Book Description
The Game Maker's Apprentice shows you how to create nine exciting games using the wildly popular Game Maker game creation tool. This book covers a range of genres, including action, adventure, and puzzle games--complete with professional quality sound effects and visuals. It discusses game design theory and features practical examples of how this can be applied to making games that are more fun to play.
Game Maker allows games to be created using a simple drag-and-drop interface, so you don't need to have any prior coding experience. It includes an optional programming language for adding advanced features to your games, when you feel ready to do so. You can obtain more information by visiting book.gamemaker.nl.
The authors include the creator of the Game Maker tool and a former professional game programmer, so you'll glean understanding from their expertise. The book also includes a CD containing Game Maker software and all of the game projects that are created in the book--plus a host of professional-quality graphics and sound effects that you can use in your own games.
Customer Reviews:
It is a treasure, priceless.......2007-10-03
I am one who has no knowledge at all about programing. This book was so useful for me to learn game programing. It is very easy as it teachs you in a step-by-step way plus there is a helpful icons beside each step. The language is simple and easy. In addition to a CD that contains all the files necessary for the learning. Thanks to this book I made my first ever game within hours. I hope there is a second volume that teaches more complex game programing.
Just Right.......2007-08-27
This book is just what I was looking for for myself and my 12 year old son. We've been dabbling with gamemaker for several years. This is a good springboard for delving deeper with a well-written, easy-to-read guide. A good mix of games. Several good issues are developed with each chapter. The instructions are very explicit, which at times can be a little tedious, but on the other hand, has its benefits. There are good points regarding game theory scattered throughout with good, solid examples all the way through.
The Best........2007-08-09
The Best book for the best program, if I could recommend VOL.2 I would put 3D help in, but that's when GM makes a 3D Shape maker. They use I believe Swift 3D now.
Great.......2007-06-27
It's a great book for anyone who is interested in game development. Very easy to use even for grade school students.
For college-level students, this is a great book to learn GameMaker from and to make prototype games for your game designs in mind.
Excellent value for the price.
-Karlo
Very good.......2007-05-13
This book gives lots of great techniques to use in the creation of your own games. It really covers all aspects of GM6 and has a vast range of techniques which can easily be adapted into any of your own creations.
Book Description
Learn-to-Read Treasure Hunts provides 50 days (or 10 school weeks) of family fun while giving kids ages 5 to 7 the skills and confidence they need to become better readers. The concept is simple and designed to work no matter what method of teaching is being used in school. There's one treasure hunt per day, three or four clues per treasure hunt, with each perforated page a written clue that parents tear off, fold, and hide. The child has to read each clue to complete the hunt. For example, Clue #1 of Day #1 reads: "Look under a pan," with the word "pan" illustrated. On the back of the final clue each day is a bonus phonics game in which kids match words to pictures. Fifty reward stickers are included with the book.
For ages 5-7. 63,000 copies in print.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent idea.......2007-04-06
My 5-year-old LOVES doing these treasure hunts; we even use them as a reward when he's had a great day at school. He puts the sticker he earns at the end of each hunt on the calendar, which also gives us the opportunity to discuss days of the week and month.
I would recommend a more rudimentary introduction to reading before beginning to use this book; I started teaching my son to read at home right after his fourth birthday, which is when I bought this book. After it arrived, I realized it would be too advanced for a very new beginner and put it away for later.
What a huge hit it has been (and Pirates of the Caribbean and the acccompanying pirate obsession hasn't hurt the interest in treasure hunts, even though he hasn't seen the movie)!
I will absolutely buy this as gifts for other parents/kids.
AWESOME!.......2007-01-22
My son is 5 and loves these treasure hunts and the match game bonus with each hunt. He would love to do one after the other if I would let him. Every time he finishes one he ask if we can do another one. Don't even think about it -- just get this book! You will not regret it!! It brings so much joy to your child!! and you too!
Summer hit!.......2006-06-25
I purchased this product for summer vacation for my 6 year old daughter. She just finished Kindergarten and has just begun to read this past year. This product has been an excellent tool to continue her reading practice into summer vacation. She and my 4 year old son eagerly beg for their treasure hunt each day!
Fun, Fun, Fun!.......2006-02-09
This is easy for me and fun for my son. I could not recommend it more highly. My son has been begging me to do more, more, more! He's having a wonderful time and he is READING!!!!!
