Background Info: the first "third-party" Combustion v2 Training Book to hit the market will be called "Combustion Ground Rules" written by Todd Petersen - published by Delmar Learning and scheduled for release in October 2002.
The "Combustion Ground Rules" Book is already posted for advance ordering (with a discount!) at www.amazon.com and is described as follows:
Master the art of using combustion to combine digital elements (such as a 3D Studio MAX rendering) with video footage or stills. The newest addition to our Ground Rules series, this how-to manual is one of the first resources available for computer artists and animators who want to learn how to make optimal use of combustion - a powerful Macintosh and Windows-based desktop solution from Discreet that provides a unified paint, animation and 3D composition environment in which to create cutting-edge graphics and compelling visual effects. Step-by-step tutorials based on real-world applications of combustion take center stage in this book, acquainting beginning through intermediate users with 90% of the features of their combustion software while introducing professional 2D and 3D compositing and painting techniques. Fast-paced and thoroughly engaging, included tutorials provide a swift and effective means of gaining first-hand insights into the combustion interface and workflow. In addition, because the tutorials are based on real-world applications, all new skills gained as a result of working through this book are directly relevant to the needs of technically-savvy computer artists and animators working in today's highly sophisticated post-production and 3D animation environments. (end of excerpt.)
As for the author, his full name is Michael Todd Peterson, but he likes to go by the name of Todd Petersen. He is the owner of MTP Grafx, an animation firm located in Lousinana, that specializes in architectural animation, forensics, and multimedia. He has lectured Computer Architecture at his old school, University of Tennessee, where he achieved a Bachelor of Architecture in 1992. His MTP Grafx website is located at http://www.mtpgrafx.com/ where you can find background info and samples of his work.
Todd Petersen is also Senior Product Manager at Digimation in St. Rose, Louisiana, where he is in charge of many of the plug-ins for the 3ds max market. He serves as head of tech support and Systems admininstrator/webmaster and he supports a variety of the Digimation websites, including www.digimation.com, newsletters.digimation.com, www.maxusers.com, and beta.digimation.com.
In addition to the upcoming "Combustion Ground Rules" book, Todd has authored many other books, including "3D Studio MAX Fundamentals" and "3D Studio MAX 2 Fundamentals", and has contributed to "Inside AutoCAD 14," "Inside 3D Studio MAX Volume II," and "Inside 3D Studio MAX Volume III," all from New Riders Publishing.
When it comes to learning Combustion v2, aside from the official Discreet Combustion v2 Courseware and the DVD/Tape Training series from Technical Animations at www.techanim.com -- there is NO other third party Combustion training materials out there....
Therefore, we are all looking forward to this first release....