Unique, believable characters that think, feel, and captivate your audience are ones that involve emotion, personality, and story. Successful animators balance all of these elements within a single character and narrative. With Acting and Performance for Animation, discover how to create dynamic, dramatic performances and believable character interaction for 2D and 3D animation and motion capture. An invaluable resource, Acting and Performance for Animation is a practical guide to the variety of performance techniques relevant to animators. Develop believable character interactions with chapters detailing the principles of performance, performance types, character emotion and personality, physical and psychological performance, and scene composition. Analyze scripts, sound, acting, action and performance with hints, tips, and animated examples featured in an extensive guide for animators working in film, TV, games, and commercials. Explore different performance techniques based upon the experiences of seasoned animators and actors with case studies featuring Peter Lord, John Stevenson, Marco Marenghi, Mark Baker, Neville Astley, Joanna Quinn, and more.

Master the fundamental concepts and techniques of motion media design so you can apply--and occasionally break--the rules to achieve your communication goals. This authoritative guide presents all of the design essentials in an engaging and inspiring way. Each principle is explained with text, illustration and photography where necessary. An accompanying website will contain any necessary digital files for download, updates and links to other resources.

The Maya guide for animators, How to Cheat in Maya 2012 presents everything you need to know about character animation in Maya. Fully updated for the latest revision of Maya, this book provides you with complete, step-by-step walkthroughs of essential animation techniques to increase your efficiency and speed. This is an animator's workflow in book form, written by professional animators-not a software book with a few animation pointers thrown in.In addition to all the gold-mine coverage and interviews with expert animators from the previous edition, How to Cheat in Maya 2012 also features a new in-depth chapter on the principles of animation, updated information on camera settings and animation using Maya's new Camera Sequencer tool, the ins and outs of the brand new Editable Motion Trails tool, new techniques for working with characters in multi-shot animation tests and short films, a new cycles chapter covering actions like flying and walks, time-saving scripts, and advanced tricks with the new Graph Editor. The proven "How to Cheat" series gets you up to speed quickly, and in a way that's fun.

Learn how to model comic-stylea Pixar with the expert techniques found in 3ds Max Modeling for Games Volume 2: Insider's Guide to Stylized Modeling. This new volume will show you the ins-and-outs of stylized modeling, including characters, vehicles, environments, and much more. Follow the story of cover characters Robert and Robot as their adventure takes you through the world of modeling, vegetation, alpha-maps, and much more! This book is also packed with highly detailed tutorials feared toward enhancing your modeling skills and expanding your portfolio. The companion website (www.3d-for-games.com) is unique - an online forum where readers can post and answer questions about their work. In terms of developing a portfolio, online peer critiques are invaluable, and current readers have made use of this feature, in fact some have happily become the forum responders (along with Andy) to coach and develop new artists at work. Also included: step-by-step project files for each chapter; all the relevant texture files and source photos; panoramic skies, small scene objects, bonus texture maps and models so that artists can create whole scenes very quickly without starting from scratch each time; countless examples of what's hot and what's not in 3D modeling and also enough support images and photos to keep the budding artist busy for months. Unrivalled support in over 10,000 current posts - backing up the book with a lively forum and community of readers from all over the world, ready to help your work.

Learn how to create professional models for advertising on TV and the web. Blending real-world experience and the technical aspects of poly-modeling, this book shows how to ultimately create content in a dynamic, efficient manner.This collection of tips, tricks and techniques will give you the freedom to determine the edge flow and overall mass of your models through this free-form digital sculpting method. The accompanying website offers instructional files that show the models in progressive stages of development. In addition there is a free user forum for interactive feedback and information.

