Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
with a rather unique resource. It is the individual creative voice of an artist,
filmmaker, or animator that makes for long-term success. Your research will
assist you in developing that voice.
Gathering such a collection can take a long time; my own has taken over
30 years and is still growing. But you should be in no hurry; you will gather
your information and material as your practice develops and your experience
progresses. Your own notes, production journals, sketchbooks, photographs, and
moving images will be of immense value to you and will form a central part of
your reference library. A word of caution here: Be careful what you throw away; if
you keep it, it could have very real value to you and your practice one day.
Even in this digital age, good old-fashioned topics form an important part of my
reference material, but I admit that this due in large part to my love of topics.
However, topics can be costly, and the expense of building up such a reference
library, particularly if like me you get hooked on topics, can be very considerable.
Having said that, there is no need to look for rare topics or irst editions; there
are plenty of cheaper alternatives. Good second-hand topics are available from a
number of web sites and plenty of other online material is available to you for free.
If you are going to be able to use your reference material in a sensible and useful
manner, you need to give some thought to storing and organizing it in such a
way that you can find, access, and retrieve it with ease. Books and DVDs sit on
a shelf, so no problem there, but data and other digital resources that reside
on your computer or external hard drives or in your Favorites list on your Web
browser might need to be classified in some way. This classification will entail
good file management methods and using appropriate naming conventions.
A little time spent organizing your material will save you a lot of time and
potentially a lot of money later on.
Further Reading and Viewing
There are a number of topics in the bibliography that you may ind useful.
Here I have specifically recommended a few of those texts. However, it is
important to state clearly that these topics represent my own very personal
choices and are not intended to imply that these are of more value than any
others listed in the bibliography or those that I have omitted completely. As
I say, this is a personal list and is simply intended to get you started. Do your
own research and no doubt you will find plenty of other material that's far
more appropriate to your own individual practice.
Action Analysis
Alexander, R. McNeill (2006)
Principles of Animal Locomotion
, Princeton University
Press. A very clear text covering a wide range of subjects; easily understood,
though the author also provides the mathematical formulas that explain such
issues as the energy costs of given actions.