We love this!.......2006-02-04
My son just turned six, and we have a wonderful time with these for several reasons:
1. We both look forward to them every day
2. He feels a real sense of accomplishment (giggling the whole time) and it's even sparked his imagination in creating his own treasure hunts and an interest in maps.
3. What parent doesn't enjoy seeing their child laughing while learning?!
On school days I come back in and hide them after he gets on the bus. We're both always super-syked to get home and "do the hunt." On weekends and holidays, I hide them after my son has gone to bed. It's a great way to wake up!
Book Description
For more than 100 years, the world's leading chess players and teachers have told their students to study the endgame. Now, for the first time, a revolutionary, richly instructive endgame book has been designed for players of all levels. Silman's Complete Endgame Course, by famed writer and player Jeremy Silman, is the one and only endgame book you'll need as you move up the ladder from beginner to strong tournament player and finally to master.
Designed to "speak" to a player in a very personal way, Silman's book teaches the student everything he or she needs to know at his or her current rating level, and builds on that knowledge for each subsequent phase of the player's development. Starting at the beginner's level, all basic mates are clearly and painstakingly explained. After that, the critical building blocks that form the endgame foundation for all tournament hopefuls and experienced tournament competitors are explored in detail. Finally, advanced endgame secrets based on concepts rather than memorization are presented in a way that makes them easy to master.
The basic keys to a well-rounded endgame education--Opposition, the Lucena and Philidor Positions, Cat and Mouse, Trebuchet, Fox in the Chicken Coup, Triangulation, Building a Box, Square of a Pawn, Outflanking, the Principle of Two Weaknesses--are vital. But equally important is creating a love of the endgame, which is addressed at the end of the book with a look at chess tactics, minor piece domination, and a discussion of the five greatest endgame players of all time--all things that every fan of chess at every level can enjoy.
If you have found the endgame to be a mystery, if you have found that your confidence plummets once you reach an endgame, if you have searched for an instructive endgame book that will turn your weakest link--your endgame--into your personal field of power, your search is over. Silman's Complete Endgame Course is the key to a world of essential ideas, startling beauty, and stunning creativity.
Customer Reviews:
One of the best chess books........2007-08-23
I have been studying chess (with a coach) for eight months, and I have found that most chess books are written for players way above my current ability. This one, though, is terrific. It takes you from beginning endgame stuff steadily through more difficult material, building on itself as it goes.
Good endgame book, especially for the beginner.......2007-08-23
I have found this book to be helpful and useful, especially for the beginner. It separates each endgame "course" according to rating, so that the beginner is not trying to learn moves for a class A player, and a class A player doesn't have to slog through stuff they've known for years. I highly recommend it.
Gives you what you need and don't need to know.......2007-08-16
I'm not going to repeat what everyone else has said in their reviews.
Yes - brilliant concept, sorting endgames by playing strength. Stroke of genius. Why hasn't anyone thought of this before. Etc
I'd just like to say how liberating it is to read an instructional chess book and know that I can stop after a certain number of chapters because I already know more than enough.
There are not many chess books that explicitly state: "you already know enough about this - now go and practise some tactics and come back when you get a few games under your belt".
The hardest part about studying the endgame is knowing when to stop.
This book tells you what you DON'T need to know as well as what you DO.
Lucena position - don't worry about it just yet - get your rating up first.
Knight and Bishop versus Lone King - it ain't gonna happen.
How refreshing!
Wonderful.......2007-08-13
This is a step by step guide to the endgame. There has been a competition between two types of endgame books - those that want you to memorize thousands of positions and those who want you to understand various concepts and memorize only a couple positions. The problem becomes that the first is very time consuming but straight forward and the later is much faster but very difficult to understand.
This book gives the speed of learning concepts with the straightforwardness of memorizing positions. Silman has out done himself this time.
The only downside to this book is that it does not show how to checkmate with Knight and Bishop vs King but how many times have you actually been in this position? My guess is none and if you have been in it, odds are you never will be again.
I recommend this book for people of skill level from beginner to master.
Superb book to learn endgames.......2007-07-23
This was the second endgame book I bought. The first, "Just the Facts Winning Chess Endgames" was organized by endgame type (e.g. Rook Endgames). Silman's is truly a course, with chapters for beginners on up by rating. So rather than trying to master everything there is about rook endgames, Silman gives you what you need to know for your ability level. You revisit different endgames as you progress through the chapters.
