Animate the world around you! Follow along with veteran Disney effects artist Mauro Maressa as he teaches you how to create and animate natural phenomena like water, fire, smoke, lightning, lava, mud, and wind. Essential Effects will help you plan, draw, design, and animate traditional 2D effects, taking your ideas all the way from rough sketch to finished product. Using a series of full-color visual breakdowns and diagrams, this book gives you a clear, concise understanding of what it takes to create credible, compelling effects in your own projects. Key Features Build a strong foundation of observation and drawing skills that you can rely on for the rest of your career Tips and tricks for applying classic effects principles to computer-animated and CG projects Over 400 full-color images and diagrams for clear step-by-step learning

From a steamy jungle to a modern city, or even a sci-fi space station, 3D Game Environments is the ultimate resource to help you create AAA quality art for a variety of game worlds. Primarily using Photoshop and 3ds Max, students will learn to create realistic textures from photo source and a variety of techniques to portray dynamic and believable game worlds. With detailed tutorials on creating 3D models, applying 2D art to 3D models, and clear concise advice on issues of efficiency and optimization for a 3D game engine, Luke Ahearn gives you everything students need to make their own realistic game environments. Key Features The entire game world development process; from planning to 3D modeling, UV layout, and creating textures. Exercises and projects to practice with; each section includes projects to guide you through creating different world genres. The updated companion website-www.lukeahearn.com/textures/ now includes video tutorials in addition to updated sample textures, shaders, materials, actions, brushes, program demos, plug-ins and all art from the book-all the tools you need in one place.

Design Computing will help you understand the rapidly evolving relationship between computing, designers, and the many different environments they create or work in. The book introduces the topic of design computing, and covers the basics of hardware and software, so you don't need to be an expert. Topics include the fundamentals of digital representation, programming and interfaces for design; the shifting landscape of opportunity and expectation in practice and pedagogy; placing sensors in buildings to measure performance; and the challenge of applying information effectively in design. The book also includes additional reading for those who wish to dig deeper into the subject. Design Computing will provide you with a greater awareness of the issues that permeate the field, opportunities for you to investigate, and perhaps motivation to push the boundaries.

Hybrid Drawing Techniques: Design Process and Presentation reaffirms the value of traditional hand drawing in the design process by demonstrating how to integrate it with digital techniques; enhancing and streamlining the investigative process while at the same time yielding superior presentation images. This book is a foundations guide to both approaches: sketching, hardline drawing, perspective drawing, digital applications, and Adobe Photoshop; providing step-by-step demonstrations and examples from a variety of professional and student work for using and combining traditional and digital tools. Also included are sections addressing strategies for using color, composition and light to further enhance one's drawings. An eResource offers copyright free images for download that includes: tonal patterns, watercolor fields, people, trees, and skies.

Written for the new generation of hobbyists and aspiring game developers, HTML5 Game Development from the Ground Up with Construct 2 shows you how to use the sophisticated yet user-friendly HTML5-based game engine Construct 2 to develop and release polished, two-dimensional games on a multitude of different platforms. The book also covers the foundational knowledge of game analysis and design based on the author's research and teaching experiences at DigiPen Institute of Technology, James Cook University, and other institutions. The author first helps you understand what really matters in games. He guides you in becoming a better game designer from the ground up, being able to play any game critically, and expressing your ideas in a clear and concise format. The book then presents step-by-step tutorials on designing games. It explains how to build an arcade-style game as well as a platformer integrating some physics elements. It also shows you how to create a more complex puzzle game-the author's own published game, Turky on the Run. Lastly, the book discusses different ways to deploy and monetize games across several platforms, including Facebook, iOS, Android, and web-based marketplaces. Sample Construct 2 project files for the games designed in the book are available on the author's website. Integrating hands-on guidance with theoretical game design concepts, this book gives you a solid foundation in game development. It will help you advance in your journey as an indie game developer.

