any plans for writhing new book's on houdini for version 10
i heard the old once is a bit out of date

Books for CG applications are dead to me(this doesn't include classics and basic non-GUI oriented books like the renderman books, Art of Digital Compositing, theory texts, etc. which are always useful). Not only are they out of date by the time they get to print, they're more landfill. I get really depressed standing in a bookstore and the stacks and stacks of Maya, Max, etc books just stare back at me, most of which are past their due date. I would recommend trying some of the online courses that are available, and of course the docs and tutorials posted here. There's a lot of material there. If there's a topic you think is seriously missing or lacking, feel free to pipe up and add your suggestions.

This isn't to suggest there's no room for more of those, just that I happen to think the format sucks.

Cheers,

J.C.

agreed. as a *cough* professor *cough* for the last year ops:, i see this first hand everyday.. such a shame and a waste..

After the last two Houdini books, the market has proven to show not enough support for the format. AKA - not enough people bought them to be worth the trees they're printed on. E-book is the new future!

You just say that because they ( the man) Turned down our Book :roll:

that what Andrew id doing with his book

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

a very intelligent move if you ask me.

Go Buy IT !!!

JColdrick
Books for CG applications are dead to me(this doesn't include classics and basic non-GUI oriented books like the renderman books, Art of Digital Compositing, theory texts, etc. which are always useful). Not only are they out of date by the time they get to print, they're more landfill. I get really depressed standing in a bookstore and the stacks and stacks of Maya, Max, etc books just stare back at me, most of which are past their due date. I would recommend trying some of the online courses that are available, and of course the docs and tutorials posted here. There's a lot of material there. If there's a topic you think is seriously missing or lacking, feel free to pipe up and add your suggestions.

This isn't to suggest there's no room for more of those, just that I happen to think the format sucks.

Cheers,

J.C.

No, books are not dead. To me, they are far more convenient than
the training video, at least for just starting out. With a video
you have to constantly pause and back up. With a book it's faster
to go back over something you just read. And if the speaker in
a video has an accent, that makes it harder.

It's too bad the market won't support the book, but I'm really glad
the books are there, because they make a big difference for me,
if they are well written, and don't skip steps!

I'm starting with “The Magic of Houdini,” and am hoping that book is as
good as the reviews say. Looking forward to it!

tylerzambori
No, books are not dead. To me, they are far more convenient than the training video

JC wasn't promoting video over book, but ebook over paper book I believe.

While I still like traditional printed books, I agree with an earlier post that eBooks are the way to go. I especially like the RAW or rough cuts versions. This gives you a jump on things and you can still buy the hard copy at a reduced price or print out what you need as you go.

As a contributing author to Magic of Houdini (under Will C's leadership of course!) I can tell you that it was done for love not money, and that time prevents an update. Will and I have talked at length about doing an update to version 11 or whatever the next version of Houdini is, and none of us have the slightest bit of time to do it.

The money is minuscule, so we can't take time off work to do it. If a book sold 100,000 units then it might be worthwhile but few achieve that number.

I like video training, I was responsible for Side Effects' first video training materials back for version 5.5 (or was it 5?) but even then it was clear it's not a reference format.

I like books for deeper concepts, video for tutorials and frankly, I mostly use Google when coding, my Python books sit idle now. I did use the Python books originally to learn Python but for reference to be honest, not so much.

I work with Andrew Lowell, and I've spoken with him about his e-book, and even though the cost is much lower than a physical book, he's made significantly more money than Will or I did. IMO the e-book method is what I would prefer to pursue if I had the time to do anything more.

I note that CMI and now Digital Tutors are using Flash “online only” video tutorials, not DVD or QT downloads. This is to prevent piracy I guess but if I can't download and own it, I won't pay for it. Just my opinion, I hope they come up with something that can be local on a machine. The reality is, pirates will find a way to snag them anyway.

No answers here, just a jumble of thoughts.

Cheers,

Peter B

It would be cool , if there were some standards laid down by sesi for people who would like to contribute to the video section.

r

circusmonkey
It would be cool , if there were some standards laid down by sesi for people who would like to contribute to the video section.

r

In what way? Like this?

http://www.sidefx.com/images/stories/tutorials/tutorial_submission.pdf [sidefx.com]