The Photoshop Elements 8 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter) Review

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The Photoshop Elements 8 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter) ReviewI am a big fan of Scott Kelby's / Matt Kloskowski's books and their style of "here how to get there, step by step, with vivid illustrations and (often) funny narrative". If this is your first Elements for Digital Photographers book - go out and get it! $31 is a very fair price for tonnes and tonnes of useful tips and how-tos. Put it this way - if you had to pay someone to train you, how much he or she would charge you.. per hour?
However, if you already own one of their Elements for Digital Photographers (either 6 or 7), there is very few (if any at all!) new pieces of information here. In fact, this book is missing a chapter called "Create or Die - How to Make Presentations with your Photos" which is found in Elements for Digital Photographers 7 version. Was that a particularly useful chapter? Not really. Will you miss it? I doubt.
I am, however, disappointed not to find a new chapter that, for example, shows me cool new tips and tricks, or a chapter with "case studies" - "here is the original photo, here is where you can download it online so let's sit down and fix it together, step-by-step."
Bottom line: if you already own Elements for Digital Photographers books 6 or 7, no need to buy this one, even if you upgraded your APE to v.8. If you don't, go and get one now!The Photoshop Elements 8 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter) Overview

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Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume I: Introduction to Level Design with Unreal Engine 3 Review

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Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume I: Introduction to Level Design with Unreal Engine 3 ReviewI've evaluated several 3D game engines, including XNA Game Studio 3 (ok for home enthusiasts), Torque 3D (not ready for prime time as of this writing), Unity (nice), Blender3D (ok for home enthusiasts), and Unreal Engine 3. The Unreal Engine UDK blows them away, although the Unity 3D Platformer is really quite good. You can't beat what you get with the Unreal Engine UDK, especially considering that its free. Some licensing rules apply if you actually create and sell a game.
I purchased this book in order to get a "head start" on developing applications with the Unreal Game Engine. I was very pleased with its contents. The examples in each chapter really drive home the benefits of using the Unreal Game Engine. I especially enjoyed the introductory chapter, the static meshes chapter, the material creation chapter, the terrain chapter, the Kismet chapter and the Matinee considerations chapter.
I downloaded the November and December Betas of the Unreal Development Kit (UDK). So if you do the same, be aware of the following differences.
1. When you copy a chapter's map to your Content directory, change its extension from ut3 to udk.
2. You will have some problems in Chapter 4: A Universe of Brushes. Some of the UT3 features (geometry modifiers for BSP extrusion, etc) are not in the UDK. You will not be able to extrude the capital and entablature on the columns in the temple. Don't waste time trying to figure out where they are, like I did. Unreal recommends using static meshes rather than BSP brushes to build your levels. So they've removed some of the modifiers from the UDK.
3. The property names in the book use Hungarian notation, but the UDK does not. Just remove the first character and you will find your property.
4. Every map needs a Killz setting. When you build your map you will get an error that the Killz setting is not initialized (something like that). So go to View/World Properties and expand Zone Info. You will see Kill Z as the first property. Set its value to something like -10000.
5. I had some issues with the Swarm, and ended up turning it off. I don't need to build my levels on multiple machines, and I didn't want to spend the time setting it up. So I disabled it.
That's it! Most of the examples in the book work as described. I'm very impressed with Kismet and Matinee. I think Autodesk could learn something here.
I can't wait to buy Volume 2: Advanced Level Design Concepts with Unreal Engine 3.Mastering Unreal Technology, Volume I: Introduction to Level Design with Unreal Engine 3 Overview

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Watercolor Made Easy: 30-Minute Landscapes: Quick and easy lessons for keeping your paintings loose and fresh Review

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Watercolor Made Easy: 30-Minute Landscapes: Quick and easy lessons for keeping your paintings loose and fresh ReviewIf you want easy step by step watercolour exercises to do, then this is the book for you!
It is full of useful information from the introduction to the closing words.
The simple instructions which accompany the 27 exercises enable even a novice to create little masterpieces in their own right.
The instructions are easy to follow and the illustrations are excellent. This is the best book of its kind for ease of use and will help anyone achieve success in watercolour painting.Watercolor Made Easy: 30-Minute Landscapes: Quick and easy lessons for keeping your paintings loose and fresh Overview

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Kneadlessly Simple: Fabulous, Fuss-Free, No-Knead Breads Review

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Kneadlessly Simple: Fabulous, Fuss-Free, No-Knead Breads ReviewI don't write a lot of Amazon reviews, but this new book deserves it. I'm not sure I understand all of the science behind the technique, but I love the results. The recipes I've tried so far are the "pot breads," meaning that they're baked in a cast-iron pot with the lid on it, and the results have been impressively crusty loaves, even better than what I get in many bakeries (and far better than anything I can get in the supermarket). But what I think is most interesting is how the author gives so many options for rise time. If I'm busy and can't bake the loaf until the next day, I choose the long rise (anywhere from 4 to 24 hours, depending on the recipe). She is also gives 1- to 2-hour OR 2- to 3-hour rise options. That's what I like when I'm baking bread at home -- options. And as they title claims, there is no kneading involved. Again, I don't really understand the how's and why's here (though the author does explain it), but I really like not having a kitchen counter covered with flour. Yes, sometimes I think kneading can be fun, but most of the time I'm a little too busy for all the fuss (full-time job, teenage daughter, you get the idea). I'm excited to try the pizza dough recipe, because I love making pizza at home. And a friend made the Double Chocolate-Honey Bread (the photo in the book is gorgeous), and wow, it's amazingly good. I really think this book is worth a try.Kneadlessly Simple: Fabulous, Fuss-Free, No-Knead Breads Overview

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Watercolors in a Weekend: Pick Up a Brush and Paint Your First Picture This Weekend Review

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Watercolors in a Weekend: Pick Up a Brush and Paint Your First Picture This Weekend ReviewHaving read a number of books and experimented on my own with watercolors (no formal instruction), I was disappointed in the results of my efforts. Then I picked up this book, followed the first lesson and was stunned at the quality of the result. This book goes step by step through techniques and each painting is very easy to follow. The results are a real ego booster. My only caveat is that you come to realize how important composition and color selection are to a painting's success, and this is the one area that the book is somewhat weak in.Watercolors in a Weekend: Pick Up a Brush and Paint Your First Picture This Weekend Overview

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