Industrial Light & Magic: Into the Digital Realm

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This 330-page coffee-table book combines the writing of Mark Cotta Vaz and Patricia Rose Duignan with more than 600 photographs and illustrations to chronicle the accomplishments of Hollywood's hottest special effects company. Industrial Light & Magic, where Duignan spent two decades of her career, was founded by George Lucas to create the effects for his groundbreaking movie, Star Wars. Since then ILM has continued to pioneer new technologies which have led to SF classics such as "E.T.," "Terminator 2" and "Jurassic Park". This books offers a behind-the-scenes look into the magical moments ILM has helped create.

Book Description

Includes a foreword by Steven Spielberg!

The supernatural wonders of Ghostbusters.  The lively three-dimensional toons from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?  The unstoppable liquid-metal T-1000 cyborg of Terminator 2.  The incredibly life-like digital dinosaurs of Jurassic Park.  The thunderous African stampede in Jumanji. These award-winning special effects have one thing in common: Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).

For more than twenty years, George Lucas and the technical wizards at ILM have literally changed the face of movie-making with their stunning, often unbelievable, visual effects.   Industrial Light + Magic: Into the Digital Realm chronicles ILM's second monumental decade--from 1986 through the mid-nineties--and includes a special discussion on the latest groundbreaking visual effects in the soon-to-be released Special Edition of Star Wars: A New Hope.

During this seminal period, ILM virtually redefined visual effects and blazed a trail into the digital realm.  With more than six hundred lavish full-color photographs, this fascinating book takes you behind the camera and into the rarely seen workshops, offering an amazing look at the men and women who create movie magic.  We follow the intricate crafts of matte painting, model making, and optical compositing as they are transformed into digitally driven systems, and we track the contributions of model and creature makers, animation specialists and optical technicians, and the unsung stage hands and pyrotechnic experts.

Packed with astounding information about ILM's technical innovations and remarkably clear explanations--including a revealing look at ILM's work with TV commercials and theme park attractions, a comprehensive glossary of essential terms, and detailed screen credits for all the company's film projects--this volume will enchant and enlighten all of us who have ever marveled at what we've seen on the screen and wondered: how did they do that?

Customer Reviews:

The 2nd decade of ILM in a great book!.......2006-11-05

First there was ILM, covering the 1st decade of this fantastic Special Effects Company.
This is the second book of the series, covering the main movies from the second decade of existence of this company.
An execelent finishing, great value book (although it is a litle expensive, the book quality is exceptional).
Essencial to all Special Effects lovers.

Fantastic!.......2005-06-17

One of the greatest 'making of' writers Patricia Rose Duignan's Industrial Light & Magic: Into the Digital Realm is one of my all-time favorite books, charting the journey of ILM from fledgling company in George Lucas' garage to the No.1 Special Effects company in the world. Insightful and comprehensive, this is flawless reading and has some great accompanying images from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and surprisingly some of their lesser-known movies like Willow and Hook. An essential movie book, I just love every page, so carefully written, so rich in detail, it leaves the reader feeling that they have experienced something very special. Fantastic and brilliant. BUY IT NOW!

Pricey, but well worth it........2004-01-25

The book is huge and heavy. Every single page has at least several great color photographs and it is a big book. You will love to read about ILM's ventures into the digital realm. It is very technology orientated, but not too much and does talk about the film making process and ILM in general. This is well worth looking at especially for fans of ILM or those who want to see what goes on behind the scenes or for those looking for a career in this direction. This is a good place for inspiration.

Although it does not cover the more recent movies you will still get the picture here. It starts by talking about go-motion and then moves onto the first ever digital sequence and how much people slaved over it before going into detail with the evolution of that process and of the special edition of Star Wars and Speilberg's "J. Park".

The book looks fantastic. Keep it for your grandkids. I am sure they will love you for it. This is the kind of book that you will turn to time and time again just to see "how they did that".

The Future of the Magic.......2000-06-15

For 25 years Industrial Light and Magic has woven magic into countless films, either subtle images through `invisible' effects such as matte paintings or through eye-popping visuals that stand out vividly against the film backdrop. ILM has made it's mark on history, for not only have they been and still are the premiere effects house in Hollywood, they have innovated and invented more technology than any other studio, additionally they have won awards for the processing and compositing technology they have created. ILM had to be the best at special effects, because their flagship title - STAR WARS - demanded the best, because that's what Lucas wanted.

