Let this in-depth professional book be your guide to Blender, the powerful open-source 3D modeling and animation software. Using clear step-by-step instruction and pages of real-world examples from talented Blender users, expert animator Tony Mullen walks you through the complexities of modeling and animating, with a special focus on characters.
From Blender basics to creating facial expressions and emotion to rendering, you\'ll jump right into the process and learn valuable techniques that will transform your movies.

* Walk through the complete process of building a character
* Master mesh modeling tools and organic modeling
* Fashion skin, hair, and clothing with material shaders, textures, and other tools
* Learn to sync lip movements with a sound file
* Understand interpolation curves, keyframes, and the basics of animating
* Model your characters using a variety of mesh editing techniques
* See how armatures, lattices, and IK interact
* Light and render your work for exactly the effect you want.

The companion DVD provides the Blender installer for Windows(r), Macintosh(r), and Linux(r).
You\'ll also find:
* All the source files you need to produce the examples and tutorials in the book
* The short film Elephants Dream and all the files used to create it
* An impressive gallery of short animations created by Blender artists around the world
* Plenty of useful links to related Blender resources
* A large collection of third-party software and plug-ins, including Audacity, Python, and the popular BlenderPeople

By purchasing this book via the Blender e-shop you support the Blender Foundation\'s Open Source projects.

Introducing Character Animation with Blender
Author: Tony Mullen
478 Pages, B&W
Includes DVD-rom with all files and software
Produced and printed by SYBEX, www.sybex.com.