effect

This is an excellent book for learning special effects. Don't bother buying Max 3 Effects because this book has WAY more effects, better quality and better content-range of effects, it's way better value for your money, and it's entirely applicable to the new versions of Max, not too much has changed.

It tells you how to make cool water effects, build land geometry, do space effects, some cool weather effects, and more. If you just want to make terrain and water this book will be a great help. Or if you want to make a space scene this book has some great help in that area too to easily make starfields, planets, etc.

The quality here of what you can make (for the most part) is completely professional looking. It's full color all the way through as well which is a bonus for the price of the book. I've been into computer graphics since I was a kid, and although I'm just starting to properly learn Max now after using it for over a year, this book is a great help to get some cool effects easily.

You'll want to have a basic knowledge of the Max interface, because the book is very succinct. Also just by reading it and playing with Max you'll learn new things about the Material Editor and other areas that will help you overall doing 3d Animation.

Coming to this book with only a basic knowledge of 3DS Max, I found it terrific. It is, as the author says, "A Receipe Book" Looking for a book that tells you exactly how to do things, step by step, and without all the dribble? This book is it. The effects are fantastic...most of them. The Earth Scene is one of my favorites. Its amazing how real it looks, and how quickly and easily you can make it. The water is fantastic. Even though the book gives you step by step instruction on creating a specific effect, I have found that it is easy to incorporate any element of them into any animation.

Wow! when I saw this book I really couldn't believe it. Should it be so easy to create totally realistic, cool looking effects? It actually is. If you ever dreamed of creating a rock-slide that makes your audience duck away in front of the computer, don't let yourself be stopped from purchasing this book. Also the other approx. 45 Efects are hyper-realistic. It simple styled structure makes it become very easy to reproduce the greatest effects I've ever seen on a computer.The content of this book makes you wait for the renderer to finish, so that you can do another effect.

Angie's instructional materials and projects will definitely help you learn how to begin using AE5's 3 major new features: 3D, Expressions, and Parenting. Tracking and keying get thorough treatments. She also offers some background in the history and craft of animation as well as advice on how to nurse a project through the creative mill from concept, storyboard, client pitch, and revisions.
The work is not without flaws but, compared to the other After Effects resources in print, this is a valuable book to have on your shelf, in my opinion. I enjoyed it very much.
I've got every AE resource in print, I think. Two or three of them were complete wastes of paper and you can probably find my opinions of them ...
For beginners, I always recommend Adobe's CIB for AE5. After slogging thru those projects either Angie's book or Creative Motion Graphics would beq worthy followup. For the advanced power user, there is no question that the Meyer's two books are THE standard reference pieces. For additional inspiration, another approach to effects design, and some lighthearted whimsy, Angie's book comes in a decent third place.

You can see an extensive review of Angie Taylor's After Effects 5.0 book that I have written at ...

david bogie, boise ID

This is what I like about the Angie Taylor book:
1. It is in color - Rating 1 out of 1. Publishers take note: I just won't buy a book that is b&w with the color pics on the CD.
2. It has a CD (but could look to a DVD with update and more samples etc. See the DVD that ships with the book Studio Secrets - Premiere and After Effects) - Rating 1 of possible 3. Publishers take note - I won't buy a book without a CD and soon without a DVD.
3. Content covers the basics and some of the new features - Rating 2.5 of 5 if you are an experienced user; 4.5 out of 5 if you are a new user
4. She has a great website where she have put out new tutorials to keep up with new features like integrating Cinema4d with AE and lip sync - This saves you money - you don't have to buy a whole new book to take advange of each new AE realease. Rating 3 out of possible 3

This book is a great jump start to new ideas. Taylor takes you through several projects and offers a lot of insight along the way. I was turned on to this book after seing her present live. The book is filled with character and a joy to read. Every chapter contains great ideas and techniques that you just won't find elsewhere.

