TEXTBOOKS for
Animation & Game Courses

Rendering with 3ds Max and mental ray, 2nd Edition
Joep van der Steen
Ted Boardman
ISBN: 978-0-240-81237-3

Description?... [more]

Realistic Architectural Visualization with 3ds Max and mental ray, 2nd edition
Roger Cusson
Jamie Cardoso
ISBN: 978-0-240-81229-8

Teach students to create stunning renders of their 3ds Max models in mental ray with this concise guide. Your students wll learn all of the essential concepts such as indirect illumination, materials, render options, shaders, and lighting. Rendering with mental ray and 3ds Max, Second Edition is now revised to cover Autodesk Revit and special effects. The companion website includes all of the necessary project files from inside the book... [more]

Real-World Flash Game Development: How to Follow Best Practices AND Keep Your Sanity
Christopher Griffith
ISBN: 978-0-240-81178-9

The average Flash developer doesn't have luxurious timelines, employers who understand the value of reusability, or the help of an information architect to design a usable experience. This book helps bridge the gap for students who may be used to C++, Java, or C# and want to move over to Flash. Griffith covers real-world scenarios pulled from his own experiences developing games for over 8 years in the industry... [more]

Producing Games
D Cohen
Sergio Bustamante
ISBN: 978-0-240-81070-6

Computer games are big business — tens of billions of dollars are spent annually by the worldwide video games market. The cost of producing video games has ballooned to beyond $20 million dollars in many cases, and team sizes are quickly growing past 100 team members. At the center of this storm is the producer, the one person who transforms the money, the hours spent by the team, and the latest technology into a work of art that millions of people will call fun. This book will dig deeply into the role of the producer and expose secrets of game production that stand the test of time: how to build a great team, plan a major game development project, and pull the development team together to realize the vision of a great game... [more]

Timing for Animation, 2nd Edition
Tom Sito
ISBN: 978-0-240-52160-2

A classic of animation education since it first published in 1981. Copies of Timing for Animation have been sitting dog-eared and spine-split on desks and workstations around the world, wherever animation is produced for more than 25 years. Vital techniques employed by animators worldwide are explained using dozens of clear illustrations and simple, straightforward directions. Students will learn how animations should be arranged in relation to each other, how much space should be used and how long each drawing should be shown for maximum dramatic effect. Fully revised and updated, the new edition includes timing for digital production, digital storyboarding in 2D, digital storyboarding in 3D, the use of After Effects and much, much more!... [more]

Artificial Intelligence for Games, 2nd Edition
Ian Millington
John Funge
ISBN: 978-0-12-374731-0

Creating robust artificial intelligence is one of the greatest challenges for game developers, yet the commercial success of a game is often dependent upon the quality of the AI. In this book, Ian Millington brings extensive professional experience to the problem of improving the quality of AI in games. He describes numerous examples from real games and explores the underlying ideas through detailed case studies. He goes further to introduce many techniques little used by developers today. The book's associated web site contains a library of C++ source code and demonstration programs, and a complete commercial source code library of AI algorithms and techniques... [more]

Learning Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010: Essentials
Autodesk
ISBN: 978-0-240-81193-2

Arm your students with the ability to create rich and complex design visualizations. Autodesk 3ds Max Design lets students maximize their productivity and tackle challenging animation projects--and this book, developed by Autodesk experts, helps them master the essential tools and techniques to do it all. Students will learn to use 3ds Max Design confidently in a production environment... [more]

Pervasive Games: Theory and Design
Markus Montola
Jaakko Stenros
Annika Waern
ISBN: 978-0-12-374853-9

Quickly emerging from the fast-paced growth of mobile communications and wireless technologies, pervasive games take gaming away from the computer screen and back to the three-dimensional world. Now games can be designed to be played in public spaces like shopping malls, conferences, museums and other non-traditional game venues. Student game designers need to understand how to use the world as a gamespace—and both the challenges and advantages of doing so... [more]

