By SLAYER (Nessjp) (12.229.228.119) on Saturday, December 21, 2002 - 04:53 pm:

Hi,

I know people have taken Larrys courses.They sound great and I was planning on taking them myself.
However, I recently learned of classes at 3D exchange. They are quite a bit more money, but is it worth it? The site does not go into great detail.
Has anybody out there taken these courses. If so, what do you think.
No offense Larry, just exploring my options.

By Dan Ablan (Dablan) (64.105.116.14) on Saturday, December 21, 2002 - 09:07 pm:

Sometimes a good book takes you very very far, and costs much much less.

For example, "Inside LightWave 7" - available at bookstores everywhere


Dan

By Ravenn (Rorrkonn) (66.190.141.64) on Sunday, December 22, 2002 - 04:33 am:

Don't know a thing about 3D Exchange other then ant no way I would pay that knowing about all the free tutors and more affordable Educational material.

100's of Free tutors.
http://members.shaw.ca/lightwavetutorials/Main_Menu.htm

I'm probably the only one here that don't love inside 7.
but it's affordable and defiantly educates ya.

http://www.desktopimages.com/
there kool I got 2 of the modeling ones.+ the one that came with LW7.

http://www.splinegod.com/
Larry is always hear and helpful.
never took any of his $$$ Classes but he talt me how to use splines with his free spline tutor.
http://www.splinegod.com/onlinetraining.htm

I would chose Larry's School cause he's always here and a active part of LW.
and if ya got a question about his school ya can ask.
I wouldn't pay for nothing till I talked to the boss and new what my $$$ would get me.

Ravenn
http://www.Atomic-3D.com

By Jason Morris (Manfriday) (64.81.145.27) on Sunday, December 22, 2002 - 07:33 pm:

I dunno.. from the looks of it Larrys series is a far better value. Buy Larry's series and Dan Ablans book (even though he is in league with softimage now ;) )

I have purchased Larry's series and I'm quite happy with the investment. Best training I ever bought.

The 3d Exchange stuff is just flat out too expensive in my opinion. You'll most likely not see my name amongst thier list of customers. ;)

By Beam Tracer (Beamtracer) (203.109.241.109) on Sunday, December 22, 2002 - 08:27 pm:

What's this about Dan being a SoftImage guy now?

By Dan Ablan (Dablan) (64.105.116.14) on Sunday, December 22, 2002 - 08:54 pm:

Ravenn ,

what may I ask don't you like about the book?


Dan

By Dan Ablan (Dablan) (64.105.116.14) on Sunday, December 22, 2002 - 10:42 pm:

Beam,
I've had Softimage for years. Recently, I sold my copy of Maya for XSI.

I'm still puzzled why people think you can only use one 3D application. The more tools you have and know, the better.


Dan

By Ravenn (Rorrkonn) (66.190.141.64) on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 12:14 am:

Hello

about the inside 7 book,LW Manual or any Manual.
This is my personal thoughts that counts for nothing but sense ya ask.
I just think that black and white manuals and how to books our out dated.
it is much faster to watch a how to AVI,CD,DVD then to read a 1200 page book.
3D is Art don't tell me how to do Art show me how to do Art.

If I released LW it would come with a video of someone doing the projects in inside 7,
a HTML format of the book for a quick reference would be included.full color and larger pictures.

Instead of a black and white manual that who ever wrote makes me wonder if they ever used LW.
a video made buy a really good LW Artist showing all the tools sorta like desktop DVD's.
with a HTML format of the book for a quick reference would be included.full color and larger pictures.
I hate the LW pdf format online manual.it never fits right to the screen.

the 1200 page inside 7 and manual is just too thick to deal with so I divided them up and put them in folders.

