Blender is a powerful and free 3D graphics tool used by artists and designers worldwide. But even experienced designers can find it challenging to turn an idea into a polished piece.For those who have struggled to create professional quality projects in Blender, author Ben Simonds offers this peek inside his studio. You'll learn how to create 3D models as you explore the creative process that he uses to model three example projects: a muscular bat creature, a futuristic robotic spider, and ancient temple ruins. Along the way, you'll master the Blender interface and learn how to create and refine your own models.You'll also learn how to: Work with reference and concept art in Blender and GIMP to make starting projects easierBlock in models with simple geometry and build up more complex formsUse Blender's powerful sculpting brushes to create detailed organic modelsPaint textures with Blender and GIMP and map them onto your 3D artworkDesign textures in GIMP and map them onto your 3D artworkLight, render, and composite your models to create striking imagesEach chapter walks you through a piece of the modeling process and offers detailed explanations of the tools and concepts used. Filled with full-color artwork and real-world tips, "Blender Master Class" gives you the foundation you need to create your own stunning masterpieces.Supplementary download includes files for each project in the book, as wellas extra textures, brushes, and other resources.Covers Blender 2.6x

The book builds up a complete project from scratch and demonstrates the power of DAZ to create life-like characters. The book is replete with detailed examples and instructions on creating a tailor-made marvel out of scratch.This book can be used by anybody who has DAZ Studio 4, regardless of their level of familiarity with the program or the concepts of 3D art.

Written in cookbook style, this book offers many recipes to learn digital sculpting with Mudbox. Each recipe contains step-by-step instructions followed by analysis of what was done in each task and other useful information. The book is designed so that you can read it chapter by chapter, or you can look at the list of recipes and refer to them in no particular order,This book is for 3D modelers and texture artists who are, or would like to be, working in the games, movies, product design, television, medical imaging, or advertising industries. By learning the techniques in this book you will be able to create "next gen" assets for the game industry, create realistic creatures and sets for movies, and add the fine details needed for medical images and animations. Whether you are an Environment Artist or a Character Artist there is much to learn from this book.

The book takes a clear, step-by-step approach to building a complete game level using SketchUp with many props and textures. This book is designed for anyone who wants to create entire 3D worlds in freely available game engines such as Unity 3D, CryEngine, Ogre, Panda3D, Unreal Engine, and Blender Game Engine. It also targets all those who wish to create new levels and assets to sell in game asset stores or use in visualization or animation.

Step by step illustrated tutorials are supported by a focused commentary. The examples are designed to proceed from starting to model through model finishing to putting models to work within projects and presentation. The book shows both - the entire flow of asset creation and granular methodology. This book will appeal to anyone interested in 3D modeling who wants to improve their speed modeling ability, particularly artists whose work is relevant to industries where hard surface modeling or model prototyping is required, such as games, films, or visualization.

Everything you need to know about developing hardware-accelerated 3D graphics with WebGL

As the newest technology for creating 3D graphics on the web, in both games, applications, and on regular websites, WebGL gives web developers the capability to produce eye-popping graphics. This book teaches you how to use WebGL to create stunning cross-platform apps. The book features several detailed examples that show you how to develop 3D graphics with WebGL, including explanations of code snippets that help you understand the why behind the how.

You will also develop a stronger understanding of WebGL development from coverage that:

-Provides a comprehensive overview of WebGL and shows how it relates to other graphics-related technologies-Addresses important topics such as the WebGL graphics pipeline, 3D transformations, texturing and lighting -Teaches you how to write vertex shaders and fragment shaders for WebGL -Includes a lot of useful guidelines, tips, and tricks for WebGL performance optimizations

Professional WebGL Programming is the first book on the market to delve into this fascinating topic and it puts you on your way to mastering the possibilities that exist with WebGL.

Learn BIM the Revit Way

Revit is Autodesk's industry-leading Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, and this Autodesk Official Training Guide thoroughly covers core Revit topics such as modeling, massing, sustainability, and more. It also brings you up to speed on advanced techniques such as using Revit in the cloud and how to go direct to fabrication.

