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Resources - Book Bytes |
| by Stephen M.H. Braitman - NBMA Director of Communications Book Bytes announces new publications of interest to our members and community in multimedia, technology, business, and culture. First appearance of each Book Bytes column is in the NBMA email events newsletter. To subscribe, send a blank email message to: nbmaevents-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. If you have a recommendation for review — and, especially, if you have published a book — send the information to . |
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January 2003 COMPLETE DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY, 2nd Edition Ben Long 510 pages, $39.95 Charles River Media www.charlesriver.com The second edition of COMPLETE DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY encompasses the evolution of the digital photography art and marketplace since the last edition a year and a half ago. Ben Long has brought out a book that is pretty much state-of-the-art on the subject, at this moment in time anyway. As in the improvement from 3 to 6 megapixels as standard in high-end digital cameras, Long captures the essential changes in products and techniques that make professional and amateur digital photography more affordable and accessible. His full-color encyclopedic approach starts with basics concerning the history of photography, the differences between digital and film, and - helpfully - a section on "What's Wrong with Digital Photography" that punctures illusions at the same time as it promotes the real advantages of the medium. Extensive chapters on choosing cameras, shooting basics and tips, editing preparations, and special effects are able to bring beginners along as well as pros with no ill, pardon, effects. The included CD-ROM replicates most of the book's images for more-accurate representation,with many tutorials, videos, and demos (Photoshop, ImageBuddy, iView MediaPro, and more). FILEMAKER PRO 6 FOR WINDOWS & MACINTOSH Nolan Hester 366 pages, $21.99 Peachpit Press www.peachpit.com The latest FileMaker Pro has even more sophisticated tools than before for Web-based database swapping through XML. If you're a Max OS X user, then you also have the capability of directly importing digital images from your camera into the program. These and other innovations justify upgrading the version 6, and Nolan Hester makes the best of incorporating the new version tricks into the basic Visual Quickstart Guide tutorial. With plenty of cogent, patient explanations by number to the critical functions of FileMaker, this is a book cleared for takeoff. No fooling around (unless you would consider the database and FileMaker basics section unnecessarily theoretical). The only criticism I might add is that there is no reason this book could not also be used to help with previous FileMaker versions. To that purpose, it could be a bit more explicit about what functions or techniques are the same between version 6 and earlier versions. REAL WORLD COLOR MANAGEMENT Bruce Fraser, Chris Murphy, and Fred Bunting 534 pages, $49.99 Peachpit Press www.peachpit.com If you're a graphics professional, either in print or the Web, you've probably encountered problems with color fidelity as you've moved from a creation medium to the final medium. The worlds of advertising, consumer product e-commerce, and fine art reproduction are probably more critically attuned to color management than any other, but even if you "only" design Web pages or brochures, this book is an essential resource on the subject. Starting with the fundamentals of color science it moves rapidly into real-world scenarios like how to deal with inkjet printers, ColorSync profiles, what QuarkXpress does to your color, and how automation and scripting can save your life. There's a valuable section on workflow issues that deal with color management as a production process, something the overworked graphic designer probably ignores when the deadline is approaching; but even a little workflow can improve one's state of mind (and quality of delivery). With generous use of full color illustrations throughout, REAL WORLD COLOR MANAGEMENT lives up to its subtitle, "Industrial-Strength Production Techniques." SPECIAL EDITION: USING MAC OS X v10.2 Brad Miser 915 pages, $39.99 Que www.quepublishing.com THE ROBIN WILLIAMS MAC OS X BOOK Robin Williams 784 pages, $29.99 Peachpit Press www.peachpit.com MAC OS X ADVANCES Maria Langer 344 pages, $24.99 Peachpit Press www.peachpit.com Brad Miser has written 11 books on the Mac. Robin Williams has written more than 20 books, on the Mac and on design. Maria Langer has written over 50 books on everything from the Mac to FileMaker to small business topics. Whom do you trust? Both Miser and Williams take the comprehensive approach, dealing massive conglomerates of tutorials, tips, and technical assistance for beginning and intermediate users of the latest Macintosh operating system. Their books' encyclopedic nature allows the user to migrate from any earlier OS with ease, while someone absolutely new to the Mac will be presented clear