This book explains even the most complex concepts and tools a LightWave artist needs to know, in a way that makes sense.

Good practise material

This book is quite staightforward and the examples in the tutorials - like modelling a simple canoe - are very useful for picking up basic skills. The tunnel fly-through tutorial is a godsend, as it finally explained to me in a clear way how to create a pre-set path for a camera to follow during an animation.

This book focuses mostly on the modelling side of lightwave, with a few forways into actual animation - if you need a guide to learning complex animation tools and skills in lightwave, you’ll need another book to support you.

I do recommend this book as a very good way to get your toes wet when it comes to Lightwave, though if you can afford it, nab the 8.0 version as it doubtless has lots more new and useful material. I studied multimedia at university and this book did save me a few times when I was lacking in inspiration for how to get my models to be the shapes I needed.

Essentially Lightwave 101

This is a good book for beginners and those at an intermediate level. It takes you through all the tools needed to get up and running in Lightwave, with plenty of pro tips and tricks to help shave hours off projects.
It is not a replacement for the manuel as it refers to it occasionally, but it does take the mystery out of the numerous dialog boxes that pop-up in Lightwave and describes how to use some of the tools that you might not look at twice because of an obscure name.
It is well written with plenty of photos showing what is going on.
It includes short tutorials on architectural and character modelling that reveal how to get great results very fast.
Comes with a CD with all project files, numerous plug-ins and a copy of Lightwave 7.5 learning edition.

Format too small

This is a quite clear book, at least in the writing, because its size seems to be too small to display the screenshots clearly. Add to that the fact that it is printed in black and white and the difficulty to read some images worsen, since they don’t have the necessary contrast to resolve items that result in a very similar tone of gray when converted from color to B&W. To be fair I have to say that Tim has a nice writing style. His book has helped me to start to understand LW, which is a huge piece of software.

It was OK

I mean that...it was an OK book. I learned some useful stuff but I would never give it five stars. As a newbie to LW I found ’Inside Lightwave’ much better. There are a few more books out there I would think about getting before you get this one.

A well written book

I recently decided to pick up 3D modelling and animation as a hobby. Having chosen to use Lightwave, I started reading the Lightwave manual and got somewhere close to page 400. Even then, I noticed I still could not model a single object which was rather frustrating. I then decided to purchase this book (based on the reviews I read at amazon.com). It’s a wonderful book and Mr. Albee has done a remarkable job. Clearly written, easy to understand and very entertaining. Each time I pick it up and sit in front of the computer, I find it hard to put it down. Now that’s the only problem I have with the book - it’s so good, it’s addictive. If you’re new to Lightwave (like myself) or if you intend learning Lightwave, I’d advice that you make this one of the first books you obtain (or rather Essential Lightwave 8 which would soon be out).

If you want to model this is the book

I received my book about a week ago and have been reading it. I want to model and only wish this was the first Lighwave book I purchased. I love this book.

Essentially Lightwave 101

This is a good book for beginners and those at an intermediate level. It takes you through all the tools needed to get up and running in Lightwave, with plenty of pro tips and tricks to help shave hours off projects.
It is not a replacement for the manuel as it refers to it occasionally, but it does take the mystery out of the numerous dialog boxes that pop-up in Lightwave and describes how to use some of the tools that you might not look at twice because of an obscure name.
It is well written with plenty of photos showing what is going on.
It includes short tutorials on architectural and character modelling that reveal how to get great results very fast.
Comes with a CD with all project files, numerous plug-ins and a copy of Lightwave 7.5 learning edition.

Top of the Line

Essential Lightwave 3d 7.5 is nothing short of fantastic. Being an enthusiastic newcomer to both 3D and Lightwave, I bought several Lightwave-related books in a burst of eagerness. They are all good -- I haven’t read a bad Lightwave book yet. Finding this one, however, is like discovering a glowing diamond in the midst of a scattering of other, assorted gemstones. No pun intended, but this book really rocks.

The author’s knowledge of, and respect for, his subject matter is evident. He covers the basics clearly, in an entertaining style, but the real value of this book, for me, lies in the way he explains tools that are often avoided or glossed over in other works. Rail bevel and rail extrude, for instance. I fought to understand those tools for a month, but -- after reading Albee’s book -- I can work ’em! Examining the illustrations was crucial, I admit, but at least Albee tackled an explanation and presented a demo for these challenging tools. He walks boldly into territory that even the writers of the Lightwave manual merely tiptoe through.

If you are a beginner -- or even an intermediate user, looking to do more than "scratch the surface" of Lightwave -- I highly recommend this book. I would imagine that even seasoned Lightwave users could discover pearls of wisdom among the pages because, as Albee points out, one will never know everything about Lightwave. It’s just too awesome.

Two thumbs up! I am anxiously awaiting the publication of Essential Lightwave, V8.