3D just is not the easiest to learn it gets rather aggravating at times.
It is the artist responsibility to learn the app but it is the companies responsibility to produce the best Educational material.
all the 3D app I have give ya a manual that covers the tools but don't really tell ya what there for.You will never convince me who ever made the Manuals knows a thing about 3D.

they do provide a form,email list so we can work it out for our selves.
LW form is the tuffest around. Ya ask a Question hear ya might get it answered maybe not and ya might catch hell cause ya ask the wrong thing.

***************************************

About using more then one 3D app.

I use deferent 2D,3D apps If I need a tool that one app does not have then I will find a app that does have it.


Ravenn

By Dan Ablan (Dablan) (66.82.168.1) on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 11:36 am:

Thanks for you comments. There are pros and cons to books and manuals, of course. The manuals NewTek provides have nothing to do with me or my book Inside LightWave 7. I think you're blurring the line there a bit.

Personally, I have books on everything. I can cruise them at my own pace, and go step by step. Most videos out there go too fast, and what happens is that the demo artist moves through a tutorial obviously with software he/she is comfortable with. This can lead to problems for the viewer. A book on the other hand has development people, editors, technical reviewers, and so on, to make sure that button lables are accurate and techniques work.

Books for the most part are the best value you can find. Thousands of tips and techniques for $35. A video on the other hand can only cover so much in an hour and a half. Of course, with a video you can watch what someone is doing first hand.

As they say, to each his own.


Ho ho ho.
Dan

By arthur argote (Archiea) (66.32.16.152) on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 03:04 pm:

Well, in defence of both opinions, nothing stops one from going to the book store and browsing through the book. Since part of the discussion was evaluating resources before purchasing, I thought it would be worth noting.

Some prefer the more passive approach of videos. Some prefer the books. I like both. Videos break the ice for me and perhaps show the more complicated issues (rigging, animation) more naturally. Books are paced exactly as you desire, and allow you to experiment a bit.

By Larry Shultz "SplineGod" (Larrys) (216.244.31.20) on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 04:21 pm:

Hey Slayer,
No offense taken.
I know what 3D Exchange teaches from a pretty in depth standpoint. I worked with them for awhile and even developed some early materials for them.
For reasons I wont go into I decided to develop my materials on my own and am now working more and more with FXAcademy. I think what I have is a much better value. I believe I cover the material in far more depth, in a much more logical fashion, give good support and its much more affordable. Im also much more involved with the LW community...you see me here all the time.
As far as the courses I have I dont know of any other materials out there that cover what I do in the depth that I do. My character series is well over 40 hrs of materials just on the CDs. Combine that with the online support forum. People get to ask a lot of questions which means many more hours of material. I also critique student work. If you havent seen the student gallery I would do so. Look how thoroughly I critique their work.

I also think books are great. I take into account with my CDs that people may want to review parts several times. For this reason I break my lectures down into 10 - 20 min sections making it easier to review and rewind.

By SLAYER (Nessjp) (12.229.228.119) on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 05:51 pm:

Thanks for the replies everybody.
I think I have decided on taking Larrys course(s).

Dan, I have your book, and although it is quite good, I can only get so much out of books. There is some great tutorials and info in it, but I need more.

Larry, I have a basic understanding of Lightwave having been on it for a few months now, but am still struggling with some basic stuff.
Coming from a CAD background I am finding it difficult to do mechanical type modeling. Also, I am having problems with texturing/surfacing. I am quite interested in the animating and rigging and such, but would like a good grasp on modeling first.
Would you reccomend the introduction to Lightwave or your Characacter Animation course?

By Jason Morris (Manfriday) (64.81.145.27) on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 05:53 pm:

for the record, I wasn't giving Dan a hard time about using softimage.. It was said in jest.

If I could afford it I would probably buy a copy of XSI as well.
Ya can never learn enough tools IMHO.

By Dan Ablan (Dablan) (64.105.116.14) on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 06:21 pm:

Rock on.
The more you know, the better. Period.
Take all the courses. Take my one on one, personal hands on course at our studio in Chicago. I've been an authorized LightWave instructor for years. Get all the videos. Get all the books. Learn, experiment, create, make money.

