Rating: 
Summary: big bad book
Review: ...not bad meaning bad but bad meaning good.
This book is the ultimate guide to Directors new 3D features. It is pretty big and you might have to take a few weeks off to read (and understand) it all.
At first i gave four stars, but it's been so much help in the projects that i did for my projects at university (graphics-design) that i just had to turn it into 5 stars. Everything is so well explained, Paul Catanese really makes you understand the way 3D works in Director, he gives many examples and tips on how to use shaders, models and modelresources, cameras and everything. It was published so shortly after the release of Director 8.5 that you might think it was rushed, but this isn't true at all. I'm amazed how it was possible to write a detailled and complete book like this in such a short period.If you want to learn 3D in Director then this is the only book you need. Only thing that isn't covered is the havok xtra, but the documentations to that xtra are already quite good.
Rating:
Summary: Wondefully comprehensive
Review: Anyone working with Director 8.5's 3D engine needs to have a copy of this book to work and learn productively. Paul does not skimp on the fundamentals of the 3D engine and vector math, nor does he bore you with general Director8/Lingo stuff. This book shows you just what you need to get working in 3D and provides a solid structured reference for each aspect of the 3D engine. I can't imagine how much more slowly I would be learning the 3D programming without having read this book--Paul definitely gave me the requisite knowledge to just jump right in and start working with this environment comfortably, saving me weeks of self-training. I can't recommend this book enough.
Rating:
Summary: The title says it all!
Review: Being pretty familiar with the concepts of 3d but not familiar with Director (and it's Lingo language), this book manages to teach two important things.
Obviously the 3d stuff which I'll talk about later. But he showed me a decent Lingo coding style to ape. His sample Director programs are constructed with an eye for reuse. Not one-offs and you see the same castmember movie scripts used again and again like REAL (gasp!) code components! The 3d he covers mostly focuses on Lingo-created 3d components (including Director3d cameras, lighting, shaders, textures, particles and 2d imaging and rendering). He talks optimization for performance with specific Director 3d adjustments. And he writes about minimizing and breaking up download size; techniques which are very specific to Director. For those who are curious, if you stay in the 3d side of Director 8.5, you will find you are handling all of the 3d via code and rarely fussing with the "odd" Score metaphor. He doesn't spend as much time (say <15%) as I would have loved discussing the free-with-Director8.5-and-jaw-dropping Havok physics engine (i.e. impact on performance, et al.) and specifics about 3d programs besides 3dsmax (Hard to blame him, though - 3dsMax exporter was the only one at the writing of the book) I've been zooming through the book for a project in about one week and I've gotten through 22 of the 29 chapters (plus appendix - one on imaging Lingo - good for on-the-fly manipulation of 3d textures!!!). I would hard-pressed to find a better book on Director 3d than this. (and, IMHO, not bad for Lingo coding style either) It is a shame that Flash has stolen so much thunder from Director. This book has won me over to the Director side.
Rating:
Summary: Its Excellent!!.. Its worth!...
Review: Finally, this is the book that has made me understand about advance Director's 3D concepts and techniques. I have been looking through all Director 8.5 Books released to dates, and this is the only book i am happy to worked with. Its excellent in its contents, well structures, really understanding examples & very good concepts to work in 3D environment. I am developing a 3D Kiosk with walkthroughs in 3D environment. I will recommend this book to everyone who want to develop 3D content in Director for games, Multimedia application or Business application.
Thanks Paul Catanese!.. I will look forward for more advance techniques in 3D world from him!...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent value
Review: For the past few months I have been struggling to learn Director's 3D. I bought the first few books to come out and read the help files and I was completely lost. I heard some good things about this book and thought I would give it a try. I'm glad I did because the treatment ofthe subject matter is exceptional, there are a ton of demos and I am still finding uses for the tools in this book that I had not even anticipated the first time through... I know that everyone talks about how hard 3D is and I thought maybe I just couldn't cut it. I am not the best programmer on earth and I doubt I could have figured out 3D evenwith a good book- I needed a great book like this one.
