(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best 3d graphic design books

You might want to see if your local library has a copy of Dobbert's Matchmoving: "The Invisible Art of Camera Tracking" (also Amazon, Book Depository).

So, there is tracking - identifying features and following them through out the frame - solving - taking tracked features and mathematically calculating the relationship between the features and/or the camera in 2D or 3D. Stable tracking on well selected features allows for more accurate solves.

Chances are that the solving process will provide you with the path of the camera, and locators for the features. Ideally, those locators will show you where those features are in space. All stuff you already know.

You might be able to assume that the level of the tracked ground is consistent and just build it out and see if it holds. It sounds like that is what you are doing already.

There's a few ways you could approach it:

• track some additional features around where you're interested in putting things
  
• look to other sources like lidar (which you won't have) or Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) (which you might be able to purchase for a relatively modest price) to provide additional guidance as to the shape of the terrain.
  
• eyeball it, see if you can find a level that doesn't slip. Unreliable, but you might find yourself needing to do this anyway
  
  Regardless, what I would suggest is looking at some matchmove showreels - you'll find some really talented artists proving just how good their solves are - often on insane shots - and apply the lessons you take from those reels to your own workflow. eg. /u/semmlerino posted a reel on vimeo.

It's currently free on Amazon too! Might be more convenient for those of you who own a Kindle.
https://www.amazon.ca/Vulkan-Programming-Guide-Official-Learning-ebook/dp/B01MXGZR73
I'm in Canada but it appears free to me on the .com site as well.

Is this intentional? I couldn't find any reference to it online until I checked this subreddit. I would have thought there would be a press release if it was released as free, especially if the "sale" is temporary.

> Want to make web apps, games, use it to validate forms, send/get data via ajax, make image sliders on site, win 8 store apps...?

I am very much in the same boat as the OP. I'm working through Eloquent Javascript at the moment but I'd like to start working on some very basic practical exercises other than print statements. My answer to the above question would be "Yes."

The links you provided are helpful, thank you!

EDIT: One thing, I found a book called HTML5 in action but the authors did not include anyone named Manning. Is this it?

Yes Sketchup is a mesh modeler, and it absolutely is viable for 3D printing. It gets a lot of flak from people that don't know how to use it, because it works differently from solid modeling programs.

The model needs to be 'manifold' to be considered solid. Sketchup will tell you when the model is solid. See here for an explanation.

All STL's are meshes, which is why a mesh modeler works best for editing them. Solidworks is a solid modeler, but is no good for editing STL files.

BTW, here are a few projects that I've made using Sketchup:

• Tiny Cabin printed in color: http://imgur.com/a/c0Wb0
  
• Tiny cabin printed on my Solidoodle: http://imgur.com/a/HXbI1
  
• Fancy lampshade: http://imgur.com/a/JklMb
  
• Fine jewelry: http://imgur.com/a/nYu49
  
  So you know I'm not talking out of my ass...I wrote a book :) http://amzn.com/1783284579

Is there a place you can find this? Yes, there are probably a half dozen books that have all of this covered. Of course, they are not free.

For example, the questions you asked are all covered in

https://www.amazon.com/Illuminated-Pixels-What-Digital-Lighting/dp/1435456351

which is great but not free.

Is there a single curated online resource like this? Not that I've ever seen.

The reality is that the discipline, hours of work, and editing that leads to a comprehensive textbook isn't what you'll see in semi-professional youtube videos. I have a huge respect for those, but they tend to be disconnected and usually software specific.

I'd be happy to provide a few more titles to look for but if you're not looking for books, there really is no point. And no, I don't have free pdfs for them...

Max and Maya, being now owned by the same company, are very similar and do pretty much the same things, with a few differences in little features. The general consensus seems to be that Max is superior for modeling and Maya is superior for animation, but in reality most shops will only use one piece of software if they can, so you're really more constrained by what type of work you want to do. Maya is far more prominent in the vfx/animation/film industry, and Max is used by many if not most game companies. That said, I think this will change in the future. Some game companies have switched to Maya already, and a lot of schools are now only teaching Maya. It may be that Max gets phased out as more people enter the workforce without knowing it.

There is a book that kind of breaks down the basics of both programs. It's decent, wish I could find my copy.
http://www.amazon.com/Autodesk-Maya-3ds-Side-Side/dp/1598632426

I drew out a few small, medium and large-sized mountains and then duplicated them to form ranges.

For the trees I used a technique from this book where you start with a few elements, mirror them, and adjust slightly, and then mirror/adjust repeatedly to build up a patch. I could then copy this patch of ~120 trees around and adjust them to fit the natural contours of the mountains and rivers. There's a hidden layer in the svg that I keep the original patches. It's a good technique for creating swaths of grass too.