I love all of Silman's books that I've read so far, and this one is no exception! If you're already a top-notch player, maybe any endgame book will work for you. But if you're learning, Silman's can't be beat!
Customer Reviews:
buy this and the bingo game for sight words, and you're set........2007-07-04
Very nice, cleverly put together. Finally a "beginning reader" series, "sight word reader" etc that IS indeed for beginners! there is a picture, "the" sight word and another couple of other words that the grown up can read. This helps build confidence and interest. My autistic (but normal IQ) son likes it, and it is difficult to find material for him. A safe purchase.
Great Purchase!.......2007-07-03
The literacy specialist at our local school recommended looking for "$1 Sight Word books". She had some books by Scholastic so, I started there. These books are perfect for my beginning reader. There are about 50 sight words in total in the pack. My 5-year-old can pick books by the sight words on the front. My 3-year-old can't stand to be left out so, she also reads her favorites, too.
I'd definitely recommend this pack.
Good group of books.......2007-06-27
My daughter has just started using the books and is enjoying reading them. She likes the worksheets that came with the books.
Excellent packaged product.......2007-06-24
The best way to teach children to read is to have them follow along with you with a simple, repetitive book. Each book is very thin, so the child is not bored, and jumps right alone to the next book.
The words contents are very well chosen, and I feel the illustrations are well done as well.
I want more products like this one!
Highly recommend for your 4 to 6 year old.......2007-03-08
My daughter and I read these books almost everynight. They are easy and quick to read. I highly recommend buying these for young children who are starting to show an interest in reading.
Book Description
If you are anime/manga collector or fan, you have had a burning desire to learn how to draw the popular characters by yourself. However, you may be worried that you cannot draw as well as people in art clubs or in cartoon clubs because drawing is difficult - don't worry, many people feel the same way. This series was written to help those who are interested in drawing, but are worried about the challenges involved with it. If you change the way you look at an object - even just a little, you can succeed.
Customer Reviews:
total waste of money!!!.......2007-04-07
this book was not helpful at all!!!i had just recently got into manga and anime drawing so i thought that this book would be helpful to me you know with the title being "basics for beginners" and all. all it did was show me useless information.all it does is show you characters made out of these weird rectangle type things only and then the finished project (but thats all no hair no clothes no nothing), instead of step-by-step directions on everything. if you are a beginner i would highly reccomend NOT, i repeat NOT getting this book!!! it confused me and didn't actually show me how to draw anything!!!if your a beginner and don't know where to start, your not alone!!! although this is the first book i ever got on the whole anime subject i would suggest some other how to draw manga books but definately not this one. try how to draw manga ultimate manga lessons volumes 1-6 and more how to draw manga volumes 1-4. believe me if you want, if you think diferently and want to try it any way be my guest but in my oppinion it's a total waste of money!!! hope this helped!!!
How to Draw Anime & Game Characters VOL.1 Review.......2007-01-18
I would say pick this book up, because i am not a beginner but i still got alot out of it. If you want to get into drawing anime or game characters or you want to be pick this one up. This book really helped me brush up on my basics.I also fully intend to follow up with all the rest of the books in this sereies.
Nice Book.......2007-01-10
Bought it as a Christmas gift for one of my nieces. I looked through it before I gave it to her. The book looks like it's got alot to offer. Maybe I'll get one for myself in the future.
tasteless.......2006-06-28
This book tasteless. There are comics in the back of the book where there is a pedophilia scene. A young boy is seduced by a older man. It's not very nice. It also shows how to draw seductivley. This book is not appropriate for young people.
It's awesome .......2005-11-06
I would recommend this for all beggining artist in magna, it has helped me alot, now i'm on the search for a magna book that teaches to draw clothing. This will really increase your drawing prowess
Average customer rating:
- Great book!
- Great book for early reading
- FUNNY!
- Pirate School
- A very fun book
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Pirate School (All Aboard Reading, Level 2 (Ages 6-8))
Cathy East Dubowski
Manufacturer: Grosset & Dunlap
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Do Pirates Take Baths?
