This book, written and edited by members of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) Game Writing Special Interest Group, follows the acclaimed Professional Techniques for Video Game Writing to deliver practical advice from seasoned veterans on the special challenges of writing for first-person shooter games (FPS), role-playing games (RPG), and everything in between, including massively multiplayer online games, real-time strategy games, sports games, horror games, serious games, casual games, handheld games, and more. Game writing samples are included with the book, and more are available online.

The Art of Type and Typography is an introduction to the art and rules of typography. Incorporating the industry standard-InDesign-for typesetting from the outset, this book serves as a guide for beginning students to learn to set type properly through tutorials, activities, and examples of student work. Encompassing the history of typography from ancient times to widespread modern use, The Art of Type and Typography provides context and fosters creativity while developing key concepts, including: The history of type; Terminology; Classification; Measurement; Spacing; Alignment; Legibility; Hierarchy; Layout and Grids; Page Elements; InDesign tools and style sheets. Writing clearly and to the point, Mary Jo Krysinski brings over 30 years of design experience to this essential guide. With a glossary, sample class activities, additional online resources and a beautiful clean design, this book is the perfect introduction for a beginning typography student, and a handy reference for those needing a refresher.

Used from Broadway to Britain's West End, QLab software is the tool of choice for many of the world's most prominent sound, projection, and integrated media designers. QLab 4: Projects in Video, Audio, and Lighting Control is a project-based book on QLab software covering sound, video, lighting, and show control. With information on audio, video, and lighting system basics and the more advanced functions of QLab such as show control, network capabilities, projection mapping, video effects, and cue cart integration, each chapter's specific projects will allow you to learn the software's capabilities at your own pace. In addition to the text, a companion website hosts project files, instructional videos, and more.

Meet some of the finest 2D and 3D artists working in the industry today and discover how they create some of the most innovative digital art in the world. More than a gallery book or a coffee table book- Digital Art Masters Volume 5 includes over 50 artists and 900 unique and stunning 2D and 3D digital art. Beyond the breath taking images is a breakdown of the techniques, challenges and tricks the artists employed while creating stunning imagery. This volume, much like the previous volumes is not your standard coffee table book nor is it our usual how-to-book. New to this volume will be 5 artist video tutorials. Five artists will specifically detail an aspect of their gallery image from start to finish, offering further technique driven insight and expertise offering 2 hours of additional inspiration. With a click of a mouse, artists willbe able to apply the leading techniques to their own work with access to additional video tutorials, source files, textures and digital brushes at the companion website: http://www.focalpress.com/digital-art-masters/index.html.

The Art of Type and Typography is an introduction to the art and rules of typography. Incorporating the industry standard-InDesign-for typesetting from the outset, this book serves as a guide for beginning students to learn to set type properly through tutorials, activities, and examples of student work. Encompassing the history of typography from ancient times to widespread modern use, The Art of Type and Typography provides context and fosters creativity while developing key concepts, including: The history of type; Terminology; Classification; Measurement; Spacing; Alignment; Legibility; Hierarchy; Layout and Grids; Page Elements; InDesign tools and style sheets. Writing clearly and to the point, Mary Jo Krysinski brings over 30 years of design experience to this essential guide. With a glossary, sample class activities, additional online resources and a beautiful clean design, this book is the perfect introduction for a beginning typography student, and a handy reference for those needing a refresher.

With a vast selection of typefaces now available, there is no excuse for using boring typography in web design. The New Web Typography: Create a Visual Hierarchy with Responsive Web Design shows you how to implement web-safe fonts to create visually appealing and multi-browser-friendly websites while encouraging you to develop designs that express your own unique typographic voice. This book discusses general principles for choosing typefaces for on-screen display and tips for creating a visual hierarchy that works on monitors, tablets, and smartphones. It shares some of the authors' personal experiences to illustrate situations where one font would be more effective than another in giving readers an optimized experience that includes quick download times and an overall aesthetically pleasing presentation. Since good typography is good web design, font selection is a critical aspect of web design. The New Web Typography is more than a simple overview of web typography. It provides practical advice and examples that help you make good decisions in choosing fonts for web design.

