LightWave Applied: Version 6.5 with CDROM [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

1 excellent chapter on the basics (I'd like to see a whole book by Joe that covers the basics for those just starting out as it is well written and there's so much more that can be covered); 8 more advanced tutorials taking up a chapter each; then one chapter that covers the industry (in the last book it was how to break into Hollywood - in this one it is how to start an animation business). Then there's an added chapter that briefly covers some of the newer features of LightWave 7.

The screenshots in the first 10 chapters suggest they were written with LightWave 6.5 in mind, however I had no problems executing the same techniques in LightWave 7. There were one or two stumbling blocks, but a quick email to the authors (one thing I love about this team - the personalized interaction) solved the problem. There's a bonus site that also covers some updates and includes a rather large bonus chapter.

I haven't seen anyone yet mention the CD. This has got to be the best CD I've ever seen shipped with a technical book and should set the mark on the types of CDs that other LightWave authors create for us. It included several of Dave Jerrard's older tutorials (I think they were for NewTekniques when it existed) and the chapter from the last book on how to break into Hollywood. There are bonus objects, additional tips, links, and (my favorite) the official NewTek LightWave demo reel in QuickTime format!

Pros:
- Great tutorials that are well written in a step-by-step approach.
- Excellent CD-ROM.
- Nice bonus Website for readers.

Cons:
- I found about 6 or 7 aggrevating errors (including a couple of missing files from the CD-ROM). While the errors are each addressed on the bonus Website, those who fail to visit the bonus Website may be stuck.
- I would have liked to have seen more on 3D character animation and animating in Layout.

I gave this book five stars because I still think that the LightWave Applied books are the best out there for learning (which is why my instructor used the LightWave Applied 5.6 book in his courses two years ago). I like the hands on (versus reference) approach. Most of all, I like the customer service where the authors (at least the ones I've emailed with a problem) promptly respond to my questions so I'm not left hanging as I am with other books where the authors don't want to address problems after the purchase is made. Kudos to Joe, Dave, Jennifer, and Epic. Keep writing!

Even though some of these ideas can be considered "old", I wouldn't suggest this book for brand-new users. While anyone can do the tutorials in the book, they do require working knowledge of some of the newer features in 6.5 (plugins, the Gradient, etc) that might overwhelm newbies.

The "7" section of the book is very short, comprising only one chapter at the end. It's mainly centered around the new Skytracer2 and SasLite, and doesn't really go into any other new features, or the new layout. But still pretty cool if you just upgraded to 7.0.

All in all, I'd suggest this book to any LW user that wants to know how to squeeze a little more out of an already powerful program. If you think you know it all, you just might be surprised. :-)

If you want some good tutorials and know how to use Lightwave, this is a decent book. If you really want to learn the ins and outs of Lightwave 7, this is NOT the book for you. Dont get me wrong as the information is good just not full coverage. Jenn's character rig is really good and Dave's textures are nicely detailed. Joes coverage of understanding Lightwave is poor at best as he neglects to really explain the modeler viewports (you can do more than just 'view' your models in the perspective view) and doesn't talk about too many tools or modeling methods like Inside Lightwave does. I have all the books on lightwave even todd paines painfull 4.0 book. perhaps i'm strange but the publisher promotes how long and how many steps the tutorials are when honestly it's sort of annoying. Lengthy tutorials are good but that leaves little room for more information. I also didn't find the information on the spreadsheet, complex text design, particle information, lighting, or graph editor to be very good. I think there's no particle information at all which is a huge part of lightwave and one of the reasons i got the software.

Personally I'm waiting for Inside Lightwave 7.