Bookshelf

Vue7 From the Ground Up offers a pretty comprehensive guide to Vue7 and is targeted at beginner to immediate level users. The book authors offer many free video tutorials at geekatplay.com

The book offers full colour images on good quality paper.

The books companion website has several files for download including handy reference guides and example files for all tutorials within the book.

If you are intermediate or advanced user you may find the book a little light on advanced content which is understandable, however if you are new you will gain a great deal of valuable knowledge from reading and following the tutorials, and like any good reference book, returning to it from time to time to cement your understanding.

I have watched perhaps dozens of their excellent free online tutorials, and to me purchasing this book was also a small way of saying thanks for the hours & hours of effort the authors have put into helping the Vue community.

Digital lighting and rendering

Jeremy Burns classic title is one of the most famous ‘Bibles’ of the 3D world, offering a very solid grounding in important concepts sure to improve your lighting and rendering techniques. Instead of being software specific and alienating people who don’t have a particular program, the author explain’s the ‘why’ instead of the how.

Another reviewer made this comment on Amazon:

The book is a must have for several reasons:

1. Rather than addressing “how-to” scenarios for one specific software suite, the book begins with the fundamental issue of “why”, and provides solid principles that can be addressed in a practical manner by users of every major software package.
2. Detailed colored photos fill the book from cover to cover, providing the reader with practical examples for every situation addressed in the book.
3. Every chapter ends with a review and practical exercises for the reader to complete to gain experience in the topic covered. Additionally, by visiting 3drender.com, readers can download additional scenes to light.
4. Cameras and texturing, while not necessarily falling into the lighting category, are covered in detail in the book. Birn provides tips such as texture map baking and other solutions designed to reduce render time while maintaining a scene’s complexity.
5. Common errors or difficulties are reproduced and explained in depth.