`Into the Digital Realm' isn't so much an abandonment of ILM of the traditional methods of special effects, rather a point of departure for the new technology and all of things that led up to it. Indeed, ILM's work on `The Hunt For Red October' submarine work involved flying the submerged vessels from wires in a smoky room - effects do not get any more traditional than that. Released in 96, the book doesn't mention that Phantom Menace or even that the film is in production. It does have some revised images from the Star Wars special edition. As with the previous tome, this one is packed with hundreds of color photos, plus the same beautiful gate fold images.

If the center piece for the previous book was Star Wars, Digital Realms' focus is obviously Jurassic Park, because it was the first film to use CG on so large a scale, even more than Terminator 2, which ILM also did. Jurassic Park was also the test bed and showcase piece that convinced Lucas that computers had finally matured enough to bring what he had in mind to the screen for the new Star Wars films. More is the pity, because I came to loathe most of the aliens in the Phantom Menace. Digital Realm clearly explains in easy to understand terms how effects - both new and old - are accomplished, be it something as simple as making it appear as if buildings are actually much taller than they or having a velociraptor walk _behind_ a plant situated in the foreground. I have both of these wonderful books, and I strongly recommend them to anyone who is curious about ILM's history and the process of how effects are made.

Extraordinary.......2000-04-09

An extraordinary book about an extraordinary company. You will know all you want to know about special effects wizardry. The book is well published, even watching its pictures is joyful.

Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Special Effects

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Behind the Scenes, Behind the Magic
Well presented and clearly written explanation of specialfx
One of the best on Special Effects
Un gran bel libro
If you love "Star Wars" then you must have this book.

Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Special Effects
Thomas G. Smith
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0345322630
Release Date: 1987-10-12

Book Description

A lavish, profusely illustrated volume that tells the remarkable story of the organization whose name has become synonymous with state-of-the-art special effects: Industrial Light & Magic. From its early days in a large empty warehouse in Southern California's San Fernando Valley, to its Oscar-winning accommplishments creating special effects for the STAR WARS trilogy, RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, ET, POLTERGEIST, and a host of others.

Customer Reviews:

Behind the Scenes, Behind the Magic.......2000-06-15

No one would ever have guessed that when Industrial Light & Magic opened its doors in Maren County that day way back in 1975 that they would produce the standard by which other special effects and other effects houses would be judged. ILM has formed the cornerstone of LucasFilm Ltd. a company that has spawned more spin-offs such as THX Sound, Skywalker Sound, all held neatly under the Lucas Digitial banner. Back in the days of Star Wars it was mostly using what was already known, and inventing everything else. ILM has been at the forefront ever since, from the early days of motion control cameras controlled by Apple computers the latest CG marvel like Galaxy Quest, Phantom Menace or Mission to Mars.

The Art of Special Effects deals more with the older films-those before 1986, illustrating a time when computers were not so large a part in the film-making process. It gives the reader a great look at the sheer amount of detail that went into the models, the props, costumes from Star Wars to Explorers, from Raiders of the Lost Ark to the some of the Star Trek films, ILM constantly and consistently proven to innovative. The book as a whole is on a level lower than, say, Cinefex magazine, assuming that the reader doesn't know how blue screening and rotoscoping works or how miniatures are lensed. It is light reading without getting itself bogged down in too much technicality, for those who want that, read Cinefex.

It also strikes me that this book is also best at presenting a dying era. A time when model makers kit bashed hundreds of plastic models just to build a Super Star Destroyer - few companies bother with that any more when everything can be rendered on a Silicon Graphics box and Maya and Soft Image software. Such films as Star Trek: Insurrection used few practical models and a completely CG Enterprise-E. The time of the supremely detailed, hand crafted model or set may be at an end, and I think the industry will be sadder for it. Partially because when I read Cinefex, a lot of what I see is the same-different movie, different space ship, but they're all rendered the same way and most use the same software, with only minor modifications or original code going into it to get a certain look or solve a certain problem.

