LightWave 8 Killer Tips [Paperback]

Dan Ablan (Author), Randy Sharp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2004 | ISBN-10: 0735713715 | ISBN-13: 978-0735713710

The hottest collection of cool tips and hidden secrets for the LightWave 8 user who needs results FAST! LightWave 8 Killer Tips is packed with nothing but sidebar tips that the pros use every day! When it comes to LightWave, time is money. LightWave 8 Killer Tips is all about speed--showing users how to get more work done faster, while actually increasing quality. This book is designed to teach you all those hidden productivity tips, inside shortcuts, and little-known tricks with the latest version to get twice the work done in half the time. Build on the premise that "Speed Kills," you will get faster at LightWave and have more time to be creative. In an ever-tightening and competitive marketplace, this kind of book is sorely needed.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The hottest collection of cool tips and hidden secrets for the LightWave X user who needs results FAST! Lightwave X Killer Tips is packed with nothing but sidebar tips that the pros use every day! When it comes to LightWave, time is money. LightWave X Killer Tips is all about speed -- showing users how to get more work done faster, while actually increasing quality. This book is designed to teach you all those hiddenproductivity tips, inside shortcuts, and little-known tricks with the latest versionto get twice the work done in half the time. Build on the premise that "SpeedKills," you will get faster at LightWave and have more time to be creative. Inan ever-tightening and competitive marketplace, this kind of book is sorelyneeded.

About the Author

For nearly 15 years, Dan Ablan has been involved in every aspect of television production and 3D animation. Dan has authored six best-selling computer software books on 3D animation, including LightWave Power Guide, Inside LightWave 3D, Inside LightWave 6 and 7, LightWave 6.5 Effects Magic , and Digital Cinematography and Directing . Dan is president of AGA Digital Studios, Inc., a 3D animation company and has been teaching LightWave seminars across the country since 1995. His work includes animation for United Airlines, NASA(SOFIA Project), Abbott Labs, McDonald's Corp., Wendy's Corp, ABC, Paramount, Xerox, ATKearney, Radio Disney, Coke, and more.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press (May 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735713715
• ISBN-13: 978-0735713710
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,244,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dan Ablan is president of AGA Digital Studios, Inc., a 3D animation, photography, and training company in the Chicago area. AGA Digital has produced 3D visuals for broadcast, corporate, and architectural clients since 1994, as well as post-production services in conjunction with Post Meridian, LLC. AGA Digital Studios, Inc. also provides lifestyle photography services with Dan.
Dan is the author of 13 books from New Riders Publishing, Thomson Course Technology, and Sybex. They are: LightWave Power Guide (v5.0), Inside LightWave 3D (v5.5), Inside LightWave [6], LightWave 6.5 Effects Magic, Inside LightWave 7, Inside LightWave 8, and co-author of LightWave 8 Killer Tips. His latest books are Digital Photography for 3D Imaging & Animation, Inside LightWave v9, and The Official Luxology modo Guide. He also is the author of [digital] Cinematography & Directing, and served as technical editor for [digital] Lighting & Rendering. Dan was also a contributor to After Effects 5.5 Magic, from New Riders Publishing. His 12th book is just out this month - The Official Luxology modo 301 Guide. Book #13 is now available, also from New Riders Publishing and Adobe Press -
Photoshop CS4 Studio Techniques. Dan has written the revision to this popular series from Ben Willmore.

Dan is also the founder of 3D Garage.com, a website dedicated to computer software based video training. 3D Garage is owned and operated by AGA Digital Studios, Inc. and offers high quality DVD-ROM based LightWave 3D, modo 3D, Mac and Photoshop training courseware. Dan offers a two day, one on one digital photography workshop through 3D Garage.com as well. AGA Digital Studios, Inc. is a NewTek authorized LightWave training facility and reseller. Dan Ablan has written columns and articles for LightWave Pro magazine, Video Toaster User magazine, 3D Design magazine, 3D World magazine, and NewTek Pro magazine. Dan has been teaching LightWave seminars since 1995 across the country, and at AGA Digital Studios, Inc. Some of the companies Dan has trained include Fox Television, ABC-TV New York City, CBS-TV Indianapolis, WTTW-TV PBS Chicago, Lockheed Martin, and many others. Dan served as Editor-in-Chief of Keyframe Magazine (now HDRI 3D magazine) for two years.

In addition to his daily duties at AGA Digital Studios, Inc., Dan Ablan is also an accomplished photographer having photographed since 1980. Coming from the days of film and darkrooms, he has studied photojournalism in college, and has made the full transition to digital. He and his wife have a portrait studio in the Chicago area (www.AblanGallery.com).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worthwhile but not earth-shatteringly great., May 21, 2004

By 

Gavin Scott (Sunnyvale, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: LightWave 8 Killer Tips (Paperback)

This book has a lot of tips, but some of them are really pretty basic and you wonder who wouldn't already know about them. Then again, that's kind of the point of the book: here are a whole bunch of things that everyone should know about lightwave, many of which are not obvious from the manual.

With systems as complex as modern 3D applications are, it's no longer just enough to sit down and read therough the reference manual to learn all the things you can do and then go do them. The problem is that all the different featrues and capabilities both interact and have an almost infinite range of parameters, and the range of parameters that will do something useful is often a very small part of that range. So books that actually tell you how to do things and give examples (tips, tutorials, or whatever) become much more valuable relative to the official reference material than is the case with something like a programming language.

While I suspect everyone will find useful information in this book that they don't already know, I would especially recommend this book to the beginner, as it provides an interesting alternative arrangement of basic and intermediate Lightwave knowlege. It would be a good second book to pick up after one of the introductory titles that are available.

The book has a very good index, which is important if you remember reading something and have to figure out which tip it was in.

G.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great for what it is, July 6, 2004

By 

Peter Sussi (Huntington, New York United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: LightWave 8 Killer Tips (Paperback)

This is a great little book of tips. It never claims that you will be making the next star wars. It is a book of great little hidden tips. The types that are under rated, but really make a difference. Leave the heavy stuff to the "inside Lightwave 8" book. Which is well worth the money-however it's a HUGE book. This is real quick and easy to read, and you can jump to the section you want. Hell, i even found the humor made the book less tedious. Good work guys!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun, handy and inspirational book, September 5, 2004

By 

T. Evans (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: LightWave 8 Killer Tips (Paperback)

LightWave 8 Killer Tips is a fun, handy and inspirational tool for Lightwave enthusiasts. It's filled with quality information presented in a "magazine side bar" style. Read it cover-to-cover for a tour-de-force of LightWave learning, or grab it when you have 5-minutes to spare and flip to any page for a quick information blast. This is a perfect book to pick up while you while waiting for renders.

The areas covered range from common controls to esoteric minutiae. Sure you will run across some info you already know. That's true with any book of this type. But I often find that perusing this type of material reminds me of commands or techniques I had forgotten, and helps inspire new approaches to current projects.

The book itself is beautifully printed on sturdy stock. Every page is illustrated with vivid screen shots and program windows, subtly shadowed to pop off the page. The entire book is a full color work of minimalist design.

The "sidebar" approach to instructional material is always fun, and this gives the Killer Tips series it's unique flavor. Dan Ablan and Randy Sharp have collected a smorgasbord of LightWave informational McNuggets that is sure to please your 3D pallet.