Organized by real-world workflows, this book covers the interface, templates, worksharing, modeling and massing, visualization techniques for different industries, sustainability, roofs and floors, stairs and railings, documentation, and much more.This Autodesk Official Training Guide teaches you how to use the leading BIM software and also serves as a study aid for Autodesk's Certified Associate and Certified Professional exams Organized according to actual workflows, the book begins with an explanation of key BIM concepts, familiarizes you with the interface, and then moves into actual application Covers modeling and massing, the Family Editor, visualization techniques for various industries, documentation, annotation and detailing, and how to work with complex walls, roofs, floors, stairs, and railings Companion website features before-and-after tutorial files, so readers can jump in at any point

"Mastering Autodesk Revit Architecture" helps you learn Revit in a context that makes real-world sense.

This book is an example-driven introduction to OGRE 3D. Each example shows some new features and you learn step-by-step to create complex scenes with different effects using OGRE 3D. After several examples discussing one topic there is a do-it-yourself part where you will be challenged to solve problems on your own. If you have ever wanted to develop 3D applications with OGRE 3D, this example-driven book will enable you to do so. Understanding of C++ is needed to follow the examples in the book.

Each chapter in the book follows a themed approach to creating materials using the new Blender 2.5 features. As you read through each chapter you will learn approaches to create materials and textures. These materials and textures will help you to create a flawless simulation of real-world objects. You need not read the chapters in any particular order to learn to use the Blender 3D suite for materials simulation appropriately. Every recipe in this book will enable you to create a usable material or texture effect as well as teaching you techniques that save your time. If you are a Graphics Designer looking to master the features for materials and textures to create realistic looking models in Blender, then this book is for you. It can be read by both beginners and experienced Blender users; however, prior understanding of object creation and manipulation in Blender would be an advantage. This is a must-read for Blender users who want to learn the concepts and at the same time experiment with the different Blender Material and texture functions.

The first book to explain the principals behind mobile 3D hardware implementation, helping readers understand advanced algorithms, produce low-cost, low-power SoCs, or become familiar with embedded systems

As mobile broadcasting and entertainment applications evolve, there is increasing interest in 3D graphics within the field of mobile electronics, particularly for handheld devices. In "Mobile 3D Graphics SoC," Yoo provides a comprehensive understanding of the algorithms of mobile 3D graphics and their real chip implementation methods. 3D graphics SoC (System on a Chip) architecture and its interaction with embedded system software are explained with numerous examples. Yoo divides the book into three sections: general methodology of low power SoC, design of low power 3D graphics SoC, and silicon implementation of 3D graphics SoCs and their application to mobile electronics. Full examples are presented at various levels such as system level design and circuit level optimization along with design technology. Yoo incorporates many real chip examples, including many commercial 3D graphics chips, and provides cross-comparisons of various architectures and their performance. Furthermore, while advanced 3D graphics techniques are well understood and supported by industry standards, this is less true in the emerging mobile applications and games market. This book redresses this imbalance, providing an in-depth look at the new OpenGL ES (The Standard for Embedded Accelerated 3D Graphics), and shows what these new embedded systems graphics libraries can provide for 3D graphics and games developers.

" The authors] are pioneers. . . . Few in our industry have their breadth of knowledge and experience."
--From the Foreword by Dave Thomas, Bedarra Labs

Domain-Specific Modeling (DSM) is the latest approach to software development, promising to greatly increase the speed and ease of software creation. Early adopters of DSM have been enjoying productivity increases of 500-1000% in production for over a decade. This book introduces DSM and offers examples from various fields to illustrate to experienced developers how DSM can improve software development in their teams.

Two authorities in the field explain what DSM is, why it works, and how to successfully create and use a DSM solution to improve productivity and quality. Divided into four parts, the book covers: background and motivation; fundamentals; in-depth examples; and creating DSM solutions. There is an emphasis throughout the book on practical guidelines for implementing DSM, including how to identify the necessary language constructs, how to generate full code from models, and how to provide tool support for a new DSM language. The example cases described in the book are available the book's Website, www.dsmbook.com, along with, an evaluation copy of the MetaEdit+ tool (for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux), which allows readers to examine and try out the modeling languages and code generators.

Domain-Specific Modeling is an essential reference for lead developers, software engineers, architects, methodologists, and technical managers who want to learn how to create a DSM solution and successfully put it into practice.