With 18 years under his belt in the game industry, a key contributor to the MotorStorm series, and the creator of the 3ds Max in Minutes video series (at FocalPress.com), Andrew Gahan delivers the expert techniques in 3ds Max Modeling for Games, 2nd edition. This updated edition is packed with new tutorials that will enhance your modeling skills and pump up your portfolio with high-quality work in no time. Along with Anthony O'Donnell and a team of experts, Gahan covers all of the fundamental game modeling techniques, including character and environment modeling, mapping, and texturing. Finally, a bonus section in 3ds Max Modeling for Games offers readers insights and tips on how to get their careers started in the game industry. New, expanded tutorials take readers of all abilities through full character and environment modeling from beginning to endCompanion website (3d-for-games.com) offers a robust, supportive forum where readers can get commentary on new work, develop skills and portfolio art, as well as network with other game artists on a variety of projects. Also features project files for all tutorials in the book and enough support images and photos to keep the budding artist busy for monthsCompletely updated gallery allows the reader to build on various models

Design and implement video game sound from beginning to end with this hands-on course in game audio. Music and sound effects speak to players on a deep level, and this book will show you how to design and implement powerful, interactive sound that measurably improves gameplay. If you are a sound designer or composer and want to do more than just create audio elements and hand them over to someone else for insertion into the game, this book is for you. You'll understand the game development process and implement vital audio experiences-not just create music loops or one-off sound effects. The Game Audio Tutorial isn't just a book-you also get a powerful website (www.thegameaudiotutorial.com), which includes:

How to create a simulation where participants have a sense of freedom and personal control while still maintaining the structure necessary for an effective story is a difficult task indeed. This book examines how to create an engaging, effective story (necessary to teach participants), while relating practical considerations of building a simulation. It also looks at stories as classic ways of teaching and gathering knowledge and considers other theories of interactive narrative design such as synthetic story creation and management and participant-generated story experiences. It also discusses enabling technologies in artificial intelligence, synthetic characters design and development, speech recognition technology, 3D modelling, and the future of story-driven games. Story Driven Simulations reviews the existing efforts in this field as well as focusing on the recent efforts of Paramount Pictures and The Institute for Creative Technologies at the University of Southern California, where this expert author team created successful simulations for the U.S. Army, Department of Defense, as well as other educational simulations.

Hollywood is going 3D! Join the revolution with this primer to all of the essential skills for live action 3D, from preproduction through distribution. 3D perception and science is presented in an accessible way that provides the principles of Stereoscopic vision you need to make the transition from the 2D world. Tools of the trade are enumerated with an eye on current constraints and what is coming down the pike to smooth the way. Step-by-step instructions detail how 3D processes affect every stage of the production including screenwriting, art direction, principle photography, editing, visual effects and distribution. The downloadable resources include an array of 2D and 3D images that demonstrate concepts and techniques, 3D movie shorts that showcase alternative techniques, After Effects project files to explore and manipulate for effect, and a resource list of software tools and tutorials that demonstrate techniques.

Data Visualization for Design Thinking helps you make better maps. Treating maps as applied research, you'll be able to understand how to map sites, places, ideas, and projects, revealing the complex relationships between what you represent, your thinking, the technology you use, the culture you belong to, and your aesthetic practices. More than 100 examples illustrated with over 200 color images show you how to visualize data through mapping. Includes five in-depth cases studies and numerous examples throughout.

Mobile apps are a big part of people's lives, with apps for just about anything. An app's UX can help it stand out and be the key to its success. But often, developers find UX intimidating and don't know where to begin. Usability Matters gives app developers practical advice and guidance on how to improve the UX of their mobile apps on any platform. After they read this book from cover to cover, they'll find themselves reaching for it again and again as a reference each time they develop a new app. * Practical advice and guidance * Provides theory and background on the technology * Hands-on teaching This book is for anyone who is developing an app and wants to create a great user experience, regardless of mobile platform. ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY The user experience (UX) of an app can be key to its success but is often something that developers don't know how to approach or is considered a part of design that is intimidating and overlooked. AUTHOR BIO Matt Lacey has been creating apps for mobile devices since 2001. He is currently working as an independent mobile development consultant, helping companies of all sizes with strategy, planning and implementation of mobile development solutions. Matt is a community leader and Microsoft MVP who organizes user group meetings to help people learn to create better apps.