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Pirates (Crabapples)
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The Great Pirate Activity Book
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How I Became a Pirate
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Pirate Pete
ASIN: 0448411326 |
Customer Reviews:
Great book!.......2006-05-20
"It was a little scary, a little funny, and easy to read" said my son Toby, aged 6.5, after reading this excellent book. He also says there were only about ten words he did not know. The illustrations are good and they do not give the story away -- Toby had to read the words. Toby says "don't give up!".
Great book for early reading.......2005-08-10
This is a very enjoyable pirate story for beginning readers or for us parents to read to our kids. It is about kids of pirates that go to school every day just like toehr kids, only they go in a school bus painted row boat to a giant pirate ship/public school. The lessons they teach are backwards to our own morals and not fair, as the kids are to be greedy and not share, and worse yet to fight when they have disputes. But these rules dont work when it is treasure hunt day on the spooky island. Although each boy claims to have found the treasure first, they quickly learn tha if they are to survice, they must ingore the pirate rules and instead cooperate, share, help out, and trust each other. Wonderful story, I highly reccommend.
FUNNY!.......2004-10-03
This book entertained us all as my son went through his 4- year old Pirate phase. Really funny. Great Price!
Pirate School.......2004-04-24
My 7 year old son is obsessed with Pirates. This is his favorite book. He makes me pretend that he is Pete and his brother is Grimy and I need to substitute the names. He is autistic and learning for him is difficult, but we have taken suggestions from this book to make school fun for him as well. He learned math by using gold coins and likes to do everything the boys do in the book. It is a fantastic book which explains how important it is to share and not to fight with others. I highly recommend this book.
A very fun book.......2002-07-29
I am the mother of two boys ,ages 3 and 4 ,who both adore Pirates.This is a fun story with a great lesson. One of our favorites. A great buy.
Average customer rating:
- Colorful and informative, a must for any Lain fan...
- Very good book
- Fills a void in _lain_ artbooks
- Great for Eye Candy and Obscure Info; Poor for BESM Usage
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Serial Experiments Lain
Bruce Baugh , and
Lucien Soulban
Manufacturer: Guardians of Order
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Yoshitoshi Abe Lain Illustrations
ASIN: 1894525353 |
Book Description
Welcome to the cutting edge 13-part Japanese anime series, Serial Experiments Lain. There is a world around us, a world of people, tactile sensation, and culture. There is the wired world inside the computer, of images, personalities, virtual experiences, and a culture all of its own. The day after a classmate commits suicide, a thirteen year-old girl named Lain discovers how closely the two worlds are linked when she receives an e-mail from the dead girl: `I just abandoned my body. I still live here....` Has the line between the real world and the wired world begun to blur? This authorized book features detailed episode summaries, in depth character profiles, setting and theme analysis, and role-playing character sheets for Guardians Of Order popular Tri-Stat System. With hundreds of full-colour images from the series, and many pages of production line art, this Ultimate Fan Guide is the definitive English-language resource book for Serial Experiments Lain.
Customer Reviews:
Colorful and informative, a must for any Lain fan..........2002-08-27
I've never seen the actual Lain series (yet mind you, yet. I'm still saving for some of the DVDs), so I'm afraid I'm a bit lacking when it comes to telling you how acurate this book is.
This doesn't seem to be a very good book for someone who has not seen the series, and if you are in that position I would not reccommend reading to the end of the book as it will totally spoil the whole series for you.
The book is very informative, and has plenty of drawings and screnshots from the series, it lays every part of the Lain world before you. As alot of questions go unanswered in the series itself the book is often at loss and presents theories to try and answer questions instead of actual answers.
The RPG section of the book seems quite lacking as the Lain world is a very difficult place to recreate in an RPG. Though I have not tryed playing it seems like a very fruitless endeavor.
I gave this book 5 stars because it is a great read and a very informative book.
Very good book.......2002-06-18
First things first - If you buy this book, expecting it to explain everything to you, prepare for disapointment. It has summaries. Sometimes the information is wrong (not that you can be sure of much of anything in this series...), but that's rare. It does ocasionally theorize on some things, and provides background info on other things (like the Knights, the 7th Gen Protocol, the city-on-a-rock in Ego). It also has a LOT of snapshots, and some concept art (though nothing you can't find in the extras section of the DVDs). The BESM section provides some info for the series as well. I can't vouch for its worth as an RPG info source, but from what I hear from other reviewers, it's lacking (though that's no reason to give it 2 stars, BTW...). Oh, and the book's dimensions are large. Think one of those large coloring books you might have used as a child and you have the right idea. Conclusion - buy for artwork, buy for series synopsis, buy for a different perspective on what the hell hapened in this series, but don't buy for the BESM.