Thoroughly revised, this third edition focuses on modern techniques used to generate synthetic three-dimensional images in a fraction of a second. With the advent of programmable shaders, a wide variety of new algorithms have arisen and evolved over the past few years. This edition discusses current, practical rendering methods used in games and other applications. It also presents a solid theoretical framework and relevant mathematics for the field of interactive computer graphics, all in an approachable style. The authors have made the figures used in the book available for download for fair use.: Download Figures

This unique book covers the whole field of electronic warfare modeling and simulation at a systems level, including chapters that describe basic electronic warfare (EW) concepts. Written by a well-known expert in the field with more than 24 years of experience, the book explores EW applications and techniques and the radio frequency spectrum, with primary emphasis on HF (high frequency) to microwave. A detailed resource for entry-level engineering personnel in EW, military personnel with no radio or communications engineering background, technicians and software professionals, the work helps you understand the basic concepts required for modeling and simulation, as well as fidelity and other practical aspects of simulation design and application. You get clear explanations of important mathematical concepts, such as decibel notation and spherical trigonometry. This informative reference explains how to facilitate the generation of realistic computer models of EW equipment. Moreover, it describes specific types of EW equipment, how they work and how each is mathematically modeled. The book concludes with a description of the various types of models and simulations and the ways they are applied to training and equipment testing tasks.

In today's fashion industry, the traditional skills of forecasting, cutting, sewing and drafting are no longer enough. Students must be able to transform their two-dimensional plans into computer-generated images. From Pencil to Pen Tool: Understanding Creating the Digital Fashion Image teaches Adobe PhotoShop CS and Illustrator CS techniques applicable to both fashion students entering the field and established fashion-industry professionals seeking to stay current with technology. This book includes technical instruction about sketching and image production, as well as practical advice about creating a computer-generated portfolio and entering the fashion marketplace. Instructor's Guide available on request

If you are a data analyst in search of a systematic work process that will increase your efficiency, adequately document your results, and ensure that your work can be replicated, then this book is for you. The approach outlined in this book is straight forward yet comprehensive in scope, flexible in how it can be used, practical, and filled with dozens of examples using the SAS(R) System. By using the approach and standards described in the book, you will be able to confidently and accurately answer the following questions related to each of your data analysis projects: through 9 provide an overview of the author''s vision for a systematic approach to analytic work. The Appendix contains three comprehensive (yet relatively simple) case studies that apply the concepts and bring them to life.

"Connectionism" is a "hands on" introduction to connectionist modeling through practical exercises in different types of connectionist architectures.
explores three different types of connectionist architectures - distributed associative memory, perceptron, and multilayer perceptron
provides a brief overview of each architecture, a detailed introduction on how to use a program to explore this network, and a series of practical exercises that are designed to highlight the advantages, and disadvantages, of each
accompanied by a website at http: //www.bcp.psych.ualberta.ca/ mike/Book3/ that includes practice exercises and software, as well as the files and blank exercise sheets required for performing the exercises
designed to be used as a stand-alone volume or alongside "Minds and Machines: Connectionism and Psychological Modeling" (by Michael R.W. Dawson, Blackwell 2004)

The Finite Element Method (FEM) has become an indispensable technology for the modelling and simulation of engineering systems. Written for engineers and students alike, the aim of the book is to provide the necessary theories and techniques of the FEM for readers to be able to use a commercial FEM package to solve primarily linear problems in mechanical and civil engineering with the main focus on structural mechanics and heat transfer.
Fundamental theories are introduced in a straightforward way, and state-of-the-art techniques for designing and analyzing engineering systems, including microstructural systems are explained in detail. Case studies are used to demonstrate these theories, methods, techniques and practical applications, and numerous diagrams and tables are used throughout.
The case studies and examples use the commercial software package ABAQUS, but the techniques explained are equally applicable for readers using other applications including NASTRAN, ANSYS, MARC, etc.
Full sets of PowerPoint slides developed by the authors for their course on FEM are available as a free download from a companion website.
* A practical and accessible guide to this complex, yet important subject
* Covers modeling techniques that predict how components will operate and tolerate loads, stresses and strains in reality
* Full set of PowerPoint presentation slides which illustrate and support the book are available on a companion website.

