The Illusion of Life : Disney Animation by Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston Often referred to as the Bible of character animation, The Illusion of Life is the book to read when learning animation. You will probably be required to read this book if you attend an animation college. The book starts off with the birth of animation and the early days of Disney's style. It thoroughly follows the time line to the fine animation that we see today. This book explains the principles of animation and develops deeper into the characters, with appeal, dynamics, acting, emotions, expressions, and dialogue. It also covers the entire procedure of creating an animated film, with topics, such as the different job positions, sounds, and rotoscoping. Although this book is purely for traditional cel animation, the same principles and theories apply to 3D. I've read this book 3 times from cover to cover and each time, I've picked up on something new. It's the type of book that you will keep referring to when you bring your characters to life.

Character Animation in Depth by Doug Kelly Coming in at a whopping 971 pages, this book is filled with tutorials and great references to learn animation. It will take you from the begginning steps, like storyboarding and character design, to the very end, such as getting a job in 3D. In between are chapters for modeling, texturing, character setup, and animation. It tries to be unbiased in terms of software, but it has specific tutorials for Softimage, Animation Master, 3D Studio Max, and Lightwave. Many chapters in this book are worth the price alone. My favorite chapter is the one on advanced character setup with constraints. It teaches you the powerful use of constraints on a character, allowing you to animate with ease and speed without worrying about the technical issues that 3D software confronts you with.

The Art and Science of Digital Compositing by Ron Brinkmann Compositing. It's something every 3D filmmaker should know in order to work efficiently. Some things are very time consuming in 3D, which could easily be done quickly through 2D compositing. This book does not cover any particular software, but it does cover a lot of the principles in compositing. It will give you an understanding of the techniques in compositing if you ever decide to go that route.

The Animator's Workbook by Tony White If you want to learn animation without all the fat of Illusion of Life, this book is the one to read. This book is filled with just raw information on how to animate a character. Every page is illustrated with easy to read examples. Like Illusion of Life, it gears towards cel animation, but the ideas and principles can be directly applied to 3D animation. I continuously find myself opening this book for quick reference on walk and run cycles.

Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expressions by Gary Faigin Probably the best resource for facial expression. Geared towards human and realistic faces, this book covers all the expressions of emotion. From sadness, fear, disgust, and anger, to surprise, joy, laughter,and thought, this book describes which muscles create what expressions. The drawings are very detailed, showing wrinkles and creases of the face from many different angles. This book is the perfect reference for doing any type of facial animation.

Film Directing Shot by Shot by Steven D. Katz Great book on the technical aspects of traditional filmmaking. It starts with concept drawings and storyboards and then goes into camera techniques and editing rules. Definitely a must read even if you think you are a pro filmmaker!

Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee The best book I have ever read on screenwriting. It can be a tough read at times, but it is very inspiring. Although it doesn't deal with the technical aspects of screenplay formatting, this book is probably the only book you'll ever need to read for screenwriting principles.

Directing Actors : Creating Memorable Performances for Film and Television by Judith Weston Technical aspects of filmmaking and good screenplays aren't the only thing in filmmaking. There is a whole other side of working with actors. This book helps you understand how an actor works and how you can bring out great performances repeatedly.

How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee, John Buscema Since I never went to art school, I felt I needed some proper training in drawing characters which will help me in character design and also modeling my latest super hero. This book is a good reference for proportioning the body, posing the body, drawing the head, and creating your own comic book.