While this book presents some interesting and possibly even helpful information, Murray destroys his credibility by his glaring contradictions. For example, on page 33 he says, "5-HTP...cannot be metabolized by the liver into kynurenine." Then on page 238 he says, "...if vitamin B6 levels are low, then more 5-HTP will get converted in the liver into another substance, kynurenine."

Another troubling oversight is that Murray's mention of eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome is very brief, and is in reference only to the L-tryptophan scare of 1989. He never mentions that 5-HTP has also been linked with EMS. He also states that the manufacturing process of 5-HTP prevents any possible contamination, which simply isn't true.

I read this book hoping to find reassuring information about the safety of 5-HTP, but in light of Murray's poor research, inconsistencies and inaccuracies, it's hard to trust any of the information presented.

As are most people who read this type of book, I am looking for answers about brain chemistry and mood enhancement. I suffer from depression, but have never tried a prescription drug since a brief bout with tricyclics about 15 years ago. This is a great alternative. Nicely written review of the neurological action, and what the substance does. I take 5HTP, and it works somewhat for me. I have had to take it during the daytime, as it causes extremely vivid dreams if I take it at night. I have had no other side effects yet...though I haven't been taking it long. I am always interested when a Doctor puts out a book promoting an alternative method of achieving well-being.

I had such a hard time falling asleep, accompanied by debilitating anxiety, until I read this book and started taking 5-HTP. My problem was so serious that I found I was sleeping with my eyes open (Ouch!) The very first night I took it, I slept like a baby. I was unable to take prescription sleep aids and anxiety drugs because of depression and other medical problems. I felt immediate relief with 5-HTP.

The scientific studies referenced in this book made be feel very comfortable in taking 5-HTP. They were written in an easily understandable format. The author basically drew a map of the path 5-HTP takes throughout the body. Well done Dr. Murray!

...

Main Characters:
The Farmer and one, two, three, four & five. (Those are his animals.)

Describe the Main Characters:
The Farmer cleans their stalls everyday.

Main Important Events:
The Farmer dressed up as Santa and decorated the tree for the animals. In the back of the book, a button makes noise.

Opinions:
I liked the book because I like animals.
If you ever get this book at the Library or you buy the book, you will like the book.

This is the best Eric Carle ever - at least I think so as does my favorite 6-year old! Mr. Carle's pictures are as bright and shiny as the sparkliest ornaments on a Christmas tree, and the book is full of surprises (none of which will be revealed so as not to spoil the fun). Let's just say they're to be found in the book's ingenious construction.

This unique construction even includes music at the end - a perfect, happy, holiday conclusion. Also, the batteries are replaceable so the book can be enjoyed for many seasons to come as young and old return again and again to the farmer who had a dream.

Thank you, Eric Carle!

I enjoyed this book more thatn any other Eric Carle books I've read. I love how the little old farmer names his animals, one, two, three, four, five because he can count them on his hand! After work he realizes Christmas is coming soon but there is no snow. While napping in his favorite chair he dreams of snow falling, covering him and all of his animals. Realizing when he awakens that it actually did snow he rushes out to the barn. While all the animals watch him wondering what it is he is doing he decorates a tree and puts presents for all the animals out. The song at the end also adds a fun touch to the book, that all children will enjoy! The pictures in this book represent Eric Carle's style, unique, colorful and interesting! This book is a great one to read with children around the holidays to get you into the Christmas spirit!

As one who practices in the business turnaround arena, I have a keen understanding of the Pate/Platt analogy of the Phoenix. In many cases, with the right timing, latitude, people and luck, a business heading south can be captured and "redefined" into one going the right direction.

For those unaware of the symmetry, the Phoenix takes is roots from classical mythology. The Phoenix, a young and strong firebird, would build a nest of frankincense and cassia twigs, ignite it, and self immolate once it became "old." A new Phoenix would rise from these fragrant flames, gather the ashes of it's predecessor, encapsulate them in a precious egg of Myrrh, and fly them to the altar of the Egyptian God of the Sun in the city of Heliopolis Egypt where they were carefully deposited. According to many scholars, this flight represented "the capacity to leave the world and its problems behind, flying towards the sun in clear pure skies." The ostensible lesson of the Phoenix is in the midst of prosperity and strength, we need a renewal phase or a recycling designed to interrupt the daily norms, allowing a rebirth and regeneration.

