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The RenderMan Shading Language Guide | 
 enlarge | Authors: Don" Rudy Cortes, Saty Raghavachary
Publisher: Course Technology PTR
Category: Book
List Price: $49.99
Buy New: $29.38
You Save: $20.61 (41%)
New (27) Used (7) from $29.38
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 97952
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 656
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3.8
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 7.3 x 1.7
ISBN: 1598632868
Dewey Decimal Number: 006.696
EAN: 9781598632866
ASIN: 1598632868
Publication Date: December 31, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20080818211952T
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Discover how to achieve the stunning imagery and dazzling effects that wow audiences in animated and live action motion pictures. "The RenderMan Shading Language Guide" shows you how to master this powerful rendering program, used by filmmakers in conjunction with 2D and 3D painting, modeling, and animation software to transport audiences to faraway lands and awe them with fantastic creatures. A comprehensive guide to the RenderMan Shading Language (RSL), the book teaches experienced 3D animators and artists fundamentals through advanced RSL and image synthesis concepts. Beginning with an introduction to RSL, you'll learn about the shader writing process and how to set up a proper shader developing environment. After that you'll try your hand at some simple shading methods such as light and volume shaders. Once you have the basics down, you'll move on to more advanced shading skills including raytracing, global illumination, pattern anti-aliasing, and DSO shadeops. The book presents over 80 complete shaders and teaches good coding style and techniques. "The RenderMan Shading Language Guide" presents the skills you need to become proficient with RSL so that you can use them to create amazing special effects for use in movies, video games, and more.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
One of the best RenderMan book available on earth !!! June 24, 2008
I have all RenderMan books on the market.
This one is impressed me!
The authors explain step by step and that make readers understand RenderMan more.
Same as other reviews, lacking of CD is the shame.
However, overall still be very good to me.
And if you consider the price is very worth for money.
That's why I think this book should be given 5 stars.
Hopefully, There will be more good RenderMan books available soon.
Tee
Excellent resource for learning how to write RenderMan shaders May 13, 2008
The RenderMan Shading Language Guide is an excellent resource. It contains numerous examples of shader code, to help get you started with writing your own shaders. I was happy to see the robust section on illumination models, with some sl code provided for most of them. I found the section that had common functions (like gamma() and remap()) very helpful, and appreciated the disscussion on more sophisticated components of the shading language (like subsurface scattering and global illumination). In addition, for the user who is new to the process of writing and compiling shaders, a number of pages are devoted to explaining how to achieve these goals. All in all, I would highly recommend this book to any user who wants to learn how to write his/her own RenderMan shaders.
The Wait is Over! April 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I caught wind that this book was coming out well before it actually came out and could hardly contain my excitement. I had it ordered before it was even off the press.
Let's face it, trying to learn Renderman online is like trying to ride a bike with a flat tire. You can go, but not very fast or very far. I own several other renderman books but found them to be a bit out of date and lacking in areas. Since leaving school and entering into the industry I had actually been considering writing a Renderman book myself. I am glad to say that now I don't have to!
I have been enjoying my copy of the book since december of last year. I admit that I was thrown off by all the refrences to the accompanying cd, as well as a few typos throughout. I was overjoyed however to find the website today! This is the book that I have needed for a long time. It is well worth what you pay for it.
A Complete Crash Course! February 24, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have read many technical manuals relating to the 3D Animation and Visual Effects industries, and I can honestly say that this is easily one of the best available.
Given the limited library of Renderman books, I'd call this an absolute must have for any Lighting/Rendering/Shader TD, or any artist or technical director involved in the look development and shot finaling pipelines.
Even if you haven't yet worked within a Renderman pipeline, this is the perfect publication to introduce you to, and bring you up to speed in, the Renderman Shading Language (RSL).
I've found that the majority of technical manuals suffer from a number of common flaws:
1. The information is presented chaotically, and with minimal use of examples or descriptions, resulting in a publication that would readable only by those that already know everything it has to teach.
2. The information is presented so laboriously that what should take a paragraph instead takes up three chapters.
The Renderman Shading Language Guide is perfectly paced for beginners and intermediate users alike, and indeed when I showed the book to a couple of highly experienced Renderman TDs, they were surprised by the sheer volume of information and ordered copies for themselves.
Everything is presented in short blocks with an easily readable description, examples, shortcuts and conclusions. There is no unecessarily complicated geek speek, and neither is the reader treated like a 4 year old.
Even though I barely remember my high school math, and in the most flattering estimation I'd be considered a competent beginner when it comes to the math involved in RSL, I found the examples relatively easy to follow for the most part. And in those parts where the math went well over my head, I found the simple descriptions and concise, well explained instructions to be all I needed to quickly understand the topic.
From cover to cover this book is crammed full of useful information. There is no wastage of space in these pages. It seems that every conceivable question is answered - every possible topic covered from introduction to an advanced level of understanding and a practical and immmediately useful conclusion.
And at the price? This book is a steal.
One very minor complaint I would make is in regards to the occasional typographical error. An equation or two is printed with "?" in place of "*" or another symbol, and there are a few spelling and grammatical errors. But as I said, it is a minor complaint.
Also, I would have liked to have seen more complete shader examples demonstrated in a step-by-step process, as while this book is overflowing with informative mini-tutorials, it all seems a little incongruous. It would have been good to see a few more examples where the information was brought together in real-world ways to create some amazing completed shaders. Perhaps in a sequel? ;)
All in all, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, from an industry Lead Lighting TD.
9.5/10
In depth information January 18, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'm quite pleased with the depth of this book. So many of the CGI titles I've bought that claim to be intermediate or advanced aren't. While the RenderMan Shading Language Guide assumes that you have no starting knowledge of RSL, it immediately dives into technical details without overwhelming the novice. For someone wishing to learn RSL (or even just shader theory), this book is wonderfully paced, containing a great depth of information, very well explained.
At the same time, this isn't a book for dabblers. To get much out of the RenderMan Shading Language Guide, you need to be willing to put some effort and practice into it. This is a textbook and needs to be treated as a subject of study, rather than a casual enhancement for playing with CGI. If RenderMan intrigues you, but you don't want to get too deep into the technical (and programing/scripting) aspects, you'd be better off getting Pixar's RenderMan for Maya and a Digital Tutors or similar training DVD. You'll learn more of the simple, day-to-day things and get started making renderings faster.
As another poster mentioned, the text mentions an included disk which isn't. The website doesn't have downloads either. That omission would knock the book down to 4.5 stars, but since I can't rate with half-stars, 5 stars more accurately reflects the value of the book than 4.
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