The Ray Dream Handbook

by Craig Patchett, John W. Sledd, Dawn Erdos

Every Ray Dream Studio user, from beginners to experts, can learn a great deal from this book. The author starts out with a chapter titled "Thinking in 3D," which explains the essential elements you... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1886801096
• ISBN13: 9781886801097
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Delmar Thomson Learning
• Length: 362 Pages
• Weight: 1.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 7.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Great tips, useful files, nice explination of 3D thinking

This is a great book for learning to use Ray Dream. The tips on modeling, shading and light really helped me use Ray Dream more efficiently. The CD has some great files of all kinds to practice with & some bonus ArtBeats demos. I appreciated how the book helped me "think" like Ray Dream. The first chapter explains all about thinking in 3D. More sections cover the though processes of modeling, lighting, mood, shading, composition, & animation.The are some wonderful step by step tutorials on modeling. A few include making rocks, foliage, an easy spiral staircase, and a gazebo. There are many lighting, camera, animation, and rendering technique tutorials as well. The are also some nice shader recipes. Some include rust, marble & glass. I loved how the artist profiles section took me through the artwork of several artists. Many striking color photos of the artwork are shown. Later chapters focus on postproduction, special effects, the internet.

To get the most out of Ray Dream, You must get this book

This is a great book for learning to use Ray Dream. The tips on modeling, shading and light really helped me use Ray Dream more efficiently. The CD has some great files of all kinds to practice with & some bonus ArtBeats demos. I appreciated how the book helped me "think" like Ray Dream. The first chapter explains all about thinking in 3D. More sections cover the though processes of modeling, lighting, mood, shading, composition, & animation. There are some wonderful step by step tutorials on modeling. A few include making rocks, foliage, an easy spiral staircase, and a gazebo. There are many lighting, camera, animation, and rendering technique tutorials as well. There are also some nice shader recipes. Some include rust, marble & glass. I loved how the artist profiles section took me through the artwork of several artists. Many striking color photos of the artwork are shown.

An absolute "must have" for anyone using Ray Dream!

I cannot think of any other book in my vast library that I felt was as great a bargain as this book! It has saved me MANY hours of frustration that I would have spent trying to create what I wanted, as well as showing me time-saving tips and tricks. It has also kindled my imagination to produce scenes that I might not have thought of before.

An absolute must have

The editor managed to achieve the impossible task of perfection with this book. The chapters are easily constructed with excellent flow. The many tips included will benefit novice and veteran alike to Ray Dream. This book is even excellent for those who are thinking of migrating to version 5.0. With the added features in 5.0, the author manages to explain in full detail to not only replicate examples but allow plenty for the reader's imagination to push the envelope further for 3D illustration and animation using Ray Dream. Don't be fooled and skip the first edition because it too is applicable. If you want information about composition, shading, lighting, plus the many features of version 5; you will not be disappointed and refer to it often. The content is so comprehensive that you won't want to put the book down for long and read it many times over. Whether using the tips or tutorials and the chock full comprehensive topics discussed will requie the reader to always have this book next to their computer. The book also has an accompanying CD-Rom that will be a delight and what I consider a bundled gem. Whether illustrating, animating for the web or any other manner, this book also tackles the role of compositing and post production techniques as well. I can hardly put the book down for long and I know I shall be enjoying referring to this book many times as a joy and not as a grueling task. It is very easy flowing for anyone to skip to a chapter for a particular topic, but it won't be long until you love the book enough to read from beginning to end. I highly recommend this book.