Shawn Kelly free e-book
Every month for the last few years, the great Shawn Kelly (senior animator at ILM and co-founder of Animation Mentor) has been sharing his knowledge with cool articles called just “Tips & Tricks”.
So…
What are you waiting for? ;)
This is great, and its for free…
We need more of this.
Thanks to Shawn Kelly for the book and Virgilio Vasconcelos for posting the news
I really hate online subscriptions. I’ll probably sign up for this anyway, but man I hate online subscriptions.
I get the confirmation email and they validate my address, but then…
nothin’!
What gives?
@Jeff O’Conor
i got a second email with the downloadlink, immediately after validating
Probably just email harvesting and you will never get your book :-(
Just kidding!! There are probably too many Blender Heads hitting the site and the backend system took a dive due to overload! Ha, ha. Um.. who knows.
Why can’t he just publish this e-book somewhere? “Free” for registration is nothing if I end up with another sender of a bulk of spam.
Thanks for this! Looks fantastic. Download now….
I’ve been having problems downloading too, I’m sure when the first come first served have had their download it’ll be ok. I expect they’ve taken a few hits today after all I can’t imagine your average blender head turning the ebook download down…Thumb twiddling mode on!
@ neonU – I agree
Well I just went through the process
1.) Signup
2.) Confirm your not a spambot
3.) Wait for email
4.) Get email and then have to confirm 1st email via link
5.) Once confirmed your real, you get a second email with a link to download
The PDF is 12+ megs and is 99 pages. But if you are a visual person you got mucho text to read, as the book is probably 85-90% solid text, and sadly layed out with a single giant text box on the page for formatting. :-(
The funny thing to me going back to the whole registration issue is after all that for registration the download link could probably be guessed by about everyone. I figured it would be a unique url for each download after all that just to sign up and get it. You can even hotlink to it which I found strange. (wonder who will be first to post a direct link?)
The good thing however is in the final email there is a link for “If you no longer wish to receive communication from us” in case anyone is concerned about that.
I am sure its a good read in the end.
For those who may not have seen my video interview with Shawn Kelly, Bobby Beck and Carlos Baena at SIGGRAPH 2008, see this article for the links
http://www.blendernation.com/2007/08/24/interview-with-bobby-beck-pixar-finding-nemo-shawn-kelly-ilm-transformers-and-carlos-baena-pixar-ratatoullie/
Interview with Animation Mentor Founders
Also, if you don’t receive an email for the book, check you Spam filter.
many many hoops to jump
@neonU and Gryphon: As LL have noticed, everyone can un-subscribe later. You can also use an address created just for subscribing to things.
I am not affiliated with Animation Mentor (in fact, I wish I could someday study with those guys), but they seem to be very nice and correct people, just wishing to promote their school. I don’t believe that this subscription will end up with viagra offers on our inboxes.
The way I got to know about this book is because I have subscribed to their newsletter a while ago. All I get from them is a monthly newsletter with something I do want in my mail: things about animation. =)
I don’t know if it’s legal or appropriate, if it’s not please delete this message.
Here is the link to the book :
[edit]Link deleted. I’m sorry, Maxim, but to keep this link active on BlenderNation could mean that this site supports this attitude against the will of the author. This is not the case. If you (or anyone else) disagree that it is ok to register and get the resource, you may post the direct link in your own web site. Virgilio[/edit]
Enjoy.
Thanks Maxim!
Thanks!
You guys act like the you found the internet yesterday. How many email addresses do you have that you no longer use? I can think of 3 of mine that sit and collect dust. And I have 4 more for business/personal use. There’s no need to worry about spam every again. What the filters don’t catch.Am I seriously the only person who’s posted here that thought of this simple answer?
Matter of fact, is the email addy? that you entered your main email addy? You know, the one required to post?
The guy puts together a great resource and wants to use it to promote his school to keep the bread coming in and all that happens is complaints. Then you post his link to bypass his efforts to obtain a few contacts.
Wow! Hey Blender Community stop acting like idiots!
Next post I should get more sleep, but still………
Please delete the direct link to the file.
To have to register to receive such valuable information from extremely credible sources is NOT too much to ask. This “everything should be free and without any personal so-called inconvenience” attitude is one of the main things that many find unattractive about the open source community. It’s a very selfish way of viewing the world…not very OPEN at all, in fact.
Let me apologize. I had no idea that my comment would attaract so much negative attention, and I certainly didn’t mean to start a fight or offend anyone.
Vergillo, ccherrett, Kernon, maybe someone could explain how something like this “keeps the bread coming in?” Every day I find links to potentially wonderful information or software, only to discover that I have to register with some website I’ve never even heard of in order to use it, and, quite frankly, it gets frustrating. But I’ve always felt that the only person I’m inconveniencing by choosing to ignore such resources is myself. If someone could somehow benefit from my registration, and it also gets me access to something helpful, then I’ll be happy to consider the issue from another perspective.