I suspect the Digital Realm of the movies, while producing better special effects, lacks the mystique of knowing that several people labored for months to build that model. That instead it was modeled by a few people over a period of a week. (Though it should be noted that a lot of films, including the Phantom Menace, used practical models). I suspect their days are number.

Well presented and clearly written explanation of specialfx.......2000-05-18

Thomas Smith was general manager of Industrial Light and Magic a year before he came to write this impressive book. The book is centred around the film special effects creations of ILM between 1975 and 1985. This includes the then "Star Wars" trilogy, two Indiana Jones movies and other lesser known projects. For the Star Wars fan theres plenty to learn about one of your favourite movies. This book is lavishly illustrated with full colour photos including triple page or gatefold images. The focus though is on how the effects are done and who did them at ILM. From the art work in developing concepts of storylines, through modelling, creature creation, the actual filming methods and matte image creation to the finishing touches of animation and optical compositing this book gives a gradual demonstration of the work of a special effects company. For someone with no knowledge what so ever of special effects this is a good introduction and to those involved it must be fascinating as well. As Thomas Smith points out, while film fans still love the movies from this era (1975-85), movie goers constantly seek new visions on screen. The digital era has brought movies like Toy Story etc but these were just figments of imagination at the writing of this book so its worth noting Thomas Smith's far-sightedness in the final chapter on digitized movies. The format of the book is to take each department of the special effects process and show what it does and where its part comes in the crafting of a movie. In each chapter there are short biographies of the leading people in each area of effects, this is a nice touch as it can serve as guide for those interested in getting involved. Its worth noting, many of those profiled have a long interest in their specialty going back to their youth and through the various twists and turns of working in an industry knew of other members of the ILM company before actually joining this now esteemed organisation. Thomas Smith by no means is setting out to sell ILM's considerable expertise though he tells the story of a company making dreams into reality, itself moving from an idea to a serious business proposition. (As a final note another book on movies of this period Paul Sammons "Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner" contains insightful descriptions about the crafting of a movie not least its special effects.)

One of the best on Special Effects.......1999-04-22

Years ago I longed for this book, as it sat on the shelf in the local book store(it was not cheap). I received it with much gratitude on my birthday. Now as a teenager I found a reinterest in this book, and was overjoyed when the next book "into the digital realm" came out. For anyone who is captured by the magic of special effects, this is for you.

Un gran bel libro.......1998-08-24

Pér tutti quelli che vogliono sapere come fanno i film, per tutti quelli che amano Star Wars con tutti i suoi segreti, direi che questo è il libro che fà propio al caso vostro.Scritto in un inglese molto facile è un libro che può veramente appassionare

If you love "Star Wars" then you must have this book........1996-12-29

This book shows how I.L.M. made most of their films. It goes into full detail about special effects for their films

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Industrial Light & Magic-the Art of Special Effects
Thomas G. Smith
Manufacturer: Ballantine, New York
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0862871425

Art of Special Effects: Inside Industrial Light and Magic (1 Set)

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Art of Special Effects: Inside Industrial Light and Magic (1 Set)
Tom Smith
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0345326059

Industrial Light & Magic. The Art of Special Effects. Introd. by George Lucas.

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Industrial Light & Magic. The Art of Special Effects. Introd. by George Lucas.
THOMAS G. SMITH
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OV6M6Q

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Industrial Light & Magic: the Art of Special Effects
Thomas G. Smith
Manufacturer: Del Rey Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N71Z3Q

Book Description

16 complete alphabets, pages and pages of ornaments, borders, cartouches, florals, frames, more—all copyright-free and ready-to-use. 1,460 black-and-white illustrations. Publisher’s Note.

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Lacquer, An International History And Illustrated Survey
LACQUER
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MYHS7M

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Lacquer: An International History and Illustrated Survey
Anne Yonemura
Manufacturer: Harry N Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0810912791

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Lacquer. An International History and Illustrated Survey
Various Contributors
Manufacturer: Abrams, 1984
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H24KBQ

Book Description

The Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, who died at the age of 88, has been internationally acclaimed as a giant of world cinema. Rashomon, which won both the Venice Film Festival's grand prize and an Academy Award for best foreign-language film, helped ignite Western interest in the Japanese cinema. Seven Samurai and Yojimbo remain enormously popular both in Japan and abroad. In this newly revised and expanded edition of his study of Kurosawa's films, Stephen Prince provides two new chapters that examine Kurosawa's remaining films, placing him in the context of cinema history. Prince also discusses how Kurosawa furnished a template for some well-known Hollywood directors, including Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas.

