Over 90 hands-on recipes to help you create digital comics from page setup to exporting the final product About This Book Design creative and custom digital comics with the perfection equivalent of pen-and-paper drawings Explore the latest features from Manga Studio EX 5 such as custom brush effects, layers, masks, 3D objects, panels, and multiple-page story layout A pragmatic manual with engaging recipes and attractive screenshots that make comic creation fun and easy Who This Book Is For This book is intended for competent comic artists working on Manga Studio who want to create more attractive comics by using powerful tools and features from software for digital comic creation. What You Will Learn Create story files and custom pages for any Web or publishing project Customize brushes for special ink effects, hatching and cross-hatching, and much more Work with vector images in Manga Studio EX 5 Use the new Symmetry ruler and the new Line tools to create your illustrations faster and more efficiently Make and save custom screentones, and add them to your comic pages Punch up your illustrations with color palettes and special effects Add 3D models to create or accentuate your comic scenes Finish a project by exporting it for the Web or for a printed collection In Detail Manga Studio is a software application for the digital creation of comics and manga. Manga Studio EX 5 has all the features of Manga Studio 5, professional story creation tools, and other special features that make it the ultimate illustration tool for serious comic, manga, and graphic artists. Made specifically for comic artists and illustrators, it has some of the most powerful digital art creation tools available. From digital perspective rulers to a library of screentones, Manga Studio 5 works for the artist with an intuitive, customizable interface and tools. With Manga Studio EX 5, you can create custom page templates, save commonly used designs, make custom brushes, mimic traditional media, pose 3D objects directly on the art canvas, and export all of your comic pages for print or the Web. The book starts with everything you need to know to set up custom pages for your comic or Manga project. These recipes will take you all the way through to exporting your illustrations for print or to display them on the Web. You will learn how to create custom brushes that you will use for inking, or for repetitive tasks such as drawing foliage or rubble. Next, you will move on to understanding Layer Modes and Layer Masks. Then, you'll learn how to finish up your illustrations with color, screentones, special effects, and 3D objects. Finally, you will be taught to export your hard work and share it with the world, either through the Web or in print. This cookbook will give you just the right recipes to turn on the power of Manga Studio EX 5 and get you creating more illustrations faster and more efficiently. Style and approach An easy-to-follow, and informative book full of recipes that explore real-world topics for the comic creator. Each recipe is explained with detailed steps and interesting screenshots.

Move beyond basic games and explore the limits of AndEngine About This Book Extend the basic AndEngine features without modifying any of AndEngine's code Understand advanced technologies and gain the skills to create the ultimate games in AndEngine Theory supported with practical examples to stimulate your imagination and creativity Who This Book Is For This book is aimed at developers who have gone through all the basic AndEngine tutorials and books, and are looking for something more. It's also very suitable for developers with knowledge of other game engines who are looking to develop with AndEngine. Knowledge of Java, C++ and Android development are a prerequisite for getting the most out of this book. What You Will Learn Extend AndEngine to use and render 3D models Integrate and use various physics engines with AndEngine Advanced animations and their implementation in AndEngine Lighting theory and its application for both 2D and 3D objects Using skeletal animation with AndEngine Use GLSL shaders with AndEngine for effects and anti-aliasing Add sounds and effects to AndEngine using both basic and 3D audio libraries Efficient network implementations with AndEngine for multi-players In Detail AndEngine is a popular and easy-to-use game framework, best suited for Android game development. After learning the basics of creating an Android game using AndEngine it's time you move beyond the basics to explore further. For this you need to understand the theory behind many of the technologies AndEngine uses. This book aims to provide all the skills and tools you need to learn more about Android game development using AndEngine. With this book you will get a quick overview of the basics of AndEngine and Android application development. From there, you will learn how to use 3D models in a 2D scene, render a visual representation of a scene's objects, and create interaction between these objects. You will explore frame-based animations and learn to use skeletal animations. As the book progresses, you will be guided through exploring all the relevant aspects of rendering graphics with OpenGL ES, generating audio using OpenSL ES and OpenAL, making the best use of Android's network API, implementing anti-aliasing algorithms, shaders, dynamic lighting and much more. With all this, you will be ready to enhance the look and feel of your game with its user interface, sound effects and background music. After an in-depth study of 2D and 3D worlds and multi-player implementations, you will be a master in AndEngine and Android game development. Style and approach This book takes an in-depth tour of the many aspects of Android game development with the use of AndEngine. Each topic is covered extensively to act both as a practical guide as well as a reference.

