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New Book: Introducing Character Animation with Blender
30 Comments Published by Bart on September 25th, 2006 in Books
Tony Mullen is finishing his upcoming book 'Introducing Character Animation with Blender
Tony writes:
Hello Blenderers,
I wanted to let people know that Introducing Character Animation with Blender is progressing very well. I have been working hard on it and the manuscript is pretty much done, pending revisions. It's very much light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel time…
I'm really excited about how it's been going. I think the book covers a lot of ground and I'm eager to see what people think. I managed to get a fascinating inside look at a rig from the Plumiferos production, which I think will be a real treat for people to learn about, since it uses several rigging techniques that I've rarely seen discussed elsewhere. There's also an excellent gallery of renders contributed by Blender users and some great animations on the accompanying DVD.
However, the real occasion for this post is to let people know that the book is now available for pre-order (or just to admire the cover) at Amazon! Check it out here: Introducing Character Animation with Blender
I'd also like to congratulate the artists whose work made the cover, Sago, Hollykaz, The Orange Team, and BullX! I had nothing to do with the design or art selection, myself, but I'm very pleased with what the folks at Sybex have come up with.
I'll be presenting an overview of the content of the book at the Blender Conference next month, which I'm really looking forward to. Hope to see many of you there!
Tony (bugman_2000)
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Hi
First I thougt it was a dublepost ( http://www.blendernation.com/2006/09/14/bsod-introduction-to-character-animation/#more-1242 ) or further progress but this is a real book! Great news.
i'm definetly buying this
awesome, maybe you could make a book/dvd one day on modeling characters in blender – that is something i would buy in a second – because i'll have nothing to animate without models.
congrats
Congratulations Tony!! That's awesome and inspiring! Another milestone for the Blender community…
That's really great news. I just preorderd a copy.
Sweet, I know what im using my b-day money for!
I have to buy it too ;)
So Great, that news :)
Finally someone is writing application specific books about Blender.
Bus I just can repeat what MagicMyshu already said, if one cannot madel charecters, then he/she would not have anything to animate ;).
Anyway, I´ll buy this book, as a must for me, and it is not even expensive compared to other CG books!
Great News about this New Book!
(the Cover looks Cool)!!
ofcourse i also buy this Book!
i would buy everything about Blender!Yeah!!!
Thanks!
Alright!! I can't wait! w00t :D
3 cheers for Mullen :D
I have also preordered a copy of the book,
but I have a very urgent question:
when does tony plan to release the book?
(I need it for a work for my exams)
Excellent :)
Ooooooh Yeaaaaaaaaah!!!!!
Hi everybody,
A few quick answers. As for modeling, I've included character modeling in the book. Since there are so few published resources available, I decided to take a very broad view of the field of "character animation", and really this book is more on character creation and animation. So mesh modeling is included, materials and texturing, etc. I especially tried to focus on difficult to understand but basic things (like material indices, for example) and to highlight common problems.
I think this book complements the BSoD Character Animation tutorial. There's a little overlap, and the book doesn't assume much knowledge, but having worked through the BSoD tuts in advance certainly wouldn't hurt. The BSoD rigging tutorial also looks terrific and I recommend them both in the book.
As for when the book is to be released, it's not up to me at this point. The Amazon page says March, but I'm not sure if that's set in stone. I *think* that would be kind of the latest-case scenario, and I'd like to think that it could be available before that.
Thanks very much for all the encouragement!
Tony
Just pre-ordered the book at amazon.co.uk
Still have to wait a while though, since the release is scheuduled for march/april 2007.
Well, this at least gives me the time to learn the basics of blender.
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,151 in Books
Tony is a great guy and his book promises to be a big boost for the Blender community. Documentation and similar learning tools are sorely needed to help newbies and pros migrate to Blender's unique interface more quickly. Kudos!
The BSOD is also incredibly helpful on this front, even though the Blender Summer Of Documentation acronym is unfortunately similar to the Windows' infamous "Blue Screen Of Death."
Hopefully more authors, or Tony if he's so inclined, will take the time to write additional full books about Blender so that everybody with the slightest interest in Blender will be able to climb its learning curve more quickly.
OK, thanks Tony I think I'll purchase – does it include explainations of Elephant's Dream content?
Wow, I will buy it too! I ever wanted to learn more about animation. Btw, the Cover is looking awesome :)
Hm, it will be a long time till March 2007….
so cool dude! The missing link!!!!!
Def. gonna buy this one!
sven
I HOPE IT COVERS THE PROBLEM OF SLIDING FEET, IN A WALK CYCLE?
Wow, Cool… It's like looking into the future… no, really it is :P… look on the web page
[quote]
Publisher: Sybex (March 19, 2007)
[/quote]
Hi,
There's a chapter on Elephants Dream production files, which describes some of what I thought were especially interesting points, and should also hopefully give people an idea of where to start and how to go about studying those files themselves (there's a huge, huge amount of material in the ED files, so what I describe is just scratching the surface).
As for sliding feet, there's not one but two ways described to avoid sliding feet. So, sliding feet: check.
Tony
@ IanR:
I think sliding feet are already covered by some internet tutorials.
I am not sure but I think they use the stride bone function to avoid "ice-skating" walkcycles
I've been dealing with sliding feet myself. Best solution is using rubber soils in your shoes.
My 2 cents.
Ohh super.. And contraz to Tony, and the people whom images he used as cover… :D:D:D:D: maybe im gonna buy it..
Of course, yet another way around that pesky sliding feet problem is to make a film where all the main characters are birds!
This is very good news. If Sybex is taking notice of blender, it will help studios to take it seriously. Thank god for the GPL or blender would be snatched out of our hands just as it's ripening.
Can't wait to buy this… :P
Tony, do you know if there are plans to translate this book in other languages?
Can you tell me if this book will cover new features like the Action Modifier?
Thank you!!!!
This book will be in my CG collection. Definitely!
Another Blender book worth reading:
http://www.amazon.com/Blender-Bible-Andrew-Chase/dp/0778801098/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_1_1/103-1706987-6406266
Asdasdasd. Just kidding.
Lol im happy about it, im getting it soon. only thing im worrying about…………….wats the shpping from Amsterdam to US??!!?