Product Description
Successful animators- the ones who land the exciting jobs and who win the industry awards- must be more than simply a talented artist, a great filmmaker, or a skilled technologist. They need to be all three! For the first time, aspiring animators and those in the field looking to move up have a resource to help them develop this entire skill set with Exploring Digital Cinematography. Award-winning animator Jason Donati examines such key concepts as CG directing, … More >>
Exploring Digital Cinematography
Tags: animator, Cinematography, cinematography award, Digital, digital cinematography, exciting jobs, Exploring, filmmaker, industry awards, jason donati, key concepts, talented artist
#1 by Jeffrey Henry Fletcher on April 18, 2010 - 7:11 pm
This book is pretty thorough in covering all the aspects of digital cinematography, such as what the production process looks like, how to construct a compelling story, camera direction, lighting….. The sections on Lighting are especially thorough and very much tailored for the “Digital” part of Digital Cinematography, with easy to follow examples of how to create different lighting schemes in a 3D environment. Also, the artist spotlights on professionals working in the animation industry are very good to read as they add other insights and help you understand how they think and use this information. With most of the educational art books that I look for, good visuals are very important, and this book doesn’t dissappoint. Great examples of 3D animation to illustrate the points of the book.
Rating: 5 / 5
#2 by Matthew J. Hawkins on April 18, 2010 - 8:19 pm
Exploring Digital Cinematography is the perfect source to inspire or inform those looking to leap into the fields of animation and film. From those with little to no experience to those with countless numbers of years in the field, this book provides detailed knowledge about topics such as color theory, cameras, and lighting that will help pave the way to create a visual masterpiece. Mr. Donati provides plenty of pictorial guidance to help ease students into learning the subject material. He also provides some hard truths that few beginners to the field realize before making the decision to enter animation. One specific overtone to this book that makes it a great reference is that animators are film makers and artists first. There is no way around that. Make great films, animation, and art with the help of this book. Highly recommended.
Rating: 5 / 5
#3 by Arty Girl on April 18, 2010 - 9:23 pm
This book is a great resource for animation instructors or anyone looking to improve their skills as an animator. As the title indicates, it is built around the premise that good animators are first and foremost filmmakers–a fact that few budding animators consider. Donati walks readers through the entire animation process, and I’ve used several of the sections in both intro and upper-level classes. It conversational tone makes the text fun to read and there are plenty of graphics to reinforce the lessons. His thorough explanations of color theory, storyboarding and camera work make my lessons in these areas more effective. The accompanying CD-rom is full of helpful material as well, including a fantastic tutorial on 3-point lighting. If every 3D student followed this, there would be no more floating figures hovering above the ground when they should be running on it! Finally there’s a book that covers the essential cinematographer’s skills as they apply to animators. Strongly recommended.
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by Michael McCarthy on April 18, 2010 - 10:37 pm
This book is perfect for anyone hoping to gain a greater understanding of all facets of digital cinematography and producing films/animations.
Super for use in the classroom and personal projects. The thing I like most is that the chapters give a nice basic overview then go into great detail for those that want a lot more.
-Michael
Rating: 5 / 5