Learn how to build a complete 3D game using the industry-leading Unity game development engine and Blender, the graphics software that gives life to your ideas About This Book Learn the fundamentals of two powerful tools and put the concepts into practice Find out how to designand buildall the core elements required for a great game - from characters to environments, to props— Learn how to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into your game for sophisticated and engaging gameplay Who This Book Is For This book has been created for anyone who wants to learn how to develop their own game using Blender and Unity, both of which are freely available, yet very popular and powerful, tools. Not only will you be able to master the tools, but you will also learn the entire process of creating a game from the ground up. What You Will Learn Design and create a game concept that will determine how your game will look and how it will be played Construct 3D models of your game characters and create animations for them before importing them into the game Build the game environment from scratch by constructing the terrain and props, and eventually put it all together to form a scene Import and integrate game assets created in Blender into Unity—for example, setting up textures, materials, animation states, and prefabs Develop game structures including a game flow, user interface diagram, game logic, and a state machine Make the game characters move around and perform certain actions either through player inputs or fully controlled by artificial intelligence Create particles and visual effects to enhance the overall visual aesthetic Deploy the game for various types of platforms In Detail In the wake of the indie game development scene, game development tools are no longer luxury items costing up to millions of dollars but are now affordable by smaller teams or even individual developers. Among these cutting-edge applications, Blender and Unity stand out from the crowd as a powerful combination that allows small-to-no budget indie developers or hobbyists alike to develop games that they have always dreamt of creating. Starting from the beginning, this book will cover designing the game concept, constructing the gameplay, creating the characters and environment, implementing game logic and basic artificial intelligence, and finally deploying the game for others to play. By sequentially working through the steps in each chapter, you will quickly master the skills required to develop your dream game from scratch. Style and approach A step-by-step approach with tons of screenshots and sample code for readers to follow and learn from. Each topic is explained sequentially and placed in context so that readers can get a better understanding of every step in the process of creating a fully functional game.

Written for beginners to Cacti, this book contains step-by-step instructions and hands-on tutorials for network operators to learn how to implement and use the core Cacti functions. The book is designed in such a way that you can explore it chapter-by-chapter or skip any chapter without missing a beat. If you are a network operator and want to use Cacti for implementing performance measurement for trending, troubleshooting, and reporting purposes, then this book is for you. You only need to know the basics of network management and SNMP.

This book is an illustrative how-to guide with many screenshots and examples that helps you to create simple to complex tests and assess them using Moodle. It covers effective usage of tools available in Moodle and offers some Moodle options that you may not have tried yet. It will guide you from the basic philosophy of online testing to creating skill-based assessments in Moodle. If you are a tutor or Moodle Administrator who is responsible for developing and evaluating an online test using Moodle, then this book is for you. This book assumes that you have already successfully installed and set up a Moodle site for teaching.

This step-by-step book gives you an empty shell of an AS3 Facebook RIA, and guides you through writing the Facebook interaction code by means of fun examples, exercises, and code snippets.This beginner's guide focuses on getting you through all the major learning points in a smooth, logical order. You'll also see how to avoid some common pitfalls. If you are an AS3 developer who wants to create applications and games that integrate with Facebook – either on the Facebook website itself or off it, then this book is for you. Even if you have no previous experience with Facebook, databases, or server-side programming , you can count on this book.

Packed with practical examples, this book looks at a different aspect of performance tuning in each chapter and shows the reader how to apply them to their existing Java applications. Written to version 5.1, this book also has information about the upcoming 6.0 release and how you can upgrade your existing applications. This book is for Java architects who design and configure Enterprise applications. It is great for Java developers who want to get into the inner details of the application server and of the correct tuning methodology. Application testers will also find this book useful as they will learn how to monitor the performance of the middleware with the correct instruments.

