2 comments about Beginner's Guide to SolidWorks 2007.

1. Beginners beware!
   
   This title will lead you to believe it is for beginners, but really it isn't. I had zero knowledge of Solidworks when I got this manual hoping it would give me a good start, but found myself scratching my head in every other operation.
   
   Vital information is left out leaving the student on his own trying to find out how to activate functions in order to move forward. On average it took an hour or more to figure out operations that should take a few seconds, if the instructor would have given complete instructions.
   
   Perhaps I understand the program better now, but it was extremely frustration trying to figure it out on my own, which is why I purchased the manual in the first place. All in all many, many hours of the student time are wasted because of a lack of good instruction. The instructor should evaluate his writing by letting students with NO experience in the program critique the book and its problems.



2. I received a free instructor evaluation copy of this book. I was expecting more from an author who is an Authorized SolidWorks trainer. The book only addresses the basic fundamentals of SolidWorks, and reads mostly like the SolidWorks Help section which is provided free with the software. The Drawing section: No configurations, design tables, Custom Properties, Task Pane, Annotation Notes,etc. and Assembly sections: No SmartMates, very few standard Standard Mates, no Parent/Child relations, Smart Fastners, InContext, etc. are very weak with few and simple examples.
   
   I do agree with a few reviewers on his 2006 book, which looks the same as his 2007 book. "Once a skill is covered in the book, the author assumes that the reader now knows how to do that task." This is not good in a classroom environment. At 200 pages, there is about 150 pages that provides information. This is not the book for me.

No comments about Basic Architectural Drafting.

5 comments about Harnessing 3ds max 5 (3ds Max).

1. I didn't want to spend so much money on a book so I have searched in the libraries and reviewed in book stores many books about 3ds max. After waisting about 2 weeks in reviewing book after book I can give you my honest oppinion this is the best book on the market. This is the only book which will give you full explanation how to use 3ds max and why the things work in a certain way. You don't need to have any previous experience to understand the concept of this book. All the other books comparing to this one need experience in programing or at least 3d graphics. Most of them are thousants of pages talking and not saying anything to you.



2. This books is a must-have and the author known about max and, he give a lot of usefull tips. For example, the author talk about "activeshades" in the render.. they say how usefullness it can be BUT he also say that activeshades are not useable for all thinks.. even more he show the pro and cons about it.

   The only problems is in the arts.. the models are simple or ugly (not bad modelled but ugly). You must complement this book with a 3d artistic book.

   This books is for newbs, intermediated and even veterans.




3. Just recently, I started to get into 3D design. For past 2 months I worked in Plasma since it was a slimmed down version of 3ds Max. Then finally, I decided to learn it and dig deeper into the program. Without prior experience it was a little hard for me so I bought this book. From the start, I can see how valuable this book is. I read all the posts above and they were dead on. Also, they were part of the reason I picked up this book. The author really explains the 3D design in detail which is very easy to understand for a person who is just starting out. As I only read close to 100 pages of the book, I already feel like I can get around the program lot easier. Not only the techniquest are explained, but also, why things happen and work the way they do. If you have graphic - web design experience and can get around Photoshop, armed with this book and 3dsMax, you will be able to desing some mean layouts. Simply said: The best 42 bucks I spend on a book. GO AND BUY IT! Oh yeah, the book comes with CDROM which includes excersizes for EACH chapter along with AVI movies!!!



4. Most of this text is a rehash of Ms. Bousquet's 2 previous works on 3DSTUDIO MAX 3, and 3DS MAX 4, respectively. Even the tutorials are the same! Outrageous!!!



5. I bought this book having no experience in 3ds max or any other 3d program really. After a few weeks of reading and following the tutorials, I feel like I've got the program down pretty well (and that's saying a lot for 3D Studio). The writing, tutorials and examples are excellent and it taught me how to do much more than I ever expected I'd be able to with this program.

1 comments about Jan Tschichold: Posters of the Avantgarde.

1. This is an wonderful book to share the work of an important historic graphic designer.
   Full of brilliant images and splendid texts written by Martijn F. Le Coultre and Alston W. Purvis , we get the exact background and atmposphere were Tschichold developed his talent. This is a book highley recommended for resarchers on graphic design history.

No comments about Instructional Design for University of Phoenix.

1 comments about More for Inspiration Only.

1. We belive that all the clashing elements of midcentury technology are fused into a single art of architecture thanks to the work of Jan Kaplicky. His architecture emraced the precision of the armaments industry; the lightness, structural rigidity and strenth-through shape of aircraft construction,and the compactness and performance of the automobile.

2 comments about Pro Engineer-Wildfire Instructor.

1. The book explains the mechanics of how to perform basic operations with Wildfire very well, in the first half of the book. However, more complex or higher level operations are sometimes inaccurate, having incorrect or missing steps, or poorly explained in later chapters. This includes some of what the book refers to as advanced drawing and modeling tools. It is quite frustrating to follow the directions given in the text only to find the software does not perform the task as described. In addition, the text gives no clue how to recover from mistakes. Thus, the user is often forced to closeout of the model/drawing completely and start from scratch, or the last save, assuming the application has not locked-up the computer. There is no coverage of sheetmetal modeling techniques, either.
   It would appear the author either wrote the book based on an earlier release of Wildfire, or based it on Pro-E 2001. In any case, the GUI's in some cases do not look the same as shown in the text and the selectable choices are not always as described in the book.
   Finally, Kelley/McGraw-Hill provide downloadable models and drawings that are useful at the noted website. However, there is no errata, or update posted for the book and no contact for Kelley.
   Bottomline: Assuming better alternatives exist, it is a questionable purchase for novices wanting to learn Wildfire 2.0 or later.



2. This book is the biggest load of donkey excrement I have ever had the displeasure to lay my eyes on. I am a computer scientist, so I'm used to reading some pretty crappy documentation, but the only thing less informative and useful than this book was the help file that comes with the application.
   
   The only use I can think of for this book is hurling it at the author in a really violent way.

No comments about Architectural Details from Old New England Homes.

1 comments about Eames House: An Appreciation of the Work of Charles & Ray Eames.

1. ...this is the coolest book, i've seen in quite sometime. The book includes 3 pages that make a quick and easy model of the Eames House. Its definetly worth the $... price tag.

1 comments about U4ia For Apparel Design: Quick Guide.

1. i'm currently working as a freelance designer in the fashion industry and this little book has saved me! i haven't used u4ia in quite some time and having this handy book (complete with built in stand) has been great.
   the instructions are clear and easy to follow. i recommend this book to anyone who has some working knowledge of the program. it's wonderful for learning new tools and commands in a pinch!