Amazon.com
The field of computer animation is constantly evolving. Hardware gains speed and capacity, software advances in features and becomes easier to use, and the eyes of viewers become more critical as they grow accustomed to more sophisticated effects. Writing a book about such an evolving topic would seem doomed from the start.
The Computer Animator's Technical Handbook intentionally stays away from the specifics of hardware and software, thus ensuring a shelf life longer than most computers. The book focuses on the driving ideas behind animation in general and computer animation in particular, and it offers a valuable historical perspective on contemporary terms.
The focus of the book is to teach computer animation production, and it does this exceedingly well. Fifteen chapters spanning 400 pages cover everything from computer animation modeling to the introduction of time-based media through understanding the mechanics of film and the differences between film and video production, and much more. This is a fine book to sit and read through, as well as to keep handy on the shelf for reference.
Although more expensive than many books of its kind, there were no shortcuts taken in the production. Every page is glossy and in full color, and is lavishly illustrated with diagrams, photographs, and examples of computer graphics and frames from noteworthy computer-animated productions.
This handbook is not a review of software packages, nor will it suggest which hardware platform to buy into, but it will provide a high-level overview of a powerfully dynamic field. --Mike Caputo
From Book News, Inc.
Printed on glossy paper with reproductions of computer-generated color images, this thorough reference and tutorial shows how computer imaging and traditional animation come together in computer animation. It is intended for a broad audience--novices as well as seasoned animators, game developers, technical directors, production managers, and students in the fine arts and computer science. Coverage is not specific to any hardware or software; and it includes basic concepts, advanced topics, and the material in-between. The emphasis throughout is on issues of time and motion (readers are assumed to have some previous knowledge of creating static images); in fact, a whole chapter is devoted to the vocabulary of time, to methods for easing and motion pathways, to acceleration and rates of change, and to animation languages. Author Pocock is a professor at N.Y. Institute of Technology, and Rosebush is a director and producer of multimedia projects and animation.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Book Description
This is a complete, in-depth reference that will be of enormous value to anyone in the computer animation field-from students to established professionals to the many traditional animators who find themselves drawn to the computer-based world. The Computer Animator's Technical Handbook distinguishes itself by giving full attention to the motion that defines animation (as opposed to the modeling that produces the still image) and the often-neglected production processes that make it possible. The work of two widely recognized computer animation experts, this book is destined to become the standard reference for professionals throughout the industry and a popular text in classrooms.
* Introduces basic concepts, explores advanced issues, and provides detailed coverage of everything in between
* Designed to allow readers to follow its explanations on either of two levels: a general level that outlines key concepts and an advanced level that gives readers a complete understanding of the topic
* Covers every aspect of time-based imagery and media: film, video, production processes, traditional animation, Kinematics, Dynamics, and much more
* Software-independent in its coverage, and thus assured to appeal to the largest possible audience
* Filled with full-color illustrations, many the work of industry leaders
Book Info
(Academic Press) Technical resource focusing on animation at the relevant, professional level. Illuminates classic techniques with modern vocabulary and technologies, providing critical information on the professional production process. Designed as a general guide, not dependent on software. Softcover.
From the Back Cover
"Pocock and Rosebush have created a book that is very different than other animation books. It is a primary reference for clear definitions on almost
every technical aspect of time-based imagery relevant to the animation process. A copy should be on every animator's shelf."
Karen Sullivan, Department of Computer Animation, Ringling School of Art and Design
If it's computer animation you're interested in, you don't need a book that devotes half its pages to 3D modeling. Likewise, if you're looking for a comprehensive, enduring technical animation reference, you've discovered that titles devoted to specific software packages omit too much conceptual information and quickly fall out of date.
With The Computer Animator's Technical Handbook, you get precisely what you've been looking for: a complete technical resource focused exclusively on animation and written on a level that ensures its relevance, regardless of the applications you use or the precise uses to which you put them. Inside, authors Pocock and Rosebush illuminate classical animation techniques using modern vocabulary and explain computational techniques in classical terms, helpfully bridging the two worlds and giving you a solid grounding in the concepts at the heart of all animation work. They also cover every aspect of the professional production process-critical information neglected in most books and never before presented so clearly or completely.
Features:
*Software-independent coverage of the concepts and techniques on which the entire animation field is founded
*Provides useful explanations of basic concepts, lucid exploration of advanced issues, and detailed attention to everything in between
*Introduces designers to the art and science of expressing ideas as a sequence of images presented in time
*Covers every aspect of time-based imagery and media, including film, video production, traditional animation, Kinematics, Dynamics, animation languages, special effects, tools, motion pathways, and digital temporal imaging
*Equips traditional animators with a sound grasp of computational techniques; equips computer animators with an understanding of other methods
*Includes an in-depth look at the steps comprising the professional production process
*Filled with full-color illustrations
About the Author
Lynn Pocock is an artist and an Associate Professor of Fine Arts and Coordinator of Computer Graphics at New York Institute of Technology. Her art and research have been published in scholarly journals such as Leonardo and The Art Journal. Pocock has been exhibited internationally, including at the New York Film and Video Expo, the London International Film Festival, and SIGGRAPH's Animation Theater and Art Show. She is Vice Chair of the NYC SIGGRAPH Board of Directors and the Conference Chair of the SIGGRAPH 2001 conference in Los Angeles. Judson Rosebush is a director and producer of multimedia products and computer animation, an author, artist and media theorist. He completed his first computer animations in 1970 and founded Digital Effects Inc. in 1978, the first digital computer animation company in New York City. Rosebush is the co-author of Computer Graphics for Designers and Artists, published by Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., and co-author of Electronic Publishing on CD-ROM, published by O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. He has exhibited his computer generated drawings and films in numerous museum shows, and the drawings have been reproduced in hundreds of magazines and books, prompting speaking engagements as a national ACM lecturer.
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