Make More Immersive and Engaging Magic Systems in Games Game Magic: A Designer's Guide to Magic Systems in Theory and Practice explains how to construct magic systems and presents a compendium of arcane lore, encompassing the theory, history, and structure of magic systems in games and human belief. The author combines rigorous scholarly analysis with practical game design advice in the form of a magical recipe book (grimoire). The book gives you an in-depth understanding of the history and structure of magic to make your games richer and deeper. It shows how to set up tables of correspondences and spell components as well as how to write programming code integrating these components as part of game mechanics. It also illustrates how to divide a simulated world into domains of influence (such as alteration, conjuration, and necromancy) and how to use specific rule systems to simulate powers within these realms. Showing you how to weave compelling magic into your games, the book is interspersed with examples that illustrate how to design and program magic systems. Working examples are available for download on a supporting website.

This book is a comprehensive guide to buying and developing multimedia in the most cost-effective manner. Focusing on the human factors in producing multimedia, rather than just the software, Buying and Selling Multimedia Services is aimed at both buyers and sellers of multimedia services and draws on real-world anecdotes war stories from project diaries and first-hand experience, to provide examples of the key ideas delineated within the book. These are true stories culled from 25 years of working on both sides of the desk as a purchaser of creative services for a Fortune 500 company and as a producer and seller for one of the largest multimedia production shops in the country. This book helps the multimedia producer and buyer to recognize flaws in past performances and to anticipate situations in future projects in order to save money and eliminate boardroom confrontations. Accusations, altercations, and recriminations can be avoided and the bottom line enhanced with the production of an effective product targeted to a receptive audience. Souter examines the skills necessary to both the producer and the purchaser of multimedia, allowing each to see the others' problems and viewpoints. Viewing the multimedia project from both sides, as both buyer and seller, Souter highlights the issues which will allow for effective communication between parties, resulting in a better product and a more creative relationship among all involved. In the second part of the book, Souter provides a comprehensive guide to all the digital formats available, to help the buyer and the developer select the most appropriate for a given project.

The three volume set provides a systematic overview of theories and technique on social network analysis.Volume 2 of the set mainly focuses on the formation and interaction of group behaviors. Users' behavior analysis, sentiment analysis, influence analysis and collective aggregation are discussed in detail as well. It is an essential reference for scientist and professionals in computer science.

Catherine McIntyre, like many fine artists, created traditional art for decades before encountering the versatility of digital imaging technology. Free of her Rotring pens and scalpel, she now uses Photoshop to create her montages. Visual Alchemy explores McIntyre's sources of inspiration as well as her methods, offering an aesthetic guide to composition, color, texture and all of the other means of communication that artists have at their disposal. While these concepts and techniques make use of Photoshop, they will apply to any digital imaging program and indeed to any medium, whether traditional or digital. Featuring McIntyre's own art as well as that of artists around the globe, Visual Alchemy is an invitation to discover the artistic possibilities of picture making through digital montage.

For all of your video and audio blogging business and professional communication needs, this book is it!The Hands-on Guide to Video Blogging and Podcasting provides tremendous value to those content publishers, big and small, that want to create syndicated video blog and podcast content. The simplified, plain talking break-down the authors bring to the book will give everyone the tools to plan, create, and execute a blog/podcast outlet.This book explains these emerging media tools from a professional perspective. Quickly learn the technical aspects of video blogging and podcasting along with their business and financial ramifications.

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.

There s no class in art school that can teach you this. Believe it or not, there s a lot more to directing a great animated film than beautiful illustrations and cool characters. You need to bring out your inner creative visionary and take your savvy leadership skills to the front lines being great with a pencil, brush, or stylus is not enough. Tony Bancroft released his inner creative visionary when creating Mulan. In Directing for Animation he shows you exactly how. Pull the right strings to bring your characters to life and center your story by developing the visual cues that lend to your audience s understanding of the plot, place, and purpose. Tony walks you through the process, bringing you behind the scenes of real, well-known projects with a little help from some famous friends. Learn from the directors of Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Ice Age, Chicken Run, and Kung Fu Panda, and see how they developed stories and created characters that have endured for generations. Get the inside scoop behind these major features pitfalls and all.

What really makes a video game story interactive? What's the best way to create an interactive story?How much control should players be given? Do they really want that control in the first place?Do they even know what they want-or are their stated desires at odds with the unconscious preferences?All of these questions and more are examined in this definitive book on interactive storytelling for video games. You'll get detailed descriptions of all major types of interactive stories, case studies of popular games (including Bioshock, Fallout 3, Final Fantasy XIII, Heavy Rain, and Metal Gear Solid), and how players interact with them, and an in-depth analysis of the results of a national survey on player storytelling preferences in games. You'll get the expert advice you need to generate compelling and original game concepts and narratives.With Interactive Storytelling for Video Games, you'll:

Master the secrets behind video game production - from concept to completion - with these comprehensive tips and tricks from two accomplished, working game producers. Discover how to lead a team, communicate effectively, budget, schedule, staff, and design quality next-generation games. Producing Games walks you through every stage of the production process with a focus on the part the producer plays at each phase.