Fills a void in _lain_ artbooks.......2002-04-23
This book is an excellent guide to the enigmatic and ambiguous anime series, _Serial Experiments: lain_. The bulk of the book is published in full color on high-gloss paper, reproducing a lot of screen-shots from the series. At the back, there are two pages of production credits (though there's no mention of the series' script superviser, Chiaki Konaka!).
Each episode is given a dense three-page summary, there are also character profiles at the back (though only Lain and Masami Eiri receive an extended profile). This is an excellent book to accompany your first or your fifth viewing of the anime series.
The publishers evidently have a deal with Pioneer to produce guides for many of their anime. I look forward to future volumes on _Dual_, _Trigun_ and _NieA_7_.
People interested in basing an RPG on the _lain_ world will probably find this book disappointing. While the book is full o f details about the series and its setting, there doesn't appear to be much in the book for supporting an RPG. However, as a book for fans of the anime, this is an excellent addition to your bookshelf.
Great for Eye Candy and Obscure Info; Poor for BESM Usage.......2002-03-10
The Ultimate Fan Guide for Serial Experiments Lain is visually excellent, and wonderful for detailed synopses of the thirteen episodes of the series. Many of the hidden secrets of the series, especially the intertext with several Apple products, are highlighted, which is somewhat interesting but really only worth knowing for an anime-based version of the Jeopardy! television game show.
The main reason I bought this Ultimate Fan Guide was its advertised links with the Big Eyes Small Mouth multi-genre anime role-playing system, also published by The Guardians of Order. Unfortunately, there is really rather little related information presented here. Of good use is the list of Appropriate Attributes and Appropriate Defects, as well as typical Mundane, Major, and Minor Items within the world of Serial Experiments Lain, but only two characters (Lain Iwakura and Massami Eiri) have been given BESM-based stats, and only three of the items in the series has similar BESM-based details. In fact, most of the BESM-related section of the book (the final twenty-plus pages) is filled not with information, but with sketches of characters, locations, and items from the Serial Experiments Lain series.
As eye candy or a source of obscure information for the Serial Experiments Lain series, this Ultimate Fan Guide is indeed a good buy. For those truly interested in using the series' "world" in a role-playing campaign, however, this Ultimate Fan Guide is really just a waste of money.
Book Description
A perfect introduction for novices — and fun for all! — this mega-set provides everything a beginner needs:
• An illustrated album with room for over 1,000 stamps
• A guide booklet that explains how to build and care for a collection
• A catalog listing hundreds of historic stamps available for purchase
• A magnifying glass
• Adhesive hinges for mounting stamps
• Starter pack of 25 real U.S. postage stamps
Customer Reviews:
Beginner's Kit.......2007-01-19
My son wanted to look into stamp collecting. I don't know much about it. This is a good review/starting place to see what is involved in the hobby. It made a nice Christmas present, didn't cost much and showed him I had listened to his interests. Nice format and helpful included items.
A good beginning.......2007-01-10
This album is strictly for U.S. stamps and covers the early 1900's through 2005. There are some black and white illustrations for each year, as well as blank spaces for other stamps. The book would have been a little nicer with a spiral binding and illustrations in color. Pages that wouldn't lie flat were a definite frustration for our grandson. A few starter stamps were included, as well as hinges, but there were only about a dozen hinges, so the first thing we had to do was find a source for them. Still, it's a good functional album for providing a beginning without a large outlay of money.
Disappointed.......2006-06-19
We ordered this kit for a beginner at stamp collecting. We expected the album to be free-form, so he could save the stamps that he likes. Instead the album has pages for specific years, starting in 1901, and photos of specific stamps for many of the spaces. I'm not a stamp collector myself, and maybe this is a standard format, but it's not at all what we wanted. The Guide is okay, and the magnifying glass is inexpensive but okay. But we ordered the kit primarily for the album, and it's collecting dust on a shelf.
Not bad for a beginner........2006-02-27
This is a nice kit for an early beginner at stamp collecting. Please note that the album is only for U.S. Stamps. It's a good deal for the price.
Book Description
"If you're just beginning to dive into the world of 3D, this is the book for you."