Dan

By Randy Sharp (Randog) (198.211.88.11) on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 08:25 pm:

I will toss in my $.02. For what ever that is worth.

I too come (came?) from a CAD background when I started. I was surprised at how much it helped and how quickly I was able to pick things up.

With that being said.....and I really don't want this to come acros the wrong way...but....

If you can only get so much out of books then I would take a different approach. Rather than going through a tutorial and learning what button to push, or what value to enter, go back and read the tutorial and think about *why* a certain tool was used. If you were to build the same thing from scratch without the aide of a book how would you do it? Why is the author using something different? This is the *critical key* to really learning the tools. All too often people do tutorials and think they have "got it" - guess what if you just go thru the tutorial and stop. You don't "got it."

It does not matter if you like videos, books, time-lapse mpegs. Everyone learns differently. People are too willing to spend countless amounts of money to learn when what they really need is a grasp of the tools and some art books....

But that is for a different day, and I am heading out the door for the holidays...

-Randy Sharp

By Ravenn (Rorrkonn) (66.190.141.64) on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 09:14 pm:

Hello Dan Ablan

I tryed to email ya.
the profile email dan@agadigital.com didnot work.
could ya email me at
rorrkonn@charter.net

Thanks
Ravenn

By Larry Shultz "SplineGod" (Larrys) (216.244.31.100) on Monday, December 23, 2002 - 09:57 pm:

Slayer,
If you have already been using LW for awhile I would definately skip the intro stuff. The principles I cover in my Character Course is applicable to other types of modeling and texturing. I also have some people taking my character series who have never touched ANY 3d until my course and many who never did anything organic until my course. Examples of their work are up in the student gallery.
If you want to sign up go to:
http://www.splinegod.com/professionalcharacterseries.html
student gallery at:
http://www.3dtraining.com/studentwork

By franklin lyons (Cg_Flipper) (66.89.169.36) on Tuesday, December 24, 2002 - 05:20 pm:

I must say that Dan's book is by far the most usefully lightwave book out there.
I learned the most from it as well as online tutorials. i just wanted to warn those out there interested in the training seminars, i took two this summer (hosted by newtek) and left with less in my walet and nothing more my head. however, im sure that they are not all like this, the two i attended had the original instructer cancel.

By Lernie D Ang (Faulknermano) (210.14.24.195) on Tuesday, December 24, 2002 - 10:22 pm:

got started on inside lightwave 3d (5.5) myself.

By Larry Shultz "SplineGod" (Larrys) (209.178.188.82) on Wednesday, December 25, 2002 - 03:46 am:

Slayer,
To add upon what Randy said; The problem with books is that they can only go so deep which is why theyre not designed as a course. Its just impossible to put the same amount of material into a book that you can put onto CDs. Just the modeling part of the CDs I have contain around 12 HOURS of realtime video. As Randy put it, I dont just show a cookbook way to do things. I explain WHY I use a particular tool and show several ways to use that same tool. I show when to use it and when not to use it and several ways to achieve the same end. I cover the art aspect of what I do as well as the technical aspect. I show how to use reference and the strengths and weaknesses of various techniques. In short I teach you to understand WHY you do things and not just HOW.
I would also like to warn others about the Newtek sponsored seminars; Ive had a great deal of email from attendees who felt the learned a great deal and that it was worth the cost especially with the 10hrs of material they received on CD that went with the lectures. Others have posted similar opinions on this and other forums. Dans books have gotten good reviews overall while you have the occassional person who didnt like them. Thats to be expected. Typically if the majority of comments are favorable you cant go wrong. Its just impossible to please everyone. Anyone who is serious about their profession will do what it takes to educate themselves. People learn in different ways. There are good books, online tutorials, tapes and CDs. There are online forums. The bottom line is that there is enough material at a reasonable cost to cover most needs.