This book is an example-driven introduction to OGRE 3D. Each example shows some new features and you learn step-by-step to create complex scenes with different effects using OGRE 3D. After several examples discussing one topic there is a do-it-yourself part where you will be challenged to solve problems on your own. If you have ever wanted to develop 3D applications with OGRE 3D, this example-driven book will enable you to do so. Understanding of C++ is needed to follow the examples in the book.

This book has recipes that show enthusiastic users how easy graphic programming can be. Simple explanations in plain English are used. The recipes are built up, in each chapter, starting as simply as possible and moving to more complex programs with which you can comfortably create 2D vector graphics and animations. You will learn how to combine both vector and photo images seamlessly! If you are looking to create animated graphics to represent real-world scenarios then this book is for you. Teachers, scholars, students, and engineers who know it is possible to make fascinating models and demonstrations but have not found a handbook that pulls it all together in one place will find what they need in this recipe bank. Basic knowledge of Python programming is required and access to the Web and Google will be useful.

Written in cookbook style, this book offers solutions to all common theme design problems through recipes. Each recipe contains step-by-step instructions followed by the analysis of what was done in each task and other useful information. The book is designed so that you can read it chapter by chapter, or you can look at the list of recipes and refer to them in no particular order. This book is written for Drupal developers who want to refresh the look and feel of their sites. If you are a Drupal site administrator who is looking to go beyond the basics and customize the presentational aspects of your Drupal site, then this book is for you. It assumes that readers are familiar with rudimentary PHP and acquainted with Drupal installation and general usage. Readers are also expected to have knowledge of CSS and XHTML.

The disorganised array of modules available for Moodle are brought together in ways you can relate to. Reviews include details that will help you decide if a module is worth testing. There are illustrated, step-by-step guides to installing and configuring modules. If you are involved in teaching using Moodle, be it at relatively small institutions running their own Moodle instance, or at large institutions where Moodle is used and administered, or you are an administrator of a Moodle instance who is looking for modules that will be useful to teachers and students at their institution, this book is meant for you.

This book is a step-by-step tutorial that includes complete source code for all of the games covered. It adopts an engaging style to teach all the game development concepts. Each block of code is explained, and game development concepts are diagrammed and covered in detail. Each game begins with a concept de*ion and concludes with suggestions for expanding on the finished game. If you are an aspiring game developer who wants to take a shot at creating games for the Microsoft Windows platform with the XNA Framework, then this book is for you. Using this book, you can get started with creating games without any game development experience. A basic knowledge of C# would be helpful to kick-start your game development, but it's not essential.

This book is written in a hands-on style that actively involves you while you read through its chapters. In every chapter you, along with the author, will be implementing one or more fully working example plugins. The process is accompanied with a detailed step-by-step explanation of the code, at the same time providing you with resources to create your own plugins. If you are a MySQL application developer or a programmer who wants to interface with MySQL server, this book is for you. Basic knowledge of C/C++, SQL, and MySQL in particular is assumed in the book, but no deep familiarity with any of the topics is required.

The book is a tutorial, leading the reader first through the basics of the YUI library before moving on to more complex examples involving the YUI controls and utilities. The book is heavily example driven, and based around an approach of tinkering and extending to improve. This book is for web developers comfortable with JavaScript and CSS, who want to use the YUI library to easily put together rich, responsive web interfaces. No knowledge of the YUI library is presumed.

This book is a concise and practical guide aimed at getting the results you want as quickly as possible. It steers the reader through each point of reporting from setup to *ing, designing, formatting, and deploying BIRT reports using a common example that runs through the book. If you are a Java developer and want to create rich reports using BIRT, then this book is for you. You will need a basic understanding of SQL to follow along.

This is a practical, hands-on book based around a case study website, which you will build in this easy-to-understand workshop by using CMS Made Simple. The case study grows chapter by chapter, from CMS installation to the finished website. It provides clear instructions and detailed screenshots, so you can see exactly what to do at each step of the build. When you have completed the case study, you will have the knowledge and confidence to build a website with rich functionality and individual design that is optimized for search engines and can be handed over to the customer. This book is perfect for newcomers as well as webmasters who are looking for an introduction to building powerful and professional websites with a content management system. Basic knowledge of HTML and CSS is the only requirement. The workshop covers all aspects of web publishing and is aimed for web designers, web developers, editors, and web managers.