If there are two individuals with a strong sense of this "rebirth," it's Carter Pate and Harlan Platt. Pate is a Big Four turnaround specialist and Platt created and administers the certification exam for the Turnaround Management Association.

In THE PHOENIX EFFECT, the authors reveal the warning signs and critical pointers leading to a "real" review of one's business without the emotional denial typically present. The ability to identify trouble spots before they create trouble is the key, the authors tell us. The nine strategies described by the authors are:

1) "Determine the Scope" - where does your business sit in the industry you compete? Should you create new business lines, drop old ones, merge, etc?

2) "Orient the Business" - Are your products aimed at the right markets at the right time? Does your sales/growth strategy require some level of reorientation to generate greater effectiveness?

3) "Manage Scale Accurately" - can you grow your business from within with existing resources or should you consider a merger?

4) "Handle Debt" - restructure or renogotiate debt whenever possible. Create a credit facility meeting your business's need. {A word of caution: restructure credit facilities judiciously. Going back to the well too many times will create negativity, concern, doubt and potential retraction of your banking relationship.}

5) "Get the Most from Assets" - carefully scrutinize your asset bases, both tangible and intangible, to determine if they are working for your business. Any superfluous and underused assets should be considered dead weight.

6) "Get the Most from Employees" - identify and use creative strategies to increase the quality and productivity of your employee base.

7) "Get the Most from Products" - routinely review your product base to ascertain current pricing strategies, customer base and the quality a customer brings to your business. {I regularly review my client base to determine if I've outgrown a client. This type of renewal, while often awkward and painful, is absolutely healthy for both myself and the client.}

8) "Produce the Product" - are there alternative methods your products can be created, manufactured or offered proving more efficient and cost-effective? Is outsourcing a possibility?

9) "Change the Process" - model your own processes after those who have created a successful model. No change for the better is too small.

Pate and Platt provide an incredible number of real-life examples (certain aspects of which surprised me greatly...from a confidentiality point-of-view) of fatal mistakes and storied comebacks. This is a very solid read for any business owner, high-level manager, or consultant. It provides a blueprint for clarity in an otherwise complex web of uncertainty. Let's face it, any time a business is in trouble, you'll find more chaos, worry and "Chicken Littleisms" than you'll ever want to see. Creating a cohesive plan of attack designed to bring the pieces back together is the turnaround specialists mantra.

The only reason I didn't give this offering five stars was the authors' penchant for concentrating on the product section. While certainly not unimportant, the concept of crafting a turnaround strategy is much more than product direction and quality. Regardless, this book is quite good and extremely poignant.

Turnaround specialists Carter Pate and Harlan Platt outline nine strategies any organization can use to revitalize itself and rise from the ashes. The nine strategies also correspond to the chapter titles in their new book:
1. Get to the Point of Pain -- overcome denial and deception and get started.
2. Determine the Scope of your Business -- pick a market you can serve profitably.
3. Orient the Business -- aim your products at the right customers.
4. Manage Scale -- larger size can reduce cost but is no guarantee against failure.
5. Handle Debt -- restructure, renegotiate, and/or merge to enhance value.
6. Get the Most from Assets -- manage working capital to avoid cash crises.
7. Get the Most from Employees -- people not products keep a business going.
8. Getting the Most from Products -- market strategy needs to change with markets.
9. Produce the Product -- consider the options, better, faster, cheaper or outsourcing.
10. Change the Process -- reengineer for better time, cost and quality.
This book is a quick read and loaded with case examples that demonstrate the successes and failures of executing these strategies. Revitalization applies to both good companies and those that are currently troubled or distressed. I found it even appropriate for focusing or refocusing a startup or business plan. Tom Peters called it, "A damn good book." I strongly recommend it to any consultant or manager that is concerned with maintaining a profitable business. The Phoenix Effect: 9 Revitalizing Strategies, No Business can do Without" again demonstrates revitalization and renewal efforts require many different types of actions.

