Mastering Pixels: 3d: 3d(A comprehensive guide conquering 3D graphics series)

This is the only book devoted to Pixels: 3D, the powerful Mac-only graphics application used by tens of thousands of animators, game designers, multimedia programmers, Web developers, and graphic artists. Focusing on the latest release (4.0), the author guides readers through the Pixels3D interface, details all of the product's features, and finally presents a series of tutorials that teach the techniques users need to master to succeed with their own projects. The examples presented in the book and on the CD are tied explicitly to these lessons, allowing readers to compare and improve their own results.

Table of Contents:
Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1 Navigating the Interface; ToolboxesViewControlReshapeShapeAnimateUtilitiesExtrasScriptsView ControlsOn/Off SwitchPerspective Mode SwitchGrid Switch; Zoom SwitchPan SwitchRotate SwitchThe View OptionsUnder View; Shaded PreviewDepthcue; Background ColorGrid; ClippingDrawing Options; Global Constraints; Menu BarFile Menu; Edit MenuWindow Menu; Select MenuHelp Menu; Moving Along; 2 Scripting; Scripting: Automating Repetitive Tasks, Andrew BryantExamples; Harnessing the Scripting Power of PiXELS:3D, Nattress; Lesson 1 Lesson 2; Lesson 3 Lesson 4; Lesson 5 Lesson 6; Moving Along; 3 Basic Modeling Alternatives; ShapeCylinder Sphere Cone Mesh Cube Spline Extrude Lathe; Loft Extract Path Extrude Null 4-Blend Trim Surface The Primitives Plug-in from Graeme Nattress Square Polygon Circle Torus Pyramid Moving A .4 Modeling Complex Objects; Customizing Tools and Procedures for Complex Modeling; Step & Repeat Step Offset Scale; Rotation Create Hierarchy Step & Repeat Exercises Constraints Flex Reshape Tools Push/Pull Pinch Spline Subdivide Collide Join Insert/Remove Flip; Disrupt Invert 3D Emboss Clip; Close Ends Optimize Re-Order Sculpt; Wrap Two Wrap Tutorials, Kevin Coutts/PiXELS:3D; Wrap Tutorial 1 Wrap Tutorial 2 The Twist & Taper Window Lattice Extract Boolean Operations Path Extrusion Complex Modeling Extras Porcupine; Deformation Mapping Things to Be Aware of When Applying a Deformation Map Moving Along; 5 Shaders and Textures; Accessing the Shaders; Shader Channels; The Channel Components; Using the Shader Channels; Customizing a Saved Shader with Remapper; ShaderMaker's Other Bells and Whistles; Editing Shaders in the ShaderMaker View; Five Shader Exercises; How Can I Create a Rusty Metallic Shader?; How Can I Create a Shader for Alien Flesh?; How Can I Create a Shader for a Wavy Water Surface?; How Can I Create Realistic Rock Shaders?; How Can I Create an Exquisite Fractal-Grating Shader?; Creating a Unique 'Mummy' Shader, Rick Schrand; The Character; Moving Along; 6 Rendering; View Options Details; View; Quick Rendering; Render Setup and Final Rendering; Render Setup; Moving Along; 7 Animation; Timeline Window; Object Pane Options Pane; Graph Pane Animation Controls in the Toolbox; Frame Pencil Test Offset Keys Invert Keys Scale Keys Duplicate Keys Add Key The Path/UnPath Control Animating IK Links MorphMaker Animation Tutorials Bouncing Ball Amoebae Windmills Winger Zoomer Wormeroid Morph-Head Animating Textures and Shaders Animating Bitmap Textures Animating Procedural Shaders Are You a Nest Master? More Complex Function Curve Explorations Example 1: Flashing Metal Example 2: Wavy Gravy Example 3: Cloudy Planet Save Those Animated