Advanced RenderMan: Creating CGI for Motion Pictures (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Larry Gritz (Author) "Over the last 25 years, a revolution has been taking place in the motion picture industry..." (more)
Key Phrases: smoke density control, extern vector, intensity lightcolor, Shading Language, Disney Enterprises, Pixar Animation Studios (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

More powerful and inspiring than the superheroes it moves on the big screen, the RenderMan 3-D graphics engine pushes animation toward the photorealistic as anyone who has seen A Bug's Life, The Iron Giant, or the Toy Story can attest.Advanced RenderMan, written by two long-time employees of Pixar Animation and early participants who helped define the RenderMan standard, is a clear, concise, and technical exploration of this computer graphics and animation rendering tool.

The first section introduces RenderMan, computer graphics concepts, and mathematics, followed by a section on "Scene Description." This includes chapters on "Describing Models and Scenes in RenderMan" and "Handling Complexity in Photorealistic Scenes."

Sections 3 and 4, "Shading," and "Tricks of the Trade" supply the meat of the book and make it worth the cost of admission. These sections include examples and insight from not only a technical perspective but also a cinematic one. The chapter "Storytelling Through Lighting" should be required reading for beginning computer animation artists.

There are numerous color plates, including some rendering tests from Toy Story. These show the same scene (Andy's room) using different lighting and color palettes, each suggesting a different time of day.

Given the difficulty of the book's subject, 3-D artists or animators with limited technical chops, amateurs, or hobbyists might be better served by something more general. This is, however, an outstanding reference for CG technical directors or anyone with experience in graphics and 3-D programming. It is filled with coding examples used to create RenderMan shaders and case studies citing which techniques were used to create a specific look in, for example, Toy Story or A Bug's Life.

The book has no accompanying CD-ROM, but the publisher maintains a Web site from which code snippets and examples can be downloaded. At first, this may seem inconvenient and merely a way to cut production costs, but it's actually an excellent way to keep the examples current. The field of computer graphics and animation is moving at the speed of light, and the examples and tutorials must move with it. But have no fear--RenderMan is here. --Mike Caputo

Product Description

Advanced RenderMan: Creating CGI for Motion Pictures is precisely what you and other RenderMan users are dying for. Written by the world's foremost RenderMan experts, it offers thoroughly updated coverage of the standard while moving beyond the scope of the original RenderMan Companion to provide in-depth information on dozens of advanced topics. Both a reference and a tutorial, this book will quickly prove indispensable, whether you're a technical director, graphics programmer, modeler, animator, or hobbyist.

Explore the Power of RenderMan
* Use the entire range of geometric primitives supported by RenderMan.
* Understand how and when to use procedural primitives and level of detail.
* Master every nuance of the Shading Language.
* Write detailed procedural shaders using texture, displacement, pattern generation, and custom reflection models.
* Write shaders for special effects relating to volumes, custom lighting, and non-photorealistic media.
* Use antialiasing to ensure that your shaders are free of artifacts.
* Minimize the expense of rendering scenes by optimizing input.

Other Features from Advanced RenderMan
* Offers expert advice and instruction applicable to any RenderMan-compliant renderer.
* Filled with technical illustrations and many full-color representations of effects supported by the RenderMan standard.
* Includes a chapter reviewing key math and computer graphics concepts.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann; 1st edition (December 22, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558606181
• ISBN-13: 978-1558606180
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #589,478 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #6 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Programming > Languages & Tools > CGI Programming
  #32 in	Books > Computers & Internet > Graphic Design > Rendering & Ray Tracing

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Wonderful!, January 20, 2000

By	Greg D. (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews

Wow. That's all I can say. This is a collection of several inches of the kind of information you spend endless nights digging around the 'net searching for. It's not all just renderman related stuff, it also works with BMRT (which is free) and there's a great deal about how movies are made, as well as good art direction tips.

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to read it, but there's still a lot of good stuff, especially about writing shaders, which was my main interest.

To the authors: Great work! More! More! :-)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delivers more than the title suggests, December 22, 2002

By	"sdsreere" (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews

The world of computer graphics books is filled with fat, pricy tomes that are frankly little better than rehashes of the manual. "Advanced Renderman" is a completely different sort of book.

While Renderman is the ostensible subject, the authors actually cover the entire graphics workflow-- and explain the "why" of it all. Their section on anti-aliasing, for example, is concise, complete, and makes clear the implications of all those little doo-hickeys in 3DS -- you remember the AR explanation better, because its based around how rendering works, rather than how a particular application works (which may change in the next rev, anyway)

Smart guys, smart book-- highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great all-around RenderMan reference, January 20, 2001

By	"d_fung" (Victoria, Australia) - See all my reviews

This is a great book, written in clear and understandable English. It proivded me (a novice) great information about the RenderMan interface. Not only did it provide a reference to the various API calls, but it also includes an introduction to the basic maths behind it, as well as chapters that discuss CG in general. A thoroughly well written, useful and informative book. It is indespensible for any RenderMan user and in fact, for any CG artist.