3D Game Textures, 2nd Edition
Luke Ahearn
ISBN: 978-0-240-81148-2

One of the most important elements of a 3D world is the 2D images (textures) that cover every surface of that world. Teach your students how to create professional quality game textures with guidance from an industry expert. Everything from bricks to books can be created in Photoshop with this step-by-step instructional guide. This exciting new edition of 3D Game Textures includes updated information on shaders, materials, and exercises and projects for educators... [more]

How to Make Animated Films
Tony White
ISBN: 978-0-240-81033-1

Now your students can also become Tony White's personal animation student. They'll experience many of the teaching techniques of the golden era of Disney and Warner Brothers studios and beyond…all from the comfort of your classroom. Tony White's Animation Master Class is uniquely designed to cover the core principles of animated movement comprehensively. How to Make Animated Films offers secrets and unique approaches only a Master Animator could share. Includes hands-on Tutorials, demonstrations and final sample animations. . Whether students want to become a qualified animator of 2D, 3D, Flash or any other form of animation, Tony White's foundations bring them closer to that goal.  The DVD is invaluable, in that students are not only taught principles and concepts in the book, they are able to see them demonstrated in action in the movies on the DVD... [more]

Voice-Over for Animation
Jean Ann Wright
M.J. Lallo
ISBN: 978-0-240-81015-7

Voice-Over for Animation takes animation and voice-over students and professionals alike through the animated voice-over world. The book provides information, exercises, and advice from professional voice-over artists. Now you can develop your own unique characters and learn techniques to exercise your own voice to gain the versatility you need to compete. Learn how to make a professional-sounding demo CD, and find work in the field. CD included featuring interviews with Nancy Cartwright (Bart, The Simpsons), Cathy Cavadini (Blossom, Power Puff Girls) and Bill Farmer (Goofy)... [more]

Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Masterclasses, Vol. 1
Walt Stanchfield
Edited by Don Hahn
ISBN: 978-0-240-81096-6

Discover the lessons that helped bring about a new golden age of Disney animation!

Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Masterclasses, Vol. 2
Walt Stanchfield
Edited by Don Hahn
ISBN: 978-0-240-81107-9

Discover the lessons that helped bring about a new golden age of Disney animation!

The Complete Guide to Game Audio: For Composers, Musicians, Sound Designers, Game Developers, 2nd Edition
Aaron Marks
ISBN: 978-0-240-81074-4

Give your students the skills they need to create quality music and sound effects for games. Students will master the exacting specifications for composing music and creating sound effects on the various gaming platforms and systems. Technical considerations are explained in detail so that game audio students can make sense of complicated systems, learn about the highly involved programming elements, and create high quality audio without a hitch... [more]

The Art of Game Design
Jesse Schell
ISBN: 978-0-12-369496-6

Jesse Schell breaks down the three methods of game design: understanding the psychology of gameplay, using techniques from traditional disciplines in the game design, and processes for inventing new experiences that will fully engage the player. Through the use of 100 lenses which are scattered throught the book - Schell shows different ways of seeing a game that helps inspire the creative process…[more]

3D Game Environments
Luke Ahearn
ISBN: 978-0-240-80895-6

The ultimate resource to help game artists create triple-A quality art for a variety of game worlds — from a modern city to a steamy jungle.

Game Design Workshop
A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, 2nd Edition
Tracy Fullerton
ISBN: 978-0-240-80974-8

This novice-level game design book is the ideal guide to teaching aspiring game designers the essential skills with a hand's-on methodology. No programming or artwork skills are required. Classical and contemporary principles of game play and game mechanics are analyzed thoroughly. Design skills are demonstrated with workshop exercises that put the readers to work in prototyping, playtesting and redesigning their own games. Theory and practice meld together with a process that has been rigorously road-tested in schools and professional environments.

