Best books for 3d-Artists

For many 3D artists, reading books to develop their own artistic skills is not particularly obvious at first, as technologies change quickly and a book is likely to be outdated by the time it is printed. But there are many design concepts that are timeless, that can be transferred from software to software and do not depend on changing technologies. This is exactly where books are an excellent choice to convey a lot of information on topics in a structured and more comprehensive way than any YouTube video.

The title of this book says it all – because this is about photorealism. On around 200 pages, software-independent principles, optical phenomena and workflows are explained that every 3D designer should know if he has the goal of creating realistic 3D renderings or 3D animations. Especially students and young professionals can learn from the experienced VFX supervisor Eran Dinur how the large and small VFX studios work. From the structure of the human eye to the integration of 3D elements in compositing, reference is also made to newer topics such as LED screens.

Every 3D artist has experienced that successful lighting of their 3D scene makes the difference between a boring and a great picture. That is why dealing with light or illumination is also so important for 3D artists. The fact that there are even more design options than simply using the next best HDR as lighting and also what effect which lighting has on the viewer – i.e. timeless concepts – this is explained better than any other work I know with the help of many pictures.

If you are interested in perspective and maybe even want to draw, you might like this book. In addition to the basics of vanishing points, different perspectives with one, two or 3 vanishing points, the artistic effect of different perspectives and backgrounds is also explained.

If you are interested in perspective and maybe even want to draw, you might like this book. In addition to the basics of vanishing points, different perspectives with one, two or 3 vanishing points, the artistic effect of different perspectives and backgrounds is also explained.

The word „3D“ in this book title is certainly somewhat ambiguous – because what is actually meant here is stereoscopy. But if you want to do exactly that – i.e. stereoscopic 3D animations, you will certainly not regret buying the book. In this work you will find well-structured theoretical basics on how people perceive stereoscopy, but also a lot of technical and creative information on the subject. Hardly any other information can be found, especially on the design of stereoscopy, although stereoscopy requires its own design rules, as you could clearly see from some stereo 3D cinema films from the 2010s.

Anyone interested in face animation including lipsync animation should own this book. The 13 chapters are divided into 4 parts: Part 1 covers the basics, Part 2 the mouth, Part 3 the eye area and Part 4 finally brings the mouth area and the eye area together. The book is not only interesting for animators, because in addition to the main topic of animation, it also explains what a 3D modeler should consider with regard to edge loops and what different approaches there are to rigging a face.

Anyone interested in face animation including lipsync animation should own this book. The 13 chapters are divided into 4 parts: Part 1 covers the basics, Part 2 the mouth, Part 3 the eye area and Part 4 finally brings the mouth area and the eye area together. The book is not only interesting for animators, because in addition to the main topic of animation, it also explains what a 3D modeler should consider with regard to edge loops and what different approaches there are to rigging a face.