Advanced Bryce Creations: Photorealistic 3D Worlds

Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money
Review: After my original review of this book, I've had more time to look over the book. This book is horrible, the graphics are pitiful. At first glance they didn't seem so bad, but upon closer examination you'll realize that the terms photo and realistic don't belong on any of the book's pictures.

I've taken the time to look over some of Mr. Mortier's other books, based on comments I've read, and they too seem to fall in the garbage category. His book on Poser is particularly horrid, anyone can play with the controls of a program and generate something that looks awful, we don't need a book to tell us how to do it.

Unfortunately, the poor quality of this book has forced me to more carefully review books by his publisher. Mr. Mortier continues to crank out books about software he has no mastery of, and they continue to be published.

I do have to give Mr. Mortier credit though, it takes a lot of effort to produce such hideous renders from Bryce.

Rating:
Summary: I'm glad that I bought this book.
Review: After reading the negative reviews of Mr. Mortier's books, I hesitated to buy any of them but am glad that I went ahead and did so. I now own all of his Bryce books, as well as Real World Bryce 4, by Susan Kitchens. Mr. Mortier's artistic style is very different from mine, but his books have provided a springboard for some of my own creative ideas ...They have also shown me some techniques that I might not have figured out on my own. As a self-taught artist, if I get even a couple of new ideas from a book, I consider that book worth the price. I am grateful to Mr. Mortier for clarifying some key concepts and reinforcing my enthusiasm for Bryce.

Rating:
Summary: THOSE WHO DON'T KNOW... TEACH.
Review: All I need to say about this author and this book is that before you buy anything by the aptly named Shamms... check out ANY one of his previous works on a variety of software platforms. He is, in my opinion, no artist and he is only barely familiar with the software he writes about. His fascination with the greens and purples you see on his book covers permeates his "art" serving to transform childish models and mediocre compositions into something much less. His chief talent seems to be convincing publishers he knows what he is talking about. Throw your money in the street... it will be far more gratifying.

Rating:
Summary: Best Tutorial Book Ever!
Review: I'm a novice Bryce user.
This book is divided into two parts.
The first part contains lots of mini-tutorials. These focus on a single skill or facility taking you through step by step (with lots of clear pictures) but presented in such a way that you are not just following a recipe and hence mastering little. I especially liked how Shamms includes other software packages such as 3D modelling stuff and Poser clearly explaining why these may be necessary.
Part Two presents 8 long tutorials that draw on all the skills that you have mastered to create 8 imaginative worlds - something that I have always wanted to do.
The CD has all the tutorial "solutions" on it.
I doubt that this book has much to offer Advanced users but it is absolutely brilliant for beginners.


Rating:
Summary: Covers eight unique projects
Review: Shamms Mortier's Advanced Bryce Creations: Photorealistic 3D Worlds covers eight unique projects, providing detailed tutorials covering all steps on using Bryce with other popular computer tools such as Photoshop. A CD-ROM in back includes all the files needed to study the tutorials.

Rating:
Summary: I should write a book...
Review: This book is definitely not for the intermediate looking to tweak their skills with. The pictures are poorly done and the writing is totally unstructured. As I recall, this book was suppose to be for the advanced level and it's more like grade school level. Don't waste your time or money on this one.

Rating:
Summary: Misleading Title; God-awful Graphics!
Review: This book was published in 2001, and by those standards you'd expect a better treatment of the term "photorealism." Unfortunately, it's far from being so. The examples in the book and the animations on the CD look faceted, bizzare and surreal (even Dali, the author's so-called inspiration, would be horrified). They remind of graphics from the early eighties when stick figures and garish polygons ruled the desktops of a chosen few, and quite frankly, that's where this book belongs, if not right in the trash can. It's a very, very far cry from anything close to photorealistic in this age, let alone something (what?!!) 'advanced'.
The saving grace, however, is the creation of eight different story worlds that the author takes you through in fair detail (sketch to final setup), alongside how Bryce "handshakes" with packages like Poser, Painter, Amorphium, and a myriad other plug-ins and 3D modelers. This, in a way, makes it look like a catalog of all the different tools and products you could/should/will use to do something useful in Bryce. It's like: 'OK, Bryce can't do this, so why don't you get that... I can't imagine your *not* getting that!' In the end, this book feels disconnected and reads like an instruction manual (do this, create this shape, etc.). It forms a good enough source of ideas about Bryce world creation, but I recommend buying it only if you haven't yet bought any other Bryce book. "Real World Bryce 4" by Susan Kitchens, in comparison, does a far better job, costing about as much as this one.
Moral of the Story: Don't go by the look of the title 'Advanced Bryce Creations'; it's an insult to Bryce and Bryce users worldwide.

Rating:
Summary: A horrible book by a horrible author
Review: This book, like all of Shamm Mortier's books, is a piece of trash. Please, if you are even thinking of buying it, check out reviews for Mortimer's other books, only a few of have received more than 1 star. Generally most computer books are of high quality, and people have grown to trust that the $50 computer book they have ordered will be of high quality. This trust is what this man Mortier cashes in on.

After you mistakedly purchase one Shamms Mortimer book, you will research all other books, and purchase them much more cautiously. Thank you Mr. Mortier for exploiting human trust, and teaching us all that we should trust nothing.

Susan Kitchen's Bryce book is much better, she clearly knows the program and how to teach and write.