Carter Pate, a PricewaterhouseCoopers turnaround expert, and writer Harlan Platt provide clear and effective advice to any business needing revitalization or wanting to stay ahead of the competition. The book describes techniques to guide business owners in completely evaluating their entire company and then shows the path they need to follow to put their business back on track.

The nine strategies include getting to the point of a problem, examining the scope of your business, determining your correct orientation, dealing with scale, handling debt, dealing with working capital, handling employees, product marketing, product production and process analysis. Not just theoretical in nature, the authors detail the process in a very easy to understand and implement manner. The examples are detailed and to the point allowing anyone to follow the process.

Whether trying to turn around a business in trouble, keep a current one ahead of the competition or determine a business strategy for a startup, the book provides top quality guidance.

The book is good. It help to explain how to use SAM-e. It is SAM-e that is the miracle worker!
For those who have lived with depression, SAM-e is a real spiritual lift. Never knew life could be like this!
No, the problems do not change or go away. But your ability to deal with them improves. And if you add some good self-help books and therapy, life can really be worth living. And worth fixing what is wrong in your life, too!
If you know some one who is depressed, get this book and read it! It will enable you to be more helpful. But don't be pushy or play therapist.
Just help your friend get the help they deserve and need.
God bless!

With the recommendation and supervision of my psychiatrist, I have been taking SAM-e for several months. Not only has the recurring major depression I have had since childhood departed, but the fibromyalgia/CFS and arthritis pain in my hands have disappeared too!

I am actually stunned by these wonderful results! Over many years, well-meaning psychiatrists have prescribed medications for me which not only didn't work, but made my life a living hell from side effects in the process. In contrast, the only discomfort I have experienced from SAM-e is a slight upset stomach shortly after taking it.

Dr. Brown and the others have written a clear guide to SAM-e and how to use it to improve the health of mind and body. I highly recommend this book to those suffering from depression, arthritis, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Having tried a variety of antidepressants and suffered too many side effects, I feel relatively knowledgeable about treatment options. I happened upon this book and found the information very accessable. Dr. Brown and his associates have presented a well researched and well organized book. I would recommend that others with low level depression that is too hard to shake off but who are hesitant about taking prescription meds to give SAM-e a try. Read over his book and find out for yourself. There are sites that offer this product, however i have settled on iHerb because of the documentation offered as well as the variety of brands and dosages. Read, research and try for yourself what I mean.

I have ITP....a blood platelet disorder and am on steroids. Steroids do many strange things to the body. This book was an unbelieveable mirror of my side effects on and coming off Prednisone. I found myself talking to the book saying right on, you got it, and thank you for acknowledging my pains.
I can't speak for everyone, because everyone experiences different things with this steroid, but, I can tell you that the information will not hurt you and most of all the message that all this is temporary and can be beaten with some coping skills will make live on Prednisone far better. I've read chapters of this book 4 times to keep reminded of my plight...I am a chronic ITP patient.

I was looking for a book to help explain the side effects from the prednisone, that I've been on for the last 14 year's due to asthma that I have had my entire life. None of the doctor's were willing to give up the answer for some unknow reason. When I started read this wonderful book I said to myself, Oh My God, someone actually wrote a book on everything I was wondering about. The more I kept reading the more I understood how to deal with this awful but life saving drug. I wish I could say thank you to Eugenia and Julie in person. I belong to two asthma chat groups online through the internet. I have recommended this book to everyone. And mostly everyone has baught the book. Although I may never be able to get off steroids, as I've been told by my doctor's at least I have a better understanding about Prednisone. I recommend this book to everyone with asthma and other illnesses that require prednisone. It's the best book.

