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Added 27 Aug 04 Updated Today
Publisher New Riders Press
Publication Date 2004-07-03
Paperback - 984 Pages
ISBN 0735713685
The most complete, extensive, and accessible guide for LightWave 8. Inside Lightwave 8 is chock full of step-by-step tutorials on every topic LightWave users need to know. It is also clear, well-organized and easy to use--essential for a comprehensive book when you need to find answers to their questions quickly. Dan Ablan, award-winning animator and LightWave author, offers Inside LightWave X to get you up-to-speed and enhances productivity with NewTek’s LightWave 3D software. No other LightWave book is more comprehensive, packed with clear step-by-step tutorials and helpful tips. Coverage includes plug-ins, Motion Designer, SubPatch modeling, Graph Editor, expressions for complex animation control, Motion Mixer, compositing techniques, inverse kinematics to control complex characters, modeling and surfacing methods for architectural animation, skeletons and bones for precise animation control, logo creation, camera and lighting techniques, particle animation, and using motion-capture files.
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This book has the information you need for lightwave. Very informative here.However my only complaint with Lightwave books is that they are all in Black and White. I do not understand why they cannot make these books with full color gloss pages like the Maya books.I love to read computer books that have lots of graphic explainations.
Black and white books are for programmers, not artist.
Otherwise than that this book will give you what you need for lightwave
The book, Inside Light Wave 8, has straightforward techniques approach to Learning LightWave Skills and Knowledge.
I was a professional Graphic Designer who wanted to move over to the 3D world, I desired to be a power-user at 3D animation. So I purchased Dan Alban’s "LightWave [8]," extremely good learning tool. Dan’s book got my doing just about anything I could imagine.
(In Depth book cover almost everything. Big pictures illustrations and nicely written make learn easier. Ya gotta get this one.)
This is an excellent book it is a most get. Although I got it for advanced how tos; there is beginner level help here as well. A lot of the dudes and dudettes that I’ve learned from through downloading Internet QuickTime movies from the Newtek website and other places, these movies are excellent show and tell ways to learn. But with expressions and certain dynamic it is good to have it in a book form as well.
This is a great text for beginners in Lightwave. However, there are myriad typographic errors and there are references to keystrokes and panels that are incorrect. This content was released during the beta for Lightwave 8. As a result, there are changes in the software that are not reflected in the content.
I contacted Dan Ablan and he provided me with the correct information. It is not often that authors are so accessible. I’ll be looking forward to the next edition.
If you're a novice when it comes to 3D, then look no further, this book is all you'll need to becoming a master at Lightwave. Though it doesn't really cover character animation, it does however help you to start off on your own. A brillant book, it has changed my view about 3D - as I am originally a 2D animator. Thanks Dan!
If you're a novice when it comes to 3D, then look no further, this book is all you'll need to becoming a master at Lightwave. Though it doesn't really cover character animation, it does however help you to start off on your own. A brillant book, it has changed my view about 3D - as I am originally a 2D animator. Thanks Dan!
I got this great book as part of a training class that I took, and it really does provide a solid entry-intermediate level course in Lightwave. The book comes with a ton of extras on the DVD, projects, objects, scenes, textures, etc. My one complaint after working through the book for about a week is that some of the steps in the tutorials are wrong. Things like "you should have 9 polygons selected at this point..." when you really only have seven, the measurements and settings for the corvette backdrop image are off, etc. Nothing major, but it’s a little frustrating when you’re a newbie, and trying to wrap your head around the concepts.
This book is great for beginners. As I am a beginner, I learned a great deal with this book. There is a lot of tidbit of information in this book and a lot of good examples and tutorials to learn how to go about it. This is setup with the easier tutorials first and then it gets deeper into the program. It also starts with the basics in the beginning for those that are not familiar with Lightwave.
Another thing I like about it is that it actually shows you how to model starting with a box. Most show you how to trace and model from the tracing/and or splines.
I would definitely recommend this book for a beginner and a person that knows some about Lightwave. It has a lot of information and tips that are very useful. I still use it often and refer to it also for information.
This book is a excellent tool for beginners. Very complete and easy to understand the explainations.
Although I have not finished "Inside LightWave 8" (it is a long book), the progress I have made so far has been well worth the price. The information was presented in an orderly and timely fashion, and I think I will prosper for years to come as a result of the instruction that was offered via this resource.