—Animation Magazine
Alias' Academy Award winning Maya 3D animation and effects software leads the industry in technological innovation. Film and video artists, computer game developers, and design professionals rely on Maya to create brilliant digital imagery, animation, and visual effects. Now you can enter this exciting, imaginative world and learn to build, render, and animate your own digital characters and scenes.
Brought to you by Maya Press, a publishing partnership between Sybex and Alias, Introducing Maya 6: 3D for Beginners is the ideal initiation to 3D and Maya. Written explicitly for the Maya novice, the easy-to-grasp text offers a practical and fun approach to learning Maya's core features. Clear-cut, engaging lessons let you try out these features using working files provided on the CD. You'll also find an abundance of instructional and inspirational art on the CD and full-color insert.
Enter a New Dimension
- Get a solid grasp of the core Maya and 3D
- Learn to navigate the new Maya 6 interface
- Experiment with Maya modeling
- Explore the basics of NURBS, polygons, and subdivision surfaces
- Discover the nuances of shading and texturing
- Try your hand at animation
- Get a feel for Maya lighting, rendering, and dynamics
- Find out how to use Maya and Photoshop in unison
Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.
Customer Reviews:
Best book for begginers.......2006-05-23
Some people may find this book a bit difficult because of its style. The way this book works (besides for explaining the concepts very well,) is it teaches you how to do something and after taking you through it a few times, the author will tell you to do something based on what you just learned and you will have to do it on your own. So you really end up with first hand experience.
Great for beginners.......2006-01-25
I come from the computers/engineering field into 3D computer graphics. This was the first book that I read. The book delivers what it promises - it is a good first step for 3D newcomers. It is easy to follow - exercises are explained step-to-step wise and it covers the most basic features of Maya. The book prepares you well for the Alias-book Maya Foundations, which gives you enough background to start making small animated films.
A must have for Maya beginers.......2005-11-23
After reading the reviews of this book I was a little apprehensive but my fears proved baseless.
I can confidently say that this book has enabled me to graduate to an intermediate level Maya user.
The trick is to actually read the entire book in sequence and not just jump straight into the tutorials. I found the language used to be straight forward and easy to understand.
If you are new to Maya, or 3D visualisation, then I would highly recommend this book.
A decent but difficult book.......2005-10-07
This book is an introduction to the 3D software Maya. The format was split between general discussion and step-by-step exercises. There is also a CD that included the exercise files and a copy of Maya Personal Learning Edition (PLE).
First of all, I did find the step-by-step exercises to be quite frustrating. The steps could have benefited from more detail or even a few more images. I just found myself getting lost to easily. Sometimes experimentation or trial and error were the only ways to get through a particular step. I did spot a few errors - most related to entering values. Sometimes depending on the view (or perspective) the required values would be different. As a beginner, minor errors made things even more difficult then they already were. Surprisingly, the book's use of grayscale images didn't create any problems except on a few occasions. Ultimately, it took me a lot longer to finish the exercises and the book than I would have wanted.
One of the reasons I got this book is that it included a copy of Maya PLE. But, the included version is only 5.0. Which is strange since the book is supposed to be an introduction to Maya 6. I couldn't get it to install anyways so I ended up just buying Maya PLE 6.0 from Alias.
With the problems aside you will still learn plenty just by reading through the material. I found the general discussion to be excellent. There was plenty of good information about the animation production process and great insight about each topic. I was surprised to find out that one of my favorite animated comedies was created with Maya.
Maya is a large and complicated program. The frustrating exercises just complicated things further. Especially since this is supposed to be an introduction to the topic. The exercises just needed to be a little clearer or more specific at times. The book may have been intended to be used with a formal class. In the end, and not without some struggles, I was still fairly introduced to Maya and 3D.
NOT FOR BEGGINERS.......2005-09-20
This book is a big waste of time and money just like many other Maya books. I have bought and read over 5 Maya books geared towards begginers and none of them including this one is helpful. They have many great tutorials, but all the directions are very hard to understand because they leave alot of missing information out. Its like they expect you to really know the software in and out to study their beginner books series.
My advice for begginners is to use a less demanding program. Many people who use Maya are pros and thats not to say you won't be either. But unless you go to school, these books in my opionion are worthless. Even though the tutorials are made by people who have big names in the CGI industry, doesn't mean they have the teaching skills to get us small people going.