Much research focuses on the question of how information is processed in nervous systems, from the level of individual ionic channels to large-scale neuronal networks, and from "simple" animals such as sea slugs and flies to cats and primates. New interdisciplinary methodologies combine a bottom-up experimental methodology with the more top-down-driven computational and modeling approach. This book serves as a handbook of computational methods and techniques for modeling the functional properties of single and groups of nerve cells.The contributors highlight several key trends: (1) the tightening link between analytical/numerical models and the associated experimental data, (2) the broadening of modeling methods, at both the subcellular level and the level of large neuronal networks that incorporate real biophysical properties of neurons as well as the statistical properties of spike trains, and (3) the organization of the data gained by physical emulation of the nervous system components through the use of very large scale circuit integration (VLSI) technology.The field of neuroscience has grown dramatically since the first edition of this book was published nine years ago. Half of the chapters of the second edition are completely new; the remaining ones have all been thoroughly revised. Many chapters provide an opportunity for interactive tutorials and simulation programs. They can be accessed via Christof Koch's Website.Contributors: Larry F. Abbott, Paul R. Adams, Hagai Agmon-Snir, James M. Bower, Robert E. Burke, Erik de Schutter, Alain Destexhe, Rodney Douglas, Bard Ermentrout, Fabrizio Gabbiani, David Hansel, Michael Hines, Christof Koch, Misha Mahowald, Zachary F. Mainen, Eve Marder, Michael V. Mascagni, Alexander D. Protopapas, Wilfrid Rall, John Rinzel, Idan Segev, Terrence J. Sejnowski, Shihab Shamma, Arthur S. Sherman, Paul Smolen, Haim Sompolinsky, Michael Vanier, Walter M. Yamada.

Now you can make exciting digital movies using this easy-to-use and information-packed resource. Covering all editing basics, as well as serious film-making techniques, you will be able to successfully apply visual effects and control sound with pinpoint accuracy-- and deliver digital stories you never thought possible.

Since its founding in 1989 by Terrence Sejnowski, Neural Computation has become the leading journal in the field. Foundations of Neural Computationcollects, by topic, the most significant papers that have appeared in the journal over the past nine years.This volume of Foundations of Neural Computation, on unsupervised learning algorithms, focuses on neural network learning algorithms that do not require an explicit teacher. The goal of unsupervised learning is to extract an efficient internal representation of the statistical structure implicit in the inputs. These algorithms provide insights into the development of the cerebral cortex and implicit learning in humans. They are also of interest to engineers working in areas such as computer vision and speech recognition who seek efficient representations of raw input data.

"Provides a lot of reading pleasure and many new insights." —Journal of Molecular Structure

"This is the most entertaining, stimulating and useful book which can be thoroughly recommended to anyone with an interest in computer simulation." —Contemporary Physics

"A very useful introduction . . . more interesting to read than the often dry equation-based texts." —Journal of the American Chemical Society

Written especially for the novice, Molecular Dynamics Simulation demonstrates how molecular dynamics simulations work and how to perform them, focusing on how to devise a model for specific molecules and then how to simulate their movements using a computer. This book provides a collection of methods that until now have been scattered through the literature of the last 25 years. It reviews elements of sampling theory and discusses how modern notions of chaos and nonlinear dynamics explain the workings of molecular dynamics.

Stresses easy-to-use molecules

• Provides sample calculations and figures
• Includes four complete FORTRAN codes

How does a bird flock keep its movements so graceful and synchronized? Most people assume that the bird in front leads and the others follow. In fact, bird flocks don't have leaders: they are organized without an organizer, coordinated without a coordinator. And a surprising number of other systems, from termite colonies to traffic jams to economic systems, work the same decentralized way. Turtles, Termites, and Traffic Jams describes innovative new computational tools that can qhelp people (even young children) explore the workings of such systems--and help them move beyond the centralized mindset.

Since 1977, Hofstadter, the author of Godel, Escher, Bach, and his students have been developing computer models of discovery, creation, and analogical thought. What has emerged is a sophisticated and unorthodox vision of the mind in which perception, at an abstract level, is the key: perception of situations, of patterns, of patterns among patterns. This book conveys this bold vision to a broad public. Illustrations.

Extremely easy-to-follow due to its natural progression tutorial approach on how to advance from the solution of typical electrical and electronic circuit examples by hand, followed by a SPICE verification through the discussion of simulation results. The first part contains relevant data about SPICE in order to analyze both linear passive and electronic circuits. The latter half provides more detail on such topics as distortion models and analysis, basic algorithms in SPICE, analysis option parameters and how to direct SPICE to find a solution when it fails.