Reviewing Inside 3ds Max 7 (Reviewed by: Rafiq R. Elmansy)

Before I started reading the Inside 3ds Max 7 book, I had read the authors biography. Most of them got a long history with 3ds Max, which makes this book a must-read experience.

 

The authors described each tool in the program and showed its strength without focusing on a specific production process, which makes this book suitable for all 3ds Max users in many fields.

 

The Inside 3ds Max 7 is for intermediate and advanced users. So, if you are new with 3ds Max, try to get a basic background before start reading this book to be able to acquire all the experience included in the book. The 3ds Max 7 book gives you a great experience with the program features that make you able to do professional tricks and effects.

 

The first part of the book shows what is new in 3ds Max 7 concerning each feature. And the following parts go deeper in program features to fully cover the program tools.

 

The 3ds Max book is a great book and will surely give you a solid experience with the program and its features.

 

Product Details:

Book Name: Inside 3ds Max 7

Written by: Sean Bonney

Publisher: New Riders Press

ISBN: 0735713871

Reviewing The Comupter in The Visual Arts (Reviewed by: Rafiq R. Elmansy)

            In her book "The Computer in the Visual Arts" , Anne Morgan filled the gap between computer concept and art concept for those who want to use computer in visual arts or miss the computer graphic concepts, while being more concern in learning tools and graphic software.

 

This book takes you through the history of graphic design and how the new technology comes to life with new concepts in all the computer graphic fields; like printing, 2D and 3D graphics, and how these concepts are related to develop the computer hardware and tools.

 

The title is accurate in delivering the idea included in the book. I find "The Computer in the Visual Arts" useful for beginner and advanced users of the computer graphics either for the visual arts or the commercial proposes.

 

The "The Computer in the Visual Art" book consists of 12 chapters. Anne started her book with a brief history of the computer art in the first chapter and concerned in chapters 2 and 4 with the 2D graphics, while the 3 ^rd chapter was about the computer hardware used in the computer graphics. The color concepts are covered in 5^th chapter and the concepts of the printing are described in the 6^th chapter.

 

The 3D concepts are described in the 7^th, 8^th and 9^th chapters, the video concepts are described in the 10 ^th chapter and the multimedia and interactivity are covered in chapter 11. Anne did not miss to mention some of the general concepts of the web in chapter 12.

In the end of the book, Anne included a conclusion and two appendixes about the modern art periods and computer theory.

 

Also, Anne included a very useful illustration to describe computer concepts. Moreover, she comprised an interesting gallery of computer graphics samples.

 

Although it is hard to include all the concepts of the fields mentioned in this book, Anne described some important concepts in each field in a simple way, which pushes me to think of reading more of her books.

 

For me as a graphic designer, I did not find the chance to go that much deeper in the computer graphic concepts, while being more concern in learning tools and graphic software. And when I wanted to know more about the computer concepts, I did not find many books concern about this issue, till I got this book, which was a good opportunity to fill what I miss in the computer graphic concept with the interesting way Anne used.

 

So, if you are a beginner in computer graphic field and got this book, then it is a good chance for you to know a general knowledge about the different computer concepts in many fields.

 

Product Details:

Book Name: The Comupter in The Visual Arts 

Written by: Anne Morgan Spalter

Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional

ISBN: 0201386003