Providing a new and comprehensive look at this master filmmaker, The Warrior's Camera probes the complex visual structure of Kurosawa's work. The book shows how Kurosawa attempted to symbolize on film a course of national development for post-war Japan, and it traces the ways that he tied his social visions to a dynamic system of visual and narrative forms. The author analyzes Kurosawa's entire career and places the films in context by drawing on the director's autobiography--a fascinating work that presents Kurosawa as a Kurosawa character and the story of his life as the kind of spiritual odyssey witnessed so often in his films. After examining the development of Kurosawa's visual style in his early work, The Warrior's Camera explains how he used this style in subsequent films to forge a politically committed model of filmmaking. It then demonstrates how the collapse of Kurosawa's efforts to participate as a filmmaker in the tasks of social reconstruction led to the very different cinematic style evident in his most recent films, works of pessimism that view the world as resistant to change.

Customer Reviews:

ok.......2007-09-30

This product was in really good conditions almost new, it just didnt arrive as i expected because of the address was written wrong apparently by the postoffice. Anyways sender was very helpful in tracking the package and eventually got it. Thanks

The Filmmaker/Critic's bible........2007-01-29

This is one of my favorite books on film in existance. Stephen Prince gives a beautiful analysis of Kurosawa's entire career. The way he goes into detail about each film and the meta-textual/contextual support he gives to one of cinema's greatest directors is fantastic. His writings on Yojimbo were definately the high point of the book for me (it only further cemented it as my favorite Kurosawa film).

I wish more film scholars produced such cultural and over arching comparatives as Prince presents here.

Initially promising but ultimately disappointing.......2006-03-25

Contrary to the last reviewer, this is not, in some exclusive sense, a book "designed for film majors to study," and if one is interested, you'll do fine without any previous study of Dostoevsky, Eisenstein, or Bertolt Brecht. Some previous knowledge helps for sure - but don't let such elevated requirements discourage you from exploring Prince's work of Kurosawa scholarship. I am not a "film major"; I have read few works of Dostoevsky; I have seen only 2 Eisenstein films and read only fragments of his writings. I know more about Brecht than the other two figures, but with this said, I still gained much insight and understanding from Prince's arguments and observations. If you're still worried about it, don't hesitate to put to use one of the greatest research inventions ever: the internet.

Now on to my review: This book begins with much promise but ultimately ends in disappointment. Prince begins by stressing the importance of historically-based analysis. He suggests that one understand Kurosawa's films as "address[ing] the Japan shattered by World War II and [as helping] reshape society." (8) This is a most interesting, preliminary claim that initially promises certain fascinating paths of reading. Also, Prince begins by criticizing 'auteurism' and naive assumptions of 'authorship'. He notes that the formation of 'film studies' as an academic field imposed a "major code" that reduced all Kurosawa films to "the ideal of humanism". Now this is also promising - finally, a comprehensive work on Kurosawa, other than that of Donald Richie, that gets beyond 'auteurism'.

Unfortunately, Prince's book does not live up to these introductory assertions. First, Prince continually makes use of terms like "Zen Buddhism", "heroic ideal", "warrior ideal", instead of terms like "humanist universalism" as if they were more accurate interpretive concepts for understanding Kurosawa's films (see pp. 10, 11, 28, 30, 115). However, he never 'historicizes' these very concepts but treats them as somewhat static and a-historical. I don't think that one would find it completely convincing or that interesting if some critic put to use concepts like "Christian providence" or "protestant individualism" for the purposes of deciphering the work of Orsen Welles without demonstrating first the historic intricacies of such empty concepts and second their specific, contextual relevance to a given Welles' film-text. Thus, it must be asked: why make use of analogous empty signifiers of Japanese history and culture so carelessly in relation to Kurosawa's films? Ultimately, Prince's interpretive framework remains less than convincing , for his initial imperative to read "against the grain of history" is violated repeatedly throughout the book.

