What are the best books to learn visual effects for 3D artists?

2 3D Animation and Rigging

After you have modeled and sculpted your assets, you need to animate and rig them to make them move and behave realistically. If you're looking for resources to help you do this, two books are particularly useful: The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams and Rig it Right! Maya Animation Rigging Concepts by Tina O'Hailey. The former is a classic reference for anyone who wants to learn the principles and techniques of animation, with hundreds of examples and exercises to help you improve your animation skills. The latter covers the basics of rigging, such as joints, skinning, and controls, as well as how to rig different body parts, facial expressions, cloth, and hair using Maya.

3 Compositing and Effects

Once you have animated and rigged your assets, you need to composite and add effects to them to make them blend with the background and create the desired mood and atmosphere. To learn how to do this, you can check out two books: The Art and Science of Digital Compositing by Ron Brinkmann, a comprehensive guide to the theory and practice of digital compositing, and The Visual Effects Arsenal by Bill Byrne, a practical guide to creating various types of effects using After Effects. The first book covers topics such as color, alpha, transformations, masks, mattes, rotoscoping, motion tracking, keying, and warping. The second book covers how to create effects such as fire, smoke, explosions, water, and particles; how to use different plugins and presets; and projects and tutorials to help you apply your skills.

4 Lighting and Rendering

The final step to create VFX is to light and render your assets to make them look realistic and appealing. To learn how to do this, you can check out two books: Digital Lighting and Rendering by Jeremy Birn and The RenderMan Shading Language Guide by Don Rudy Cortes and Saty Raghavachary. The former covers the basics of lighting and rendering, such as color, shadows, and reflections, as well as more advanced topics like global illumination, image-based lighting, and ray tracing. The latter teaches you how to use the RenderMan Shading Language (RSL) for creating custom shaders and materials for 3D. It covers the basics of RSL, such as variables, functions, and operators, as well as more advanced topics like noise, patterns, and textures.

5 Here’s what else to consider

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