CGI Short Filmmaking: The Creation of Ghost Warrior

Well-written and an excellent guide, Ablee goes into detail of every stage of making a CGI film. Essential for anyone who is even considering making a film, especially if your primary program will be Lightwave.

The book is really great. Cannot stop reading the book. The book is very inspiring. hats off to Timothy Albee. A must read for people who enter in to the field of animation.

Having an inside perspective of the animation industry, it is easy to see why there is a growing number of very sour animators when it comes to books with insight such as this one. Mr. Albee's work is very dangerous for the animation industry. Not only does he do for animation what "Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain" does for artwork, he explains the tools and techniques that the average Joe can use to create work comparible to today's large production companies. Albee's film, "Kaze: Ghost Warrior" has drawn some critisism from other animators. However, the film is, in fact, very impressive. You would be hard pressed to find productions of comperable quality on television and in many movies. And as Albee created the film entirely on his own, and in less than half the time and one tenth the cost as it would take a team of animators from any current computer animation production studio, it's easy to see why certain folks at ILM are jealous. This book teaches you, the average person, how to do the same thing. And in terms that don't require a degree in computer teminology. If you are interested in animating your own productions, this book is simply the best.

As a both a graduate of the New York Alternative Film School and The University of California's program of interactive media design, I've probably read over 100 books on filmmaking, CGI and animation. As a writer and mythologist, I've read 100's of books on storytelling. But I have never read a book that fired my imagination and made me believe in my abilities the way this one has. Disguised as a how-to book about CGI filmmaking (in which it is unsurpassed) - it is so much more. This tome is a labor of love, seeded with self-revealing passages that empower its readers. Its pages are ablaze with hope, ignited by sparks of insight, enthusiasm, and Timothy's own delight in and dedication to his craft. It is a tale of persistence and the elegance of ideals set against the backdrop of America's last frontier. Everything you need to know about making a CGI film is in here, to be sure. But sprinkled in amongst all that knowledge is what you need to become a great storyteller. This book is a must for ANYONE who yearns to tell his or her own tales. My favorite sentence is the last one: "All dreams are already real. You just have to find your way to where they are."

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Timothy Albee's book 'The Creation of Ghost Warrior' is simply an inspirational book to anyone who has ever wanted to make their own CGI film. Not only does he go through what software he uses, how he uses it, and why he did certain things, but he also coaches you on things like acting, timing, scriptwriting, how to be as efficient as possible in your production and so on. Timothy not only is showing the world that HE absolutely can make a Hollywood calibre film for an independent budget, but he's showing you how YOU can do it too. Instead of giving you 1000+ pages of fluff, each page is distilled down to the most important information. You don't finish a chapter and feel like it was a big waste of time - it's obvious that he puts as much care in writing books as he does in creating animation. Even when I was reading about a subject I already have experience with, I felt like I came away learning a new perspective on it. This book goes hand in hand with his other 2: Essential Lightwave 7.5 and Lightwave 7 Character Animation. You will not regret buying this book.