Advanced 3D Photorealism Techniques [Paperback]

Bill Fleming (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471344036 | ISBN-13: 978-0471344032 | Publication Date: June 14, 1999

Advanced techniques for creating incredibly phtorealistic 3D images and environments.

Bill Fleming's bestselling 3D Photorealism Toolkit got you up and running with the basics of creating photorealistic 3D images. This book takes you to the next level with advanced techniques for re-creating all the chaotic diversity found in nature. Thanks to the book's modular, learn-by-doing format, you'll quickly master proven, quality-enhancing, time-saving techniques for modeling, mapping, morphing, and surfacing that work for virtually all major 3D graphics programs and operating systems.

You'll learn how to:
* Identify the elements that make an image photorealistic using the 10 principles of photorealism.
* Create extremely realistic details using image map models.
* Add depth to your scenes with tileable image maps.
* Surface complex organic structures with morph targets.
* Use common tools to create water effects without high render time.
* Re-create chaos in natural and industrial settings.

On the CD-ROM you'll find:
* All the support files you need to complete the exercises in the book.
* Photorealistic models in 10 common file formats that you can use in any program on any platform.
* All the photorealistic images from the book-in color JPEG format.
* Image maps and models that you can use in your own photorealism projects.

Visit our Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"If it looks like a photograph, it's photorealistic--no more, no less." This definition is key, says photorealistic 3-D graphics guru Bill Fleming, who presents techniques for building spectacularly rich photorealistic environments in Advanced 3D Photorealism Techniques. This book is well-suited for 3-D gurus who want to move up to the next level in their craft.

Fleming introduces you to simple tricks for adding surface chaos (in the form of rust, oxidation, and corrosion) to otherwise flat images and shows you how to tackle surfacing challenges. For creating a "back alley" city street, for instance, you can add dirt and grime on a global scale and thereby avoid crashing your computer with large amounts of image files.

An example of the book's typical clarity lies in this list of Top 10 principles of creating photorealistic images:

1. Clutter and chaos
2. Personality and expectations
3. Believability
4. Surface texture
5. Specularity
6. Aging--dirt, dust, and rot
7. Flaws, tears, and cracks
8. Rounded edges
9. Object material depth
10. Radiosity

The companion CD-ROM contains support files, models, and image map modeling templates to accompany the tutorials. If you're looking to create really real photorealistic images, this is a recommended resource, in true Fleming fashion. --Brooke Gilbert

Topics covered: Natural and industrial environments, creating buildings with natural elements (adobe, bricks, and boards), and working with natural scenes (ponds, puddles, grass, ground cover, and rocks).

From the Publisher

Bill Fleming's best-selling 3D Photorealism Toolkit, got you up and running with the basics of creating photorealistic 3D images. This book takes you to the next level with advanced techniques for recreating all the chaotic diversity found in nature. Thanks to the book's modular, learn-by-doing format, you'll quickly master proven, quality-enhancing, time-saving techniques for modeling, mapping, morphing, and surfacing that work for virtually all major 3D graphics programs and operating systems. You'll learn how to:
* Create extremely realistic details using image-map modeling for added depth
* Create organic surfaces using morph targets
* Give your landscapes realistic chaos with displacement maps
* Create complex organic, natural structures

On the CD-ROM you'll find:
* Photorealistic models
* Image map modeling templates
* Links to image resources

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (June 14, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471344036
• ISBN-13: 978-0471344032
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,086,610 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good things & Bad things about this book, December 26, 2000

By 

Brian Dale (Glens Falls, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Advanced 3D Photorealism Techniques (Paperback)

GOOD THINGS: This is a useful set of tutorial projects. Mr. Fleming walks you through a number of projects, showcasing modeling techniques such as modeling tiling chunks of geometry for foliage that can be cloned through the scene, and also showing common image clean-up techniques to process photographs into useful texture maps. This book would be just great for a beginning to intermediate Truespace or Lightwave user who wanted to see ways to put together more complex scenes.

BAD THINGS: The advertised "photorealism" isn't here - Mr. Fleming's renderings have a typical "3D Graphics" look: the shader development is weak (skipping basics such as making leaves translucent), the lighting ranges from bland to inadaquate, and the occasional characters (admitedly not the topic of the book) that Mr. Fleming adds to some of the scenes are stiff, lifeless, and amatuerish. If you were looking for truly seamless, production-quality photorealistic renderings, you'll have to look elsewhere.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars The word "Advanced" in the title is misleading., September 27, 2000

By 

P.F.Riche (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Advanced 3D Photorealism Techniques (Paperback)

This book is potentially useful for some beginners who are just learning to put together 3D scenes. However, the advice, techniques, and even the sample images all fall short of professional, and certainly are not very "advanced." The author doesn't have much new to say that hasn't been covered in other sources - I've recently read several other books on this topic that I liked better. My advice: Skip this mediocre title, and if you're looking for a truly advanced and innovative book on professional photo-realistic rendering techniques, consider "Digital Lighting & Rendering" by Jeremy Birn. The difference will be well worth the price!

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars horrible writing, June 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Advanced 3D Photorealism Techniques (Paperback)

hello,

i found some of the techniques to be useful for small scenes, but not at all useful for big 'architectural renderings' where clutter and chaos do not mesh well with architectural presentations. the organic modeling techniques were generally good for beginners.

however, i found the writing to be terrible, bill fleming spent half the pages describing these 'imaginary' creatures that were extremely painful to read through. i thought the book would be much better if bill had focused on the techniques rather than wasting page after page on the imaginary narrative of these little creatures.

i was interested in bill's other book on photorealism, but after reading this book, i am not so sure. although bill fleming spent alot time and effort in creating this book, the illustrations were in my opinion was fantasy-realistic, the imaginationary creatures used for the illustration were so 'un-believable' that perhaps the title might be changed to 'fantasy creatures toolkit'

sorry about the harsh criticism, but in my opinion, a poorly written book.