Customer Reviews

Getting Started with 3D: A Designer's Guide to 3D & Illustration

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Whoever you are, whatever you know, you'll always discover something new and often extraordinary in an Ashford/Odam book. I first became a fan when I bought their "Start With A Scan" (best value of any book I ever purchased - yes, ever). Here, our talented and skilled authors have done it again. Marvel as they demystify the somewhat daunting 3-dimensional world. Learn about light, study shadow, let bevels bemuse. Often complex information is presented simply and beautifully. Something I enjoyed hugely about this book is the very clever and appropriate choice of illustration. If, like me, you thought 3d was the domain of adolescents and fantasists you'll be delighted. These are the graphics of the working digital artist - graphics that you and I can learn to create, graphics that delight the eye, that enthrall and attract the shopper. And we all know what happy shoppers make - yes, happy clients! If you want a comprehensive guide to everything 3d, without finding you're tied to using a specific program, this is the book you need. Elegant, informative - perfect.

     Janet Ashford and John Odam have teamed up to produce Getting Started With 3D to offer aspiring and seasoned graphic designers alike with the perspective they need to create outstanding 3D graphic images that can be used for a variety of uses, including Website designing. With the heavy emphasis that is placed on Web graphics today, serious web developers cannot afford to ignore the visual impact that good 3D graphics can have!      Creative graphic design plays an integral role in the development and success of any Website. The quality and thoughtful manner in which graphic images are created and put to use will say a lot about the companies, organizations, products, services, and other information represented on the Internet.      There are a number of programs available today that can produce impressive 3D graphics images. Many of them are highly recommended. Samples of their work are provided and their general features are covered in this book. However, to fully appreciate and understand what is involved in creating 3D graphics one needs to develop an artist's eye for creative design. The authors provide a panoramic, in-depth education in 3D design concepts to aid in the design process. The use of shadowing, alignment, and textures are dramatically brought to light. The use of outstanding 3D illustrations, explanatory text, tips, and sidebar comments provided throughout the book contribute to a very fine educational experience!      The large 8 1/2" by 11" format of this book makes for easy reading and viewing. Readers will be inspired to become more creative graphic design artists by what they see and read in this book! They will have no trouble at all achieving favorable results. Highly recommended for every Web graphic image designer!

If you are interested in computer graphics, this is one fine book. The kind you devour by a crackling fire, or take glimpses of before you turn out the lights to have sweet dreams. The kind you take your time to savor. In short, a beautiful book!

My background is in Adobe Illustrator, which is a dream to draw with. Graduating to 3D, however, has been not nearly as easy. This book was recommended in the Rhino manual as a primer for 3D graphics. The book touches on a great number of technics. I think some of them could have been illustrated more clearly, but every illustration is in color. Show me a software manual with any amount of color at all.
One thing that I appreciate greatly is that the book constantly compares several 3D applications. When I notice a clunky procedure I often wonder if that is the way it is in similar applications, but comparing applications first hand can be too costly. Another thing that is shown is that there can be situations when it is to your advantage to import or export, sometimes back and forth, from 2D applications like Illustrator and Photoshop.
The book illustrates a lot of principles, and not a minute is boring. I would imagine that there are no other books to compare to this one. It provides a foundation that should make the study of any 3D application easier.