This book is a Joomla! tutorial packed with features that you can apply to enhance your Joomla! web site. It contains step-by-step instructions for Joomla! users to build rich multimedia web sites using Joomla!. It shows you how to manually implement features into your site, as well as utilize Extensions and more automated methods. A tutorial approach means you can follow this book chapter by chapter or just dip into the topics you find of interest. This book is aimed at Joomla! administrators and site developers who want to add media-rich content elements and interactive features to their site. All you need is to have a basic knowledge of the Joomla! platform and want to develop your site with rich media content. This book is a must-read for Joomla! users wanting to collaborate with external resources such as YouTube, Twitter, Google, and Flickr (amongst others).

This is a practical, hands-on book, with a lot of code and images. It presents the real code that generates every image and describes almost every single line of it, so that you know exactly what's going on. Introductory, de*ive, and theoretical parts are mixed with examples, so that reading and understanding them is easy. All of the examples build gradually with code snippets, their explanations, and plot images where necessary with the complete code and output presented at the end. This book is essentially for Python developers who have a good knowledge of Python; no knowledge of Matplotlib is required. You will be creating 2D plots using Matplotlib in no time at all.

Packed with easy-to-follow examples and screenshots, this book is designed to be followed from beginning to end, although those with existing WordPress MU sites will be able to jump in at the later chapters and pick out the things that are important to them. The author's expertise with creating a wide variety of WordPress sites enables her to share insights on using WordPress effectively, in a clear and friendly way. Those interested in digging further will be given the chance to customize their site further. Throughout the book, you will build up a blog network for Vampire Slayers – SlayerCafe.com, as an example. If you wish to manage multiple blogs and build a blog network, then this book is for you. You are not expected to be experienced with PHP coding. Some knowledge of HTML, and some experience with the blogging and social networking world will be helpful, but not essential.

This is a practical, hands-on book based around sound SEO techniques specifically applied to Drupal. Each chapter starts with a brief overview of the important concepts then quickly moves into practical step-by-step actions you can take immediately. Throughout the book, you'll get clear instructions and detailed screenshots, so you can see exactly what to do each step of the way. You will install and configure a selection of Drupal modules – each of which will move you one step closer to optimization. Chapter-by-chapter, your Drupal site will become more optimized so that by the end of the book, your site is 100% ready for Google. This book is written for Drupal site owners and those who create Drupal sites including themers, developers, programmers, and consultants. A basic understanding of Drupal will be helpful: what a node is, how to create nodes, how to log in to the admin sections of your Drupal site, and how to properly install and enable a module. No knowledge of SEO will be assumed but a basic knowledge of search engines is expected.

Filled with plenty of examples and careful explanations, this step-by-step guide teaches you to build a sub*ion-based business site with Joomla!. This site will evolve chapter by chapter as you apply the techniques and theory that you are learning to it. You will start by looking at the environment in which you develop, setting yourself up with the right tools to develop a professional site as effectively and efficiently as possible. Then you will move on to setting the purpose of our site, and why it is important to have a clear purpose and goals for your site before you ever even install Joomla!. You will begin to look through choosing, installing and customizing extensions, and proceed to work on your sample sub*ion site as a practical example of the information covered in each chapter. Finally you will look at how to market and monetize your site to ensure the maximum success for your site. This book is written for people with basic knowledge of Joomla! who want to expand their skills and move from simply assembling extensions and installing a template to truly customizing their own site. Readers are expected to have functional knowledge of Joomla! and a very basic understanding of terms such as FTP, PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, even if they have no real knowledge of the workings behind these terms. This book does not cover topics such as installing Joomla! and extensions, or creating content. The ideal reader is one who wishes to build a successful business web site using Joomla! and is interested in making as well as saving money by applying professional tools and techniques to the development, monetization, and marketing of their site. Non-business focussed site owners can still benefit greatly from the book, however, if they wish to add a level of professionalism to their work.