Inside LightWave 3D v10 1st Edition

Dan Ablan, a smart and very nice man, btw, who I've met over the years briefly at various Siggraph events. This is his latest in a series of Inside Lightwave books and is as instructional and useful as all those that came before. In fact, when asked by newcomers about the best way to get into Lightwave, and, yes, there are still newcomers :) to this popular and useful program, I point out Dan's books. But, I add, that they should come here, to amazon.com, and buy two three or more of the previous Inside LW books, inexpensively available, because collectively they are the best resource for learning LW available, and because Dan does not re-invent the wheel in each new book, but tends to move you forward. You can see that from just looking at the sizes of the books. Even with the newest edition of LW, the excellent tutorials of the earlier versions are, in my opinion, part and parcel of the whole computer graphics design learning process. My review therefore is an overarching review for Dan's whole series of books. I keep my fingers crossed that he will turn his fine mind toward the latest iteration, LightWave 11, and continues this outstanding effort.

I've owned every book in this series, and Dan has never disappointed me until now.This book focuses on the intricacies of LW10 Modeler and Layout, including chapters on texture creation, lighting, cameras, animation, particles, hard and soft-body dynamics, rigging, rendering, plug-ins, and of course, modeling a fruit bowl.If you were expecting a phone book, you might be pleasantly surprised by its pithy 386 pages, but it's safe to say the rest of us were expecting a bit more depth.Since CORE hasn't officially been released yet, I can't fault Dan for shortchanging us a couple of hundred pages... but at only 386 pages, less than a third of Inside LW7... are you kidding me???Inside LW7 = 1166 pages, LW8 = 948 pages, LW9 = 722 pages, LW10 = 386 pages.Are you noticing a trend here? Is it possible that Lightwave has been dumbed down with each successive release?UPDATED: Ok, Dan thought my review was overly harsh, and he's probably right. My review was based on my initial reaction, and I was feeling somewhat cheated. It's true that the included DVD does add value and once CORE is released, Dan will post additional chapters online (hopefully to be included in a second printing). So I've added one star and changed lazy to PITHY.UPDATE #2: Dan seems like a nice enough guy and he mentioned that early reviews can really affect overall sales. Some things were beyond his control, such as publishing constraints and the state of flux that LW10 is in. Therefore, I've decided to add a second star to my initial two star review. After all, this is still the best LightWave 10 book currently available.

This is a very good book indeed for any entry level. Not only the author Dan is very knowledgeable about Lightwave, he's been using it for almost if not 20 years.The chapters are well organized and I actually prefer this version of the book if compared with the previous Lightwave book versions. You can skip chapters and dive right into the subject of your interest. This book doesn't go beyond the abis depths, but it certainly teach you the ins and outs of Lightwave. I'm new to Lightwave and I'm always keep going back to this book for any reference.I don't need a bible of 1000 pages unlike other reviewers, I need a well organized and straight to the point book and Inside Lightwave 10 does precisely the job.Strongly recommended for any beginner to Lightwave.

Book was useful purchased it first on my kindle, but I didn't like it that way so I purchased the book so I could put post its in the spots I needed to learn more about. Wish the book was more of a teaching guide rather than a reference. But it did help some to get me through my animation class.

If you no nothing about Lightwave, this book is for you. He does a good job of easing you into it.If you already know Lightwave as these other viewers do, I don't think a book is neccessary at this time as CORE isn't out yet.The major changes, from what I've read, to Lightwave in 10 are cosmetic, and can be learned at the NEWTEK Site.I nearly didn't buy the book because of the awful reviews and then I remembered "this type"when I was a Computer Science major years ago.And the books photos can be found on the accompanying DVD along with a ton of cool stuff.I recommend this book to anyone new to LW.

I have this version in 8, 9 and now, 10. Version 8 is nearly 3 inches thick. Version 9 is 1.75 inches thick and version 10 is lucky to be 1.25 inches thick. The content has dwindled to almost nothing. The content continues to shrink while the price increases. I am disappointed with the overall content found in this book. The author assumes that everyone has experience with Lightwave and does not see the need to explain it. This book does not cover much of the items that has been added to Lightwave as an upgrade. (When you are running out of room, you can't say too much.) I have given Mr. Ablan the benefit of the doubt when I made this purchase. I will not purchase version 11 or 11.5 knowing that profits (and not valued content) is the only reason these series continue to exist. Besides, 75% of this content has been recycled from version 9. In other words, the effort to write this book didn't take long, and could have easily been rushed. (Sure reads that way.) Sorry Dan ... but this publication is nothing short of being sad!

If you looking to find satisfaction in learning lightwave 10, this is not the book to buy. It is so basic that you literally cry when you want to really understand things more deeply. It is all very surface level stuff. I recommend if you want to buy a book to teach you Lightwave 10, buy Lightwave v9 Essentials by Steve Warner, Kevin Phillips, and Timothy Albee. Then go onto Newtek.com and watch lightwave free training videos. There is tons of better material out there to teach you this program than this book.

pourtant ce livre est un bon compromis. l'auteur est toujours aussi intelligent.je pratique lightwave3D de puis l'Amiga....ce n'est pas d'hier...toujours aussi fana

I've been an avid reader of all of Dan Dablan's Lightwave 3d books and found them to be extremely intuitive and easy to read with an abundance of training exercises. His latest book 'Inside Lightwave v10' is no exception, like all the other books Its brilliant with step-by-step exercises detailling new tools and tips with a dvd included. I am waiting for the launch of the Lightwave Core app which Dan will be covering on his website when the Core is released.

What's covered in the book is covered well, but most of the more useful/powerful commands are just not there.If you're a complete novice, this book will get you going. If you have previous Lightwave/3D knowledge I'd suggest sticking to Newtek's forums. The only chapters I found useful covered particles and skelegons.The DVD is a nice addition and has it's uses, mainly as a coaster for me now.Okay that was all a bit negative I know, but to be fair Dan's writing style is fine and easily understood.

If you know lightwave its okay Its more if you are not used to lightwave Has I said its to early for a proper review.