Also in my
rating system, I have bought and read a few titles since I entered them but not changed the
rating or type of listing - read or not yet.
I differ from mbandgeek, Craig is going to blow your mind some day!!! Much less Rosenthal's white light theory is an astounding concept. Bought my copy and it's worth any cost given I passed on it's first publication at much less a price - Dooh! Watch the movie "West Side Story" than look at it's credits for lighting design. There is more to design than X color for Y type of scene. This ain't carpentry, it's art.
Some notes on buying books - and books is the way to go, the internet provides at best basic knowledge but for short attention spans.
You do not get the knowledge within them by osmosis, you must get
thru even the most dry of these manuals to learn from them and
gain expertise from them. For instance, I am still trying to get
thru the
NEC. On my first sitting, I managed to get
thru grounding. I read
thru the sections on theater and assembly
hall electrics, and many other important parts, but until I have read and understand the entire
book, I do not propose to be an expert, nor am I ready to go for my licence.
In many cases, what is said in these books will not stick in your memory until you need and are ready to know by
practical experience in the field. If however you read the literature before
hand, going back over it later and really learning it will be a lot easier. It should also pop details into your head about which you should know, and reinforce what you think you should know while doing it.
Hmm, this designer I'm focusing lights for wants a even lime light
foot light
effect. This is how he or she is doing it and what
gel they are using for it. Yep you learn from doing work for others, but on the other
hand, thought I read in a
book somewhere another concept for doing this... now where have I read this... That's a good thing when it comes to your own design and while
practical experience is good, that reference library is needed to record other people's thoughts and concepts that are also good if not at times better.
On the whole, where idea, tech and design books are concerned, this list is not the know all end all a good eye for art and
image, and in buying a
book - even on a photography type of
book by specific artist... a quick read
thru of some of its pages will tell how good the
book is, much less the pictures will tell you about your own interest in using the concepts. If it glosses over a lot of the info you already know, and does not go into much detail, the
book is probably substandard to what you need. If the pictures do not inspire you they never will.
For choosing a
book, leaf
thru some of the pages, read a chapter. What it says if it keeps your ineterest is worth buying. On the other
hand if it's saying stuff you pattently are opposed to, stating stuff way to basic to retain your ineterest in
etc. it probably is not worth your money.
