If you are considering a career in 3D animation or the special effect industry ... These are the must have books. 

Are you giving it all you can? 

The 2003 Update, includesnew  NURBS, XSI , LightWave, Rhino, and Maya pointers:

Softimage|3D Design Guide: Everything You Need to Master 3D Modeling and Animation with Microsoft's Softimage by Barry Ruff

Softimage|3D Fundamentals by Anthony Rossano

Inside Softimage 3D (Inside...) by Anthony Rossano

Softimage ®|XSI Character Animation f/x and Design by Chris Maraffi

XSI Illuminated: Character by Anthony Rossano

XSI Illuminated: Foundation 2 by Anthony Rossano

XSI Illuminated : Foundation by Anthony Rossano

Maya Character Animation by Jaejin Choi

Maya Character Creation: Modeling and Animation Controls, First Edition by Chris Maraffi

Learning Maya | Character Rigging and Animation by Alias|Wavefront

Maya 2 Character Animation by Nathan Vogel

An Introduction to NURBS: With Historical Perspective by David F. Rogers

The Nurbs Book (Monographs in Visual Communications) by Les A. Piegl

Nurbs: From Projective Geometry to Practical Use by Gerald E. Farin

Nurb Curves and Surfaces: From Projective Geometry to Practical Use by Gerald E. Farin

Nurbs for Curves and Surface Design by Gerald Farin

Book of Nurbs (Monographs in Visual Communication) by Les Pirgl

Rhino NURBS 3D Modeling by Margaret Becker

The Nurbs Book (Monographs in Visual Communications) by Les Piegl

Inside Rhinoceros 3 by Ron Cheng

Rhinoceros Success by Scott Alexander

Inside LightWave 7 (With CD-ROM) by Dan Ablan

Modeling a Character in 3DS Max by Paul Steed

Essential Lightwave 7.5 by Timothy Albee

3ds max Animation and Visual Effects Techniques by Sanford Kennedy

The Art of 3-D : Computer Animation and Imaging, 2nd Edition by Isaac Victor Kerlow

Java 3D Programming by Daniel Selman

Gardner's Guide to Colleges for Multimedia & Animation 2003, Third Edition (Computer Graphics, 3D, Design, Film, Game Design, Fine Arts) by Garth Gardner

Lightwave 3d 7.5 Lighting by Nicholas Boughen

Advanced 3D Game Programming with DirectX 9.0 by Peter Walsh

3D Games, Vol. 2: Animation and Advanced Real-Time Rendering by Alan Watt

3ds max 4 Bible by Kelly L. Murdock

3ds max 4 Workshop by Duane Loose

Inside 3D Studio VIZ 3 by Ted Boardman

Inspired 3D Modeling & Texture Mapping by Tom Capizzi

LightWave 3D 7.0 Character Animation (With CD-ROM) by Timothy Albee

 

Inside Softimage 3d  

Anthony Rossano / Hardcover / Published 1998 

This complete guide to using Softimage 3D, the animation and special-effects package, takes you from simple navigation tasks to sophisticated animation techniques. You begin with a tour of the interface, where you produce your first animation; master interface concepts such as basic, scale, translation, and rotation modes; and learn essential animation concepts such as interpolation, playback, and function curves. The second part of the book focuses on modeling. You tackle organic modeling, moving points, curves, and extrusion, as well as resolved and skinned surfaces and four-sided patch surfaces. Rossano also teaches you about polygon, NURBS, and Boolean and Meta-Clay modeling, and explains how to use duplicates, instances, materials, and textures. Part 3 takes you through the processes of creating animations and rendering. You animate with shape animation, deformations, inverse kinematics, and dynamics and use the Mental Ray renderer to produce your final output. The explanations are straightforward, the illustrations are helpful, and the projects are creative and engaging. The included CD-ROM has third-party tools, stock images, and example files from the book. --Kathleen Caster (amazon reviewer)

 

Softimage 3d Design Guide 

Barry Ruff, Gene Bodio (Contributor) / Paperback / Published 1997

 "Softimage Design Guide" teaches the 3D savvy reader the necessary skills to create commercial-quality animations and 3D models with Softimage. The authors have also included a special insider look at some of Softimage's coolest, most powerful, and least-known tools. The CD-ROM features sample scenes and objects, 14 custom projects, and dozens of sample textures and pre-rendered animations.   

Softimage 3D Design Guide illustrates the tools and techniques of modeling, animating, and rendering with Softimage. Geared toward users with some 3D experience, the text delves into practical examples and applications that will enhance your Softimage skills. Time-saving tips, common pitfalls, and work-flow wins are covered, as tools and concepts are introduced in the context of working examples and real-world projects. Full-color examples show the final results.

other great animation and rendering resources to consider: 

• Character Animation in Depth; Doug Kelly
• 3-D Human Modeling and Animation; Peter Ratner
• 3D Photorealism Toolkit; Bill Fleming
• Digital Character Animation; George Maestri
• 3D Creature Workshop; Bill Fleming

If you thrive on random spice, check these pages:

For wizards only - The Rational Unified Process: capture, synthesize and present the best software development practices - with Philippe Kruchten.

Brian W. Kernighan: Where would the C Programming Language be today without him. More about C and the practice of programming.

Robert Orfali: Software master of the Client/Server Persuasion. Survival Guides, CORBA, Java and Javabeans, and more.

Biometrics: The keys to a keyless tomorrow. Issues and solutions to personal identification.

Native American Indian Cooking. Recipes from the Southwest and more.

Francois Rabelais: an Intellectual Lighthouse

HARVARD, YALE, PRINCETON, MIT, CALTECH ... Books the smart people read .. according to reading circle surveys...

Great MUSICALS Soundtracks - the best of the best --- eyes to ears to heart - Rent, Grease, Cabaret, Chicago, Lion King, Andrew Lloyd Weber, Phantom of the Opera, Wet Side Story, Pirates of Penzance and more treasures. (no Rios, no mps3 - just pure CDs).

 Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol: A Master for all times.Diary of a Madman, Inspector General, Overcoat, Nose, Nevsky, Tales of Good and Evil, Tales of Petersburg, and other great classics.