By Beam Tracer (Beamtracer) (203.109.241.109) on Wednesday, December 25, 2002 - 06:36 am:

Dan's book is very worthwhile, and you can learn a lot from it. If I have one criticism though, it tries to cover too much in one book. At the beginning you're leaning the basic functions of Lightwave, and a few chapters on you're modeling humans and animating characters. Some of the other books such as Lightwave Applied have this same characteristic.

'Inside Lightwave' would be better as 3 books. Maybe a beginner, intermediate and advanced. There you go, Dan. I think you could make some more money by expanding the range!

I notice that Larry has also been offering a beginner set of CDs as well as his more advanced tutorials. Good move.

By arthur argote (Archiea) (66.32.20.63) on Wednesday, December 25, 2002 - 04:52 pm:

Dan, I aggree with Beam. Perhaps two books, one called Lightwave 7 (beginners) and inside lightwave 7 (intermediate/advanced). The only argumnent against that would be that there are other beginner's Lightwave books. Anohter argument is that I've always considered the inside Lightwave series for people who are upgrading LW or have stpped away for a while, not for the complete novice.

eitherway a great, affordable resource...

By Larry Shultz "SplineGod" (Larrys) (209.179.226.236) on Wednesday, December 25, 2002 - 05:42 pm:

Its the difference between a tutorial based book and a course based book. Books work great for most people as reference. As you go thru the basic stuff and learn more on your own from other sources, the more advanced topics begin to make sense. Books that are course based are going to take far longer to produce and will be far more expensive. Its tough enough doing it on CD and I couldnt imagine how long it would take to do as a series of books.

By Dustin D'Amour (Wizcraker) (68.99.218.128) on Friday, December 27, 2002 - 06:31 am:

I would have to say the Lightwave 5.0 manuals were best. Had a nice refrance manual as well as the User Guide, which had begining tutorials in the back.

I personaly am looking for a Lightwave 3D [put version here] WOW! Book, these books are full color, they have more information then your average "Magic" books have that New Riders publishes. They start out with simple explanition of key tools, but they say straight out that if you want to know more about the program to read the manual. It also explains the default shortcuts to know [with some finger exercises], as you read the book they explain short tutorials on how to do things. The structure is is nice as it starts simple and by the time you hit the later chapters you in some advanced stuff that has been built up from the former chapters.

I have the Illustrator 10 and Painter 7 wow books and it would be nice to see a book written for Lightwave in this same manner.

And for a Free Mini Review on:

"Inside Lightwave 7" I find it to be a little long winded, I can't seem to understand why Authors find the need to restate what the manuals already cover. For "Inside" Part 1 of the book covers just that. Thats 267 pages [or almost one quarter of the book] that could be eliminated or used for something more useful. I understand that Dan Ablan is just trying to cover everything from basic understanding to advanced, but it would be more efficent to include a paragraph in the preface explaining that if the reader does not understand the functionality of Lightwave then they should consult the manual before continuing on to the Tutorials in the book.

A side note most people under estimate the power of the Lightwave 7 Manual, yes it is a little vague in parts but it covers what is suppose to. It is written in a Technical manner, some parts are dry , but it covers the basic functionality of the tools in the program, and is a great reference to have next to the desk when you cant remember something.