Rating:
Summary: Worth its Weight in Gold
Review: For the past few months I have been struggling to learn Director's 3D. I bought the first few books to come out and read the help files and I was completely lost. I heard some good things about this book and thought I would give it a try. I'm glad I did because the treatment ofthe subject matter is exceptional, there are a ton of demos and I am still finding uses for the tools in this book that I had not even anticipated the first time through... I know that everyone talks about how hard 3D is and I thought maybe I just couldn't cut it. I am not the best programmer on earth and I doubt I could have figured out 3D evenwith a good book- I needed a great book like this one.
Rating:
Summary: I got A for my project !
Review: I'm an IT student and possessing VB & C/C++. I have never learn about 3D and Director before. So when I want to make a Director project (game), I need a book!
And this book is the great answer. Everything you need about Director 3D is in this book! (although this book doesn't cover about Havok Physics Engine). This book tells you WHAT and HOW, I mean, this book not only tells you HOW to make something (ex: primitive object) but also explains about that thing. (ex: what is a primitive object). So, you're not only able to programm but also understand about WHAT are you doing. This book explains from basic and the last page explains advance technique. So, if you start from first page and finish the book, you'll become an advance 3D Director programmer (even before you read this, you're nill in 3D Director). OK, I'll tell you what I get from this book, here is my project: a Multiplayer First Person Shooting (FPS) game! (like Counter Strike, Quake, etc). Notice that this is my FIRST 3D Director project! And I got A! NB: if you're NOT a programmer and don't WANT to possessing 3D Director programming SERIOUSLY, I don't recommend this book, for this book is code heavy, full of code programming, just try "Macromedia Director 8.5 Shockwave Studio for 3D: Training from the Source" (by Phil Gross).
Just a note: I learn about Multiuser form Director 8.5 Studio (you won't find about Multiuser in Director's Third Dimension).
Rating:
Summary: Great depth and breadth of subject!
Review: I've bought just about every book on Director 8.5 3D programming and found Paul Catanese's book to be my favorite. It moves logically through the subject tackling concepts as you need to encounter them, and he does a good job of speaking in common familliar 3D terminology. Other books tend to be too Director specific when explaining 3D terms and processes. I really liked seeing it all put into standard 3D jargon so I can use this information when dealing with other 3D proffessionals in other disciplines. The book does a great job of introducing you to matrix transformations, breaking down the concepts one a time with excellent example files on CDROM. This is typically the hardest part to unwind for most people. The examples are concise and to the point. I found them compelling to experiment with. Often example files in other books have been to complex and tend obfuscate the points being made. I found the examples in this book very clear, to the point and illustrative. If you are an experienced Lingo programmer looking to find your way in 3D, this is a definite must have book.
Rating:
Summary: Great depth and breadth of subject!
Review: I've bought just about every book on Director 8.5 3D programming and found Paul Catanese's book to be my favorite. It moves logically through the subject tackling concepts as you need to encounter them, and he does a good job of speaking in common familliar 3D terminology. Other books tend to be too Director specific when explaining 3D terms and processes. I really liked seeing it all put into standard 3D jargon so I can use this information when dealing with other 3D proffessionals in other disciplines. The book does a great job of introducing you to matrix transformations, breaking down the concepts one a time with excellent example files on CDROM. This is typically the hardest part to unwind for most people. The examples are concise and to the point. I found them compelling to experiment with. Often example files in other books have been to complex and tend obfuscate the points being made. I found the examples in this book very clear, to the point and illustrative. If you are an experienced Lingo programmer looking to find your way in 3D, this is a definite must have book.
Rating:
Summary: Picks up right where I need to start learning 3D
Review: It's obvious this book is well structured and comprehensive. It stays focused on its topic too. In addition, the target reader (one who has pretty decent Director and Lingo experience) should find this book really "talks" to them. That is, you won't need to step through basics of Director--it assumes you know Director and then takes you deep into 3D. I feel this book also covers the material in the right manner. Everything is built from scratch, every topic is focused and isn't muddied with gratuitous special effects... I know that every thing I've read I've retained. Even if there were a better Director 3D reference (which, I don't believe there is) this book has great value in teaching the topic.
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