Rating: 
Summary: Wish I'd included the physics chapter!
Review: I must say that writing a Dummies book was both a blessing and a curse in many ways. It sure wasn't easy trying to describe the complexities of 3D in a way that the bare-bones novice could grasp... but luckily IDG lays down a very good approach for the authors.The biggest problem with writing the book was its length. I was told to keep the thing under 325 pages or so but before I knew it, I'd written so much I was cutting entire chapters. (Imagine giving birth to a baby only to be told to chop off one of its arms... sob.) I must apologize for a couple of things: 1) The humor overload... what can I say? I thought I'd put enough in there, but they had me ramp it up even more. Deke McLelland (author of the Photoshop for Dummies series), I certainly am not. 2) The physical simulator (physics) chapter. I wrote it, but because I went on blabbering about all the other stuff in the program, I had to cut it. (See above.) Now of course the book and the program are both horribly behind the times, and I really don't use Caligari products anymore... but I must say that the Caligari staff were always wonderful to me and trueSpace will always hold a special place in my heart. Thanks everyone for the reviews, good AND bad.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I'd included the physics chapter!
Review: I must say that writing a Dummies book was both a blessing and a curse in many ways. It sure wasn't easy trying to describe the complexities of 3D in a way that the bare-bones novice could grasp... but luckily IDG lays down a very good approach for the authors. The biggest problem with writing the book was its length. I was told to keep the thing under 325 pages or so but before I knew it, I'd written so much I was cutting entire chapters. (Imagine giving birth to a baby only to be told to chop off one of its arms... sob.) I must apologize for a couple of things: 1) The humor overload... what can I say? I thought I'd put enough in there, but they had me ramp it up even more. Deke McLelland (author of the Photoshop for Dummies series), I certainly am not. 2) The physical simulator (physics) chapter. I wrote it, but because I went on blabbering about all the other stuff in the program, I had to cut it. (See above.) Now of course the book and the program are both horribly behind the times, and I really don't use Caligari products anymore... but I must say that the Caligari staff were always wonderful to me and trueSpace will always hold a special place in my heart. Thanks everyone for the reviews, good AND bad.
Rating:
Summary: Good Humor and a little more in depth with the basics
Review: I ordered one for my nephew and decided to get one for myself. I'm still very, very "touch 'n go" with trueSpace3 and found it quite helpful. Swan seems pretty intuitive in the directions he takes and how he handles the subject matter. It sure covers a lot of things over looked the packaged manual. Hey, it's no trueSpace3 bible, but I'm glad I got it and it has really been a help in covering some obscure issues. Good job!
Rating: 
Summary: not bad
Review: I think truespace 3 for dummies is not a really bad book. Everything is really easy to understand and I am sure that if you are a first timer you wil understand everything. sometimes the humour is a little bit irritating but that's a personal comment. If you're a more advanced designer please do not buy the book, it will not do you any good. But for beginners the book wil be perfect.
Rating: 
Summary: World opening, well done, helpful advice from a real expert.
Review: I was happily surprised when I read trueSpace3 for Dummies. I have paid a great deal more for a lot less useful advice. The writing is clear and the humor is fun rather than heavy. A great help to those who are new to the world of 3D modeling and animation as well as for those of us who have been here awhile.
Rating:
Summary: Buy this book if you want to learn trueSpace3
Review: I've been a trueSpace user since version 1.0 and participated in the beta test of version 3.0. I've also read and contributed to most of the trueSpace books that have come out through the years. But after getting a copy of this book, I find myself referring to it daily. It sits on the shelf next to my computer, and has become another one of my permanent graphics tools. In the same vein as the other "Dummies" books, E.W. Swan has taken the learning curve for this great 3D graphics program and simplified it for both the beginning artist and the seasoned professional. The material on the accompanying CD by itself is worth the price of the book. As President of Marlin Studios, I frequently use artists who are trueSpace artists and recommend this book to them all. Buy this book if you want to use the sophisticated release of trueSpace 3.0.
Rating:
Summary: A must-have reference for all trueSpace 3 users
Review: If you want to do 3D animation with trueSpace, and you find the official trueSpace manual to be difficult reading, as I did, then you NEED this book. Expect to think "I didn't know that!" and "cool!" several times as you read this book.
Rating:
Summary: More depth and far easier to understand than the manual
Review: Normally I stear well clear of folksy "how to" books as the humour usually becomes very irratating and prevents assimulation of the concepts being presented.
However, E.W.Swan has managed to strike the right balance between fun and information producing a technical manual that is easy to understand and follow.
As a beginner in 3d graphics and in ts3 in particular I have found it of immense help and can't wait until I require that available help in the more esoteric portions of Ts3.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent trueSpace resource guide not just for beginners
Review: The book is only for those of you who have picked up Truespace3 as a toy, it's merely a manual that is lacking much of any useful content. For those who pirated the program, it's a manual, for anyone else, it's a paperweight. Our only hope is that Peter Plantec, Frank Rivera, or someone with a great skill of writing AND Truespace3 will write a Truespace3 Bible, so that this book will be forgotten. Note: I have nothing against E. Swan, it's just that a poorly written book deserves a realistic response.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing more than a dressed up manual
Review: The book is only for those of you who have picked up Truespace3 as a toy, it's merely a manual that is lacking much of any useful content. For those who pirated the program, it's a manual, for anyone else, it's a paperweight. Our only hope is that Peter Plantec, Frank Rivera, or someone with a great skill of writing AND Truespace3 will write a Truespace3 Bible, so that this book will be forgotten. Note: I have nothing against E. Swan, it's just that a poorly written book deserves a realistic response.
| 