Also, it is disappointing that right after Prince criticizes the usual appeal to authorship or auteurism he categorically states, "Kurosawa's films form a series of inquiries on the place and the possibilities of the autonomous self within a culture whose social relations stress group ties and obligations." (27) From this Prince establishes his own master code for interpreting the totality of Kurosawa's work based upon the supposed `intentions' of Kurosawa-as-author. It is a code that reads Kurosawa's films as being primarily about the negotiation of the ego in the modern world. Prince continues, throughout the work, to make sense of the rich diversity of films in terms of this restricted framework. He writes, "Kurosawa's world is an arena where his characters must be tested , where they must be victorious in their goals or must be broken and defeated." (116) Later, he reduces the entire complexity of Kurosawa films into a `meta-narrative' that is "...the passage from willed optimism of the early films to the ethic of resignation and despair that pervades the late works..." (154) The meaning that Prince detects in these films is not wrong per say but way too limited and reductive. There is a vast complexity of meaning and significance in Kurosawa's diverse catalogue of films, and some of it is in direct contradiction to Prince's `auteurist' thesis. I cannot say that I was satisfied with Prince's analysis for these reasons. However, if one is sympathetic to auteur forms of criticism, then this book may be for you. Just remember what Foucault says in `What is an Author?': "the author serves to neutralize the contradictions that are found in a series of texts." Personally, I think the "contradictions" that one might locate in a series of texts serve as the sites of most interest in any interpretive investigation; thus, they should not be effaced by way of some reductive narrative of authorship.

I give this book 3 instead of say 2 stars because it is quite an extensive project providing a vast amount of helpful information, and the analyses of certain films is thorough and somewhat technical. It just had so much potential to be better. Read this alongside Mitsuhiro Yoshimoto's book.

Excellent study of a master filmmaker.......2002-04-03

"The Warrior's Camera" is not a casual book for fans of "Yojimbo" and "The Seven Samurai." It is a dense, scholarly tome designed for film majors to study. The book takes for granted that you are familiar with the films of Eisenstein, the books of Dostoyevsky and the plays of Bertold Brecht, as well as the personal philosophies of each of these Kurosawa influences.

This is also not a biography, and none of Kurosawa's personal life is put on display. Films are dissected shot by shot in tight detail.

However, if you are prepared, "The Warrior's Camera" lends tremendous insight into a fascinating director. Each chapter focuses on philosophical themes central to Kurosawa's work, and dives into the films that most represent these personal philosophies. The strength of the individual, and the ability for personal choice, is outlined by "Drunken Angels," "No Regrets for Our Youth" and "Stray Dog." Strength of will is shown in "Ikiru" and "Red Beard." As this is a scholarly work, each chapter presents an argument and then presents evidence to support the argument.

I have come away from this book with a much deeper understanding of Kurosawa and what he was trying to accomplish with his films. Highly recommended, but be prepared to work for your knowledge.

One of the best Books On Kurosawa!.......2001-01-28

The Warrior's Camera is a really intelligently written book with very important information about the groundbreaking director. The book is worth buying just for the Legacy section of the book, which is a wonderfully written section about Kurosawa's legacy. This section also has some great quotes from other film directors, such as Steven Spieldberg and George Lucas, and prominent film critics. The book also has some great info on his style and the way to view a Kurosawa film. If you are writing a report on Kurosawa or if you are just a big fan, make sure that you pick up this book along with his biography.

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Glass Warriors: The Camera at War
Duncan Anderson
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0007200307

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Glass Warriors: The Camera At War
Duncan Anderson
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8S71M

Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa

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Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa

Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 1417661747

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic!!!.......2007-02-23

Highly recommend this book for anyone that grew up listening to Peter C like I did and lived and breathed Michigan Rock N Roll ! Also recommend to anyone who loves Michigan rockers like Bob Seger,Ted Nugent etc. Very good reading. Just sorry it took me so long to leave a rating.

What Really Happened?!.......2006-01-10

This book was a gift to me and after several pages, I dropped everything else and went cover to cover in a day! Peter C. reveals much of the story behind Michigan's great music scene of the late 60's and early 70's. Besides some fascinating tales, Peter also portrays an insightful look at life. If you were there, close, or even just intersted in one of rocks greatest eras, this book is a must read. Well done, Peter C. !