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.

Meet some of the finest digital 2D and 3D artists working in the industry today, from Patrick Beaulieu, Philip Straub, Benita Winckler, Alessandro Baldasseroni to Khalid Al Muharraqi, Marcel Baumann and Marek Denko and see how they work. More than just a gallery book - in Digital Arts Masters each artist has written a breakdown overview, with supporting imagery of how they made their piece of work.With Digital Arts Masters you'll understand the artists' thought process and discover the tips, tricks and techniques which really work.

In the past, not being able to program meant not being able to make video games. Now if you can draw a flow-chart you can use powerful State Machine technology to create your dream game! No-Code Video Game Development using Unity and Playmaker will teach you how to substitute flow-charts for code. As a complete course, it uses a project-based approach. The FPS project comes with over a hundred dollars worth of free #gamedev DLC: Unity Packages, Playmaker Templates, Character Models, Animations, Materials, and more! You'll also learn game design documentation and theory, Mecanim, Particle Systems, and UI. By the time you're done you'll have gained the skills needed to create your own dream game, all without writing any code!

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

This essential, hands-on guide is filled with examples of what a composition should look like and example of poorly designed layouts. Spot potential problems before they cost time and money, and adapt creative solutions for your own projects with this invaluable resource for beginner and intermediate artists. With Beauty and the Beast examples and Simpson character layouts, readers will learn how to develop character layout and background layout as well as strengthen composition styles with a creative toolset of trick shot examples and inspirational case studies. A companion website will include further technique based tools, finalized layout and composition examples and tutorials for further artistic skill development.

Since Steamboat Mickey, animators have been creating characters and films that are charming, warm and humorous, allowing people to connect with the animated medium. Animation fans love the characters for a lifetime. This is the legacy of the countless animators and artists who created the classic characters and fun stories, and it is the legacy of Disney Legend, Floyd Norman. Written with wit and verve, Animated Life is a guided tour through an entire lifetime of techniques, practical hands-on advice and insight into an entire industry. This is a vital tutorial in animation's past, present and future for students who are now poised to be part of another new generation in the art form. Apply artistic magic to your own projects and garner valuable insight and inspiration from a True Disney legend. Animated Life is a classic in the making with completely relevant techniques and tools for the contemporary animation or fine arts professional.

Learning a 3D visualization software is a daunting task under any circumstances and while it may be easy to find online tutorials that tell you what to do to perform certain tasks you'll seldom learn "why" you are performing the steps. This book approaches training from a top-down perspective way you will first learn important concepts of 3D visualization and functionality of 3ds Max before moving into the finer detail of the command structure. By learning how things work and why you might choose one method over another the book will not only teach you where the buttons are, but more importantly how to think about the holistic process of 3D design so that you can then apply the lessons to your own needs. The goal of the learning presented here is to familiarize the new user of 3ds Max with a typical workflow from a production environment from planning to modeling, materials, and lighting, and then applying special effects and compositing techniques for a finished product.

Deliver professional-level 3D content in no time with this comprehensive guide to 3D animation with Maya. With over 12 years of training experience, plus several award winning students under his belt, author Adam Watkins is the ideal mentor to get you up to speed with 3D in Maya. Using a structured and pragmatic approach Getting Started in 3D with Maya begins with basic theory of fundamental techniques, then builds on this knowledge using practical examples and projects to put your new skills to the test. Prepared so that you can learn in an organic fashion, each chapter builds on the knowledge gained in the previous chapter, showing you all the essentials of 3D in Maya, from modeling and UV layout, to texture creation, rigging animating and rendering. As you go from project to project you'll develop a strong arsenal of skills that combined will form a complete end to end process to creating complete projects in Maya. The accompanying website (http://watkins3d.com/GettingStartedIn3D/) provides all the tools you need to develop your skills. Project files to accompany the practical examples used throughout the text, so you can work along with the examples. Additional textures and models will give you all the resources you need to start making your own projects in no time at all.

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.