 | Digital Lighting and Rendering (2nd Edition) by Jeremy Birn
Buy new: $37.80 / Used from: $25.20 I read this expecting it to be dry, technical and tangentially interesting. I was wrong.
It is VERY well written to make a dry, technical topic interesting to learn. It IS technical, but Birn's writing inches you up to each concept and builds on previous chapters. A must-read for serious CG artists.
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 | The Art and Science of Digital Compositing (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics) by Ron Brinkmann
Buy used from: $3.00 Essential
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 | Filming the Fantastic: A Guide to Visual Effects Cinematography by Mark Sawicki
Buy new: $35.07 / Used from: $32.37 Even if you're not shooting, you have to know how to shoot it right!
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 | Compositing Visual Effects: Essentials for the Aspiring Artist by Steve Wright
Buy new: $23.07 / Used from: $21.70 This is a great primer on compositing and helped me know how break down a complicated scene into component shots, plates, etc.
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 | Digital Compositing for Film and Video, Second Edition (Focal Press Visual Effects and Animation) by Steve Wright
Buy new: $36.55 / Used from: $35.00 |
 | The Essential Blender: Guide to 3D Creation with the Open Source Suite Blender by Roland Hess
Buy new: $29.67 / Used from: $25.42 This is for the Free Open-Source 3D modeling program, Blender. It can be had online in .pdf format, but a printed book is so nice to read.
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 | Mastering Blender by Tony Mullen
Buy new: $37.79 / Used from: $34.12 Blender's learning curve is steep. Tony Mullen eases the climb. This book expects you to have a certain comfort level with Blender.
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 | Bounce, Tumble, and Splash!: Simulating the Physical World with Blender 3D by Tony Mullen
Buy new: $31.49 / Used from: $20.50 Hurray! Blender has deforming solids, physics, cloth and fluid simulations!
This book helps you get your arms around it all.
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 | Apple Pro Training Series: Shake 4 by Marco Paolini
Buy new: $34.64 / Used from: $21.85 Excellent Professional compositing software. This book is a very entertaining reference book. Written with humor and a clear, thorough knowledge of the software and it's practical use.
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 | Introducing Character Animation with Blender 2.5 by Tony Mullen
Buy new: $26.39 A VERY thorough walkthrough of character modeling, rigging, and animation. Contains a DVD-rom loaded with Blender 2.5, as well as some other very useful programs and python scripts.
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 | Special Effects: The History and Technique by Richard Rickitt
Buy new: $47.25 / Used from: $55.78 Lots of people like this book. Not my favorite, but I see the appeal.
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 | Visual Effects for Film and Television (Media Manuals) by Mitch Mitchell
Buy new: $20.80 / Used from: $13.00 Good foundation book. Getting your VFX "in camera" is much cheaper than trying to create with 3D models.
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 | Matchmoving: The Invisible Art of Camera Tracking by Tim Dobbert
Buy new: $25.50 / Used from: $18.42 Not in my personal library yet, but I've heard nothing but great things about this book.
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 | Apple Shake 4.1 Visual Effects (Mac)
Buy used from: $411.00 Great value for the dollar. Good 3rd-party and user community support. Apple no longer supports it and is supposedly working on a replacement App (code named: "Phenomenon")
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 | Adobe Creative Suite 4 Master Collection
Buy new: $2,199.00 / Used from: $2,150.99 If you really want to get your FX on! A solid workhorse.
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