The best Digital Video Production eBooks: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

It helps to view Spec Ops: the Line in the time period it was released in.

SOtL came out in 2012. It was released right in the middle of a glut of high-profile military shooters:

• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in 2007
• Battlefield: Bad Company in 2008
• Call of Duty: World at War in 2008
• Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 in 2009
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in 2010
• Call of Duty: Black Ops in 2010
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in 2011

People knew the Spec Ops series as another brand of military shooter. In particular, a brand that hadn't seen a release since 2002. People thought it was going to be another mindless shooter trying to ride the coattails of all these extremely well received and highly-profitable games.

They went into it expecting to just run through another military campaign, shooting the baddies and saving the day.

Except SOtL turned that all on its head

It's a game that knew exactly what people expected and then used that to their advantage to twist the whole genre upside-down. It was extremely ambitious, self-aware, and a beyond a doubt a risky proposition.

If anything, it speaks volumes about the integrity of the development team, and the ability for its publisher to trust that team. The only major blemish to the game was the shoehorned-in multiplayer mode that felt like it had to be attached because every other military shooter was doing it.

Regardless, the game was an artistic statement about the video game environment in which it was conceived and that's why it is so highly regarded and worthy of respect.

With that in mind, I highly recommend you give it a try, and for further reading, Walt Williams the lead writer of the game, recently published a book worth looking into: Significant Zero: Heroes, Villains, and the Fight for Art and Soul in Video Games.

Whatever Haru Nemuri releases next I guess.

Maybe fantasy is fantasy, but I hear [Ffmpeg: From Zero to Hero https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Y64XG9T/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_70CQ3MMW2H510YK5AQS9) is a good day indeed, thank you!!

This book is really good. It is software agnostic.

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Modeling-digital-William-Vaughan-ebook/dp/B006QRYPC0/

yeah it is a surprisingly tricky one. For such a vital component of video games, there is a serious lack of easy to find info on the subject. There's some great books for zbrush, but that seems to serve a more specialized purpose. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01956B5P8/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0 I found this great book on hard surface modelling. A lot of people have mentioned that it's not for beginners, but, in the first chapter of the book, the author notes that what is meant by this is just a very basic understanding of using blender. The book is very project focused

Thank you so much for taking your time to help me. I tried out a lot over the last few months and now I want to specialize on something. I think Hard Surface would be the technique that I would enjoy the most. I already have some ideas on my mind what I want to do, but I am afraid those are all too hard for a beginner like me. Something to guide me through at least the beginning would help me personally alot I think.

Someone else posted something on this sub earlier and he said he was using this book to learn Hard Surface Modelling and I think I want to get somethng similar too. Do you have any suggestions on books/ guides or do you have an opinion on this one?

I also checked Arrimus 3d on youtube and he has a ton of great stuff there. Just after a few minutes in some of his videos I saw new techniques to create different stuff. His videos should be very helpful to me. Thank you for the recommendation.

Davinci has a $6 kindle instructional guide that walks you through the entire software and provides real footage to practice with. It takes a bit more time, but it's very easy to follow.

If you decide to use Resolve, the company put out a $6 guide which might interest you. It gives a basic walk-through of all the features: https://www.amazon.com/Definitive-DaVinci-Resolve-Blackmagic-Learning-ebook/dp/B07GJ8T512

I use the term "basic" loosly. The book is over 500 pages, but their audio specific guide is 600 pages, so in comparison it seems basic haha.

Digital Modelling looks pretty good. I'm probably going to get it myself.

For all but the simplest things nodes are the way to go IMHO, though I'm no expert. I think that this book does a good job introducing materials with nodes. There is also this course on CG Cookie which is what got me started with cycles and nodes.

If you are really looking to take that next step I would recommend picking up Alexis Van Hurkman's The Color Correction Handbook. The kindle version is only about $30 and it comes with a link to download clips and stills to practice on. So you read a chapter, and have a dozen or so clips chosen that specifically work on the skills discussed in the chapter.

You might want to consider a $16.49 investment in a download of &quot;<em>Digital SLR Video and Filmmaking For Dummies</em>&quot;.

One of this book's principal audiences is still photographers making the transition to video. From the book's introduction:

"Because you already know your way around a DSLR, this book helps convert your comfort level with the camera to eloquent moviemaking that shows effective, time-tested techniques. Cinematic tips enlighten you on the DSLR's powerful functions for moviemaking..."

Good luck with your new line of business!