Rating: 
Summary: Not For Animators
Review: This book is not for mid level to experienced animators looking to learn character animation on Lightwave. I am trying to migrate to Lightwave from Maya for charcater animation purposes only. Any animator serious about his/her trade already owns books specifically written for non computer related animation techniques (ie the animators survival kit, disneys illusion of life, etc.) to fill a book called "LIGHTWAVE character animation" with generic animation exercises and mediocre history lessons is deceiving. I was completely dissapointed with the lack of Lightwave specific functions I thought this book would supply, like detailed graph editor information, morphing exercises, etc. About 30 percent of each page in this book is filled with white space, or huge notations in a box that have very little purpose other than to filibuster about some (relevant?) history of how an IK got started... Is this a history book, a techniques book, or a lightwave book? By the end of chapter 2 The only thing the book accomplishes is building a 2 bone ik chain.. thats it.. then, strangely enough, chapter 3 starts out with "You've got your character all ready to go...."... Huh? if i'm missing something, someone please write back and let me know. I have respect for Mr Albee and his efforts to create this book, I know it must have been a daunting task - but i assure you, not as much as trying to go figure it out.. Sorry, but I have to give this book an "F"
Rating: 
Summary: Terrific book
Review: Timothy Albee's new book fills a void in the world of character animation. Although there are lots of books covering the technical aspects of computer animation, this one focuses on the specific task of bringing a character to life by fusing classical knowledge of traditional animation with years of experience in CG animation. This book is for computer animators who are frustrated by the lack of information available on this topic and perhaps can't afford to go to such schools as Cal-Arts or Sheridan.Albee takes you, step by step, from inverse kinematics to creating skeletons through to final skinning so thoroughly that it would be hard to fail if you follow directions. Then, having set-up your model , he introduces you to the time-honored techniques that 2-D animators have been using for decades to breathe life into their characters. What makes this book refreshingly different from others is that it's not written by someone in academia or in software but someone who has worked in the trenches, dealing with the problems that professionals wrestle with every day. For those who want to dive right into animation the CD-ROM includes a fully-rigged character as well as examples of animation.
Rating:
Summary: Not for Newbies!
Review: When you read the first chapter you'll be lead into a false sense of comfort that newbies will be animating by the end of this book. Not true. You may successfully make it through the exercise in chapter 2 (though it didn't work for me) and even be impressed of the level of detail they show you in how to navigate the menus. But by chapter 3, you'll be lost. I got as far as opening the model included in the CD-ROM. The next section (p. 28) says "1. Pre-bend your model's arms..." and that's the end of my learning. All of the sudden you've got select portions of the model that you are working with, but the book never explains or shows how to get there (this part is pre-bending the shirt, and only is working with the shirt as if the rest of the chacter doesn't exist). If I could just figure out how to get that select part of the model on screen, I would be happy. Of course the book doesn't say HOW to pre-bend the arms of the character either, just to do so to make it look like the figure... This book is a waste unless you've got some modeling or animation experience.
Rating:
Summary: LightWave 3D 7.0 by Timothy Albee
Review: Without a doubt an excellent book for a novice, and informational for an expert. Timothy Albee takes you by the hand and guides you through his process of rigging, pointing out pitfalls and alternate routes along the way.
Then he delves into various animation exercises to get you in shape!
A great addition to any animator's library.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: Without a doubt an excellent book for a novice, and informational for an expert. Timothy Albee takes you by the hand and guides you through his process of rigging, pointing out pitfalls and alternate routes along the way.
Then he delves into various animation exercises to get you in shape!
A great addition to any animator's library.
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