Blender Studio Projects: Digital Movie-Making [Paperback]

Tony Mullen (Author), Claudio Andaur (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 24, 2010

Learn how to get professional results from Blender

Start from scratch-the way it happens in the studio-and create fully rendered objects with Blender open-source 3D animation software and this real-world, roll-up-your-sleeves guide. No time is wasted-this book plunges straight into step-by-step instruction designed to help you build skills and create solid assets for film, video, and games.

Blender is gaining clout in professional settings, and you can get a running start with this series of hands-on tutorials that encompasses multiple disciplines. The book includes a DVD with starter, intermediate, and final files, as well as movie files to help you every step of the way.

• Helps you harness Blender, the free, open-source alternative to commercial CG packages such as Maya and 3ds Max
• Presents projects that start from scratch and encompass multiple disciplines, thoroughly teaching you the Blender software
• Shows you how to use Blender attributes and tools for professional results
• Allows you to emerge with finished, renderable objects and assets for use in film, video, or games
• Includes a DVD with starter, intermediate, and final files, plus movie files for reference

This unparalleled book contains everything you need to know to take your Blender skills to a new level.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

You can do it with Blender, and here's how

Create professional assets for film, video, and games with open-source Blender 3D animation software and this project guide. Using the Blender-created short film Mercator as a real-world tutorial, this unique book reveals animation and movie-making techniques and tricks straight from the studio.

Master the essentials of preproduction. Organize sequences and shots and build an asset library. Re-create an action scene from Mercator using actual movie assets. It's all here and more in this hands-on guide.

• Learn key Blender attributes, tools, and pipelines for professional results

• Conceptualize, write a story, sketch the art, and storyboard your concepts

• Organize sequences and shots, build an asset library, and create 2D and 3D animatics

• See step by step how to add textures and materials for added realism

• Learn organic and inorganic mesh modeling and add clothing that wrinkles and moves

• Master the rigging of objects, environments, and characters

VALUABLE COMPANION DVD
The DVD includes starter, intermediate, and final files, as well as movie files to help you every step of the way.

About the Author

Tony Mullen, PhD, teaches computer graphics and programming at Tsuda College and Musashino Art College in Tokyo. His screen credits include writer, codirector, or lead animator on several short films, including the award-winning live-action/stop-motion film Gustav Braustache and the Auto-Debilitator. He is the author of Mastering Blender, Introducing Character Animation with Blender, and Bounce, Tumble, and Splash!: Simulating the Physical World with Blender 3D, all from Sybex. Claudio "malefico" Andaur is an artist with extensive experience in the use of open-source tools. He works for Licuadora Studio, an animation studio in Buenos Aires, and was cowriter, TD, modeler, animator, and animation supervisor on the 3D CG feature film Plumiferos, produced in Argentina. He won the Blender Foundation's Suzanne Award for Best Character Animation in 2009.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Sybex; 1 edition (May 24, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470543132
• ISBN-13: 978-0470543139
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #621,256 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a lecturer in computer science at Tsuda College, Tokyo and an independent filmmaker. I'm interested in animation of all kinds, but especially in CG animation using Blender, the open source 3D modeling and animation package.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great idea, well executed, August 22, 2010

By 

Michael Tiemann (Chapel Hill, NC United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blender Studio Projects: Digital Movie-Making (Paperback)

This book is a well-executed collaboration between one of the premier Blender writers, Dr. Tony Mullen, and one of the most productive and innovative team of Blender animators, the Argentinians who produced Plumiferos. Designed for those who are familiar with Blender, it focuses on the workflow and the work of producing a professional animation, from concept to story board to animatics to the full-on realization of 3d. Rather than focusing on the basics of character and prop modeling (which is well-done in Introducing Character Animation with Blender, Mastering Blender, and Bounce, Tumble, and Splash!: Simulating the Physical World with Blender 3D), this book focuses on asset management, file and library organization, and all the other aspects of movie production that are absolutely essential to a successful project.

The book's bonus DVD holds nothing back, providing characters, scenes, and software programs that are right now being used to realize a new movie project. Plus, the illustrations are very will done, too. In the past, Blender books have suffered from poor translation from screen image to book image. It looks like the problems of much earlier books has been fully solved with the latest crop, which certainly includes this one.

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars To brasilians and the world, June 24, 2010

By 

J. Sousa (São Paulo, SP Brasil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Blender Studio Projects: Digital Movie-Making (Paperback)

Aos brasileiros interessados...
O livro é interessantissímo, pois entra em assuntos de uma pré-produção até a conclusão de um filme.
É claro que um livro não seria capaz de de abordar todos os aspectos de cinema mesmo por que ele tem o objetivo também de transmistir alguns conceitos sobre a ferramenta Blender.
Mas gostei e é mais um bom livro do Tony.

To the world.
The book is really interesting... talks about many diferents points of a film production using the Blender tools.
Of course it's not possible to show every think but it can give us a path.
One more good book of Tony.