what the Maya SDK documentation left out
348710
The documentation that comes with the Maya SDK is a great reference for individual parts of the API, but comes up short on covering the big picture of how and why everything fits together. This book fills that hole perfectly. Even though I've successfully written several Maya plugins by banging around with the examples and the API reference, in just a few hours with this book I gained a much deeper level of understanding about how Maya's internal framework is really constructed.
If you're a professional programmer who's even thinking about working with Maya, buy and read this book before writing a single line of code. It will pay for itself in time saved.
3901098
Hello,

This book seems to cover c-script, the built in libraries the 3D Game Studio compiler uses.  If you want to begin where the author left off with the couple of demos, you will be able to work with the many 3D Model the CD-ROM includes.  The 3D Model, even has its own editor, you can change the model-skins, their animation movement frames, etc.  Although, the 3D Game Studio version may be based on C-Script, it even can be configured to Lite-C.  You will basically, have to purchase Sam's Teach yourelf C in 21 days to get the understanding of it.  However, if you just wish to remain with the C-Scripting, then you could still work with this, but Lite-C is recemmended. The Application's, if purchased offers user support forum.  You could log on and read some of the forum even if you did not buy it yet.
1056131
Thorough coverage of the hardware, data structures, and algorithms you need to effectively use Nvidia GPU devices. Missed one star, because the code examples are incomplete: kernels for GPU execution are well documented, but the host code is missing, so outside resources (books, websites, etc.) are required to write compilable programs. Please, open your source code!
4028398
This book is like having a certified alias instructor right next to you! I literally created an animation--complete with particles--within an hour of reading this book. Unlike the manuals, that bog you down with "do  this, do that" techniques; this book takes you by the hand and  explains everything in a coherent manner; it gives you real-life examples,  the way you would use it in a real-time project setting. Excellent,  excellent book if you're a beginning to intermediate Maya user--it far  exceeded my expectations; my only regret is not having found out about this  book sooner. BUY IT, READ IT, USE IT!
1760084
When i received this book in the mail I was excited because Kelly did such a good job with 3D Studio Max Bible. On opening the box i noticed the book seemed cut in half, but it was complete, thinking OK let's see what's in it !.

Well it glosses over allot of topics but doesn't go into any detail on any. If you just want to find out what Maya 7 can do and where things are and how to get to them easily, this book will tell you how. There are allot of very simple tutorials to get you started on using Mayas' features, but none that will enspire you to go further.

Seems to me that Kelly realy knows his stuff when it comes to 3D Studio Max, but Maya is more of a "I suppose i will have to do a book on this one too." task.

Don't get me wrong, the book is good, but not to the level of the "3D Studio Max 7 Bible".
3496738
You can download the whole book, including sample code from the CD. Go to pangeasoft's website, and look at the bottom of the page under FREE STUFF. I just found it myself, so I can't attest to the quality of the materials. The Xcode samples were created in 2004, so some of them probably will not build right without some modification.
1638130
I have only used Maya 2011 for about 5 Months at time of writing this review, and bought this book about 1.5 Months after starting.

I first followed 'Learning Autodesk Maya 2010' which was a horrible book, but nevertheless I still completed it.

I don't know why, being a beginner I bought this book - I was satisfied. This review is not from a perspective of a veteran however I still learnt a lot from this massive textbook. I have not went through everything in the book yet however I can safely say, any Maya users definitely should buy this book whether you're starting off, veteran, etc. The Table of Contents is highly detailed so if you do not want to go page by page the detailed ToC will lead you to where you want.

To conclude, ANY Maya users must buy this book! If this review does not facilitate your decision, then read the other reviews.

A satisfied and happy customer.

UPDATE 12th June 2011: After using the book for quite some time I found some sections of the book difficult. Why? Because some instructions are hard to understand.
"Why don't you look at the supplementary pictures?" Because the pictures are black and white they are also difficult to understand and at times I just get lost, you'll understand at some parts throughout the book. For this reason I will rate it 4 stars, an update from my previous 5 stars.

What can you do about this? I do know the kindle edition of the book has coloured pictures (Go sample them at Google Books or somewhere...)! Well, it really depends if you want ebook or hardcopy, or even both.

Ba-An
4559717
The book is devoted to Direct3D and provides usable examples for using D3D in real-time rendering!
It can not be used as tutorial, so if you want to program Direct3D 11.2 use:
1. VS 2013 3D templates
2. DirectX book from Frank Luna
3. This book
1923623
Old edition, may not be useful with current versions of code
3491210
I have been very frustrated in that I have not been able to find instructions or a video tutorial on how to use the program.  I have been stumbling around, trying to figure it out on my own, but decided to just put it away until I have time to concentrate on it.  I am disappointed that there is no vidio to watch, demonstrating how to work with it, and I don't know how to get the promised 35 fonts included.  Would love to find an on-line support group to be able to share information with other users.  I'm sure it is a great program.  I just don't know how to use it, and for the cost of the software, I had hoped to find better "how to" instructions.
3386275
This is a THEORY book. If you don't understand the theory behind maya, pick this up. If you want tutorials, pick something else up.

