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Added 11 Oct 04 Updated 06 Sep 08
Publisher Charles River Media
Publication Date 2001-08-15
Paperback - 546 Pages
ISBN 1584500395
Everything from Primitives, HyperNURBS, Texturing, Lighting, Rendering, and Animation is covered. There is also coverage of BodyPaint 3D and a complete introduction to C.O.F.F.E.E
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like a lot of these books, yes, you can learn a lot from it. but it leaves out huge holes that you’ll have to gain another way. in particular the index is nearly worthless; major terms are left out altogether. it’s more of a compilation than a single author’s effort, and it really shows. disorganized, random, confusing...not what you want when trying to tackle a large complex app like this.
glad to see other publishers are finally offering something for this app.
like a lot of these books, yes, you can learn a lot from it. but it leaves out huge holes that you’ll have to gain another way. in particular the index is nearly worthless; major terms are left out altogether. it’s more of a compilation than a single author’s effort, and it really shows. disorganized, random, confusing...not what you want when trying to tackle a large complex app like this.
glad to see other publishers are finally offering something for this app.
* Note: Would the author of this book please take note to the following!!
I have started reading this book, but I am already finding it time consuming and non-efficient. As a designer, I have used countless manuals. Comparing this to a friends Lightwave 7 manual I have these things to say:
* although the book has information to relate, it does so badly. Points are not set out in the text, and tutorials are not taken through in steps (rather, a mass of info). The tutorials and general text are waffly and badly written. The author should have written in a concise, informative, bullet-point style format. Also, it would help to have helpful hints at side of text - in margin.
* Pictures are B/W and appaling
* The book starts relatively well, but when it gets to tutorial in 3rd chapter, the author gets really lazy and does not explain in-between steps and wastes readers time!
If you are to buy this book, be sure to have plenty of time on your hands and a highlighter!!
* Note: Would the author of this book please take note to the following!!
I have started reading this book, but I am already finding it time consuming and non-efficient. As a designer, I have used countless manuals. Comparing this to a friends Lightwave 7 manual I have these things to say:
* although the book has information to relate, it does so badly. Points are not set out in the text, and tutorials are not taken through in steps (rather, a mass of info). The tutorials and general text are waffly and badly written. The author should have written in a concise, informative, bullet-point style format. Also, it would help to have helpful hints at side of text - in margin.
* Pictures are B/W and appaling
* The book starts relatively well, but when it gets to tutorial in 3rd chapter, the author gets really lazy and does not explain in-between steps and wastes readers time!
If you are to buy this book, be sure to have plenty of time on your hands and a highlighter!!
I have used this book for a college class I teach in 3D Modeling and Animation, utilizing Cinema 4DXL, v 7. This is a quite fine application; unfortunately there is little available in the way of textbooks or training. This book does cover the program in fairly good detail. However its weaknesses generally overcome its strengths.
The tutorials are, as has been said in other reviews, often very poorly written. Note that the author has not personally written all the tutorials. There are many steps missing, the authors too often presuppose knowledge not provided in the tutorial (or in the book itself), and the illustrations are often confusing, impossible to see, or inaccurate. The illustrations are included on the CD in a better quality, but it is very inconvenient to frequently need to go to the CD just to view an important image. This is even more inconvenient since the images are not named on the CD in a way to make finding the correct image easy.
The book is strongest in modeling; its coverage of animation is sparse. Note that a number of what seem to be important tutorials actually require that you also own BODY PAINT in addition to CINEMA 4DXL. If the tutorials were properly rewritten to be complete and clear, and the illustrations’ quality improved to serve as aids, this could be a quite useful book. In its present state I have found myself planning to drop it as a textbook and am searching for a better one. I recommend that teachers look at the tutorial manual that ships with the program as a far better alternative as an introductory teaching aid. The tutorial manual is clearly written and comprehensive.
I have used this book for a college class I teach in 3D Modeling and Animation, utilizing Cinema 4DXL, v 7. This is a quite fine application; unfortunately there is little available in the way of textbooks or training. This book does cover the program in fairly good detail. However its weaknesses generally overcome its strengths.
The tutorials are, as has been said in other reviews, often very poorly written. Note that the author has not personally written all the tutorials. There are many steps missing, the authors too often presuppose knowledge not provided in the tutorial (or in the book itself), and the illustrations are often confusing, impossible to see, or inaccurate. The illustrations are included on the CD in a better quality, but it is very inconvenient to frequently need to go to the CD just to view an important image. This is even more inconvenient since the images are not named on the CD in a way to make finding the correct image easy.
The book is strongest in modeling; its coverage of animation is sparse. Note that a number of what seem to be important tutorials actually require that you also own BODY PAINT in addition to CINEMA 4DXL. If the tutorials were properly rewritten to be complete and clear, and the illustrations’ quality improved to serve as aids, this could be a quite useful book. In its present state I have found myself planning to drop it as a textbook and am searching for a better one. I recommend that teachers look at the tutorial manual that ships with the program as a far better alternative as an introductory teaching aid. The tutorial manual is clearly written and comprehensive.
