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The chapter on installing Blender was somewhat descriptive. It told me where the archive files were stored on the CD, but no actual installation instructions. I looked in vain for further hints and tips but none were to be found. As an old Debian hand now running Ubuntu on the desktop, I opened a terminal and a quick sudo apt-cache search blender later, I found that I could get the software directly installed from the apt system (yafray was also recommended and I installed it as well). No muss, no fuss. (Note to author: please include this fact in the 2nd edition. Thanks). The process for installing on Windows and MAC is different but you Windows and MAC users will have to discover it from the book since I'm only evaluating the text from a Linux point of view.
A couple of months ago, I reviewed Michael Hammel's The Artist's Guide to GIMP Effects (also No Starch Press) and among other highlights, the book provided the vast majority of graphics in full and vivid color. This is so important in a book that is teaching the reader how to create graphic effects. Unfortunately, No Starch didn't take its own hint (though No Starch may not have had the same control over this book as you'll see in the final paragraph of this review) and provide the same visual references in the Roland Hess book (I doubt that Hess had any control over this vital detail, so I can't hang this one around his neck). No matter how well the book is written, if the reader can't get at least an adequate idea of what effects are supposed to look like, then an important part of the lesson is missing.
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