Note, I haven't actually done any reading. This is just my impression of the book after skimming a few headlines and captions... First, don't order direct from the publisher. They rape you on the shipping charges. I saved $10 on the cover price, but more than made up for it in shipping charges. When it got here, I tore open the shipping package to reveal... A rather small book. Smaller than I'm used to, of course I may be spoiled by all the 800-page tomes that are abundant in today's computer book marketplace. This is a slim 400 or so page book. It's almost identical in size to the Carrara manual itself. Next, I pop the CD into the drive. Some OK stuff here - All the chapters have associated project files on the disk, and even the chapters that don't have a project per se, will have at least the chapter illustrations in jpg format. He doesn't appear to have any of the finished renders on here, though... There's plenty of demos on the CD - Carrara 3, Amapi 7, Creature Creator, UV Mapper, Digital Carvers Guild plugins, and a few other niceties. There's also a hefty user gallery with lots of images. Some we've seen before, some we haven't. And lastly, we have a couple of models - DAZ, Digimation, and Silver Wings all have some freebies on here. Now, the book... The first few chapters are short. Distressingly short. In fact, I almost cried when his animation chapter ended in four pages. But no fear! These are just the intro chapters. The book can be roughly chopped up into 4 sections. The first section is mainly theory and discussion. These are the short chapters. The second section is the tools description section. He takes each of the rooms in Carrara studio and discusses each in its own chapter. The third section is the tutorial section. Here he takes you through each modeller, the texturing process, and the skinning/animation process in depth. These chapters are long. Very, very long. The last section (last chapter, really) is where he touches on some of the non-Carrara demos on the CD. I'm actually looking forward to reading this part, as I own several DCG plugins already. So what's my overall first impression? I'll admit I was distressed when I saw the size of the book, and the first couple of chapters. I was not expecting good things. After flipping through some of the later chapters, though, I'm a little more at ease. So my first impression is a little mixed I guess you could say. Let's see how our second date goes...

I've been looking to get that book. Its been on the "not yet published" list for some time now. Barnes and Nobel finally stopped offering it! I noticed two things on the Amazon web site. First the price is no longer reduced by 30% like it has been and Second, when you do order it they said it will take 1 to 2 months for delivery. So it is finally available. Maybe there will be some reviews on it on the Amazon web site sooooooon...

I got my copy yesterday and only paid $4.36 for shipping but it was UPS 3 day airmail from charlesriver.com (the publisher). I am new to Carrara and modeling so I'm not sure how good it will be but it seems to explain things pretty well but I've only read the first couple of chapters and looking forward to getting into the modelers. I think they give the 20% discount still and ground and airmail shipping is reasonable.

My wife is gonna kill me... but I just ordered it... can't wait to get my hands on it...

I just ordered it from BarnesandNobel.com for 20% off and Free shipping. Should received it in about a week I hope! I usually buy through Amazon.com but they increased the price to full retail. The worst place to buy is Boarders who regularly charge above retail price. Thats why they put their stickers over the book barcode/price square on the books they sell.

Ordered mine last week and got it Monday from Charles River. So far I am happy with it, Haven't really gotten up to the tutorials yet, still going through the different rooms and everything but it is well done and I'm happily learning.

Well, I've finished the first two sections (intro chapters and room chapters) plus a couple of the tutorials. The intro & room chapters didn't do anything for me. Don't know if that's because they didn't have much, or if I'm just not as much of a beginner as I thought I was. In any case, the tutorials I've read so far (SubD modelling, Bones/skinning, and particles) have all be tremendous resources. I think the SubD tutorial alone is worth the price of the book.

Received my copy just a couple of days ago but took until last night to get in out of the mailbox. The exit door is a inch shorter then the open area the mailman inserts mail into which causes me problems like this time. I almost wasn't able to get it through the hole. At anyrate I was able to read the into which states that it is a collection of tutorials. Hopefully I will be able to read some more of it today at work!

Read the first 5 chapters at work today. Found the information very interesting. Ready to start on the first tutorial...

try bizrate.com.. there are a LOT of listed sellers there all with really good prices... I got mine at Buy.com for 32.00 with free shipping.. there are even cheaper places there now.!! just watch out and read reviews.. I took a chance with Buy.com because of the price.. but they have had MANY problems with shipping and cust. service.. so if your worried.. pay a little more and have ease of mind. Have have also written a quick review of this book at 3dcommune's web site.... http://www.3dcommune.com/3d/forum.mv?Carrara_Raydream+read+8925083164#1075175802 I really liked it!!! it has answered a bunch of questions for me that the manual just made more confusing!!