Jason van Gumster - GIMP Bible

GIMP Bible

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Copyright 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-0-470-52397-1

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To my mother, who once made the mistake of telling me I could do anything I set my mind to doonly to have me terrorize her by trying to do everything.

Jason van Gumster

This book is dedicated to my son, Dylan James.

Robert Shimonski

About the Authors

Jason van Gumster got into animation when he realized that he wanted to create movies but that actors are generally intolerant of having pianos dropped on them. Using open source tools at nearly every step in production, Jason has produced animations and visual effects for television, film, and video games in his official capacity as a Production Monkey for Hand Turkey Studios, the company he helped start in 2005. He uses GIMP and the GIMP Animation Package on a daily basis for a variety of tasks ranging from creating graphics for the Web and television to drawing storyboards and creating images for both 3D and hand-drawn animations. Also the author of Blender for Dummies , Jason has given numerous live workshops and demonstrations on Blender internationally. Combining a unique educational background in animation and computer engineering with a penchant for the ridiculous, he strives to refine both the technical and creative aspects of production by taking on (and successfully completing) crazy projects like producing a 5-minute 3D animated short in a mere 48 hours with an international team communicating via the Internet. Based in Richmond, Virginia, Jason can often be found in cafs and diners drawing, espousing the virtues of open source software, or catching confused looks from strangers as he contorts his body to better visualize a scene he's animating.

Robert J. Shimonski is an expert digital media and technology consultant living in New York. Rob is also an author, and a regular contributor of tutorials and articles on digital editing, production, and development.

Having spent the past decade working with large, medium, and small companies as a technical consultant, Rob has helped develop digital art packages for many professional clients and businesses.

Rob has been working with GIMP for many years and has created graphics for corporate web sites, TV commercials, and professional magazines. Having worked with the many open source tools, Rob relies on GIMP for most of his graphics work.

Rob can be found online at www.shimonski.com.

About the Technical Editor

John Karnay is a published author and editor with over a dozen works to his credit. He has been writing and editing in the fields of technology, fiction, comic books, computer software, music, and video games for over 15 years. John is a computer software, audio engineering, graphic design, networking and IT specialist who has been working with and deploying Microsoft-, Apple-, and open source-based technologies for over 15 years. He also specializes in Spanish-to-English translation. John currently works in the video game industry as a producer, content writer and quality assurance manager and has over 30 game titles to his credit.

John resides in Jackson Heights, New York and spends his free time with his daughter Aurora and with his loving wife and partner, illustrator Gloria Rios.

Credits

Executive Editor

Carol Long

Project Editor

Sydney Jones

Technical Editor

John Karnay

Production Editor

Daniel Scribner

Copy Editor

Kim Cofer

Editorial Director

Robyn B. Siesky

Editorial Manager

Mary Beth Wakefield

Associate Director of Marketing

David Mayhew

Production Manager

Tim Tate

Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Richard Swadley

Vice President and Executive Publisher

Barry Pruett

Associate Publisher

Jim Minatel

Project Coordinator, Cover

Lynsey Stanford

Proofreader

Heather Dweller

Indexer

Johnna VanHoose Dinse

Cover Illustration

Joyce Haughey

Cover Designer

Michael E. Trent

Acknowledgments

First (and most important) thanks go to the surprisingly small group of dedicated developers who voluntarily spend their free time coding GIMP. Most people don't realize that a program of GIMP's complexity is updated and maintained by only a handful of developers whose primary motivation is the fact that they enjoy doing it. Your patience and help with my questions and misplaced bug reports are sincerely appreciated. You are not and cannot be thanked enough.

Thanks, also, to the entire team at Wiley. Were it not for this talented group of professionals (and large quantities of coffee), this book would never have been produced. I'd especially like to acknowledge my project editor of unparalleled patience and tireless energy, Sydney Jones. I'd also like to thank Rob Shimonski not only for working as this book's initial technical editor, but also for stepping up and agreeing to write a portion of the book on incredibly short notice. It has been a pleasure to work with both of you. Jason van Gumster