CompuServe Messages

James, First let me return the favor to Nancy and say that her book is out now and is definitely worth a look. Her book is tutorial based with specific, real-world project examples. Right Nancy? Our book is concept and technique based and uses short exercises and examples to illustrate specific techniques. We also assume that you have worked through both the Reference Manual and Tutorials that ship with 3D Studio. We are making a strong effort to avoid rehashing anything already covered in the manuals. Philip Miller and I are the primary authors with major contributions from Greg Pyros, John Slater and others. New Riders Publishing is the publisher and we're shooting for a ship date near the end of January. The working outline breaks down into into the following multiple chapter sections: Concepts and Theory, Basic Modeling, Advanced Modeling, Basic Animation, Advanced Animation, and an expansive appendix on hardware and the multimedia profession. And Yes, we do get into the nitty gritty. How about optimizing model efficiency, back-tracking lofter paths, neon lighting effects, camera perspective control, rotoscoped materials, video post techniques, frame accurate recording and network rendering? To name a few. I'd better get back to work before my co-authors start beating on me for spilling secrets and wasting time. I have a lot to write, a short time to write it in, and I'm down to one knuckle per finger. Steven