and patient explanations with plenty of illustrations. Choosing between the two may be more a preference to style. The Robin Williams is rather flamboyant with large white spaces, nice cursive headers, and dynamic use of illustrations heavily notated with circles, arrows, and text blocks. Brad Miser uses the more traditional blocky Que publishing style, where it takes a bit more attention to catch critical Tips, Notes, and Cautions highlighted by thin borders. Miser takes a step-by-step number approach to solutions, such as in teaching how to change the desktop appearance. There are 14 steps, starting with "Choose Finder, Preferences to open the Finder Preferences window," using concise screenshots and a couple important Tips. Williams, in the section regarding System Preferences, makes short work of it by using a large graphic to explain how to drag a photo and drop it onto the "well" of the Desktop Preference screen. Although I wouldn't characterize the Williams approach as merely results oriented, you do get more detailed, systematic explanations from Miser. Which may or may not be needed depending on your sensibility. Even more pointed an experience is the Maria Langer book that follows the Peachpit formula of column-organized topics geared to quick comprehension and even quicker action. This is a motorcycle compared with the other books' SUVs. If you're migrating to OS X from earlier systems, the concise breeziness of the chapter detailing the differences will get you off and running without a lot of excess verbiage. She has good sections on OS utilities -- such as Stuffit Expander and the Print Center -- which often get short shrift, and data on Speech and Handwriting Features makes these arcane tools appear quite practical and useful. MAC OS X POCKET GUIDE, 2nd Edition Chuck Toporek 141 pages, $14.95 MACINTOSH TROUBLESHOOTING POCKET GUIDE David Lerner and Aaron Freimark 72 pages, $12.95 WORD POCKET GUIDE Walter Glenn 143 pages, $12.95 O'Reilly www.oreilly.com These are so cute! These mini Pocket Guides from O'Reilly answer almost all the essential questions there are to operating the Macintosh system as well as the principal word processing program. Sometimes there's a bit of shorthand in explanations that may leave more analytical readers wanting more. (Hey, there're always the Goliaths by Brad Miser and Robin Williams!) However, anyone with even minimal experience at Mac OS systems, old or new, will be using these handy guides often. In Toporek, he's got about 10 pages on basic UNIX commands, for example, a subject I always start to glaze over when it comes up. But he gives the skinny with a clarity I could understand, and now I'm practically ready to be a superuser. The Troubleshooting guide is very Socratic, with lists of questions arranged by topic ("Being Prepared," "Crisis Situations," "File Sharing," et al) and covering OS 9 and OS X. Slim as the book was, I found new and interesting information immediately. I even found out how to clean my PowerBook screen. No book has ever told me that before! REAL WORLD DIGITAL VIDEO Peter Shaner and Gerald Everett Jones 434 pages, $49.99 Peachpit Press www.peachpit.com The subtitle of this book is, "Industrial-Strength Video Production Techniques," which, actually, only serves part of what is offered within. Shaner and Jones have produced a complete manual on the process of creating digital video, and it's an inclusive, expansive theme. Much of what they explain relates to the practicalities of digital videomaking, including a fair assessment of rental vs. purchase, lighting and staffing requirements, legal issues; in short, all those things that go into the final product of a video or film but may escape newcomers who are totally hypnotized by the hardware and cool computer tools. That's all in here, too, with plenty about non-linear editing, sound polishing, and PC / Mac particularities. But if you're working at making a digital video, you'll also need to know about how to set up a scene, and how the heck you distribute the thing after you're done, and how the Internet can be useful to you. All this and more. A companion DVD includes sample videos, interviews, demo software, and production tools. HOW TO USE ULEAD DVD WORKSHOP Tom Bunzel 381 pages, $29.99 Que www.quepublishing.com A colorful step-by-step guide to all the processes involved in producing professional DVD, VCD, and SVCD discs from various source materials using the Ulead DVD Workshop and MovieFactory software tools. The stages of production are broken down into relatively clear, straightforward digestible chunks: "How to start editing"; How to start making menus"; "How to combine clips"; etc. If Ulead is your tool, this is the owner's manual you should have gotten with the product but didn't. Actually it's better than any owner's manual I've ever seen. Includes a DVD-ROM with project files, sample images and movies, as well as trial software for all the major Ulead products. DESIGNWHYS: DESIGNING WEB SITE INTERFACE ELEMENTS Eric Eaton 255 pages, $40 Peachpit Press www.peachpit.com Interface design is something a Web designer needs to constantly reinvent for themselves. The