Whether you are creating an animated short, catchy and fun cartoon or mobile game, save time and money with expert cheats by renowned Flash Expert, Chris Georgenes with all new content for the Flash CS6 revision. With practical applications and step by step tutorials solve problems quickly to develop creative projects to time and to budget. Many of these walkthroughs are real-world client projects, with the source files supplied for you to open and explore. With these real-life professional projects you'll discover how to: bring objects to life with cool motion effects, make it rain, snow or set your world ablaze, develop flash mobile applications and many more tips and tricks not found anywhere else With his in-depth knowledge of the little-known secrets used by the pros to produce creative, professional animations, Chris is the go-to guru for designers and animators who want to create great animation, applications or motion design with Flash. Fully updated for CS6, How to Cheat in Flash CS6, is a goldmine of artistic inspiration, timesaving practical tips, tricks and step-by-step walkthroughs that you'll wonder how you survived without it. New CS6 cheats and examples with practical solutions for the busy animator with a focus on Action Script, Flash for mobile applications, specifically for Android development, as well as a focus on an improved physics engine. Put the Adobe Flash CS6 cheats to the test with the fully updated companion website with downloadable Flash source files, examples and video tutorials, and a creative commons game, developed with Adobe, to demonstrate the new functionality of CS6 * Work over the shoulder of Chris Georgenes, renowned Flash expert and explore the myriad of tips and tricks based on real-life working methods to help you work faster and more efficiently and to budget * Gain the best possible results from problem to the solution for your animated shorts, cartoons or mobile application developme

Design and Implementation of 3D Graphics Systems covers the computational aspects of geometric modeling and rendering 3D scenes. Special emphasis is given to the architectural aspects of interactive graphics, geometric modeling, rendering techniques, the graphics pipeline, and the architecture of 3D graphics systems. The text describes basic 3D computer graphics algorithms and their implementation in the C language. The material is complemented by library routines for constructing graphics systems, which are available for download from the book's website. This book, along with its companion Computer Graphics: Theory and Practice, gives readers a full understanding of the principles and practices of implementing 3D graphics systems.

After Effects (AE) is the most commonly used application in the postproduction field. It is commonly referred to as "Photoshop on wheels." AE is the dominant application of its ilk with an estimated user base of 1.25 million users. A plug-in is a computer program that interacts with a host application to provide certain functionality to the software. The right one can dramatically expand the look or sound of a video project. 3rd party plug-ins are programs developed by companies other than the company that developed the software's OS. After Effects has extensive plug-in support, and a broad range of 3rd party plug-ins are available (several hundred), such as particle systems for realistic effects for rain, snow, or fire, tools for cropping footage or adding motion blur, twisting and shattering layers in 3D space, and much more. Surveys show that the vast majority of AE users heavily use 3rd party plug-ins, and this trend has and will continue to increase. This 4c book is the first to cover how, when, and why an AE user should use a specific 3rd party plug-in. From sexy effects and graphics enhancements to workflow automation and file conversion, it's all covered.The DVD features video tutorials, plug-in demos, video interviews with vendors and users, as well as video samples of the plug-ins. Also available is a free companion website with rolling plug-in updates, links to sample movies on YouTube, and more.

Digital technology has made animation simpler, faster, and easier than ever before. New tools have broadened the palette available to both beginners and experienced animators. "Basics Animation: Digital Animation" looks at the history of the medium, charting its progress by looking at specific examples that document the growth and development of the form over the past fifty years. With contributions from pioneers of the medium as well as today's leading animators in movies, games, and television, "Digital Animation" is an animated look at animation yesterday and today.
* Explores key principles and processes of animation
* Readable and informative
* Interviews and art from artists, animators, filmmakers, and more from around the world

John Funge introduces a new approach to creating autonomous characters. Cognitive modeling provides computer-animated characters with logic, reasoning, and planning skills. Individual chapters in the book provide concrete examples of advanced character animation, automated cinematography, and a real-time computer game. Source code, animations, images, and other resources are available at the book's website, listed below.

Animating with Stop Motion Pro is comprehensive, hands-on guide to achieving professional results with Stop Motion Pro 7.0 software. Gone are the days of stop motion guesswork and waiting to see the finalized result of your meticulous, labor intensive animations. With the push of a mouse button and the Stop Motion Pro software, animators have ten times the capability of simple camera stop motion capture. Re-visualize stop motion character movements, graph these movements and composite characters into a flawless animations with the techniques and step by step tutorials featured in Animating with Stop Motion Pro. Create professional stop motion animation immediately with detailed exercises at the companion website:

www.focalpress.com/cw/sawicki-9780240812199/. Integrate classic stop motion animation techniques with the latest stop motion software features.