Shaders! Boolean Animations Expressions: Procedural Animation Techniques, Andrew Bryant Model A Gear Moving Along; 8 Cameras and Lights; The Camera; The Camera Info Window; Roll; Field Of View; Shutter Speed; f-stop; Fog; Anti-Alias; Visible; The Interest Point; Camera Animations; Point-of-Interest Animations; Strange but True; The Winding Road ; Lights; The Top Area of the Light Info Window; The Middle Area of the Light Info Window; The Bottom Area of the Light Info Window; Hints and Tips for Lights; How to Create a Firefly Effect; Moving Along; 9 The Particles System Extra; Installation What Is a Particle System Used For?; Setting Particle Parameters Particle Appearance; Assigning the fCurve Shader Control Using a Shader to Control Particle Emission Prerolling Particles Creating Your Own Particle Images Particle System Sample Projects Implications of Render Geometry for Shader Creation,Willis Morse, creator of the Particles System Extra for PiXELS:3D Screen Squares Spheres Fading the Colors and Opacity of Particles, Willis Morse Lifecycle and Framenumber ColorFade Scene OpacityFade Scene Creating a Simple Fountain, Willis Morse Moving Along; 10 Version 3.5 Features; 3.5 Features; New Customizable User Interface; Faster Renderer with Adaptive Anti-Aliasing; Complex Imported Polygonal Models; Multiple Undos; 3DMF Import Capabilities; Selective Display of Timeline Objects/Parameters; Color-Coded Keyframes; ShaderMaker for Lights; Copy & Paste Keyframes; Drag & Drop Support; New Camera View Options; Adaptive Anti-Aliasing; Interactive Insert Tool; Script Editor; More Extras from External Developers; MagpiePro from Third Wish Software; Toby Miller's Extras; LandScaper; SyncIt: Animation Timing Assistant; Tagger; Zippy! (Freeware); The TM Fireball Shader; Curtis Fung's Extras; Object Manager; Camera Manager; Tag Manager; Power User Tutorials; Moving Along; 11 External Content Preparation; Other 3D Software; PLAY Inc's Amorphium; Impulse's Organica; MetaCreations Poser; 2D Image Content Alternatives; Photoshop; After Effects; Commotion; Studio Artist; ArtMatic; Media Cleaner Pro; Faces; Creating New Particle Shapes; Creating 2D Bitmap Shader Channels; Diffuse Channel Content; Mastering Tag Mapping; Tag Mapping and Logo/Text Placement; Fun with Displacement Maps; Moving Along; 12 Special Projects; Constructing Real-World Terrains, James R. Graham; Creating a Character Using the Lofting Method, Rick Schrand; Meet Snydlie Whipcrack: The World's Greatest Actor; Creating the Head; Sinking Our Teeth into Our Character; A Bod-acious Addition; The Cyclops' Head, Shamms Mortier; Designing a Logo, Rick Schrand; Cosmic Transport, Shamms Mortier; Engines; Wings; Ship Body; Moving Along; 13 Color Plate Details; Plate 1: Harpy, Clyde Duensing III and Dan Platt; Plate 2: Slimer, Dan Platt and Clyde Duensing III; Background Templates; Plate 3: Praying Mantis, Daryl S. Walter; Plate 4: Alchemy, Mark White; Plate 5: Desperation, Jo�o Pinto; Plate 6: Child Aliens and Golden Mouse, Masatake Ito; Child Alien; Golden Mouse; Plate 7: That Last Cookie, Rick Schrand; Plate 8: Photo Session, Rick Schrand; Plates 9-16; Plate 9: Morphing Faces; Plate 10: Cyclops' Head; Plate 11: Unstill Life; Plate 12: Thorn Balls; Plate 13: Alien Worm Nest; Plate 14: Cosmic Transport; Plate 15: Camera Animation; Plate 16: Book Cover; The End ... of the Beginning; Appendix A; Appendix B; Index;

About the Author :
By R. Shamms Mortier