Well, I don’t think that you were the spark for this and I’m not fighting or offended. I guess I’m just very tired of how predictable this has become in waiting to see how long it will be before the whining and complaining begins.
Registration is often required for these types of things for many reasons:
– the registration process acts as a sort of buffer to help keep the servers from getting overwhelmed
– it helps to qualify the registrant as being a real person and not a bot. Bots can really increase the bandwidth usage on a server because oftentimes files may be download repeatedly. Search engine bots are known to re-index a page on a regular basis.
– it qualifies the person as being particularly interested in the subject matter and that information is extremely important for analyzing a potential market. You need to have an idea of how many people may be interested in what you’re offering before you spend (or waste) more time on things that may not have a real audience.
No intelligent person will send spam to someone that they’re hoping will be interested in what they may have to offer in the future. Of course, there are many sites that are run by unintelligent people and those you have to be wary of but, I don’t think Animation Mentor (or an affiliate) is one of those sites.
The Tutorial is about ahh, wait a Moment, “Animation Tipps and Tricks” , I believe (As the posting says). Posted by a trusted source (blender nation), it commonly targets people on the web who are looking for ahh, another second please, “people who are interested in 3D visualisation” (which is a REAL big marketplace). In my eyes a great open-source software should be donated by great OPEN-SOURCE documenation.
Want to apologize for personal paranoia, give respect to the author and PLEASE: If you do publish something, do it REAL OPEN SOURCE (don’t know if 3d visualisation is legal here :) )
Thanx @Maxim, now I have the chance to simply spent my time on READING THE TUTORIAL!
BTW, thanks for the great resource! I can’t wait to have time to really digest it.
Gryphon:
Just as simple as someone has a product or service to sell, they supply useful information to you so that they can have a chance to tell you about the other information or services they sell, and hopefully sell you some service to keep the bread coming in. Just simple business.
I personally have no problems hearing from an expert in the field for the price of my email and in return I would welcome reading out resources he might be selling in order to further my skills. Sounds good to me.
Hope that explains my point.
Take care
To poo-poo this because it isn’t Open Content, or because you actually have to sign up to get it is ridiculous. This is freaking valuable information people. Do you know how much the AnimationMentor.com program costs? This guy is one of the people at the top of the industry, and he’s giving something very valuable away for nothing more than your signing up.
BTW, I got to read it this morning, and it’s a great little resource. Full of mostly tips about approaches to problems, attitude and some other stuff. But the few actual tricks are great. Trust me, it’ll be worth more than every penny you spent on it.
Also BTW, I was glad that nothing he said in there went against my upcoming book. That would be bad because he really knows what he’s doing, and I’m just some dude on teh Internets.
What am I waiting for? Absolutely nothing!
Sorry if my post was inappropriate outlining the process. I tried to just be subjective and informative, but if it was taken or perceived otherwise I sincerely apologize. Thanks to BlenderNation and thanks to the people of Animation Mentor for sharing this resource. Again I apologize if I added to anything negative with my post in outlining the process of obtaining the PDF?
* comment removed – Bart *
@scooter: get a grip, you’re making a fool of yourself. As you can see above everyone else got the link so maybe you should check if the email arrived late or ended up in your spam-filter.
@scooter: on second thought, I’ve pulled your comment. This is our house and you’re not calling me, our editors or industry leaders that we write about such names.
For those that are really paranoid about spam, for gods’ sake use Mailinator.
I’ve grabbed it and had a preliminary skim through. It’s fantastic.
This is not a book about Blender. It’s not a book about how to animate characters, step by step. It’s exactly what it says it is – animation tips and tricks gleaned from years of experience.
It’s a book to browse through and go “Wow, I never thought of that,” or “Hey, that’s a neat trick,” or just “That was a cool anecdote.”
Look at the article on the importance of blinking, for example. Here’s an excerpt:
“Check out Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump when he’s meeting his son for the first time. As soon as he realizes it’s his son, he stops blinking completely. He’s transixed. Tom Hanks holds back his blinks to communicate the idea that his character is THAT intense about what he’s realizing. Then a blink, and boom – he’s on to his next emotion, which is guilt. He feels guilty. Shouldn’t he have been there to raise his son? Did he do something wrong? The blinks are coming fast and furious now, to indicate his discomfort, his worry.
…
That whole scene is amazing for eye stuf. He even asks “can I go see him?†using only his eyes! Sure, his head moves barely as well, but it’s 90% just his eyes, and you totally know exactly what he’s saying. He delivers a line without ever opening his mouth. And it feels so real. To me, that’s a great scene, and something we should all aspire to in our work.”
As Harkyman said, worth every penny it costs you and more.