It All Makes Sense Now.......2005-11-28

Wow...I was a teen coming of age in the late '60s and early '70s in the southeast Michigan area. It was a fertile fertile hot hotbed of local rock and GREAT local radio. WTAC in Flint was an incredibly cutting edge force playing and promoting the best of national and international acts, but especially providing exposure for the likes of a young and up and coming Bob Seger, the MC5, Dick Wagner and the Frost, ? and the Mysterians, the Rationals, Iggy and the Stooges...it goes on and on. My impressionable musically hungry head was taken by Peter C. and later WABX in Detroit. What a scene...you really had to be there. I've been looking and waiting for such excitement, creativity and energy ever since. Peter C. lays it all out, all the excitement, all the innovation, all of the mind expanding, life changing scene was recalled and illuminated from the producer's vantage point. Great work Peter C. of a great and legendary time for local radio and local rock and roll! 5 stars ++.

Cavanaugh turns it up to "11".......2005-08-08

Local DJ should be required reading for any rock 'n roll fan of any genre. Starting with the Beatles and working his way through the 60's and 70's, Cavanaugh spins a potent web of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll as he saw and lived it. Based mostly on his experiences as the "local DJ" of powerhouse radio stations WTAC and WWCK, both ranked #1 nationally during his tenure, it's hard to believe that in the tiny town of Flint Michigan, so much happened in rock history.

It took me a while to read this book because I had to read everything twice to make sure I was actually reading what I thought I had just read.

Let me explain.

So here is concert promoter Cavanaugh, years ago, faced with whether or not he should book an unknown Australian band to play in Flint. Peter Cavanaugh is a scary judge of talent. For there, that night, for the first time in America, a band called "AC/DC" took to the stage. The opening act? The MC-5. It doesn't get any more Rock N' Roll than that.

I was born too damn late.

Because with each turn of the page (I couldn't put the book down) bigger, badder, and bolder stories unfold from a magical time which will never be repeated.

Like the night he booked a louder, more raw version of the Beatles. Their name was a bit confusing but Cavanaugh took a chance on them. They were from England so they had to be good, right? Their drummer got drunk and drove a "borrowed" Cadillac right into the hotel pool. Such would be the adventures when you book "The Who" for their first US appearance.

And as you read the stories -- and they get better and better with each passing chapter -- you start to realize that Dick Clark was more like a DJ version of Pat Boone compared to Cavanaugh. American Bandstand? Gimme a break, Cavanaugh was booking The Who and AC/DC for their first US shows!

And what local DJ would be complete without knowledge of radio frequencies, like the time he captured a GM executive on his car phone, taped what was little more than endless profanity, and held the world's largest corporation by their ball bearings threatening jokingly to release the tape?

For southeast Michigan natives, this book will blow your mind. For Rock fans, prepare to read what Rolling Stone magazine wished they could have covered.

To Peter Cavanaugh, rock legend. I hope the movie version comes out soon.

This book ROCKS!.......2004-05-04

This book is the essential guide to the local rock scene in a time capsule. It is funny, rocking, edgy and rebellous the way rock should be!

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Some see where others can only look!

It really does ease eye strain.....

good pictures, bad text

I found it!

A fine addition to the series

Magic Eye Beyond 3D: Improve Your Vision
Magic Eye Inc. , and Marc Grossman
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Magic Eye Gallery: A Showing Of 88 Images

Magic Eye III, Vol. 3 Visions A New Dimension in Art 3D Illustrations

Magic Eye: A New Bag Of Tricks

Magic Eye, Vol. 2

Magic Eye: A New Way of Looking at the World

ASIN: 0740745271

Book Description

When Magic Eye images hit the publishing world in the 1990s, the response was as magical as the 3D images popping from their colorful backgrounds. Viewers couldn"t get these best-selling books fast enough. In fact, Magic Eye I, II, and III rode the New York Times best-seller list for 34 weeks and eventually sold more than 20 million copies. Now Beyond 3D: Improve Your Vision with Magic Eye takes this phenomenon to another level.Beyond 3D examines the medical benefits and scientific possibilities related to viewing these remarkable images. Clearly explained in lay terms and through the use of numerous Magic Eye illustrations, the book not only helps readers "see" the images, it identifies and demonstrates the many physical and performance-related enrichments that may result.Magic Eye has long been a worldwide hit. Besides North America, Japan has been a highly receptive market for the Magic Eye way of seeing. Magic Eye Inc. has already produced a similar scientific-based book for that market"with a notable reception. Beyond 3D promises to bring its benefits to a wider audience, a group eager to experience results ranging from reduced computer eyestrain and diminished stress levels to improved overall vision and lengthened attention spans. Magic Eye continues its fascinating run!

