed ways to make your 3D images more realistic using techniques I either hadn't thought of or had no idea how to implement. The book is in a chatty humerous style that can sometimes grate on your nerves but it is easy to understand and learn from which is the most important point.The only drawback to this volume is that most of the illustrations are in black and white which makes seeing the necessary comparisons in texture rather difficult. Color images are available on plates in the middle section but not all of them and on a website. While the website is a good idea for distributing the color images it would have been handier to have a CD even if the price of the book had been higher.
A little knowledge is a tedious thing to sift through 300+ pages of. This book mixes a handful of helpful suggestions for the beginner in with a bunch of other um stuff. Not necessarily wrong mind you just simplified to the point where it's no longer quite right either. Look closely at the cover before you buy use Amazon's 'larger photo' link. If you are swept away by the detail in the shot the variety of surfaces the color the artful disorder this book may be for you. If you find yourself wondering where the light source is why the image drops off into shadow at the top or why everything still looks like plastic prepare to be disappointed. The book relies very heavily on scenes like this amazingly detailed but clearly drawn from the author's imaginaton. Many images and examples also suffer from onlyin3D artifacts such as improbable camera placements or unreal light behavior. For a technically ept discussion of lighting cameras film reflection radiosity and surfacing I would recommend [digital] Lighting and Rendering by Jeremy Birn. For tips on clutter and surface aging I would visit web site name while the downloads are heavy they at least present photorealism using real photographs.
EXCELLENT content but grating prose idiosyncrasies & no CD By A Customer The principles set forth in Bill's book and his indepth explanations will be invaluable to any 3D artist/creator/animator. Anyone doubting his abilities need only view the very impressive gallery at his Komodo Studios website to be convinced.That said I feel compelled to also note that I personally find Bill's prose style extremely annoying. Rather than staying on point and sticking to the technical he goes out of his way to write in a very conversational style. A lot of "let's take a minute and stretch our legs before we begin on the next chapter shall we?" type of stuff that I can't stand. And one paragraph in particular stood out. He uses the phrase "let's take a look" four times within six sentences. Sorry exEnglish major venting.But worse if you want color versions of the black & white illustrations in the book and the accompanying 3D mesh and map files to follow along with his examples you have to download all 30MB of them from his publisher's website. To NOT include a CD as so many other reference books now do including some of Bill's other books is inexcusable especially considering how visuallyoriented his subject matter is.In the final analysis I'll not hesitate to buy more if not all of Bill's books. Again the content was phenomenal I'll just have to grin and bear the way it's presented.
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