This book is not another picture book, and its not really a tutorial book either. Its more of an explanation of how maya works and what things are used for, in a general sense. If you're picking up Maya for the first time I'd recommend Learning Autodesk Maya (and your version, which I'd recommend 8, which so far the tutorials are working fine in 8.5) If you're already a novice or higher maya user, and know your way around, this could prove useful.

After you've covered the material in a big tutorial book, keeping this one handy will help if you were to struggle on a specific task or forget how to do something, because theres plenty of explanation in this book.

I like how it explains the typical work pipeline, if you're doing this as a hobby but want to enter the industry someday, it will explain to you how daily work usually goes for each person, when working in teams on a pipeline, or how one person can control the entire pipeline when working alone.

A useful add to any maya users library, and one book can never cover everything there is to know about this program. This is my 2nd book covering just maya and found it interesting to read, but I'd start with a tutorial book for new maya users like myself.
1352284
I won't mince words. If you are relatively new to Maya, do not buy this book! Even if you are an experienced user, I would imagine it would be a waste of money. Very early in the book, I found myself becoming quite frustrated while attempting the tutorials as steps are missing or are just flat out wrong! I'm relatively new to Maya, but even I can recognize mistakes in the text. I'm cutting my losses and not continuing with the book as see a losing battle ahead. If there are problems with the simple, introductory tutorials, I can only imagine the headaches involved with the more advanced tutorials. Given the glaring errors in the text, I seriously wonder whether or not anyone bothered to proofread it!

Save yourself some money and pass on this book. I would not buy newer versions either unless the authors take some time to do a major overhaul of the text.
4777145
I'm using this product in some hobby applications.  The first impression I had is that I'd be in trouble to use it once its documentation is really simple.  After few hours testing, a considerable effort to comprehend and  been curious about the way the synchronous serial communication works, I've just figured out that it is really simple to use this product.

This product is based on the Hitachi HD44100H LCD driver. So, I had a glance at the documentation after trying to make it work, in vain, and got some new ideas.

I've tried to find some application examples for the Sunman SMS0408E2, but I couldn't find anything. So, I decided to write a simple documentation related to one of my hobbies application using an Arduino nano board (based on Atmel AT Mega 328P micro controller). I have also written a library in CPP to be used in Arduino IDE environment.

For more details about this application example, just send me an email: budegarower [at] gmail.com

As a result, I have now a low power consumption LCD for my basic stuff as meters, clocks, etc.
3837235
This book was a required textbook for my begining Maya class, but be warned, it's more a book about concepts and 3D animation history than it is about instruction. If you need this book for a 3D animation class, I highly recomend getting another book with instuction specifically for whichever program you're using, because you're not going to find it in this one.
2259301
This is the perfect format for someone with a little 3D animation experience who wants to get a feel for Maya as quickly as possible. The book reinforces common tasks by working through projects that require the same types of operations many times (e.g. NURBS Trim comes up many times while modeling a simple house). It only took me a few days to go through all the videos, only consulting the text occasionaly, mostly for figures.
I hope to see more software-oriented books in this format in the future.
2879679
While the book provides valuable information about scripting using the Blender API library under version 2.49 this library is soon to be obsolete.  Version 2.55, currently in beta-testing and soon to be released, no longer support the Blender API interface to python and is replaced by the new bpy API.  This book is applicable only to the current 2.49 Blender version, and will soon become obsolete with the release of 2.55

A similar reference to scripting under 2.55 using the bpy API would be very useful, but this isn't that reference.  So while it may be instructive learning the Blender API from this text it doesn't address the future Blender versions.  As difficult as it can be staying current with the latest software this text provides no help achieving that goal.  This is particularly disappointing as the bpy API has been available for several releases of blender and even a cursory comparison or review of the alternative API would have gone a long way improving the utility of this text
2138262
4 Star for lack of documentation.  A microcontroller is required to operate this LED strip  and using a separate 5VDC 1 to 2 A power supply helps get full brightness
Got this strip working using an Adafruit Trinket and their NeoPixel library. The example "striptest" only needs to have the default #define pin value changed from pin 6 to an available pin on the trinket.  The strip has connectors and 4 inch wires at both ends but there is no part # info regarding the connectors..  There is no documentation as to the function of the colored wires. I found (Red = Vcc, WHT = GND and GRN = Data)  The only other pitfall is to note which end is the Data IN vs Data out as you want to connect your micro controller to the data IN end.  I ran my test strip for 5 minutes with the data line directly connected to the Trinket and power to the strip being fed from a separate 5VDC regulated supply.  I did have a problem loading the program with the LED strip connected to the Trinket. Disconnecting it allowed the program to download.  Adafruit recommends adding a resistor in the data line and a cap across the power.