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Could someone write a book about 3D Coat?


curly
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Could someone write a book about 3D Coat? I like the video tutorials but also prefer to have a book. So, could someone write a book about the subject? Pleaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase?

You had better be a fast writer! Perhaps someone will when the dust settles (like version 4 or 5). Meanwhile, you can print the manual. :rolleyes:

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Indeed... 3DC changes on a daily basis. I just can't see a book any time soon, until, as Tony pointed out, the dust settles.

We shall see!

Dwayne Ferguson is supposedly working on one, that focuses on Illustration using 3DC...maybe he can chime in about it's progress.
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Hi,

I wrote a large section of The Magic of Houdini, and man, it was tough. Unless someone is single, and unemployed, writing a book is a major undertaking.

Sadly, writing a book pays very, very little in the real world. Mostly because even a large app like Maya is still a relatively "niche" (i.e. small) market and the percentage of a book that goes to the author is quite small.

Most people write books on software because they love it, want the recognition (writing a book helps a huge amount when applying for a work visa in another country, for example) or occasionally because they're so fast they can actually make a living at it. Often though, the "fast" books are not the best ones.

Having said that, I know the guy that wrote this:

http://www.andrew-lowell-productions.com/andrew-lowell-productions/resources.html

and he self-published electronically, with a cost much lower than a normal book of this type. He found it very profitable, because (almost) all the income goes to him! I think he just had to pay the Visa payment website or something like that.

Obviously, easier to pirate the PDF version, but then anything including the book I helped write can be pirated. The other thing is, it's quite a thrill to see your book on the bookshelf at the store :)

Just some observations, I would love to see (and buy!) a 3DC book. I agree that it changes so fast that it's a moving target that a printed book would have a hard time keeping up with. Houdini is like that too, though even now the book makes some sales despite it being written for Houdini 8, and Houdini is now on version 10 :)

Geeky historical tidbit, I did the very first set of video tutorials for Houdini back in the early 2000's and I love both well-done (i.e. short and to the point) video tutorials, and books. The more info when learning the better! However, books (physical or electronic) are IMO the best reference material, videos are the best learning/tutorial materials. Books are also the best at conveying deeper underlying philosophies and technology, whereas videos are best at "do this, now do this" type tutorials, without too much explanation which gets tiring (and forgotten) if too long.

Again, all my opinions, and absolutely no intention of causing any sort of flame-war :)

Cheers,

Peter B

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Dwayne Ferguson is supposedly working on one, that focuses on Illustration using 3DC...maybe he can chime in about it's progress.

Yes, I started writing a book a few months ago but the changes to the app happen so quickly, half of what I wrote is already out of date. lol. Sooo I'm putting the book on hold til' things slow down. Andrew updates the app faster than my fingers can type. One day:)

Hunter

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However, books (physical or electronic) are IMO the best reference material, videos are the best learning/tutorial materials. Books are also the best at conveying deeper underlying philosophies and technology, whereas videos are best at "do this, now do this" type tutorials, without too much explanation which gets tiring (and forgotten) if too long.

Again, all my opinions, and absolutely no intention of causing any sort of flame-war :)

Cheers,

Peter B

Hi Peter ,I greatly enjoyed reading your points on this and to my mind it throws open a topic often overlooked by many " overly edited" video tutorials which is this...

The best video tutorials in my opinion are the ones that keep the "mistakes" and show the demonstrator explaining how they're resolving the issues they are running into and why. This way the philosophy of problem solving and the technical techniques are communicated simultaneously.

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