Character design, modeling, and texturing are the fundamental building blocks of character animation. LightWave 3D [8] Cartoon Character Creation Volume 1: Modeling & Texturing includes both general theory and comprehensive tutorials for every aspect of modeling and texturing 3D characters. Learn how, why, and when to use the most efficient techniques so you can have fun creating your own fantastic 3D characters. Book jacket.

Companion CD includes new plug-ins to enhance character setup and animation, available only in this book!Quality rigging and animation preparation is vital for creating characters that can truly act and make an audience believe they are live, emotive beings. LightWave 3D [8] Cartoon Character Creation - Volume 2: Rigging & Animation includes both general theory and comprehensive tutorials for every aspect of rigging and animating 3D characters. Learn how, why, and when to use the most efficient techniques so you can have fun animating your own fantastic 3D characters.Learn all about rigging characters, including weight mapping, bone creation, IK, and deformations; discover advanced rigging techniques, including expressions, FK/IK blending, quadruped rigging, and more; find out how to use the animation controls and animate using inverse kinematics; explore the intricacies of facial animation, including morphs, facial expressions, lip sync, and advanced morph controls; learn how to use dynamics for secondary body motion and clothing.

Computer Graphics & Graphics Applications

Maya 8 Character Modeling takes a unique approach to modeling as it breaks down character creation using an easy-to-follow formula that makes the learning process less daunting. Important Notice: The digital edition of this book is missing some of the images or content found in the physical edition.

Design Patterns demonstrates how software developers can improve the performance, maintainability, portability, and scalability of their code through the use of the Gang of Four design patterns. After a discussion of patterns methodology, reasons for using design patterns, the book delves into each of the 23 patterns. Each pattern section gives a detailed description of the pattern, refactored from either Boolean logic or simpler, less-maintainable code that you might encounter in the real world, and shows readers how to use the pattern in their code. The text walks readers through making the move from current code to the pattern, lists the benefits of using the pattern, and shows how the pattern performs after the refactoring effort, with a goal throughout of providing practical implementations.

Making a Game Demo: From Concept to Demo Gold provides a detailed and comprehensive guide to getting started in the computer game industry. Written by professional game designers and developers, this book combines the fields of design, art, scripting, and programming in one book to help you take your first steps toward creating a game demo. Discover how the use of documentation can help you organize the game design process; understand how to model and animate a variety of objects, including human characters; explore the basics of scripting with Lua; learn about texturing, vertex lighting, light mapping, motion capture, and collision checking. The companion CD contains all the code and other files needed for the tutorials, the Ka3D game engine, the Zax demo, all the images in the book, demo software, and more!

The Title Says It All: With Modeling, UV Mapping, And Texturing 3D Game Weapons You’Ll Learn How To Model, UV Map, And Texture First- And Third-Person Game Weapons In A Step-By-Step Progression From Simple To Complex. The Book Begins With A Lesson On Customizing Your Modeling Application For Ease Of Use, And Then Turns To Weapon Creation. Each Weapon — From A Samurai Sword To A Modern High-Velocity, Fully Automatic Machine Gun — Is First Modeled And Optimized, Then UV Mapped, And Finally Textured For Realism. While The Tutorials Were Written Using Maya, The Principles Described Will Work With Any Polygonal-Based Modeling Package. Companion CD Includes A Trial Version Of Adobe Photoshop CS2 For The Microsoft Windows Operating System, And More!

The step-by-step instructions make it easy to create, edit, and distribute your Flash files. Each chapter includes sample screen shots as well as tips for making your work more efficient and avoiding common pitfalls.

One of the most powerful, complete, and reliable 3D tools in existence, LightWave has become the visual effects software of choice in film, television, and broadcast industries.