Recently, I received a copy of Blender 2.5 Hotshot. It is a new 300+ page Blender-related book from Packt. Blender 2.5 Hot Shot is written by John E. Herreño Velasco.
Blender 2.5 Hotshot is written in a practical hands-on manner. The tools and functions of Blender 3D are introduced through actual creation of the various projects that are included in the book. The projects do not demand a high level of artistic attribute from the Reader. However, the reading can still be quite intensive at times.
Through these projects, the Reader gets to learn a comprehensive set of tools and techniques found within Blender 3D. The kind of stuffs that one will learn along the way include:
- 3D Modelling
- Node compositing
- Rigging
- Animation
- Video editing and compositing
- Game engine function and interactivity.
Of course, there are lots of other techniques being presented as well. For instance, the book also cover the usage of certain interesting scripts and add-ons that will help in accelerating certain tasks.
The advantage of such a tutorial-based delivery is that the Reader gets to appreciate and understand how certain things can be achieved instead of merely knowing how the tools work. For instance, instead of merely explaining what subsurface scattering is, the book’s presentation allows the Reader to understand this parameter through the application of material for certain 3D objects.
An interesting and nice aspect of the book is that the numerical settings for various tool options and parameters are systemically defined and laid out. This mode of presentation provides the Reader with insights into what are good value ranges to use for certain tool options in order to achieve intended results. In my opinion, this area is underestimated in many books but nevertheless have tangible benefits to a learner. The author puts nice attention into explaining sub options and parameters of tools.
Who will benefit from the Book? In my opinion, this book is for persons who will like to put the tool available in Blender into practice. Through the tutorials in the book, one will better appreciate how the various tools come together for the creation of certain results.
Although Blender is a professional-level 3D tool, it is also open sourced and thus free. What this implies is that anyone can download and use it freely either for fun or for commercial purposes. Personally, I think this book will appeal more to persons who will like to learn Blender and 3D for fun and as a hobby.
Blender 2.5 Hot Shot provides a general all-round understanding of how 3D tasks and projects can be executed using Blender. It is not specializing in any particular area of 3D, but provides good practical tutorials on fundamental principles pertaining to 3D creation.
Click the link below to find out more about it.
http://www.packtpub.com/blender-2-5-project-development-hotshot/book