This design methodology is currently used in the USC Interactive Media program — a cutting edge program partially funded by Electronic Arts... [more]

An Essential Introduction to Maya Character Rigging with DVD
Cheryl Cabrera
ISBN: 978-0-240-52082-7

Every technique and tip is backed up with practical tutorials, using the models and assets on the companion DVD to offer a crash course in rigging convincing characters.

Cheryl walks Maya novices who have never rigged a character before, through the fundamental techniques that will help them become confident to set up their own characters... [more]

Learning Autodesk 3ds Max 2008 Foundation
Autodesk
ISBN: 978-0-240-80927-4

• Each chapter has objectives listed at the beginning and summaries at the end • The only Autodesk authorized co-published book for 3ds Max • Full-Color Tutorials and exercises designed for flexibility and ease of use

This book features a balance of theory and hands-on lab work that effectively introduces the latest version of the software to novice users. Now in full color with a concept-driven format, it emphasizes the core skills along with software training. The accompanying DVD includes original interviews with the different studios who contributed their work to the book, as well as instructor-led videos, support files and movies... [more]

The Art of the Storyboard: A filmmaker's introduction, 2nd Edition
John Hart
ISBN: 978-0-240-80960-1

Using sketches of shots from classic films, from silents to the present day, John Hart leads students through the history and evolution of this craft to help them get to grips with translating their vision onto paper, from the rough sketch to the finished storyboard.

More than 150 illustrations from the author's and other storyboard artists' work illuminate the text throughout to help film students master the essential components of storyboarding, such as framing, placement of figures, and camera angles... [more]

Prepare to Board! Creating Story and Characters for Animation Features and Shorts
Nancy Beiman
ISBN: 978-0-240-80820-8

Packed with illustrations that illuminate and a text that entertains and informs, this book explains the methods and techniques of animation preproduction with a focus on story development and character design.

Story is the most important part of an animated film—and this book delivers clear direction on how animators can create characters and stories that have originality and appeal. Learn how the animation storyboard differs from live action boards and how characters must be developed simultaneously with the story. Positive and negative examples of storyboard and character design are presented and analyzed to demonstrate successful problem-solving techniques. Artwork from an international array of students and professionals supplement the author’s own illustrations. Three never-before-published interviews with well known development artists and a comprehensive glossary are also included... [more]

Animation from Pencils to Pixels: Classical Techniques for the Digital Animator
Tony White
ISBN: 978-0-240-80670-9

Just add talent.

ANIMATION FROM PENCILS TO PIXELS is the most comprehensive book on the principles, processes, and profession of animation ever written. Within the covers of this book is everything required to conceive, produce, direct, animate, assemble, publish, and distribute an animated film. The tips and techniques in this book are timeless; applicable whether you want to make a 2D or 3D film, a Web-based animation or a game... [more]

Better Game Characters by Design: A Psychological Approach
Katherine Isbister
ISBN: 978-1-55860-921-1

Games are poised for a major evolution, driven by growth in technical sophistication and audience reach. Characters that create powerful social and emotional connections with players throughout the game-play itself (not just in cut scenes) will be essential to next-generation games. However, the principles of sophisticated character design and interaction are not widely understood within the game development community. Further complicating the situation are powerful gender and cultural issues that can influence perception of characters. Katherine Isbister has spent the last 10 years examining what makes interactions with computer characters useful and engaging to different audiences... [more]

Animation: The Mechanics of Motion
Chris Webster
ISBN: 978-0-240-51666-0

Learn the key skills you need with this practical and inspirational guide to all the fundamental principles of animation. With extended pieces on timing, acting and technical aspects, Chris Webster has created the vital learning tool to help you get the most out of your animation and develop the practical skills needed by both professionals and serious students alike.

The free CD-ROM includes more than 30 animations illustrating the techniques described throughout the book as well as examples of a professional Production Schedule, Budget and Production Chart — everything you need to get started!... [more]