Amazon.com Review
A better subtitle might have been Beyond Shiny Chrome Balls and Neon Skies, because the book quickly takes readers past those fairly basic fantasy-style images and on to more sophisticated modeling. It begins with a bit of history and a brief profile of the major 3-D applications such as Maya, 3D Studio Max, Poser, and many others. The next 60 pages cover core concepts like modeling, spline patches, NURBS, and raytracing. In later sections, "lessons" cover more concepts in detail, for example, tessellation, keyframe animation, and UV texture mapping. Although these aren't quite step-by-step lessons, there are plenty of screenshots and Danaher clearly outlines what goes into each process. The book finishes by showing different uses of 3-D computer graphics, for example, on the Web (including VRML and Java 3D), in architecture, and in product design. And there's a nice glossary of terms.
This is not a how-to focusing on any specific software, but rather a look at the big picture of 3-D design. Digital 3D Design will be a welcome introduction for those wanting to dip their toes in but not knowing where to begin, or for artists looking to branch out into another dimension. --Angelynn Grant
From Library Journal
Rather than focus on one piece of 3-D creation software, Danaher briefly describes major packages and their strengths. He then devotes the bulk of the book to outlining 3-D concepts, creation, and terminology, concluding with a discussion of 3-D on the web and a showcase of real-world usage. This clear overview provides aspiring 3-D artists with a solid foundation that can then inform work with specific design software. An essential (and affordable) reference for public and academic libraries.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