This is the Bible book I was talking about in the other comment. Supposedly its the recommended for everyone to have, if they are using 3Ds. That one is for 3DS 2013, right now the newest one is 2014, so a new one might be on the way, though to be fair the changes are usually minimal.

When it comes to Blender Id recommend the Master Class book, since it is the most up to date, and I've heard good things about it.

Maya I dunno.

Interesting to read that its users are migrating to python.
I have considered buying In Silico: 3D Animation and Simulation of Cell Biology with Maya and MEL, in part because I happen to find visualising bilogical data and processes to be intriguing and am still considering to do so soon, although the remark about python dampens my enthusiasm about this book ever so slightly.

When you say that you have used MEL for automating processes, could you shed some light on which processes you have happened to be doing often enough to have them automated as a time-saver?
Thank you for your answer.

The Ray Tracer challenge: https://github.com/jamesmcm/raytracer_challenge_scala

Looks pretty cool so far

I need to fix some things where I hacked around using self types, but overall I've really enjoyed writing it in Scala and building it up step by step.

I've started with this book: http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Three-js-JavaScript-Library-WebGL/dp/1782166289
and all the example all freely available here:http://www.smartjava.org/content/all-109-examples-my-book-threejs-threejs-version-r63
I found it very useful.

I picked up this book: http://www.amazon.com/ZBrush-Professional-Tips-Techniques-Gaboury/dp/1118066804/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410063579&sr=1-1&keywords=zbrush

It doesn't specifically cover how to sculpt a car, but it has lots of good info about creating hard surfaces and curves that you'd be making when you wanted to sculpt a car.

I have had good luck with this book: https://www.amazon.com/OpenGL-Shading-Language-Cookbook-Second-ebook/dp/B00HK3VPN6

These are a few of the programming books that I've found too valuable to ever get rid of. I'm sure they'll be of use to none of you.

https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Code-Optimization-Ultimate-Software/dp/1883577039

https://www.amazon.com/Graphics-Gems-IBM-ebook/dp/B003Z9K11Q

https://www.amazon.com/Indispensable-PC-Hardware-Book-3rd/dp/0201403994/

Really enjoyed Learning Three.js

That Jeremy Blinn book looks great thanks.
Here's one that does similar but for textures, the first half which is simply observing textures in real life blew my mind. Digital Texture Painting - Owen Demers

The "official guide" is here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Vulkan-Programming-Guide-Official-Learning-OpenGL/0134464540

If you're looking for a GPU overview, particularly around communication & commands, you might find Traxnet's series helpful - especially https://traxnet.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/understanding-modern-gpus-2/

I already pre-ordered mine.

Vulkan book

It's 25% off right now for those interested.

That is the best answer.

There's also No Bullshit Guide to Linear Algebra, Vulkan Programming Guide, Physically Based Rendering, Game Engine Architecture

Blender99 きっと絶対に挫折しない3DCG入門 シーズン1.5 01 Kindle版

>本書は、好評販売中の『blender99 絶対に挫折しない3DCG入門』の最新バージョン（2.80）対応版です

対応してた！

Only CA it seems. Still $47 in US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01MXGZR73/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1479108085&sr=8-1

I have been doing some digging and picked up this book

https://www.amazon.com/Physically-Based-Shader-Development-Unity-ebook/dp/B0785TJQVY

​

I figured if digging into HLSL might have to get these:

https://www.amazon.com/GPU-Gems-Programming-High-Performance-General-Purpose-ebook/dp/B000UZQH52/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=gpu+gems&qid=1564526526&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

​

https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-3D-Game-Programming-Direct-ebook/dp/B01DUY4GQ6/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=directx+12&qid=1564526554&s=digital-text&sr=1-1

Hm, you might be looking at more general books then, so you could also ask /r/computergraphics or /r/3dmodeling.

Also this might be of your interest, and you should look trough this this list too.


There's also the C4D Beginners Guide - from this list.

> Please take note of the lack of example code

This is the spec, examples can be found elsewhere:

https://github.com/LunarG/VulkanSamples

https://developer.nvidia.com/Vulkan

https://github.com/SaschaWillems/Vulkan

Also the official book (written by one of the AMD engineers) https://www.amazon.com/Vulkan-Programming-Guide-Official-Learning/dp/0134464540 (although you most likely don't need it and the above and the spec should be enough).

Research matchmoving. https://www.amazon.com/Matchmoving-Invisible-Art-Camera-Tracking/dp/111835205X

Basically...

Plan, lots of planning and storyboarding or some form of previz.

Then, shoot background, track camera movement.

Then replicate camera movement to track foreground subject shot over green screen. (Under consistent lighting.)

Combine. Color. Edit. Sell shit earphones.