This volume on virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) and gamification for cultural heritage offers an insightful introduction to the theories, development, recent applications and trends of the enabling technologies for mixed reality and gamified interaction in cultural heritage and creative industries in general. It has two main goals: serving as an introductory textbook to train beginning and experienced researchers in the field of interactive digital cultural heritage, and offering a novel platform for researchers in and across the culturally-related disciplines. To this end, it is divided into two sections following a pedagogical model developed by the focus group of the first EU Marie S. Curie Fellowship Initial Training Network on Digital Cultural Heritage (ITN-DCH): Section I describes recent advances in mixed reality enabling technologies, while section II presents the latest findings on interaction with 3D tangible and intangible digital cultural heritage. The sections include selected contributions from some of the most respected scholars, researchers and professionals in the fields of VR/AR, gamification, and digital heritage. This book is intended for all heritage professionals, researchers, lecturers and students who wish to explore the latest mixed reality and gamification technologies in the context of cultural heritage and creative industries. It pursues a pedagogic approach based on trainings, conferences, workshops and summer schools that the ITN-DCH fellows have been following in order to learn how to design next-generation virtual heritage applications, systems and services.

In Advanced Visual Effects Compositing: Techniques for Working with Problematic Footage, learn to tackle difficult visual effect composites in layer-based and node-based compositing programs. In this book, industry veteran and compositing expert Lee Lanier offers tips, tricks, techniques, and workflows for difficult visual effects shots, including poorly shot green screen, moving shots with no visible motion tracking marks, shots requiring three-dimensional (3D) elements that lack 3D renders, poor-quality stock footage, and incorrectly lit shots. Lanier details the common problems of visual effects shots and offers practical solutions using examples from Adobe After Effects and Blackmagic Design Fusion. An accompanying eResource (www.routledge.com/9781138668348) features video image sequences, 3D renders, and other tutorial materials, allowing you to practice the discussed techniques. The visual effects challenges covered in this book include: Chroma keying Motion tracking Relighting in the composite Repairing plates Replicating damage Adding depth with 2.5D Working with stock footage

A temporal GIS is an information system designed to describe spatial change over time. As yet, there are no temporal GISs, although the seeds exist. This book examines the conceptual, logical and physical design of a temporal GIS. It provides a broad survey of research on spatiotemporality, the philosophy of time, temporal databases and spatial data structuring. The book also describes an investigation of spatiotemporal data structuring and accessing possibilities.

The Anti-HDR HDR Photography Book contains everything you'll need to know in order to get the best results from your High Dynamic Range images. Designed for those who want to extend the dynamic range in their work, but are frustrated by over-processed and hyper-saturated images, this book proves that HDR techniques are capable of producing photographs that are both stunning and realistic. In addition to helping you choose the right equipment and settings to optimize your shoot for HDR, the book explains how to use post-processing software to create natural-looking photographs, blend source images with layer masks, and establish an efficient workflow. By teaching you to effectively use all the most important tools of HDR, it will expand the scope of your portfolio and allow you to create images that you never thought were possible. Key features include: What to look for when choosing a camera for HDR Description of gear that is important to the HDR photographer How to use the HDR software applications Photomatix and SNS-HDR Pro to achieve natural-looking results Discussion of blending multiple source images using simple masks and techniques An in-depth examination of the use of Luminance Masks for blending and editing bracketed images to a photorealistic composite Guide to workflow, from organizing images on the computer to pre-merge editing of RAW files using both Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Bridge The use of black-and-white in HDR and image-blending, including ways to convert color images to black-and-white

Current computer graphics hardware and software make it possible to synthesize near photo-realistic images, but the simulation of natural-looking motion of articulated figures remains a difficult and challenging task. Skillfully rendered animation of humans, animals, and robots can delight and move us, but simulating their realistic motion holds great promise for many other applications as well, including ergonomic engineering design, clinical diagnosis of pathological movements, rehabilitation therapy, and biomechanics. Making Them Move presents the work of leading researchers in computer graphics, psychology, robotics and mechanical engineering who were invited to attend the Workshop on the Mechanics, Control and Animation of Articulated Figures held at the MIT Media Lab in April 1989. The book explores biological and robotic motor control, as well as state-of-the-art computer graphics techniques for simulating human and animal figures in a natural and physically realistic manner.

