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A Biography of the Pixel by Alvy Ray Smith: New
US $56.39
ApproximatelyC $77.47
Condition:
Brand New
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- Buy It NowA Biography of the Pixel by Alvy Ray Smith: New
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Located in: Sparks, Nevada, United States
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eBay item number:284484692005
Item specifics
- Condition
- Book Title
- A Biography of the Pixel
- Publication Date
- 2021-08-03
- Pages
- 560
- ISBN
- 9780262542456
About this product
Product Identifiers
Publisher
MIT Press
ISBN-10
0262542455
ISBN-13
9780262542456
eBay Product ID (ePID)
6050036392
Product Key Features
Number of Pages
560 Pages
Language
English
Publication Name
Biography of the Pixel
Subject
Digital Media / Video & Animation, General, History, Film & Video
Publication Year
2021
Type
Textbook
Subject Area
Art, Computers, Photography
Series
Leonardo Ser.
Format
Trade Paperback
Dimensions
Item Height
1.2 in
Item Weight
42 Oz
Item Length
9 in
Item Width
7 in
Additional Product Features
Intended Audience
Trade
LCCN
2020-029699
TitleLeading
A
Dewey Edition
23
Reviews
"[Smith] lays out a grand unified theory of digital expression. Pixel is a deep and challenging tome in the spirit of Douglas Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, a winding tale of science, heroes, and tyrants, all leading to the moment, sometime around the beginning of our current century, when a long-predicted digital convergence coalesced." -- WIRED "Like the pixels that power the imagery all around us, A Biography of the Pixel is a dazzling game of connect-the-dot...to describe what he's written just as a history of computer graphics would be woefully inadequate." -- Fast Company " A Biography of the Pixel is an essential and pleasant read for all those who regularly engage in a lot of media content: whether you're an avid gamer, a film enthusiast, or simply like to browse the Internet. In fact, if you're aspiring to pursue a career in filmmaking and/or animation, perhaps this book would inspire you further." -- E&T, Engineering and Technology "We suspect that the digital world is grainier than the real, coarser, more constricted, and stubbornly rectilinear. But this is a prejudice, one that's neatly punctured in A Biography of the Pixel, a new book by electrical engineer Alvy Ray Smith, co-founder of US computer animation studio Pixar. This eccentric work traces the intellectual genealogy of Toy Story (Pixar's first feature-length computer animation in 1995) over bump-maps and around occlusions, through endless samples, computations and transformations, back to the mathematics of the 18th century." -- T he Telegraph
Illustrated
Yes
Dewey Decimal
777.7
Table Of Content
Beginnings: A Signal Event Foundations: Three Great Ideas 1. Fourier's Frequencies: The Music of the World 2. Kotelnikov's Samples: Something from Nothing 3. Turing's Computations: Eleventy-Eleven Skydillion Contributions: Two High Technologies 4. Dawn of Digital Light: The Quickening 5. Movies and Animation: Sampling Time The Rise and Shine of Digital Light 6. Shapes of Things to Come 7. Shades of Meaning 8. The Millennium and the Movie Finale: The Great Digital Convergence
Synopsis
The pixel as the organizing principle of all pictures, from cave paintings to Toy Story . The Great Digital Convergence of all media types into one universal digital medium occurred, with little fanfare, at the recent turn of the millennium. The bit became the universal medium, and the pixel--a particular packaging of bits--conquered the world. Henceforward, nearly every picture in the world would be composed of pixels--cell phone pictures, app interfaces, Mars Rover transmissions, book illustrations, videogames. In A Biography of the Pixel , Pixar cofounder Alvy Ray Smith argues that the pixel is the organizing principle of most modern media, and he presents a few simple but profound ideas that unify the dazzling varieties of digital image making. Smith's story of the pixel's development begins with Fourier waves, proceeds through Turing machines, and ends with the first digital movies from Pixar, DreamWorks, and Blue Sky. Today, almost all the pictures we encounter are digital--mediated by the pixel and irretrievably separated from their media; museums and kindergartens are two of the last outposts of the analog. Smith explains, engagingly and accessibly, how pictures composed of invisible stuff become visible--that is, how digital pixels convert to analog display elements. Taking the special case of digital movies to represent all of Digital Light (his term for pictures constructed of pixels), and drawing on his decades of work in the field, Smith approaches his subject from multiple angles--art, technology, entertainment, business, and history. A Biography of the Pixel is essential reading for anyone who has watched a video on a cell phone, played a videogame, or seen a movie. 400 pages of annotations, prepared by the author and available online, provide an invaluable resource for readers.
LC Classification Number
TR897.7.S52 2021
Item description from the seller
Seller feedback (513,110)
- m***m (2297)- Feedback left by buyer.Past 6 monthsVerified purchaseI’m thrilled with my recent purchase . The website was user-friendly, and the product descriptions were accurate. Customer service was prompt and helpful, answering all my questions. My order arrived quickly, well-packaged, and the product exceeded my expectations in quality. I’m impressed with the attention to detail and the overall experience. I’ll definitely shop here again and highly recommend from this seller to others. Thank you for a fantastic experience!
- a***n (43)- Feedback left by buyer.Past 6 monthsVerified purchaseMistakenly ordered a paperback that I thought was a hardcover, not sellers fault; it was described properly on the listing. Seller still processed a refund the day I went to return the item and let me keep the item anyway. A+++ service. Book arrived quickly in great condition and for a great price. Thank you so much! Amazing seller!
- n***c (94)- Feedback left by buyer.Past 6 monthsVerified purchaseseller was communicative about my shipment, media mail took a while and tracking wasn't updated frequently, but seller communicated to me very quickly on status. the item came new and wrapped as described, though the packaging in it was packed wasn't sturdy and falling apart when it got to me.
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Seller feedback (513,110)
- m***m (2297)- Feedback left by buyer.Past 6 monthsVerified purchaseI’m thrilled with my recent purchase . The website was user-friendly, and the product descriptions were accurate. Customer service was prompt and helpful, answering all my questions. My order arrived quickly, well-packaged, and the product exceeded my expectations in quality. I’m impressed with the attention to detail and the overall experience. I’ll definitely shop here again and highly recommend from this seller to others. Thank you for a fantastic experience!
- a***n (43)- Feedback left by buyer.Past 6 monthsVerified purchaseMistakenly ordered a paperback that I thought was a hardcover, not sellers fault; it was described properly on the listing. Seller still processed a refund the day I went to return the item and let me keep the item anyway. A+++ service. Book arrived quickly in great condition and for a great price. Thank you so much! Amazing seller!
- n***c (94)- Feedback left by buyer.Past 6 monthsVerified purchaseseller was communicative about my shipment, media mail took a while and tracking wasn't updated frequently, but seller communicated to me very quickly on status. the item came new and wrapped as described, though the packaging in it was packed wasn't sturdy and falling apart when it got to me.