What are Good Books for Learning XSI or Overall 3D processes?

[Paul Wood]

What are Good Books for Learning XSI or Overall 3D?

Hey, I know that there is tons of information online and through tutorials but i was wondering if anyone out there knows of any great books on XSI or just overall 3D processes from rendering, lighting, modeling, simulations.....etc.

Thanks,

Paul Wood

[BloomPix]

Hi,

you can do a research on amazon.com about these books. I also include my recommendations.

XSI Books:
CGToolkit www.cgtoolkit.com (http://www.cgtoolkit.com) "The Art of XSI" (this is a great book for learning. It covers the process of making a face, an amantis and an indoor architectural render. All explained step by step)
XSI4 www.aaron-sims.com (http://www.aaron-sims.com) "Experience XSI4" (This is an old book but I love it because it focuses more in explaining process and thinking methods rather than just explaining commands. It is old but still good.)
There are more of these books like Anthony´s Rossanos but in my opinion I would choose one of the others.
For more XSI books: http://www.softimage.com/education/

Management and Industry:
Ed Harriss www.edharriss.com (http://www.edharriss.com) "How to get a job in computer animation" (Simply great! It goes from how to do a demo reel and portfolio to keep contacts, organizing...)
George Avgerakis www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com) "Softimage|XSI 5 for a future studio Boss" (Explains nearly the same as the one before but also includes some 3D excercises for XSI.)

General 3D:
Jason Osipa www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com) "Stop Starring" (Facial modeling and animation)
Steve Roberts www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com) "Character Animation: "2D Skills for Better 3D" (Traditional Animation)

There are tons more in www.amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com) and searching in http://www.softimage.com/education/ I also recommend DVD Training.

www.digitaltutors.com (http://www.digitaltutors.com) (basic skills, well explained, following tools like a book)
www.3dtutorial.com (http://www.3dtutorial.com) (project based, more advanced, very very good)
www.noesisinteractive.com (http://www.noesisinteractive.com) (Half life modding)
www.thegnomonworkshop.com (http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com) (project based, old XSI DVDs by Aaron Sims)
www.3dmastermind.com (http://www.3dmastermind.com) (very, very, very good or excellent DVD)

I hope this helps a bit...

[Daniel Brassard]

To BloomPix excellent list, I would add

Digital Lighting and Rendering from Jeremy Birn. http://www.3drender.com/light/index.html

Digital Texturing and Painting by Owen Demers. http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Texturing-Painting-digital-Demers/dp/0735709181

Cheers!

[Daniel Brassard]

Anthony Rossano has also information on XSI, although dated but still applicable. The buty is that Anthony is providing some of the old books in PDF file for your download and training at your own pace.

http://www.mesmer.com/

[sulsa]

When you really want to take the next step, I highly suggest this:
Mental Ray for Maya, Max and XSI (http://www.amazon.com/mental-ray-Maya-3ds-Max/dp/0470008547/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204334828&sr=8-1)
Just came out this February. It'll melt your brain ;)

[Daniel Brassard]

Find this from XSI

http://www.lulu.com/content/764691

You can also download it from free from the XSI WIKI site.

Cheers!

[jinchoung]

especially if you're just starting out in cg, i recommend any of the books by george maestri... and really nice primer on the issues and topics involved.

personally, i'm wondering if there are any XSI 6 books in the pipeline or whether i should get one of the books on xsi 5... are there a lot of things different with the base program? i'm guessing not....

and i know there's a treasure trove of online resources for learning but i always find that the best way for me is flat on my back reading a good book.

jin

[Hank Freid]

As far as books are concerned, any one text will not do. There are a lot of "all-in-one" books, on the market, that try and teach all of the general concepts of Maya. We wouldn't recommend those. There is too much information to digest and they do not present enough information about any one subject to be used as a reference book.

Regards:
Hank Freid (http://www.customersarealways.com/PressReleases/release10914.php)

[teamcarlisle]

I posted this question over at cgtalk, and haven't gotten a response at all, I figured since we are talking about these books, this might be a decent place to ask.

I got the Art of XSI book and I'm going through it at the moment. I'm on page 21 where its having me open up a background image for the rotoscope during the Mantis tutorials. For the life of me I cannot find this image on the cd provided, am I missing it, is it missing, or am I just supposed to use my own image?

Thanks

[bsm3d]

Digital Lighting and Rendering from Jeremy Birn. http://www.3drender.com/light/index.html
Cheers!

A must have !