"The Art Of 3d Computer Animation and Effects" by Issac Kerlow. Well, I wanted this book for ages and I finally bought it with the intention of reading every word and perhaps learning a few things but the book has a fatal flaw. It is absolutely perfect as a coffee table book. Fresh out of the delivery packaging I just couldn't wait to have a look so I took it to work, thinking (foolishly) that I would read it in my lunch break. What actually happened was that I endured a day of having it snatched from my hands every time I dared to open the poor thing because people wanted to look at the pictures. It's got Shrek, it's got Gollum, it's got a strange boxer with an afro. In one day I managed to learn that Sully from Monsters inc had 10,000 control hairs and an incredible 2.8 - 3.2 million (MILLION? Are you mad? Not on my computer! I'm suddenly favouring bald characters) blue hair strands. Sadly that was only from reading a note by a picture of poor old Sully practically naked in those brief blissful seconds before another member of my team glanced over then cried "OH! It's (insert name of character here) from (insert name of film here). Let me look!" By the end of my first days ownership of this book, I had gained a hunted expression and a pose somewhat similar to Gollum as I hunched around the place trying to keep possesion of my precious book. I never bought it into work again. So, here we are, a couple of weeks later and I am not actually posting a book review because I haven't read the book yet. I have looked at ALL the pictures though, as has every visitor to my home in the month of December. Every time I pick it up to read, my eye is caught by another amazing render and I'm off, skimming through the pages to see all there is to be seen. If anyone has actually read this book I'd really like to know, is it worth reading? I've had so much value out of it as a picture book I already feel it was worth every penny, but if someone else can't give me a reason to look at the words I don't think I ever will. That is art, getting in the way of learning. Who would ever have thought? Shanna ;-) ps..NO! You can't borrow my book grrrr.

The hardest books to read I have ever read were the works of Herman Minkowski. He was a Polih Jew who lived in France and wrote in German. He once drove Einstein out of the univeristy as unable to comprehend the works. I was referred to these works by a professor who said his notation was the most beautiful. He gave us electromagnetism in four dimensions. He wrote about kernals and convex sets. What I learned reading the intoduction was that I was not going to make the first translation of these works in my head much less for the world. They did convince me to just read a work and not try to understand it even to do the problems at the end of a chapter if it is a textbook. I learned to read Russian and several languages by transliteration. But what did I realy learn. I learned about a fundamental position or index where the mind keeps track. I learned to proceed from the trains of words or formulas that pop into the mind seemly from no where. Your friends are like these place marks. Each has a tie to one of the pictures and you are the owner of the book. Outside on the lawn are other pictures equally indexed but this time only by you.

At least you like the book, Shanna. The worst book I ever read (or tried to - I couldn't get through it) was Castle by Franz Kafka. Ugguh... Too bad you don't live nearby. I'd like to drop by and borrow it. ;-) Happy holidays. jon

I just got out my copy of the book which is 2000 edition. It has a professorial type with glasses and a chess set on the top and a rabbit on the bottom. I looked for those characters you mentioned and don't see them. It seems not only is my machine now 4 years old but my sources for 3D are too. It is worth reading though you may have trouble trying to articulate through the examples as they may use software not available to you in terms of it's way of forming a character. You can still enjoy the work of the pioneers but may feel left out by progress. Read the chapter on light if you read no others. Basic Rendering Concepts could be next. It is important to know why 3D leads to 2D and how 2D does not lead to 3D.

I've never made it through Tolkein (don't flame me but Kafka seems a breeze by comparison to me). Those hobbits just never became a habit with me. :( But, Shoshanna, I love your essays on the frustrations of real life. You're a gem.

No flames from me. I'm a huge (literally) Tolkien fan, but I'd have to say the second most difficult book I've ever read was The Silmarillion. The fact that it's available as an audio book sure helped. :-) jon

You READ the Silmarillion? Thats like trying to read a text book for fun. I thought it was a doorstop for Tolkien fans, at least that is what I used my copy for :-) dialyn, you are my favourite person on Renderosity:-) Shanna :-) reading the Hobbit since 1976....one day I'll even finish it ;-)

never got past the low 20's in the Silmarillon..;) I dunno.. there's so much to choose from. Actually, (and don't go ballistic here, I read allsorts of weird books) was Mein Kampf..translated..if half of the folks in the 30's had actually read this, they would have locked up this head case years before he could do any damage..took 3 months (heck the bible took 4, but at least it made more sense..;)

A boy gave me "Mein Kampf" to read when I was young. He had read it and was impressed by it's authority. I was unable to get past the drivel on the first page. He became a Phd. in Psychology and an MP in Korea. He once said he could pass any test as he could write better questions than anyone had so far. My son was reading Nietsche with his girl friend in college and I became alarmed. Today I am reading a book."The Mansion ON The Hill" 'Dylan, Geffen, Springsteen and the head-on collision of Rock and Commerce.' It has a record producer named Nitsche in it. Maybe that is who he was looking for.