This is getting interesting.
I actually got my “collect your free book” email and went to the link all I got was a sign up a friend link and a link to adobe reader.
So I signed up a friend and……….
Anyone got the book yet?
This looks like a great resource from the PROS! I had no probs subscribing and downloading. Thanks for the link Virgilio … Blendernation ROCKS!!
Sorry, link after registration seems to be broken…
Got 1st and 2nd email like supposed to, but clicked to nothing
Any incidents of similar behaviour anyone?
hey there gagrilli, i’ve had the same problem. Hoping it’ll come right I am!
I’ve asked AnimationMentor.com to look into the problems with their system. Hopefully we’ll see a reaction today!
I never got a second mail – not even in my spam folder.
This morning I tried again under my work email, and I got the confirmation request and then…
Nothing!
:-(
I had no trouble downloading it…well, I had a tiny bit of trouble…
If you’re having trouble, make sure your popup blocker is turned off. Mine blocked my first attempt to download the book! Once I shut it off it came through immediately.
Oh, and if anyone’s concerned about registering, then consider this option. I have my “private” email account that I use for personal/business communication. I also have a couple of “free” accounts specifically for when I’m registering on a website that I don’t know. If you’re that worried, open an account (hotmail, gmail, yahoo, etc.) specifically for this sort of thing. If it starts getting spammed out of existence, simply drop it and open another one!
I signed up last night and still no 2nd email after confirmation.
Since it’s free, I guess I can’t complain, but man I’m impatient.
(Walks along with his hands in his pockets and his head down. Kicks a rock.)
Got 1st and 2nd email. Clicking on the link in the second email didn’t work . . . but copying and pasting it did. Great read!
Statik
I think that most of the problems experienced are due to the user’s browser and email client settings (pop-up blockers, spam blockers, “unknown sender” issues in Live Mail, etc.).
@ Kernon, I agree!
When you get your second email just right click and say Download / Save As to bypass all the pop up trouble also if you click the link you need Acrobat Reader installed because its a PDF and will probably fail if not.
But right click is the simplest way. Its just the file there anyway, nothing else to see at that link.
Worked for me yesterday.
Wow ! Great book ! I have just made a short fly over it, but this book is a great source of informations for everyone studying animation.
Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge Shawn !
Thank you Virgilio, very nice catch!
Shawn Kelly, you’re a great person!
Ii downloaded it, and had a quick glance, its a good collection of Blog like postings, the only draw back (and excuse me for sounding a little childish) is that its all text, no pictures or images, to help description. Correct me if I’m wrong but animation is a visual media predominantly and coupled with the age old adage of a picture tells 100 words, Ii would have liked there to be a little graphical representation. Still, a good resource for the interested.
Still do not have the second email; signed up yesterday, got the first email and confirmed, but nothing more.
In class, When I right click save as on the link in my e-mail, it downloads a 2kb file, at home, it gives some error, if I open it in a new browser it says ‘website cannot be found’.
oh dear :(, i’m very jealous!
just tried to register to download but the website has reached maximum registrations.
“Sorry. Maximum Client list limit reached.” – looks like it’s very limited edition. But you shoud send your email to get this info
“Sorry. Maximum Client list limit reached. Please inform website operator of this problem. Tell them they need to upgrade” — Quoth the server
:(
Same here. :(
same here :(
would it be possible fo someone to send me a copy of it??
i would then register once they fix teh problem with the server
anyone? drop me a line if at blenderartists.com if you are part of it
same name as here BlendMaster
if this is against stuff, then dont worry about it, ill wait :(
Huh…I’ve kept trying, but the first link they give me still results in an “unable to connect” message (Firefox) or it’s IE7 equivalent.
Maybe this book and I are just not meant to be! ;)
Does anyone has a copy – we have bomb his site and now it has exceeded it bandwidth!
Care to put one up in free file host please.
I’m actually annoyed. So now my email address has been harvested but no book for download is available. Could have at least put the sold out message before the registration page.
*bump*
Okay, just kidding.
I’m still very interested in getting this eBook, and I’ve tried signing up a number of times to different e-mail addresses, but clicking on the first link they send me (1shoppingcart.com?) still results in a “unable to connect” message. Am I getting the wrong link for the book or something?
Whoops, now I feel like an idiot. It turns out that shoppingcart site is indeed blocked in my HOSTS file. Trying the link on my brother’s laptop, it works as it should. I have yet to receive the download link, though.
alright, im getting really frustrated!!!
i was able to sign up, i confirmed my subscription, and im waiting and waiting, and waitng, but no ” download book” link appears to come my way.
exaclty how many ppl actually have this book?!
alright, i finally have the link, and the book rules!
I ve got the book and it is genius!
seems the subscription site has been pulled.
I get a “check back with us soon” message.
:(