It would of been nice to have a structured layout in the modeling and animation parts of the book. In the sense of keeping the Organics and Technical aspects seperate. In Part 2 of "Inside" it mixes chapters 7, 8, and 9 with character creation. Chapters 7 and 9 are more related to each other but are seperated with information on Architectual enviroments. It would of been nice to have the lighting chapters in a seperate area of the book away from the character creation. It would had been more logical to put Organic Modeling, Character Construction, and the Parts on Organic Animation all in the same Part. Then the book could continue on in a different Part with the information on Technical modeling and animation. The Broadcast-Style Animatio chapter was pretty good, it covered the information for the nice broadcast look and feel. The next Part of the book could have rearange the the lighting Chapters with basic Cinematography techniques [with a side note stating for more advanced indepth information on Cinematography to look in to getting "Cinematography & Directing"]. The Non-lineer Animation could have been omitted as the Refrence booklet that comes with Lightwave 7, though short [16 pages] covers everything with a small tutorial that the plugin offers. Part 4 of the book was well covered except some chapters were a little short. The basic Particle and Fur chapter could of been split in to two chapters with again the advance particle animation being with the basic. With SasLT shipping with Seven, the Fur could have had some basic tutorials for instant hair [or grass] to Advanced Guide chains. Saving the best for last Motion designer was a little vague. It always seems to happen the cloth simulation plug-ins get cheated on information. Yes Newtek offers some great tutorials to getting started with Motion Designer, but it would of been nice to see some indepth advanced tutorials on this great plug-in.

I hope the above helps out on how to improve the next version of "Inside Lightwave".

Also in regards to 3d Exchange vs Larry's Course, in the long run it would be cheaper to get Larry's Course then if you still hungry for more knowledge and are willing to pay for something like 3d Exchange then I would recomend the Gnomon School of VFX in Hollywood, CA. http://www.gnomon3d.com/ They do not teach Lightwave but Maya and friends but they are probably by far the most Bang for the buck for knowledge regardless of package. They also have comparable tuition to other schools who do not offer as much as they do.

By Dan Ablan (Dablan) (64.105.116.14) on Friday, December 27, 2002 - 11:01 am:

All good comments folks.

I've planned a beginning book, then advanced book for some time now. We'll see what happens when we know more with LightWave.

Cheers,
Dan

By SLAYER (Nessjp) (12.229.228.119) on Friday, December 27, 2002 - 01:03 pm:

Thanks for all the input.
I have just signed to take Larrys class and am quite excited! It seemed to be the best bang for the buck.

Dustin- I am sure that school is great as are probably alot of others, but I am limited to taking online training as I cannot leave work.
Hopefully, more colleges will jump on the internet course learning method since it is proving to be more and more part of the education
system.
I also agree with your WOW books comment. Color makes a HUGE difference, especially on programs of this caliber. Even if the current manual did not change one thing except add color, it would be a huge help.
Of course I would like to see a more user-friendly manual. I also agree with you that the manual is really good for a reference guide. This needs to be improved so that a person could actually learn this program from documentation that comes with the program.

Look at other programs of this type. Maya, Softimage and 3D studio all come with 3,4,5 or more books. Beginning, advanced and tutorials.
I understand that printing costs may be an issue, so why not include a decent user guide, a decent reference guide (like we currently have) and maybe some CD's or DVD's of tutorials/how to's?

I recently attended a seminar for Lightwave, and the instructor himself (no names) stated that he honestly does not know how those on Lightwave 6 and beyond learned the program. He mentioned that the manuals for 5 and below were excellent resources and the current ones have some issues.

If there were no tutorials on the web, books, dvd's or this forum it would be damn near impossible to learn this program well.

If I were less fortunate with no internet access and no book stores in my town I would be quite lost.

By Dan Ablan (Dablan) (64.105.116.14) on Friday, December 27, 2002 - 10:56 pm:

You wrote:
"I recently attended a seminar for Lightwave, and the instructor himself (no names) stated that he honestly does not know how those on Lightwave 6 and beyond learned the program. He mentioned that the manuals for 5 and below were excellent resources and the current ones have some issues."


______________

In all fairness, I know what seminar that is, and I know who the instructor is, and I know what he said, specifically about my book(s).

As my friend Randy pointed out, there are many ways to learn the program, and each person learns differently. Anyone, I mean ANYONE, whether you're in a college professor, or convicted sex offender, or just even a high school student that publicly puts down someone elses work to better your own is classless.

Learn what you can and create.