In college I read most of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Stern, and if you don't know why that's an accomplishment, you need to try to find a copy. In the same semester, I had to read Charles Dickens, Tobias Smollett, and Daniel Defoe plus a couple of other authors whose names I don't recall at this moment. I never made it through normally acknowledged classics such as Ulysses by James Joyce, but I somehow ended up studying "The Castle of Perseverance" and "Ralph Roiser Doister" in once class, "Shahname" in another, and (on my own) "The tale of Genji" (in translation, of course...my grasp on other languages has always been meager). I don't read very much anymore. I'm not proud of that fact. I just don't enjoy it as I once did.

ok, yeah , I'm behind. sorry (blush) let's see... first -- Shoshanna, one of the benefits of being unemployed and an ex-employee of a borders is sitting down and reading books without paying for them. For days. Comfortably. While the kids are entertained. That book is well worth the read -- especially the information on lighting and set design type stuff. :) And I agree -- you write the best "everyday" stuff! I take pointers from ya! lol The Silmarillion is actually my favorite Tolkien book. lol. Something about the massive tragedy of all those people over a bunch of gems... and then the rise and fall of Numenor... oh my -- I've not only read it, I've committed it to memory on at least two occasions (thank heavens I'm forgetfull). I've read it about 5 or 6 more times than the trilogy and the hobbit. Hardest book I ever read... Dune. No, wait, can't say that. Never finished it. (now there's cause for flames!) In fact, the only reason I have a clue about what happens is because of the movies about it. And I hear they sorta leave chunks out... Made it through war and peace, but I was confined to bed. No! I know! It was a set of early arthurian romance works, prior to the collection by Mallory, in Old English and French. I still can read a good chunk of old english without thinking to hard about it, but most of the french faded. Kept the dictionaries, though. Took three months for about 150 pages or so, I think. Borrowed microfiche from some library in London or something (hey, it's been about 18 years or so). I still read, but not near as much as I used to. Time was I had three books going at once! I need to get a copy of Genji...

Oh, "Dune"...I never made it through either the book or the movie. There was something about those worms that I just couldn't take seriously. And Dune lovers don't appreciate inappropriate snickering. I have to admit, I'm just not strong on epic books. I much prefer more domestic reading...maybe I just have a faulty imagination. I read the "Peace" part of "War and Peace"...I just alternated through the book and left out the battles. I am so weird. I've read Beowulf and Tales of Chaucer, and various versions of the King Arthur stories. I've always had a love of legend and lore over science fiction and fantasy. Funny that I make a distinction, isn't it?

Attached Link: http://home.earthlink.net/~dstoner1/Stonor%20to%20Stoner%20Word%20link.htm

I've read Kingsford's "Stonor Letters and Papers, 1290-1483" I found it digging very deep to discover the source of such venomous blacklisting of the term "stoner" which impacted me severely in the 1970's intelligence investigations. I finally got the book and since have found that the Stonors were attainted in the reign of Richard II ,of Lancaster, who had the sons of Edward IV ,of York, killed in the Tower of London and attainted all of that former kings supporters. It begins with John De Stonore the First High Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas and is in a mix of Latin and Old French. Slowly it evolves to Old English mostly in the ladies letters. It is dry in some places expressing household accounts in l, s, d. (That is pounds schillings and pence.) This was all in Roman numerals and led to my discovering that the use of "j" in Roman numerals denotes the last character "i" in a numeral not a separate (and for me unknown) value. The War of Roses is more excitingly told in books I've gotten since on The Henrys and the Edwards as various on Knighthood and Castles andthe Great Fire of London during Charles II's reign .

Dune wasn't so bad after the 6th time I started it. Took nearly 10 years to get to that point however. Enjoyed War and Peace. Nice distraction from the psych course I was taking at the time. Absolute worst book, in my opinion, is Moby Dick. It's been sitting in one of my "junk" drawers for 14 years - right where it belongs. I just can't bring myself to finish the last 40 or so pages. I turned to Homer instead.