Authored by Chris Tyler, one of the world's top Strata-powered digital designers, The Art & Science of Strata 3D CX features material for both beginners and advanced users. It spans the 3D workflow for designers in any market, in a handy 8.5" x 11" PDF perfect for searching while you work, or having printed for easy reading.

This edition contains almost 300mb worth of new video tutorials!

Modeling
The extensive modeling section of the guide is meant to pick up where the manual stops. Diving directly into the basics of polygonal and Subdivision Surface Modeling, outling the use of every tool and tool option with full color diagrams, screenshots, and fly out dialog notations. As well as notes for every image, so you aren't left wondering what you're looking at. A list of every modeling tool covered and sample pages in the modeling section are featured to the right. This topic contains extensive new material on new Strata 3D CX 5 modeling tools and techniques not included in the first edition.

Texturing & Lighting
Chris covers the topics of texturing and lighting with ease, due to his exceptional insight into how light, shadow, and surface properties cooperate to deliver the most stunning and photorealistic materials possible. He goes on to cover texture placement and controls, as well as a primer on UV texturing. The chapter contents page and sample pages from the guide are included to the right. The texturing section contains new information on achieving perfect blurred reflections, introduced in Strata 3D CX 5.

Rendering
Chris knows that all the modeling and texturing skill in the world won't save you if your rendering takes too long or doesn't impress. He covers each advanced setting in the raydiosity options from the standpoint of which areas they represent and the specific issues each will address. Giving you a handy guide to spot recognizable problems in your renders and get direct reference to the settings that will correct them.

In addition to rendering for traditional lighting, Chris takes you through Lightdome and HDRI based lighting techniques, also known as Global Illumination. He explains why and how HDRI images can push your digital imagery past the traditional limits of photorealistic computer rendering.