Dan

By SLAYER (Nessjp) (12.229.228.119) on Saturday, December 28, 2002 - 12:26 am:

Dan,

The comment from the instructor was for the Lightwave manuals and not your book.

In fact, he actually praised your book a couple of times and in some ways put it above the manual.
I rather enjoy your book. It is the best one that I own on Lightwave and use it constantly. I use it more than my manual.

I have only been on Lightwave for a few months and your book is what I learned from. In fact, I bought your book just for the demo version of lightwave and followed your tutorials. It was only when I realized that I enjoy Lightwave and got frustrated with not being able to save, that I bought Lightwave.

I try not to put down anybodys books, but if I were to, I would say that the newest book for 7.5 put out by Charles river media.....

By Dan Ablan (Dablan) (64.105.116.14) on Saturday, December 28, 2002 - 09:17 am:

Thanks Slayer.
There was an instructor who did, so no worries. The other is a friend of mine.

Cheers,
Dan

By Rob Szczerba (Robszczerba) (194.117.133.90) on Monday, December 30, 2002 - 07:44 pm:

In my view Dan's New Riders Lightwave series has been superb and improved enormously since LW5. The content has always been rich and the style accessible, informative and fun. The latest volumes complement the LW7 manual really well from basic polygonal modelling techniques through to character rigging and animation. Everything you need to know regarding animation fundamentals is available in these books. Creativity... that's the difficult part...

It's worth checking out the wealth of LW tutorial material on the Newtek site and free tutorials on the web written by the LW community.

I've never understood why Newtek has taken so much flak for its manuals. 5.5 was economical, but above all readable and although 6 was fragmentary, 7 is comprehensive and well written.

By Larry Shultz "SplineGod" (Larrys) (216.244.13.48) on Tuesday, December 31, 2002 - 06:09 pm:

Dan,
I also instructed at some of those seminars and never saw or heard of anyone putting down any of your books. If you heard something to that effect it was incorrect. I would suggest that if you heard a rumor that an instructor was belittling your books that you ask him directly...thats the best way to avoid any misunderstanding. As for my part, I only mentioned that IMO the point by point method of modeling is not as good for beginners as other methods. Those comments are aimed at the method and not at Stuart or your books. Ive never been secretive about disliking the method.

By kevin phillips (Kevman) (210.48.24.30) on Tuesday, December 31, 2002 - 08:00 pm:

I feel motivated to plug my 0.2c worth of comment on tutorial material from a student standpoint.

Dans books - These are excellent books, I have all the 'Inside' books, though to be honest I can't say I've read any of them, rather used them as resource when I get stuck.

One of the schools here in NZ that I occasionally assist at use 'Inside 6' as their prescribed Text!

The LW manuals - I can't say I found anything wrong with the manuals. I didn't really like 6.0's 'split into 3' approach, but 7's is great! What's astounding is just HOW MUCH about Lightwave is actually in the manuals that is easily overlooked if you don't read it closely. I can't say I've read it myself completely, but with Dans books, its a great desktop resource!

(And people often overlook the ability to do a search in the PDF version to find information quickly! That's another timesaver!)


Larry's Character Course - Awesome - I learn best by example, and video is my preferred way to learn (I also love video tapes too!).

I found I learnt soooo much just from the modelling module alone that I've modelled a LOT of characters in my job, something I used to avoid cause it all looked too hard. Now I LOVE modelling characters, mostly cartoon ones...


The Point by Point method - I have to agree with Larry - I tried it originally when I got 6.0, but its laborious and I gave up after making the basic face out of frustration as a character modelling newbie at the time. It did put me off character modelling somewhat as a 'too much work' approach. (Yes, I'm a lazy so-and-so!)

Larry's approach has the basic face and form built within 10 minutes - When you can see things happen so fast, its exhilorating and encourages you to keep going! That's what I found so positive about Larry's material, and what pushed me along!

IMHO, its all good stuff - By one, or like me, spend too much money and buy it all and just make the most of these amazingly talented peoples offerings to enhance your own skills!