Cinema 4D has a reputation as the world’s best 3D package that no one has heard of. But it is also known as one of the easiest to learn. This is in large part due to the intelligent design of the interface. C4D is at least as deep a product as Photoshop, however, and you are not going to learn how to use it by just clicking buttons. You need a hands-on tutorial type of book. Well, maybe you don’t, but I sure do! And this book is only one of two about C4D written in English. (C4D is a German product.) So I was relieved to find that this book is as helpful as it is. Otherwise I’d need to learn German, and fast! The book covers most of the basics quite well. There is a project that continues throughout, which you work on more as you learn something new. In addition, there are three (for some reason) tutorials on creating a human head. This seemed a bit much, personally. I would’ve liked to see more on textures and lighting.
I agree somewhat with others’ comments that the tutorials can be vague. And the screenshots, which look great on the CD-included PDF files (250 extra pages worth), look simply awful in the book. They are small, low-contrast, grey, and sometimes impossible to make out. This is the book publisher’s fault, I’d guess, not the author’s. Luckily, the author has included every single screenshot on the CD. Makes me think he was doing his best to make a bad situation better. Charles River Media could learn a lot from Peachpit’s Quickstart Guides.
If you are new to 3D and/or C4D, I’d highly recommend this book. There is hardly any information available on the Internet about C4D...yet. But my guess is, this product is going to leave its competitors in the dust. Maxon has just released version 8, and it SMOKES. I think this is a product worth learning, and this book is the place to start. I hope Mr. Watkins does a revision for R8.
Cinema 4D has a reputation as the world’s best 3D package that no one has heard of. But it is also known as one of the easiest to learn. This is in large part due to the intelligent design of the interface. C4D is at least as deep a product as Photoshop, however, and you are not going to learn how to use it by just clicking buttons. You need a hands-on tutorial type of book. Well, maybe you don’t, but I sure do! And this book is only one of two about C4D written in English. (C4D is a German product.) So I was relieved to find that this book is as helpful as it is. Otherwise I’d need to learn German, and fast! The book covers most of the basics quite well. There is a project that continues throughout, which you work on more as you learn something new. In addition, there are three (for some reason) tutorials on creating a human head. This seemed a bit much, personally. I would’ve liked to see more on textures and lighting.
I agree somewhat with others’ comments that the tutorials can be vague. And the screenshots, which look great on the CD-included PDF files (250 extra pages worth), look simply awful in the book. They are small, low-contrast, grey, and sometimes impossible to make out. This is the book publisher’s fault, I’d guess, not the author’s. Luckily, the author has included every single screenshot on the CD. Makes me think he was doing his best to make a bad situation better. Charles River Media could learn a lot from Peachpit’s Quickstart Guides.
If you are new to 3D and/or C4D, I’d highly recommend this book. There is hardly any information available on the Internet about C4D...yet. But my guess is, this product is going to leave its competitors in the dust. Maxon has just released version 8, and it SMOKES. I think this is a product worth learning, and this book is the place to start. I hope Mr. Watkins does a revision for R8.
This handbook hardly lives up to its billing as a comprehensive guide to the tools and power of C4D XL 6.0 and 7.0. It clearly was written for version 6 of the software and quickly and, I might add, poorly revised to a accommodate version 7. The tutorials if better presented could have been helpful. The tutorials, instead, are vague, poorly illustrated, and confusing. In his attempt to provide something for both expert and beginning users of Cinema 4D XL, Watkins misses the mark.
This handbook hardly lives up to its billing as a comprehensive guide to the tools and power of C4D XL 6.0 and 7.0. It clearly was written for version 6 of the software and quickly and, I might add, poorly revised to a accommodate version 7. The tutorials if better presented could have been helpful. The tutorials, instead, are vague, poorly illustrated, and confusing. In his attempt to provide something for both expert and beginning users of Cinema 4D XL, Watkins misses the mark.
Okay - its a good grounding that gets progressively trickier but worth sticking with . I’m new to 3D but not to graphics so I’m just getting my head into that XYZ thinking .
HOWEVER one big beef I have with this book is that the screen shots in the tutorials are all B&W which makes looking at points and selected polygons IMPOSSIBLE ! Its all very well having excellent colour shots in the centrefold BUT i want to learn how to do these types of things MYSELF !! I’d gladly pay more for the tutorials in full colour just so I don’t have to squint under my 500 W desklamp with a magnifying glass !!!
This is a good start to anyone hoping to break into the 3D market, were expensive seats at training courses are not an option, this book fills this gap, not only teaching you the fundamentals of Cinema 4D but the fundamentals of 3D, how to light impressive scens and rendering scenes, invaluable to any one who would like there 3D work to stand out, rather than the usual bland sterile perfection of many od todays work.
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