Customer Reviews

Focal Easy Guide to Discreet combustion 3: For new users and professionals (The Focal Easy Guide) (Pt. 3)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a long-time Discreet Combustion user (starting back before it was even called Discreet Combustion,) I am very impressed at how well Gary has presented the concepts and theories of using combustion. Gary has done a superb job of breaking down the complexities of Combustion in to digestable and understandable chunks, and always keeping an approach toward real-world use & applications. I can recommend it without hesitation.
regards,
Jack Pfeiffer

Well i was the first time user to Discreet combustion when i purchased this book and i found it very useful as a starter to the software. This book starts with the chapter to set preferences in the software and then the interface in depth, later on this book will make you understand the main operators of combustion (Particles, paint, text, edit, composite) quite easily, though all the operators are not discussed in the book such as channels, RE vision plugins used for morphing. Gary Davis knows where u can make mistakes and he pointed out that quite well. I found it "easy to follow" kind of book. If anyone who has passed the intermediate level of combustion and advancing to higher level then they should not opt for this book, as this book lacks in profesional techniques kind of theory. Overall this book is designed for Beginers and people at intermediate level of the software. I recommened this book 100%.

Even though I am using combustion 4 this book is still the best learning resource available. The information is well written, no wordy blurbs, and the quality of the pages and all-color photos is fantastic. The only area from this book that's not going to apply to c4 is the discreet keyer because it has changed in since c3.

By combining this book with the wide array of tutorials from discreet's web site it is all the learning material you will need. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to truly grasp the ins and outs of combustion! A+

Discreet Combustion is a great program and this book is a great way to learn it. You can either buy this book for $20 or go take a class for several hundred, chances are you will learn about the same amount either way. The combustion particle system is nothing short of amazing and surely is among the top 2 or 3 on the market. The Paint operator is very high quality and fun to work in. The Edit operator is a simple, yet powerfully effective NLE module that will suit you just fine unless you are a hardcore video editor that demands every feature. The Discreet Color Corrector and Discreet Keyer and Tracker are outstanding tools you can use to take your work to higher levels, and finally the animation tools and expression operations take your animations where they need to go. Sounds like alot and it is, and there is a bit of a learning curve to this combustion, but this book will fuse it all together for you with no-nonsense and very readable text, as well as many superior and well-thought-out chapter workspace files that augment the readings and burn your brain with the knowledge. The author put some time and effort into making this manual, and it shows. A true "steal" for $20. The cover says for new users and pros, and I agree that both types of people can easily benefit from the reading. If you have some prior compositing knowledge with After Effects or Commotion, it will certianly help alot, it will also help if you have used some of the other Discreet products as many of their packages have "global similarities." This book would also be good for a complete beginner, although you probably should read it cover to cover twice if you are serious about practical usage. Also worth noting is that unless you like to read dry, bland, offical user's manuals that ship with software programs, there are currently only this book and one other available on this topic of combustion that I have came across, and the other book has been shredded like cabbage for coleslaw by critics here at amazon. Can't miss manual, buy it and study it!

This is a great book if you want to become a pro in a second!
The book is highly illustrated in color, the explanations are short and the book has a lot of pictures.
The best so far!

Got to say....this book absolutely rocks.

It is clear, to the point and not to mention full color!

Equally relevant to either a new or current user of Combustion.

Being a new user, I have found it very easy to follow and digest.

Thanks Gary!

-Chris Leventis
Instructor
International Academy of Design & Technology

Based on comments by other readers I purchased this book. For the power of Combustion I would've thought this book would contain some real-world tutorials to gain proficiency. But I found this book to be a list of features not how-to's. When learning complicated applications such as After Effects, Motion or Combustion, the learner needs to not only know what features and functions do but concrete tutorials to show you how to harness those features and funtions. I found this book to be very thin on real how-to's. For example if you want to create some particles there isn't any step-by-step instructions on creating them. A lot of information on what does what but we never get into actually creating some particles or even modifying the example files you have to download. If it wasn't for the fact that I know Apple Motion, Adobe After Effects and similiar applications I would've had a hard time trying to learn Combustion via this book. I wouldn't recommend this book if you "really" want to learn to use Combustion 3.0. I have purchased other titles from this publisher and have discovered that they are heavy on pretty pictures and colors but very weak on content that actually shows you how to use the applications. If you really want to learn Combustion don't buy this book. If you want a book with a lot of pictures with tips then this is for you. Very disapppointed based on comments by others.

I got this book a couple of days ago and have spent the last couple of days at the computer going through it. As a frequent user of 3dsmax & combustion this book is an excellent learning tool for the beginner or advanced user. I'll give it a 5 star rating for the sheer fact that this particular book is very very well written, Full colour pictures and very easy to understand. Gary Davis has done a superb job in creating this book. It gives an excellent oppotunity for those wishing to master combustion & improve their composite skills. This book is definatley a keeper. I highly reccomend this book.

I took Gary's class in combustion at Portland Oregon's Oregon 3D and have found this book to be a perfect continuation of the learning process. Incredibly well written and illustrated, it will have you executing amazing composites in no time flat. Hat's off to Discreet for developing the product and hats off to Gary Davis for making sure us average folks can learn to use it.

Just a quick review to concur with the others. This is a wonderful book full of some very down-to-earth and easy-to-follow prose. Read each chapter a few times and you'll get much more out of them. I don't think I've read a book on compositing that's packed so much into such a little space. Extremely well-written and empowering. I can't put my finger on it, but I somehow know much more about 'why' things work, not just 'how.' I wish Gary would write one of these for Shake. Pretty please?