By Dan Ablan (Dablan) (68.56.146.107) on Tuesday, December 31, 2002 - 08:36 pm:

Thanks for clearing things up Larry, and crew. Like I've always said, the more you know, the better. Books for me as well are often reference. If I have time, I like to go through tutorials in books, but also like videos. I've heard good things of Larry's course as well.

We're working on many new training materials, including more beginner, and more advanced books, in new formats. There's also something we're working on with NewTek (and New Riders Publishing).

Happy New Year everyone.

Dan

By Jessica Vitale (Jvitale) (209.178.129.44) on Wednesday, January 01, 2003 - 07:38 pm:

I've always loved your books Dan!..The only complaint I have about all US LW books is that the pictures are in black and white and hard to see.
I just got a LW book as a Christmas present from my relatives in Japan. It's in Japanese of course but all the pictures are in COLOR!...

Happy New Year Dan!...I look forward to your next book. Even if the pictures are in B & W

By Larry Shultz "SplineGod" (Larrys) (209.178.188.77) on Wednesday, January 01, 2003 - 09:01 pm:

Thats one of the difficulties when presenting to a group. You say one thing and occassionally someone will "hear" something else. Ive recommended Dans books to people and still do. I have Dans book as well as Lightwave applied.
I agree with Jessica too. Ive seen some Japanese books on character modeling and rigging that were pretty hefty and in color. There were so many pictures that you could almost follow what was going on without being able to read the text.
Thanks Kev!

By Beam Tracer (Beamtracer) (203.109.241.109) on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 05:14 am:

Same with the restaurants. You get the pictures so you know what it looks like before you eat it!

Those that write Lightwave books must be really haning out for LW8 so they can print another one! It's been a long time between drinks.

By Jason Sanders (3dnewbie77) (12.150.42.217) on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 11:37 am:

So, based on what I have read is that for a total beginner in 3D the best combination for getting a good grasp on the 3D world would be to invest in some of Larry's classes (because you get more bang for your buck) and also invest in as many books as you can afford, right? Plus the online tutorials of course. I am very new to this stuff but I have a steep learning curve. I just do not know where to begin to get a good foundation on 3D and start animating a little? Any suggestions? Or is the plan above a good plan of action.

By Dan Ablan (Dablan) (68.56.146.107) on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 04:44 pm:

I've always liked color books, of course. But, having written six books now, two in color, I can tell you that it's more expensive than you can imagine. Color books often are not as profitable because of the high cost. Because of this, I made sure that all images and figures in the latest Inside LightWave 7 book are on the CD, full size, full color. Many people don't realize those images are there.

I'm pushing for a beginner's guide for LightWave, and then the more advanced "Inside" type of book. We're already planning, listening to posts and comments on the forums.

Thanks,
Dan

By william greenlee (Billyboy) (12.218.128.69) on Tuesday, January 07, 2003 - 08:19 am:

Inside LW7 was just fine with B&W Dan.
Color books are too much money and dont really have anything to add to the learning experience.
The only thing I didnt like about that book was the pictures for the page you are reading were always on the next page.
Thats the only thing wrong with it.
Buy a book kids and get away from that VCR and DVD player.....

By Beam Tracer (Beamtracer) (203.109.241.109) on Tuesday, January 07, 2003 - 08:51 am:

I think Dan's plan for 2 Lightwave books is good. The beginners book will be easier to digest for those who aren't experts at Lightwave, and the advanced book will have more room for more advanced tutorials, which will be very appealing to many people who already own previous Inside Lightwave books.

Both Dan's books and Larry's SplineGod video tutorials are worthwhile. I think many people will purchase both, so it doesn't need to be a competitive thing.

By Dustin D'Amour (Wizcraker) (68.99.218.128) on Tuesday, January 07, 2003 - 02:45 pm:

I have to disagree that color books are more money. The Wow! books cost about US$49 at the bookstore and even cheaper on amazon. Inside Lightwave is 10 dollars more depending on where you get it from [Borders is selling it for $59].

