Inside Softimage 3D (Textbook Binding)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This complete guide to using Softimage 3D, the animation and special-effects package, takes you from simple navigation tasks to sophisticated animation techniques. You begin with a tour of the interface, where you produce your first animation; master interface concepts such as basic, scale, translation, and rotation modes; and learn essential animation concepts such as interpolation, playback, and function curves. The second part of the book focuses on modeling. You tackle organic modeling, moving points, curves, and extrusion, as well as resolved and skinned surfaces and four-sided patch surfaces. Rossano also teaches you about polygon, NURBS, and Boolean and Meta-Clay modeling, and explains how to use duplicates, instances, materials, and textures. Part 3 takes you through the processes of creating animations and rendering. You animate with shape animation, deformations, inverse kinematics, and dynamics and use the Mental Ray renderer to produce your final output. The explanations are straightforward, the illustrations are helpful, and the projects are creative and engaging. The included CD-ROM has third-party tools, stock images, and example files from the book. --Kathleen Caster

Product Description

One of the country's leading instructors of Softimage offers dozens of step-by-step exercises, secret techniques from notable experts in the sidebars, and fabulous imagery from great Softimage artists. Completely full color, the book provides the optimum learning environment for this complex software. The CD-ROM contains cross-platform NT/SGI IRIX and popular shareware plug-ins.

Product Details

• Textbook Binding: 764 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Pub; Har/Cdr edition (July 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562058851
• ISBN-13: 978-1562058852
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.8 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,725,363 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Softimage beginner's bible. Almost perfect., June 16, 1999

By A Customer

Inside Softimage 3D, by anthony Rosano, is great. Rosano is a world class explainer. Step by step he covers almost every facet of the Softimage3D program. Using simple explainations and step by step tutorials, he demystifies Softimage, and shows how to get the most out of it. He covers every aspect of modeling, texturing, rendering, and animation in Softimage. He even covers complex topics like inverse kinematics. Also included in the book are insightful interviews with designers who use Softimage every day. The book is well designed, well bound, and gigantic. It has hundreds of pictures, all in full color, which illustrate the concepts Rosano tackles. When I started using Soft3D I was lost. I bought two videos on softimage that each cost a lot more than this book does. They were no help to me at all. One week after getting this book, however, I was rendereing and animating my own simple scenes. Now more far more experienced with the program, I still refer to the book from time to time. I cannot praise this book enough. Anthony Rosano has created what amounts to the Bible for beginner or intermidiate users of Softimage. The only problem with the book is that it doesn't cover particle systems and only skims the surface the Mental Ray rendering engine. Aside from that, however, this book is perfect.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The best book around right now, January 1, 2000

By A Customer

I have searched all over the internet for books on SoftImage. This is the best one for someone who is just starting to learn from zero with no background in the field. Because SoftImage itself is such a complex software no book that's less than 800 pages can explain every detail in it and every technique step by step. So, I found myself needing much more than what this book could offer me very fast. Some of its modeling tutorials are not extensive enough. (Like how to model a face or a body). Nor does it offer any insight on how to model a tree. Also the particle system is not sufficiently talked about here. He swiftly drifts through the mental ray section in a few pages. In brief, this book will teach you the basics of SoftImage but it will not give you much beyond that.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anthony Rossano knows his stuff!, September 20, 1999

By A Customer

I recently finished a 11 week hard-as-hell curriculem TAUGHT by Anthony Rossano. The book has an amazing amount of information. But, what he knows personally about this software is incredible! There is NO other book that has half the info that this book does. It's perfect for user's who understand the software and want to go to the next step!