I recommend it for all beginners, but be prepared to spend some time reading it beside your computer. LightWave is a powerful program, and it will not be learned quickly. This reference will speed the process along as well as anything I have encountered.
Having only purchased LightWave 8 a few months back the first thing I did was look for some helpful books to guide my learning process. I purchased two LightWave 8 books at the same time from Amazon (Inside LightWave 8 and another). Both were great books and very helpful, but Dan Ablan’s "Inside LightWave 8" definitely was the better buy.
Like most people I read the reviews posted by other buyers on Amazon and now that I have read the entire book cover to cover, I can’t understand how some people have given this book a poor rating. The content of the book is excellent covering all aspects of LightWave 8, from static company logos to particle dynamics and animation. I found myself not wanting to put the book down as I progressed through the tutorials. As well as this, even in my early stages of progressing through this book, I found it easy to integrate what I had learnt in the tutorials to my own projects
A great resource and I mean GREAT is the content provided on the DVD which included plug-ins, surfaces, images, hours of video tutorials and other useful tools. I cannot emphasise enough how cool the video tutorials are. You would be amazed how much you can learn sitting back and watching a true master of LightWave work, Dan even manages to crack jokes while doing it!!!!
Also the author of this book (Dan Ablan) has made available on his website additional video tutorials for all to have. Dan even took the time to respond to an email I sent him (within 24 hours I might add) to help me out when I was having problems with a project I was working on.
To put it simply if you are looking to learn LightWave 8 this book is a must have.
Cheers.
I have purchased Inside Lightwave 3D, Inside Lightwave 6 & 7 and I recently purchased 8. I consider the Inside series must have’s for any Lightwave owners. Not only for their excellent tutorials, but I have found them great "reads". Many nights I have found myself in bed reading them as they offer both the information I need as well as the inspiration I crave.
Thanks Dan
I’m the author of this book - and need to comment on Alexis Hanawalt’s posts. His "updates" are taken out of context, and his original post has been edited.
While no book is ever perfect, we rely on constructive reviews to help make our books better. Simply stating that logical steps are missed helps no one. Instead of emailing the author or publisher with helpful comments, the reviewer simply posts a negative review. The email sent to me was about a broken DVD, something I have nothing to do with. Even so, the project files have been posted online and are free to download (300MB) at my own personal expense.
A. Hanawalt wrote: "The tutorials are not always accurate and information is often missing. For instance, the export postscript function has moved, apparently, as of version 8 of the software. Ablan has not updated his tutorial to reflect this."
I’d like to comment on this - the function has not moved, and in fact, it’s still there with NewTek’s recent free upgrades! Too often, people do not read their manuals, nor do they install the software correctly. In the end, it’s "user error" and not a problem with the tutorial.
I’ve realized that if I write another LightWave book, I’ll need to write it with ’kid gloves’. I guess I have over-estimated our readers.
I would accually give this book a 4.5 if the option were avalible, but it’s not. Just the first few pages were enough to get me started. I have only read through the first two chapters and I already have a good idea of what to do with most of the tools. However, no book could replace an actual class in the subject. As for the people who claim that this book sucks, well the book is meant to explain what a tool is "supposed" to do, not teach you how to use it. Half of these so-called "tips & tricks by the pros" are really accidents that look cool. Most of what you modle and animate will be an acident that looks good.
After reading all the positive hype, I was sorely disapointed in this book. The tutorials are not always accurate and information is often missing. For instance, the export postscript function has moved, apparently, as of version 8 of the software. Ablan has not updated his tutorial to reflect this. He often skips over minute logical procesesses as if we already have a firm grasp of the whole process, and he often fails to give context during a tutorial regarding the more general principals of the software at work. Most tutorials I’ve read on various software have been clearer, more thorough, and more enjoyable than this one. Overall, I’m pretty shocked by the high praise Ablan’s book receives, and disapointed that there doesn’t appear to be a better book on the subject. On a brighter note, the accompanying tutorial videos are much better than the book.
UPDATE: Dan Ablan emailed me after I initially posted my negative review and having taken the review as a personal attack, wrote "You and everyone like you are destroying the LightWave community..." My apologies to Mr. Ablan.
2ND UPDATE: I just read Essential Lightwave 3D [8] by Timothy Albee and I would recommend it highly... It fills many of the gaps and reads more like a tutorial should.
