No matter how much more complex animation characters become and no matter how much such characters become more, well, abundantly human (or whatever species you have in mind), somehow this open-source three-dimensional modeling and animation software seems to be keeping up. Mullen (Tsuda College, Tokyo) understands that the characters may be complex but the knowledge of the reader may be fairly simple, so he goes step-by-step through the complex process of building a character from scratch, including manipulating mesh modeling tools and mastering organic modeling, fashioning skin and hair, creating realistic clothing, creating lip movements that are synchronous with sound, and using interpolation curves and keyframes efficiently. He also evaluates other software and formats and includes a tasty list of resources for further reading and learning along with an array of samples and tips. The result is supportive without being obtrusive, creating a combination resource guide and tutorial. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Read Less