The ultimate resource to help you create triple-A quality art for a variety of game worlds; 3D Game Environments offers detailed tutorials on creating 3D models, applying 2D art to 3D models, and clear concise advice on issues of efficiency and optimization for a 3D game engine. Using Photoshop and 3ds Max as his primary tools, Luke Ahearn explains how to create realistic textures from photo source and uses a variety of techniques to portray dynamic and believable game worlds.

Delilah learns to lasso all the clouds out of the sky as she navigates her feelings of sadness and isolation after her grandfather dies.

A broadly enhanced new edition of Luke Ahearn's cornerstone game art book "3D Game Textures" is here. When digital art software was in its infancy, most digital art, especially vector art, was textureless. With the advance in software, it is now possible to incorporate texture into most types of digital art. However, if the artists cannot build their own textures, they are limited to using commercial textures. In this enhanced 3rd edition of Luke Ahearn's gem of a book, not only does Luke teach you how to create your own unique textures, he also teaches how to create shaders (the visual effects - reflections, refractions, opacity - that make textures come to life) and materials (collections of shaders that fill well together to map to a particular scene or environment). You can now expand your skill set immeasurably, and create more compelling, varied art work from scratch. Unlike anything on the market, this book provides an in-depth guide to game textures, shaders and materials- with hundreds of high-quality examples. The companion website includes: demo versions of relevant software; resource images; all images from the book.

This tenth-century epic fantasy set during the Britannicus and African Bantu empires, Gem: The Season of Prophecy tells of Protector Gods and Underworld Demons crossing the bridge of the afterlife to battle for Earth. While stranded on the Great Trek to find the divine black pearl, Bakari, a Marinda warrior, dreams of predicting the monsoon. Summoning Cagin, the Sorcerer, he is granted his wish, but it must be repaid. Gaia, the Earth Mother, discovers his secret and empowers him as a Spirit God who commands the seasons. When Gaia births her Gem daughters, Diamond, Ruby and Sapphire, Bakari swears to protect them from the Underworld, as foretold by the Prophecy of the ancient Sidhe. He knows the crystal formation of Gem is the only weapon that can challenge Hades and his quest for the Earth. The Prophecy of the Sidhe, which foretells the Underworld's contest for Earth and the threat to the powers of Gem, sets Gaia the Earth mother to rally her protectors with the African tribes, and clear the divide of gods and men. Like their ancestors before them, Bakari and his brothers must band together as warriors, for honor, for tribe, and for Gem. Victoria Middleton, writing as Victoria Leeman, is a marketing coordinator for a retail group in Sydney, Australia. With a fine arts background, she has ventured into many fields, including business management, Australian art design, export, and sales. The mother of two daughters, she loves to read almost everything, from ancient history to fantasy. This is her first published novel. Publisher's website: http: //sbpra.com/VictoriaLeeman

In all of journalism, nowhere are the stakes higher than in foreign news-gathering. For media owners, it is the most difficult type of reporting to finance; for editors, the hardest to oversee. Correspondents, roaming large swaths of the planet, must acquire expertise that home-based reporters take for granted—facility with the local language, for instance, or an understanding of local cultures. Adding further to the challenges, they must put news of the world in context for an audience with little experience and often limited interest in foreign affairs—a task made all the more daunting because of the consequence to national security. In Journalism’s Roving Eye, John Maxwell Hamilton—a historian and former foreign correspondent—provides a sweeping and definitive history of American foreign news reporting from its inception to the present day and chronicles the economic and technological advances that have influenced overseas coverage, as well as the cavalcade of colorful personalities who shaped readers’ perceptions of the world across two centuries. From the colonial era—when newspaper printers hustled down to wharfs to collect mail and periodicals from incoming ships—to the ongoing multimedia press coverage of the Iraq War, Hamilton explores journalism’s constant—and not always successful—efforts at “dishing the foreign news,” as James Gordon Bennett put it in the mid-nineteenth century to describe his approach in the New York Herald. He details the highly partisan coverage of the French Revolution, the early emergence of “special correspondents” and the challenges of organizing their efforts, the profound impact of the non-yellow press in the run-up to the Spanish-American War, the increasingly sophisticated machinery of propaganda and censorship that surfaced during World War I, and the “golden age” of foreign correspondence during the interwar period, when outlets for foreign news swelled and a large number of experienced, independent journalists circled the globe. From the Nazis’ intimidation of reporters to the ways in which American popular opinion shaped coverage of Communist revolution and the Vietnam War, Hamilton covers every aspect of delivering foreign news to American doorsteps. Along the way, Hamilton singles out a fascinating cast of characters, among them Victor Lawson, the overlooked proprietor of the Chicago Daily News, who pioneered the concept of a foreign news service geared to American interests; Henry Morton Stanley, one of the first reporters to generate news on his own with his 1871 expedition to East Africa to “find Livingstone”; and Jack Belden, a forgotten brooding figure who exemplified the best in combat reporting. Hamilton details the experiences of correspondents, editors, owners, publishers, and network executives, as well as the political leaders who made the news and the technicians who invented ways to transmit it. Their stories bring the narrative to life in arresting detail and make this an indispensable book for anyone wanting to understand the evolution of foreign news-gathering. Amid the steep drop in the number of correspondents stationed abroad and the recent decline of the newspaper industry, many fear that foreign reporting will soon no longer exist. But as Hamilton shows in this magisterial work, traditional correspondence survives alongside a new type of reporting. Journalism’s Roving Eye offers a keen understanding of the vicissitudes in foreign news, an understanding imperative to better seeing what lies ahead.

Follow Greta as she faces her fears... Greta can't stop thinking all day long about the dark cloud that seems to be following her. Finally forced to confront the storm that follows, she learns it brings good things, too. Character building book for ages 3-7. Not just for children who are afraid of storms... This story is a wonderful example of a child dealing with fear and anxiety. It stresses preparedness. It also shows that some scary situations can't be avoided and that reward follows doing hard things. What people are saying... "I liked that the teacher did not coax or coddle the little girl. Fear is often irrational, and that sort of thing doesn't usually work. Greta is forced out into the storm against her will, and as distressing as that is, she manages, and enjoys playing in the puddles afterward." ~A. Monaghan, Sioux Falls, SD "...a good conversation starter for parents and children" ~P. Wu, Jacksonville, FL "It illustrates how fear and anxiety plague the mind, and the uselessness of it. Greta shows fortitude." ~F. Biernat, Windsor, ON Details:paperback, 8.5 X 8.5 inches, 28 pages, full color