3RD UPDATE: Regarding Mr. Ablan’s response, this review is not intended as a critique for the author’s edification. If you are looking for a book on the subject of introductory Lightwave 3D, please consider a book other than this one.
This is definitely the best book available for Lightwave [8] , and that’s a shame.
Many see Lightwave as the low end of the 3D application market, and this book strengthens that view. The screen shots throughout this book are not only all in black and white, but in very dismal black and white. You will find yourself constantly going to the included disk to view the full colour screen shots, how 80’s is that?
Compare this to the Maya : Foundations book, which is a similar price, with full colour throughout and full video tutorials for each chapter and you will kick yourself for buying this book.
This is definitely the best book available for Lightwave [8] , and that’s a shame.
Many see Lightwave as the low end of the 3D application market, and this book strengthens that view. The screen shots throughout this book are not only all in black and white, but in very dismal black and white. You will find yourself constantly going to the included disk to view the full colour screen shots, how 80’s is that?
Compare this to the Maya : Foundations book, which is a similar price, with full colour throughout and full video tutorials for each chapter and you will kick yourself for buying this book.
This book is priceless for any Lightwave user. This book really should replace the user manuals that ship with the software. It is certainly more informative and helpful. Dan Ablan really knows his stuff.
Don’t read any more reviews, buy this book RIGHT NOW!!
I am a seasoned modeler/texturing artist and acquired this book as a resource for my many work collegues.... i have read the whole of the book and wish this was around when i was starting out ... Dan is amazing at what he does, his wording is excellent ... he strikes a great balance between being informative and making the novice not feel ’dumb’. His non intimidating ways are actually a joy to work through, many of my collegues are really happy with this book and i highly reccommend this book to anybody starting out in the 3d animation business with lightwave and also to any current users of the software .... top stuff!
I am a seasoned modeler/texturing artist and acquired this book as a resource for my many work collegues.... i have read the whole of the book and wish this was around when i was starting out ... Dan is amazing at what he does, his wording is excellent ... he strikes a great balance between being informative and making the novice not feel ’dumb’. His non intimidating ways are actually a joy to work through, many of my collegues are really happy with this book and i highly reccommend this book to anybody starting out in the 3d animation business with lightwave and also to any current users of the software .... top stuff!
Inside Lightwave 8 is a massive book, spanning close to the 950 mark.
Dan has put a great deal of work into this one and it shows. Each chapter is well explained and the content of each one differs enough to keep the reader interested through out.
The first few chapters ease the reader into lightwave with the following chapters going more in depth into the likes of modeling a car, phone and even setting up network rendering.
The DVD that comes with the book contains hours of helpful video tutorials as well as scenes and objects to work on and follow along with.
Inside Lightwave 8/X is a nice change and if you own previous Inside Lightwave books, this one is still a great buy.
Simply great stuff! Well worth it.
Inside Lightwave 8 is a massive book, spanning close to the 950 mark.
Dan has put a great deal of work into this one and it shows. Each chapter is well explained and the content of each one differs enough to keep the reader interested through out.
The first few chapters ease the reader into lightwave with the following chapters going more in depth into the likes of modeling a car, phone and even network rendering setup etc.
The DVD that comes with the book contains hours of helpful video tutorials as well as scenes and objects to work on and follow along with.
The book is a nice change from previous Inside Lightwave books and still a good one to have if you have either/or Inside Lightwave 6/7.
Simply great stuff! Well worth it.
Cheers.
After waiting so long Inside LightWave 8 (ILW8) arrived this morning.
I have only had time to read a few chapters. It is not a replacement for the manual, but a ’how to’ use the tools for an end and why. Like his other books Dan has a writing style that is readable, and explains some commplex ideas in a way that is not condisending to old hands and at the same time informative from the basics onwards.
Inside LightWave is a total rewrite and not a re-hash of Inside LightWave 7. That being so the areas covered in his previous books are still valid as a compliment to ILW8.
Unlike the previous books ILW8 comes with a DVD not a CD. This DVD has colour plates of the images in the book and a selection of trial plugins. As there is so much extra space on a DVD the rest of the space is taken with some excelent Quicktime movies that expand on the chapters of the book and are well worth the asking price alone.
If you are into LightWave at all, Inside LightWave 8 is a must buy, no matter your level of familiarity with LightWave.
The best LightWave book has just been supplanted by a new king.
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