[back cover]
Have you ever wondered how the photorealistic computer-generated landscapes that you see on television, in print, or in videogames are constructed? Creating 3D Worlds not only shows you how to produce your own authentic environments, but also teaches you how to bring them to life with creatures, structures, and natural weather effects.

Comes with a CD containing the 3D software and models required to follow the examples in the book

[front flap]
Using modern digital 3D graphics software and techniques, it is now possible to create intricate, hyper-realistic worlds on your desktop PC. Creating 3D Worlds will help you achieve this by examining and explaining the different technologies and techniques that are used by both hobbyists and professional digital artists working in the movie and TV broadcast industries, the Web, and in print graphics.

Discover the possibilities of digital landscaping, atmospheric effects, and volumetric cloud-rending techniques, and learn how to populate your virtual scenes with a variety of trees, shrubs, and foliage.

Written by a leading exponent in the field of 3D graphics, Creating 3D Worlds is packed with professional hints and tips, and all the information that you will need to generate fantastic new 3D environments.

[back flap]
About the Author:
Simon Danaher has been working in the graphics industry for many years. His clients include BBC Worldwide, numerous U.K. magazines and publishers, and international companies such as Fujitsu and Isuzu. Simon contributes regularly to leading creative journals such as Computer Arts, 3D World, and MacUser, and also teaches application-specific courses in 3D computer graphics. He has written several books on the subject of 3D design.
System requirements:
Mac OSX or Windows 2000 XP, 1.25 GHz CPU or Pentium III, 512 MB RAM.2000 MB free hard disk space, Graphics card able to display 1024 x 768 in 65K volotd/ 16 bit, Internet connection and e-mail address

Artists working with computers can learn the secrets behind the techniques for creating convincing, realistic, highly professional 3D landscapes for videos, films, web comics, and websites. This book instructs on how to use modern graphics software and shows how to construct intricate, hyper-realistic worlds with topographical features that include mountains and hills, forests and foliage, oceans and rivers, skies with textured cloud layers, fog, rain, and even lightning. To these worlds, artist and author Simon Danaher shows how to add realistic living creatures and man-made structures. He explains the theory of 3D world modeling in easy-to-understand language, offering essential insights into how virtual worlds are created for movies and television dramas. Students of this medium can use the book in combination with its enclosed CD-ROM, as they follow step-by-step instructions for creating a wide variety of landscapes and environments. Instructive full-color illustrations and diagrams on every page of the book.

Give it a pass

I just got this book and found there is a reason none of the information or reviews actually specify what software the book uses: it uses everything - C4D, Maya, Bryce, Vue.

While it is nice for the author not to assume you need one specific book to create 3D terrain, the lack of focus on a specific program forces the author to talk in generalities and not give you actual steps to complete the project. The book is a huge disappointment. Also, the book is not nearly large enough to cover the scope of its subject matter. Populate your world with animals...here’s how to make a spider. What? Seriously? Modeling a spider has no place in this book.

My advice would be to pick a program you intend to use and then learn how to create 3D planets, worlds, and terrain with that program using tutorials on the web or in a program specific book. This book will not help you; it will likely confuse you in the end.

I know it is cheap, but skip it. Save the cash for a more helpful book.

Beautiful and Informative

I have read two of Simon Danaher’s full color books. His writing style combines perfectly with the full color 3D illustrations in a way that makes the book a pleasure to read, even more than once. It is an excellent reference and contains many tips on the ways a variety of effects and results can be obtained. The book frequently references popular tools such as Vue, Bryce and Cinema4D, and comes with a CD filled with examples that compliment the book.

A nice tip book

This book is filled with tips. Nothing really new that you can’t find through a lot of searching and tutorials on the web, but it is a nice reference book to have on hand.