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What our customer's say!

"Good reference book", Overall I would say this is a great reference book for the budding effects artist. However, if you are looking for a text that will teach you basics and walk you through how to apply concepts, this isn't the book for you. This book is merely a simple encyclopedia of basic terms and concepts that relate to the world of digital effects. Although some of the concepts are bit outdated and have been replaced by newer and more efficient methods and work-flows, this is still a valuable resource. Another unfortunate side effect is that the book is based around the Shake model. However, as you may know, Shake is slowly moving out of circulation after having been dropped from Apple. Still, a good general encyclopedia of broad concepts and ideas that relate to digital effects.

"Tons of information!", I know some may disagree, but I find this book aptly named. I use it less as a course and more as a referance book. It's one of those "bedside" manuals you can just pick up and open anywhere. It contains tones of great information that is of relevance no matter wether you are running "Shake" or not. Some of it is above me but this never worries me as one day it won't be and that's the day you say "wow, this was really money well spent". Sure, this book leans heavilly towards Shake and if you use Shake it is VERY helpful. But I was doing a Key in After effects and remembered a tip on chroma bluring from a "Shake" section of the book ... helped enormously. Great Book. Highly Recomended.

"Provides the building blocks to VFX with Shake.", Four stars. A fifth star would have been earned for a better indexing or cross-reference. Otherwise a top notch, very informative book.

I have experience with film making and with Editing on Final Cut Pro. I was new to VFX, but I'm not anymore after reading this book!

Having seen Shake in action, I wanted to learn more. This books focus on Shake and the fact that a trial version ships with the book is the reason I bought it.

This book is a reference book. It explains, in detail, terms used in the VFX industry (clean plate, matchmoving, etc.) that any filmmaker or budding VFX artist will need to know if even just to communicate clearly with VFX professionals. The entries in the book are punctuated with walk-through tutorials that show you how to accomplish (in Shake) the specific effect. This is a good thing.

I had a project on my suite that needed some pretty hefty FX work. This book armed me with the right concepts and understanding so that I could plan the steps I'd need to take to accomplish the FX. In my case it was turning the request to "Make that person a ghost" into build a clean background plate, rotoscope the actor, invent a ghosty look, and then put it all back together. Until I had read the book and understood the individual steps involved, I didn't know where to begin.

Overall, this is a very informative reference book written in a witty and accessible style. It is VERY Shake oriented, which is, again, WHY I bought it. This is the kind of book an FX pro (or newbie) will reference many times as they work on future projects.


"Fine book", I was already aware of most of the topics covered in this book, but it helped understand them better and be able to explain accurately to anyone asking. Its also well updated to current industry standards. its in no way complete as an Encyclopedia, needs future voulmes to do that.
In short-A text book for every student of visual effects.

Cons: The DVD files can be accessed only in a MAC (not for PC).

"A most complete textbook for VSFX...", My humble congratulations to the authors who have teamed up with Apple to bring us (my Visual Effects Dept. students and I) a most complete textbook. In my opinion, this book rates in the current top five of all serious resources in the teaching & learning of Visual Effects at the College and Graduate levels. In addition to that, for those of us teaching compositing and matte painting, I would rate this book as the current number one textbook on these topics. A must-read, for a serious student of the Art and Craft of Visual Effects.
Deepest respects,
Prof. Tan TASCIOGLU,
Professor of Visual Effects, Savannah College of Art & Design
SCAD-Atlanta campus.
(Review posted: March 2007)

Read this reviews before You buy...

"Well worth the wait...............", Certainly not everyone that purchases a book in the Apple Pro Training Series is a professional, but one would hope that a pursuit of professionalism is the purchaser's goal. I have had this book pre-ordered for many months. I can honestly say that after returning from India on a month-long project, it was my pleasure to find Encyclopedia of Visual Effects awaiting me, and it has greatly exceeding my expectations. Why, you might ask, and fairly so.

I have had other compositing works on my library shelf for years, including Brinkman's "The Art and Science of Digital Compositing". I have hungered for more, in the same manner that causes me to rent the DVD version of a movie so I can see behind the scenes. Finally, the authors of this book have given us a broad selection of simple and complex effects seen in modern media, with various options for recreating such effects. I have found the methodologies to be well explained, and the variety of effects to be balanced and thorough.

With respect to the software emphasis tilting toward Shake, the authors have very carefully explained in the Introduction their three-fold reasoning. It would be difficult to argue this reasoning, regardless of one's favorite or most commonly used software platform. The simple fact remains that no software package is best for all things, but certain packages rise to the top for their abundance of benefits. I would be disappointed in any author that would withhold their honest opinion based on the experience which gives them a published platform to begin with. In purchasing such publications, we all seek to grow in our skills, knowledge and abilities through the wisdom and experience of the authors. The Encyclopedia of Visual Effects will delight anyone who open-mindedly seeks improvement in their compositing skills by studying the most clearly demonstrable techniques offered by Shake, balanced by examples using relevant, alternative methods via After Affects and/or Motion.

Where appropriate, the authors have objectively pointed their readers to other resources offering more thorough treatment of important but tangential subject matter, such as color correction. I appreciated the wisdom of not diluting the value of this book by saying too little about too much. Rather, clear graphics, straightforward techniques, specific examples, sample files, and a writing style that any compositor will be comfortable with have been carefully crafted to provide us with value in an excellent resource.

"Misleading Title", The book should be titled "Encyclopedia of Visual Effects for Shake (and in rare instances Motion and After Effects.)" I would say well over 90% of the book's "how to" section is dedicated solely to Shake. Since I primarily use After Effects, the book wasn't as helpful as I would have hoped. If you do buy this book I suggest you flip through it first before you buy it or order it online.