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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book on the math and algorithms of computer animation, February 25, 2006
This book is not about how to accomplish animation using prepackaged software nor is it about art design for animation. Instead, it is aimed at computer science students who wish to write programs that perform animation and want to understand the algorithmic and mathematical issues behind that task.
Chapter one is a broad history of computer animation, and it would be misleading to think that this is a typical chapter in this book. Chapter 2 is a broad overview of computer graphics topics. It mentions quaternions, transformation matrices, the rendering pipeline, and I think it is meant to be a quick review more than an instructive chapter. If you are not already familiar with the material in chapter 2 this book will be over your head.
Chapters 3 through 6 are the meat of the book for those interested in computer animation algorithms. Chapter 3 presents low level details on interpolation and not only shows the math but also shows code fragments in C on how to accomplish some of the tasks mentioned. Chapter four presents more advanced algorithms such as camera control, kinematic modeling, rigid body simulation, flocking behavior, and collision detection. Again in this chapter mathematics of the algorithms is presented along side of C code to accomplish the tasks.
Chapter 5 changes topics from the discussion of object motion and the underlying physics to the topic of natural phenomena. The author does a good job of laying out clearly the basics of the mathematics behind these effects. However, he does seem to gloss over details more than he did in previous chapters. The same is true of Chapter 6 on the modeling and animation of articulated figures. The basics are all there, but there just wasn't enough detail to satisfy me.
As for the companion website, it is working at the time I am writing this review. However, the problem I have with books that have companion sites in place of an accompanying CD is that over time these websites are usually neglected and at worst, disconnected. However, an accompanying CD is always shipped with a new book.
Overall, this book is the best compromise I've found between accessible and comprehensive on this subject, and I would recommend it to anyone thinking about writing their own computer animation code.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Deft Introduction to Animation, September 28, 2004
I'll tip my hand--I'm also a student of the author.
That said, there are some objectively excellent qualities to this book. For starters, the book is undeniably thorough. It includes a brief history of the genre of computer animation (a welcome touch) and a chapter on background information usually covered in any introductory graphics course.
The math used in the book is considerable, and some students will probably find themselves overwhelmed with calculus and linear algebra. (If so, graphics may not be the field for you!) As a courtesy, Dr Parent included appendices with background mathematics and physics which will help fill in the gaps and calm some of the more distraught readers. Code is also provided inline as an assist to the student, which may clarify some of the math involved. (A trifling complaint is that the code is not object-oriented.)
Readers who do not have a math background needn't worry if they are not planning on implementing any of the algorithms described in the book. The math is provided as necessary for implementation purposes. Students who do plan on implementing the algorithms would do well to have taken a numerical methods course; some knowledge of linear algebra and calculus is necessary as well.
On the whole, this book is an excellent introduction to many animation techniques and algorithms. Many of them are complex and will require a lot of effort to understand and implement, so students should be prepared to spend a bit of time going through it. They'll be happy to find that the book is laid out well and very readable.
And references are provided at the end of every chapter--there's plenty of material for students who are looking for more detailed information about any of the topics.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Complete and Clear, November 19, 2010
This review is from: Computer Animation, Second Edition: Algorithms and Techniques (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics) (Hardcover)
Prof. Parent's textbook is complete in that it covers every major component of animation and with a clear writing style. The mathematics is there, supporting references and illustrations are there, and supplementary info is included in several well-thoughtout appendices. As other reviewers have pointed out, this is a serious work for students who want to see the math and theory behind the principles. It is not an introductory textbook on this subject. A student should come to it with a background in calculus and linear algebra, for starters. A bit of elementary physics wouldn't hurt either. Although there are no exercises (I don't know what content I would sacrifice to make room for them), a clever instructor should have no trouble coming up with case studies. I have used this textbook as a resource for my own work, including Mathematics for Computer Graphics Applications and 3D Modeling, Animation, and Rendering: An Illustrated Lexicon, Color Edition.
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