The best-selling title that has been helping AutoCAD users for more than two decades is better than ever. This is THE book for users of AutoCAD (R) who are looking for the same great, step-by-step instruction and illustrations in the Beginning AutoCAD (R) Exercise Workbook and want to delve deeper into AutoCAD 2017's features. Designed for students, teachers, and professionals in the field, the Advanced AutoCAD (R) 2017 Exercise Workbook includes invaluable, updated coverage of essential features for intermediate and advanced users. For example, this new book covers creating Metric master templates, border and title blocks, and dimension styles. A Game-Changer! For the first time, this top-selling Workbook and the companion title Beginning AutoCAD (R) 2017 Exercise Workbook now include both METRIC and INCH measurements side by side, so that readers worldwide can benefit from all of the instructions and exercises. NEW AND IMPROVED FEATURES PDF Import command allowing users to import a .pdf file directly into AutoCAD as usable geometry and/or text. Instructions on the Share Design View command, explaining how to share a design on the web without compromising the original drawing data. Dialog Box enhancements, plus useful Q's & A's. Two new dimension commands, Associative Centerlines and Associative Center Marks, which are both fully editable. How to send 3D model designs to a 3D printer, or save them for use at a later date. A refreshed cover design highlights the latest editions of the AutoCAD Exercise Workbook series. This is the right book for users who liked the author's "Beginning AutoCAD" workbook and want to learn more about AutoCAD's features, including Xref, Attributes, and 3D solids. This clear, no nonsense, easy-to-follow text is totally updated for AutoCAD 2017 and 2017 LT, and it offers several new and improved features. All exercises are easy to print on standard 8 1/2" x 11" paper. For use with the PC version of AutoCAD 2017 only.Cheryl Shrock recently retired as Professor and Chairperson of Computer Aided Design at Orange Coast College in California, where she had taught since 1990. She is an Autodesk (R) registered author. Previous to teaching, she owned and operated a commercial product and machine design company, using CAD to create and document designs. This book draws upon both her teaching and industry experience. Steve Heather has 30-plus years of experience as a practicing mechanical engineer and has taught AutoCAD to engineering and architectural students at the college level. He is an authorized AutoCAD beta tester and a member of AutoCAD Connected Desktop Customer Council. Steve lives near Canterbury, England, and welcomes your questions or comments at: [email protected].

This is a selection of the major papers from a meeting on database accuracy which took place in December 1988 in Montecito, USA. They look at errors and accuracy in spatial databases, particularly the problems of modelling uncertainties and reliability, testing accuracy and practical implications. The chapters of the book represent a number of different perspectives on the accuracy problem, from efforts to simulate and model error to techniques for accommodating to it. The 23 chapters are organized into seven sections, and to provide a brief introduction to each. The first and last sections are general overviews. In between, the papers in Section Two through Four look at error in GIS with increasing technical complexity and generality. Section Five groups together four papers on various aspects of error in the spatial analysis of socio-economic data, and Section Six contains four papers on more fundamental approaches to the particular problems of aggreation and reporting zone effects which underlie much modeling in human geography and related disciplines.

In "Hands-On Guide to Webcasting," industry experts address the fastest-growing application for streaming media - broadcasting live audio and video on the Internet. Used in all industry verticals from corporate to entertainment, this book provides an end-to-end technical overview of the webcasting process. Providing you with step-by-step instructions from audio/video production, encoding and authoring to delivery and business issues, this guide provides both the depth and breadth necessary for mastery of the subject.

This is the right book for users who liked the author's "Beginning AutoCAD" workbook and want to learn more about AutoCAD's features, including Xref, Attributes, and 3D solids. This clear, no nonsense, easy-to-follow text is totally updated for AutoCAD 2016 and 2016 LT, and it offers several new and improved features. All exercises are easy to print on standard 8 1/2" x 11" paper. For use with the PC version of AutoCAD 2016 only. New Features include ... * Start Tab page, containing two sliding content frames, Learn and Create, enabling you to quickly access recent drawing files, templates, product updates, and online resources. * DIM command, allowing you to create dimensions based on a selected object. Improved Features include ... * Enhanced Status Bar, giving you greater control of the tools you want displayed. * Isometric Grid Pattern now displays Lines instead of Dots. * Command Preview is enhanced to allow for Blend, Erase, Scale, Stretch, and Rotate commands. * Improved graphics with Line Smoothing and the display of perfect curves. Cheryl Shrock recently retired as Professor and Chairperson of Computer Aided Design at Orange Coast College in California, where she had taught since 1990. She is an Autodesk (R) registered author. Previous to teaching, she owned and operated a commercial product and machine design company, using CAD to create and document designs. This book draws upon both her teaching and industry experience. Steve Heather has 30-plus years of experience as a practicing mechanical engineer and has taught AutoCAD to engineering and architectural students at the college level. He is an authorized AutoCAD beta tester and a member of AutoCAD Connected Desktop Customer Council. Steve lives near Canterbury, England, and welcomes your questions or comments at: [email protected].