My husband was put on massive doses of prednisone without being told what side effects or consequences the drug would bring. The doctors who prescribed the medicine didn't even know what to expect. My husband had horrible side effects. Finding this book was a life saver for it verified and explained every symptom my husband experienced. We no longer felt alone, someone else knew and described what he was and would be going through. We are thankful this book was written for it gave us laymen knowledge of this horrific/wonder drug, and how we should handle the side effects. Needless to say we immediately sent a copy to his doctor as well. If you are on even the smallest doses of pred. this book is a must read.

I rate books by the bathroom. A good book is one I find myself taking into the bathroom without conscious thought, and the exceptional book causes me to forget to the bathroom even exists. The pinnacle is the book which so enraptures that I forget to eat, somewhat negating my normal rating system.

Only novels by David Brin and Robert Heinlein have had that ultimate effect on me.

If your only exposure to David Brin is Startide Rising or the Uplift War and you're expecting the same overwhelming immersion into a foreign land, you'll be disappointed. Practice Effect is the first novel Brin wrote, although not the first published, and it is "only" a good read. It has the same heroic themes common in his latter works, but without the polish. The result is inevitably, and unfairly, disappointing to someone familiar with his later works.

On the other hand it may be a good introduction to Heroic SF, especially for juveniles. There's still the same action on a grand scale, "ordinary joes" changing the course of nations, friendly familiars (a bit more explicitly than the Tymbrini computers hidden in Tom and Gillian's quarters), and the smugly superior facing their own petards a-hoisting, but the heros and devils are clear from the start and the point of view doesn't jump among the many players.

Finally, as a would-be author I've found it useful to compare the writing in Practice Effect, Sundiver, and Startide Rising, in that order. They form a dramatic demonstration of how a writer matures. If you want to learn how to write books like Startide Rising or the Uplift War, start by learning how to write books like Practice Effect and then refine your skills from "merely" very good to Hugo- and Nebula-award winning.

I found this book to be very entertaining, for half of the book. The first half of the book kept me very entertained. Finding a new world, and explaining it, and how it exists was very good, as were the characters. The second half of the book became irritating to me. Every thing could be fixed with the practice effect, regardless that it was something that rarely had ever happened before in the world that the story takes place in. It became a nice easy way to get the characters out of trouble, and was relied on too much. Was the story entertaining none the less...Yes. I could look past those things I have mentioned, I just did not rate the book very high because of it. I am not going to give the plot away, but several of the characters kept the book amusing. I like to read a story and smile every now and then at cute things that put humor into a book even though a tale is being told, and for that I applaud the author. The book left me with several funny images that still run through my head.

I've read everything Brin has published. He weaves a very real and believable story, usually based upon real science, or real theory.This book was obviously a departure into fantasy. I found The Practic Effect to be a fun light-hearted Sci-Fi fantasy. It was interesting to explore the notion of, "What if physics and natures laws worked differently, somewhere else?" It was, of course, written very well, in Brin's cinematic style.

I've really just started reading this book, but I wanted to write a quick review so as to let others know what they're missing out.

The quality and layout of the writing is the best I've seen, especially for beginners I'd probably actually recommend this book over LaMothe's own books. Its better explained and more informitive (as well as being fast and enjoyable). Such as instead of saying "just set it to NULL you don't have to know what it does", McCuskey actually explains what "its" for and why you don't need it (I always liked to know, instead of being left clueless)

Its about 900pages of pure content, with little code to break your train of thought (its on the CD). And so far not one sentence is wasted, unlike LaMothe and his comments on what $100K car he drives or how he's some programming "god" by winning a college bet against his peers (what a braggart).

It deals with the latest version of DirectX and nVidia SDK. Its very exhaustive on many (if not all) aspects of special effects that you can think of creating. And an unexpected plus to me, was the section on incorporating an intro AVI movie into your game.

Don't just listen to me, hurry up and get this book to find out yourself!...
btw...am I the only one whose annoyed at that picture of LaMothe on the back cover of all the GD books, where does he think he's in the 'Matrix'?...he seems to take all the credit from rightfully deserving authors, and thats just wrong in my opinion.