Customer Reviews:

Some see where others can only look!.......2007-03-17

The last book like this that I reviewed was Magic Eye II ;which I reviewed on May 25,2004. That book was published in 1994 ,several years after we first became familiar with these 3-D or Stereograms. This book was published in 2004 and we can see that there has been considerable advances in this artform.The one characteristic of these pictures has been that thay are easy to identify because of the repeatibility of about 6 panels or bands. This has always been a dead giveway.
The thing most noticeable is that the bands are much less obvious.The picture on page 11 is so good that one would hardly suspect as having floating beans within it.The picture on page 33 is very obviously a 3-D picture but at the same time is an excellent "floater".Of all the pictures,the one of the gravel on page 39 was the most interesting to me. It is so good,that one would likely not even suspect it to be a 3-D picture,unless it was in a book like this.I guess the ultimate would be when a picture is created that shows no signs of repeatibility at all. At that point you would have the perfect "hidden picture".
By far the biggest difference with this book in in the claims of how these images can be used to improve vision and all other sorts of things. The book is sprinkled with many testimonials from people who have experienced great things.I have considerable problem with accepting this stuff without the research and science to back it up.Otherwise;it has to remain in the area of "alternative medicine".It does not surprise me that there is a Disclaimer to the claims on page 2.
Nonetheless this is a good book showing how much 3-D pictures have improved since the early 90's.

It really does ease eye strain............2006-02-05

I was always able to see the "floater" images within the pictures. The books calls this "divergence". When I do it, totally relax my eyes, I see the image within seconds. The problem for me was when I read in this particular MagicEye that I need to practice convergence. In other words, bringing the eyes together, and seeing the opposite of the 3D image. It's like a sunken image. At first, I had pain from doing this. It caused me eye strain, which was similar to eye strain I always feel after reading or sitting in front of the PC for a period of time. Now, after practicing the techniques to increase convergence (i.e. the pencil moving in and out for 10 seconds), I see the image, and more important, no more eye strain! It does work, or at least it worked for me..........

good pictures, bad text.......2005-08-28

The pictures in this book are good, but beware! About every other page is a full page of text, of self-gloating from the authors! I am sure that their arms are tired from patting themselves on the back; and there are a bunch of stupid quotes from supposed customers of how their pictures cure cancer and the like... I would say that half of the book is a waste of paper because of this. I do not think I would buy this book again, false advertising.

I found it!.......2005-08-01

I had this book, loaned it out, lost track of it, and recently had it returned to me, out of nowhere!

Anyway, I'm not sure there is any validity to the "improve your vision" claim, despite the nice, technical-sounding explanation given, but I do enjoy the challenge of finding the images embedded in the stereograms. This book has a very nice collection of such pictures.

One drawback: Once you have "found" all the images in this book, they become easy to find (i.e., no challenge), unless you do not look at them for a long time. In a way, my delinquent friend, who forgot to return this book to me, did me a favor, as I now get to find the images all over again.

A fine addition to the series.......2004-08-01

I bought this book shortly after getting Magic Eye II, and I can see how much they've improved their techniques in the intervening years. There are some gorgeous images in this book. I particularly like the butterfly floaters. They've also made it easier to see the images with the help of the two squares at the top of each page, that let you know when you've diverged your eyes just enough. The vision improvement info is another story. Why does Marc Grossman claim you can only do the "palming" exercise for 3 minutes? What terrible thing does he think would happen if you did it longer? (Such as a 1/2 hour, which is how long I routinely do it, without a problem.) Also many of the claims seem over the top. Magic Eye can bring you serenity? Make you more intuitive? Even give you feelings of love? C'mon. Nevertheless, for fans of stereograms, this is well worth adding to your collection.

Average customer rating:
STAY TUNED. The Australian Broadcasting Reader.
Albert (ed.): Moran
Manufacturer: Pan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000W2NN64

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