I recommend Lightwave, because the book, Inside Lightwave 8 taught me in a breeze how to ge up and running fast-
Customer Reviews:
I would not suggest this book until you are 15kyu.......2007-09-17
Being in a go club that sees many beginners I feel fairly qualified when I say this book will not help you improve rank until you are 15kyu (AGA/KGS) and really waiting until you are in the single-digit kyu range will give you the best rank improvement per time spent reading... I first read this book at 13kyu and was really stretching. I recently re-read this at 5kyu and got much more out of it. If I had to pick a perfect rank to read it at I'd say 7kyu.
All that said, the writing style is superior to every other go book I've seen and there may be merit in reading this without the goal of rank improvement. Many other reviewers have pointed this out as well, but you should know that if you are 15kyu you will not be able to follow many of the problems, and in the end you will probably still be 15kyu.
For those goaling for rank improvement, I would strongly suggest reading at most one chapter per day. You need to play games between chapters or else you will not correctly apply what you are learning. With most other intermediate go books (such as Tesuji or Life & Death) it is not as damaging to read it all in one sitting... but Lessons in the Fundamentals must have games played between chapters. It is painful to make yourself stop reading between chapters, but you should.
A book that everyone should get.......2003-01-16
I personally find this book very useful (at least for myself, but I believe as well for many of you guys). It is especially true if you read it the second and the third time. When I review my own game, I can find out a lot of mistakes which Kageyama has mentioned in the book. (Like forget to struggle to go ahead) There is a Go competition during summer, and I have just finished this book the third time. Some of the tesuji in the book is very useful.
I guess it will be good to learn the basic rule of the Go game and then play for a while. (may be a hundred game), then start reading this book. Then you can get the most out of it. (I believe Kageyama himself has suggested us to play for many games to get the feeling first. He mentioned player usually meet barrier at around 11-13kyu, 5-6kyu and 1-2kyu. So I guess if one train up to around 15kyu and then start reading this book, it will be very useful. And then review the book once a while. Get the fundamental idea in your mindset. And you will find Go even more interesting
An extremely well-rounded book.......2001-07-27
This book is an endless source of information. As you get better at go, you get more and more out of it. When I first started playing, I learned little from the book but I did learn valueble basic tactics such as the net and the ladder and so forth. Later, I learned useful tesujis and opening strategies. After putting the book down for about 3 months, and as my skill increased, I went over it again and found more useful info including a generaly good attitude towards go.
I suggest this book to anyone who wants to keep playing go. It may not be useful at the time you get it, but keep skimming through and I gaurantee you will find useful information along the way.
Great book for post-beginner stage.......2001-06-02
Kageyama packs the book full of useful instruction, given in a chatty style with the occasional self-deprecating humour. While not a book for the absolute beginner, he surprises many readers by starting with ladders. But he shows that they are excellent training for reading (calculating) ability which also builds self-confidence during a game.
The book also covers strategic principles, typical endgame play (and a common mistake by handicap takers), josekis (corner openings).
Of course, in such a game full of complex possibilities, books can't solve everything. For example, I presume it requires experience way beyond his book to know whether a move is "proper" or "slack".
Kageyama is the man........2001-02-24
With his no-nonsense style, and quick wit, Toshiro Kageyama takes you thorugh 'the basics' of Good Go. Go, like mathematics, is a language (one of its many names is literally translated as 'handtalk'). Here, Kageyama is teaching us how to spell.
We are provided with easy-to-follow instruction and guided problems in chapters on Life and Death, Ladders (including spiral ladders); Territory and Spheres of Influence; How to study Joseki; Good Shape and Bad; Endgame Pointers; and my favorite, Tesuji (snap-backs and the like).
Kageyama also gives us a general feel for how the stones 'move' on the board, and the direction of play. These Lessons, and his writing style, combine with anecdotes from his professional career and television appearances to make this a wholly enjoyable book.
More on his style: The effect of Kageyama's writing is as if he's right there with you; very conversational. He will encourage and support, but he will also slap your hand if you are not paying attention. Make no mistake, his sole intention is that you express yourself, get better, and have fun along the way.
Beginners around 20 kyu and below:
You may want to concentrate on learning the alphabet, so to speak. But you should know that this book has some very simple 'words'. As soon as you feel comfortable playing on a 19x19 board, then find this book.
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