Though I'm glad he started this series of books.

This book makes understanding the complex world of modern computer graphics and the DirectX library as simple as they can be. This title will be an invaluable resource for anyone with a C programming background (or beyond) who wants to become intimitely familiar with the DirectX library for rendering computer graphics. It's heavily slanted towards Windows game programming but the concepts carry over to other domains as well. The book spends time giving background on some of the more useful C++ language features, including stl, utilized in most modern computer games. It also provides an overview of the entire DirectX toolkit: DirectPlay, DirectSound, etc... There's a crash course on the fundamentals of vector/matrix math and basic 3D graphics concepts that are required for a software engineer to really use Direct3D effectively. An experienced C++ graphics programmer can skip over all this and dive right into the advanced graphics features of transform & lighting, pixel and vertex shaders, texture blending effects, etc... The great thing about this title is the way it spends time on motivations and examples so the concepts don't get lost due to their complexity. Simply put if you're a Windows graphics programmer using (or interested in using) DirectX, this book is more than worth its cost!

This book covers an amazing amount of material with a fun, down-to-earth writing style.

I mostly referenced this book for specific effects as I needed them, each chapter is kind of like a stand alone tutorial, very easy to follow and actually implement in your own code.

You can make a 3d game with this, I did.

It's been some time since I read this book, but I was recently reminded of it. I like Burke's pinwheeling (or pinballing, rather) style, jumping from topic to topic and making what are, indeed, often very interesting connections.

The reason I rate this book so low, however, is that often Burke sums up a series of connections by implying -- or sometimes directly stating -- that the first event in the chain caused, by means of the intermediate steps, the last. This is often not at all the case; the connections between steps may have had no causal relationship, but simply meant that a person was working in the same city, or some other such interesting but not causally relevant connection.

So in short, the chains of connections themselves make for fun reading, but don't trust the summaries. "Correlation does not equal causation," to quote an old statistics maxim; in the case of The Pinball Effect, connection doesn't always equal causation, either.

This is an ingenious ways of writing a book but it borders more on a way of storing information. It is not the type of book that you read from cover to cover although you could that if you wanted to. It is essentially cross-referenced with itself. What is does is talk about a particular advancement or invention, providing page numbers in the margins for other advancements or inventions that that one enabled. You can bounce all through the book this way - hence the name of the book. It is very interesting but there is a certain amount of information overload. I kept wondering 'How does he know all of this stuff?'.

Everything has a purpose and a lead to another is the basic concept of this text. The Pinball Effect by James Burke, is a very interesting piece. It is incredibly phenomenal how Mr. Burke is able to connect a normal house hold item or a modern idea to a possible invention or idea which is completely irrelevant to end product. The New York Times Book Review says, "The Pinball Effect ranges over everything from higher philosophy.... trivia like ballpoint pens, wigs, and "a machine for boring out water-pump cylinders."" James Burke's masterpiece gives the reader a sense of history and science intertwined with philosophy.
It wasn't until after I read this book, that I was able realize how much my daily life affects those around me. A great example would be if I didn't even write this review. Now if I didn't write this review, you didn't read this review. Thus you wouldn't be sitting at your desktop glaring at the screen. Though my example seems to take a product in just a few days or hours, the example illustrated by Burke are elapsed over hundreds of years.
Within the first few pages Burke has you thinking about your life and the life around you. Right of the bat he illustrates that life is like a spider web. Everything is connected together. He explains that in order to go from point A to point B, one might have to go to point C, point D, and point E just to get to point B.
Though The Pinball Effect sounds reasonable to consider, there are a few things wrong with the idea. Mr. Burke concludes that if these things are intertwined by the pinball effect then everything else is involved also. With this idea he is committing the fallacy of hasty generalization. Burke assumes that everything is connected on the web of life. But how is that proved.
Overall, the book is very enjoyable and very difficult to put down. It is very exciting to see how irrelevant objects and ideas are connected together, even though his idea does create a fallacy. I personally would read this book again.