Here is an idea how about just make an ebook [following the likes of Stephen King], cuts down on cost of the publisher plus brings in more revenue for the Author. Let us users worry about printing it out, unless of course you want to make a spiral version so we don't have to take it to the press it get chopped up and bound with a spiral.

Just some random thoughts

By Dan Ablan (Dablan) (68.56.146.107) on Tuesday, January 07, 2003 - 07:44 pm:

Dustin,
you must remember that the "Wow" books cover much wider topics, hence, they sell more, and can justify the costs. Color IS VERY expensive to print and produce, and as much as well think LightWave is king, the market is not that of Photoshop or a web creation program.

But don't worry. I've got some mind blowing new stuff in the works

Dan

By Jeremy Nelson (Jeremy) (198.60.152.3) on Tuesday, January 07, 2003 - 11:45 pm:

Hey Dan I know this is off topic but do you know any books that are available or being planned for Digital Fusion. Thanks

By Jessica Vitale (Jvitale) (209.179.129.32) on Wednesday, January 08, 2003 - 01:58 am:

I always wonder WHY printing in color is more expensive 'cause the Japanese LW book that I have has TONS of pictures and costs less than the US book. I also have to wonder how cookbooks which are always printed with rich color photographs (I think this is a must for them) cost less to buy if they cost more to print....

By Lernie D Ang (Faulknermano) (202.57.91.215) on Wednesday, January 08, 2003 - 03:40 am:

it's gotta be other factors that make more or less expensive. but undoubtedly, it's really much more expensive to color-sep an entire book compared to just the cover.

By Randy Sharp (Randog) (24.130.206.37) on Wednesday, January 08, 2003 - 08:30 am:

My guess would be the print "run" amount. The more you print the cost per unit drops.

Just a left field guess though.

By Larry Shultz "SplineGod" (Larrys) (216.244.14.210) on Wednesday, January 08, 2003 - 01:50 pm:

I think Randy is correct. Ive noticed that on color printing that you typically have to have very large orders to get the cost down to reasonale levels. Having nice hi rez color images on a CD with the book isnt a bad idea.

By Dan Ablan (Dablan) (64.105.116.14) on Wednesday, January 08, 2003 - 05:41 pm:

Jeremy,
I'd love to see a Digital Fusion book. There's been talk with a few really cool people who know the program exceedingly well.

Time will tell....

Dan

By Micah Hostetter (Solace9) (63.199.231.16) on Thursday, January 09, 2003 - 12:45 am:

Hey all,

Just want to note that the "Inside Lightwave 7" book by Dan Ablan has been an excellent resource for me.

I was able to cover the first 12 chapters over the summer so that I "hit the ground running" when I took a Lightwave 3D college class. I was very concerned for my education during the first half of the semester or so because the teacher was so bellow Dan's level of thorough, nut&bolt explanation and application. I ended up teaching alot of the fellow students about the program, I aced the class, I will have my work on the college's ArtNewMedia website, and I will be a paid inclass tutor for this next semester's Lightwave 3D class.

I couldn't have done that w/ out what I consider to be Dan's excellent contribution to the Lightwave 3D education library. (I look forward to supporting Dan's, and all such, future hard work by buying and pouring over the pages of such elegantly complex tomes of instruction.)

So, yeah, "to each his own", but I must emphasize that the printed word, w/ B&W image or color, is both effective and economical. So, get fluent w/ word handling and books will bloom w/ your mind.

And, knowing how to spell is a great first step...

L&R,
Solace9

By Lernie D Ang (Faulknermano) (202.57.94.174) on Thursday, January 09, 2003 - 05:20 am:

i owe alot to dan ablan (and fellow contributors) for inside lightwave 3d (v5.5). it was also bob hood's writing on the lscript chapter that i got inspired to script for lw too.