Multimedia Technology IV is a collection of papers from the 4th International Conference on Multimedia Technology (ICMT 2015, Sydney, Australia, 28-29 March 2015). The book discusses a wide range of topics, including: - Image and signal processing - Video and audio processing - Multimedia data communication and transmission, and - Multimedia tools. Presenting recent advances, and new techniques and applications, the contributions will be of interest to academics and professionals involved in the field of multimedia technology.

For introductory digital media courses in computer science, art, communication, or digital media departments Tools and Techniques for Understanding and Producing Digital Media Digital Media encompasses a wide variety of topics, including the study of image, sound, and video processing, compression, interactive multimedia development, and advanced web programming. Digital Media Primer is designed for students from all disciplines, and teaches the foundational concepts and basic techniques of digital media production. The text is not tied to a specific application program like Flash or Photoshop; instead, the author introduces tools and techniques using a task-based approach and gives the rationale for using those techniques. This way, students learn skills they can transfer to different platforms and tools. For students that do not know how to navigate certain tools, Wong provides brief Application tutorials as supplemental material. The Third Edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to include current mobile device technology, ultra high-definition video, and multimedia authoring from Flash ActionScript programming to JavaScript programming with HTML5 Canvas.

Create Top-Quality Figures Using SAS Producing High-Quality Figures Using SAS/GRAPH (R) and ODS Graphics Procedures gives statisticians and SAS programmers practical guidance on presenting research data in high-quality figures that meet the publication requirements of academic institutions and various industries, such as pharmaceutical companies, agricultural businesses, and financial organizations. Choose the Proper Graph Formats, Options, and Fonts The book provides all the details on selecting the right figure formats, options, and fonts to produce high-quality figures. In-depth instructions and SAS programs using procedures in both SAS/GRAPH and ODS Graphics show how to generate sample figures in listing graphics formats and ODS document files. Each chapter includes practical examples and SAS programs. Readers can easily modify the SAS programs to develop high-quality figures to meet their own needs. For those unfamiliar with SAS programming and SAS Graphics, the author describes how to produce sample figures in SAS ODS Graphics designer, a convenient tool for generating figures without having to write SAS programs. The book also discusses how to produce figures in a SAS Enterprise Guide project.

To date, most criticism of print and digital technotexts - literary objects that foreground the role of their media of inscription - has emphasized the avant-garde contexts of a text's production. The Baroque Technotext opens new perspectives on this important and innovative literary canon, analysing the role of baroque and neo-baroque aesthetics in the emergence and possible futures of technotexts. Combining the insights of poststructuralist theory of the baroque, postcolonial theory of the neobaroque, and insightful critique of the prevailing modernist approaches to technotexts, The Baroque Technotext reframes critical debate of contemporary experiments in literary practice in the late age of print. Analyses of works from authors including Jonathan Safran Foer, Chris Ware and David Clark are matched with reflections on other media texts - film, visual art and interface design - that have adopted baroque aesthetic tropes.

Developing Your Design Process is your primary source for acquiring knowledge of how and why you design. It will help you understand how architects think as well as learn why you should educate yourself about design culture. You'll explore the spark of imagination that leads to a strong concept, realize the importance of sketching and rough drafts, focus your original concept to make your abstract idea visible, and finally step away for a moment to critically question your concept by identifying its strengths and weaknesses. You'll also be introduced to the language of design, architectural terminology, historic precedents, and designers, in addition to the why, what, and how of the design process.

The book is illustrated throughout with international examples of work by professionals and students in the discipline of architecture, and other related design professions.