Digital Cinematography: Lighting and Photographing Computer Generated Animation [Paperback]

Ben de Leeuw (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0122088751 | ISBN-13: 978-0122088759 | Publication Date: April 23, 1997 | Edition: 1

Digital Cinematography presents computer animators with the tools and techniques at their disposal to give their animation the look and feel of a real Hollywood movie. Starting with the basics of lighting, camera movement, and genre, the book teaches how to effectively create interior and exterior lighting, how to light characters to invoke a mood or theme, and even how to create special effects. For animators who would like to create 3D computer games, this book illustrates how to light scenes effectively as well as how to cover up modeling and texturing mistakes. This book is an invaluable guide to the cinematic art of computer animation.

Key Features
* Exercises and examples focus on the implementation of 3D, and the functionality of specific graphic tools such as omnidirectional lights, depth of fields, and image processing
* Historical reference of films photographed in the style of the tutorial, as well as images of both the process and the final result
* Cinematic styles covered include film noir, naturalism, expressionism, comedy, and cartoon
* Cinematic principles covered include key light, fill light, back light, set light, single source lighting, contrast, projection and gobos, camera lenses, color usage, composition and leading lines
* Multi-platform CD-ROM provides hands-on project files for each of the tutorials, enabling the reader to explore virtually all of the book's contents in 3D

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Digital Cinematography is a novice's guide to the art of filmmaking. Author Ben de Leeuw teaches you how to apply the techniques of traditional cinematography to the digital world. He provides an introduction to lighting tools and to cameras and various types of lenses, and then delves into explaining how to work with interior and exterior lighting, characters, motion, and color. There are a few suggested exercises, such as changing the height of the camera, animating lights, combining soft light and hard light, and working with subtle and dramatic colors. The author also includes definitions of filmmaking jargon. The book isn't platform- or software-specific. A hybrid CD-ROM includes sample digital animation video sequences used in the book.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 265 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann; 1 edition (April 23, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0122088751
• ISBN-13: 978-0122088759
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,157,883 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Avoid., September 26, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: Digital Cinematography: Lighting and Photographing Computer Generated Animation (Paperback)

I've recently evaluated several better books on this topic, and this one didn't make it into my spring term reading list. The book did little beyond skimming the basics of what can be found in any cinematography textbook, and had nothing new to say about 3D rendering or graphics production. Even the author's own sample images were crude and poorly lit.

For a much better choice, consider getting "Digital Lighting & Rendering" by Jeremy Birn. Birn's new book is an amazing resource for any 3D artist, and I reviewed it on amazon with 5 stars.

Alternately, you might just pick up a first-rate book on lighting for cinematography, such as "The Technique of Lighting for Television and Film" by Gerald Millerson or "Matters of Light & Depth" by Ross Lowell (although these cimematography books don't cover any techniques that are unique to digital graphics production.)

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Promising Title, Very Disappointing Book, August 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Digital Cinematography: Lighting and Photographing Computer Generated Animation (Paperback)

"Digital Cinematography" is a hot-sounding, promising title. It's a shame that title was wasted on this book.

We are all eager to see a good book on cinematic lighting and texturing techniques, so buying this failed attempt was a great disappointment. Crude, childish 3D renderings were shown, with no subtlety of lighting, certainly no evidence of "cinematic" techniques. The cheap black-and-white printing of the author's own beginner-level 3D work, and vague writing that seemed to do little more than rehash highlights from an old cinematography textbook, do not deliver a book that lives up to its description.

The author doesn't seem to have a lot of artistic talent, or professional graphics production experience, and these deficits show in his writing and illustrations.

Despite being the first product cranked out last year that promised to explain cinematic graphics techniques, the book itself is a cheap, incomplete, and uninformative attempt! . The author may be making money because of the title, but when you open the book, he doesn't seem to have much to say.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars useful for all users of 3D graphics program, January 26, 1998

By 

Timothy G. Buchman "critical care surgeon" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Digital Cinematography: Lighting and Photographing Computer Generated Animation (Paperback)

This is a highly practical book outlining the use of lights in 3D graphics software. The ideas and applications are independent of any particular package. The explanations are lucid, and the ideas can be put to immediate use. The black-and-white illustrations are poorly reproduced, so the real appreciation comes from applying the techniques to your own images.