culture of interactivity through the Web is always evolving, and the savvy designer constantly incorporates into their work ethic the ever-growing sophistication of users as well as the elegant simplicities that combine aesthetics and functionality. Eric Eaton starts at the beginning, with the philosophy of how and why users interact with images and objects on a page. He proceeds to analyze every little byte of graphical detail that goes into a Web page, from radial buttons to input fields. Nothing is too small or too obvious to escape his reexamination of the fundamentals. This sumptuously illustrated manual is a necessary basic training course for any graphic designer who thinks they know it all. They're in for a big surprise. THE WIRELESS NETWORKING STARTER KIT Adam Engst and Glenn Fleishmann 318 pages, $29.95 Peachpit Press www.peachpit.com MAXIMUM WIRELESS SECURITY Dr. Cyrus Peikari and Seth Fogie 390 pages, $39.99 SAMS www.sampublishing.com The STARTER KIT is all the basics you'll need for setting up a local wireless (Wi-Fi) network in your home or small business setting. Thankfully it's platform agnostic, with full instructions for both Macintosh and Windows users. Engst and Fleishman leave no bones undisturbed starting with "Networking Basics" and "How Wireless Works," good theoretical groundings that will help dispel the mystery of the technology. The connections chapter is quite detailed, particularly in software configuring issues. Adding modules or extending the range of your network are covered extensively, as well as security. Security, however, is the prime territory of Peikari and Fogie. Their MAXIMUM WIRELESS SECURITY has enough practical advice on how to avoid an encyclopedia of wireless attacks, from sniffers to spoofing, from denial-of-service to Trojan horses, and more. There's quite an advanced technical section on programming basics germane to wireless, from the Java and encryption side of things. But if you're managing a wireless network that extends to any level beyond the four walls of your home or office, this is something you'll need to understand. Comes with a CD-ROM full of free and demo wireless auditing tools like AirSnort, Kismet, and NetStumbler. BUILDING WEB SITES WITH MACROMEDIA STUDIOMX Tom Green, Jordan L. Chilcott, and Chris S. Flick 756 pages, $49.99 New Riders www.newriders.com www.interactivityunlimited.com/book/studiomx The increasingly dynamic content of modern Web sites demands that Webmasters utilize their (expensive) tools to their maximum potential. Most Web folks reading this are familiar with Flash, ColdFusion, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, and all the other cool Macromedia software that makes their life so much easier. However, I'd be willing to bet most people came to each of the various tools individually, learning either on the fly or in a more formal setting, applying what was learned from each as an add-on to their previous level of knowledge. Not too many people approach the complete Macromedia suite of tools in a holistic manner. That's the goal of this latest New Riders book, looking at all the ingredients of Macromedia StudioMX and defining all their various strengths and weaknesses as total Web-creating package. There's a refreshing view based on need, such as animation, navigation, and content management, that pulls from the best tool or tools through the normal Web development process. In fact, the authors are tool-agnostic, and they appreciate the ability to mix and match appropriately. PHOTOSHOP 7 / IMAGEREADY FOR THE WEB: H.O.T. HANDS-ON TRAINING Lynda Weinman and Jan Kabili 591 pages, $49.99 Peachpit Press www.peachpit.com Another widely anticipated publication by the peripatetic Lynda Weinman, her latest Hands-On book is a beautiful looking multimedia training program for beginning-to-intermediate level Web designers and developers. With colorful graphics and savvy educational design, Weinman and Kabili integrates the concise tutorials with CD-ROM visualizations and samples. You can use this book piecemeal for specific instructions, such as figuring out transparent GIFs, image maps, layers, and background images, but it works even better from start-to-finish as a comprehensive courseware for the eager student. PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 2.0: 50 WAYS TO CREATE COOL PICTURES Dave Huss 314 pages, $29.99 New Riders www.newriders.com Digital cameras are generally simple to use. However, getting fine pictures out of them takes a bit more than just point-and-click. Dave Huss has a good-natured way of explaining how you can get optimal results both behind the camera and in front of your computer. There are tips here, for instance, on how you can avoid distortion and, if you get it anyway, how you can fix it in "post-op" with the software. The "Making Photos Look Professional" chapter is extensive and includes some photographic basics, as well, such as lighting and composition, but he always ties it up for the digital relevance. I didn't count, but I actually think there are more than 50 ways to create cool pictures in this book. |
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