Sunday, February 28, 2010

Revenge Wears Rubies Renee Bernard Book Trailer

Revenge is a dish best served searing hot, and Galen Hawke is determined that the young woman who has betrayed his dead friend should have her fill. But Haley Moreland is not the evil seductress hed imagined, and when Galens tragic past embroils him in a passionate tangle with the delectable Haley, he will have to find a way to save them both from destruction to earn her love. Revenge Wears Rubies Renee Bernard Book Trailer Find out more about this author here http://www.reneebernardauthor.com Find out more about this book http://tinyurl.com/yf4g8mb Romance

Spring Break Kayla Perrin Book Trailer

Their trip to paradise was perfect. Sun drenched days and party hopping nights. But no one expected the tragic turn of events, and that one of three best friends wouldnt make it home. Everyone is left to wonder if Ashley was murdered, or if something more sinister is going on. Spring Break Kayla Perrin Book Trailer Find out more about this author here http://www.kaylaperrin.com/ Find out more about this book http://tiny.cc/7ny3j Music License Link http://tinyurl.com/yk656hm) Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl Lysa TerKeurst Book Trailer

Do more than just go through the motions of a Christian life. Follow that tug at your heart to live completely for God. Find out how as Lysa TerKeurst, president of the Proverbs 31 Womens Ministries invites you to uncover the spiritually exciting life you long for. Fulfillment is closer than you ever thought possible. Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl Lysa TerKeurst Book Trailer Find out more about this book at http://tinyurl.com/yfmduq2 Find out more about this author here http://tinyurl.com/ylhapjg Music License Link http://tinyurl.com/yk656hm Christian

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Heart of Stone Jill Marie Landis Book Trailer

Finally free to pursue her dreams, Laura Foster is trying hard not to fall in love. She knows that the reputation of Reverend Brand McCormick would be shattered if her former life were discovered. But it is not only Lauras history that threatens to bring Brand down, it is his own. Heart of Stone Jill Marie Landis Book Trailer Find our more about the book here- http://tinyurl.com/ylf9ad8 Find out more about this author here http://jillmarielandis.com/ Historical Christian Fiction

Monday, February 22, 2010

Michael Shea Interview for The Extra

Master story teller Michael Shea talks about writing, the genres and his new novel The Extra. Some unique insight for authors and readers. http://www.michaelsheaauthor.com See more great author interviews and book trailers at http://www.readersentertainment.tv

Friday, February 19, 2010

God On Trial Richard W. Morris Book Trailer

University student David Stone challenges Pastor in theology, threatening Pastor's lifestyle of crime, corruption, and debauchery, to which former female dominatrix, genetically born intersexual Sister Leah contributes. David is arrested for blasphemy and contends the State must prove the existence of God in court, using the Rules of evidence. God On Trial Richard W. Morris Book Trailer Find out more about this author here www.godontrial.ws Find out more about this book http://tinyurl.com/ygz88yy

Obama In Wonderland Joe Sansone Book Trailer

Loosely based on the classic Alice in Wonderland, Obama in Wonderland is a light hearted political farce illustrating the bizarre nature and lack of reality surrounding the Obama Administration and its policies. Barack Hussein Obama is transported to Wonderland where he attempts to implement transformative change, but will Wonderland survive? Obama In Wonderland Joe Sansone Book Trailer Find out more about this book http://obamainwonderland.com/

Radiant Shadows Melissa Marr Book Trailer

Return to Melissa Marrs enchanting world in Radiant Shadows, where romance, danger, and intrigue collide. The future of Faerie rests on the choices of two individuals: Ani, half mortal and half fey, and Devlin, assassin and brother to the High Queen. Drawn together by their natures, each has reason to fear the other and to fear for each other. Radiant Shadows Melissa Marr Book Trailer Find out more about this author here http://tiny.cc/eWKoI Find out more about this book http://tiny.cc/233Q3 YA

Dark Desire Christine Feehan Book Trailer

He was half mad and the darkness was overtaking him when surgeon Shea O'Halloran found him. She had heard his call from across oceans. The call of a Carpathian male for his lifemate. She came to save him, but who would save her from his Dark Desires? Dark Desire Christine Feehan Book Trailer Find out more about this author here http://www.christinefeehan.com

Dark Gold Christine Feehan Book Trailer

Out of the darkness came her savior. Aiden would help protect Alex and her brother, but who would protect her from the powerful Carpathian who would claim her as his own? A golden savage, ancient and deadly Aiden would claim her body and her heart while Alex gives him back his soul. Dark Gold Christine Feehan Book Trailer Find out more about this author here http://www.christinefeehan.com

Thursday, February 18, 2010

A Modern Day Witch Hunt Kiki Howell Book Video

Book Description: When Kamillia, a paranormal author, is accused of being a witch, she finds her life depends on trusting Luca, an immortal who has captured her heart but cannot share her future. http://www.kikihowell.com

Nightmares & Daydreams Barbara Watkins Book Video

The stories in this book range from psychological thrillers to paranormal thrillers. Visit a sad and lonely ghost of a child from centuries ago in 'Awaken Spirit' then move on to the lawyer who gets more than he bargained for in 'One Scandalous Night in Vegas. Find these great stories and more inside Nightmares & Daydreams. http://www.barbarawatkins.net

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Hourglass Claudia Gray Book Trailer

After escaping from Evernight Academy, the vampire boarding school where they met, Bianca and Lucas take refuge with Black Cross, a fanatical group of vampire hunters. Bianca must hide her supernatural heritage or risk certain death at their hands. But when Black Cross captures her friend...the vampire Balthazar...hiding is no longer an option. Hourglass Claudia Gray Book Trailer Find out more about The Evernight series and Claudia Gray here www.harperteen.com/claudiagray YA

Monday, February 15, 2010

The DemonSlayers Book 1 DemonFire Kate Douglas Book Trailer

Shes a pragmatic journalist, hes a fallen demon too good for hell. Dax and Eddy are on a mission to save the world. The odds are against them as they race to prevent a catastrophe of demonic proportions with a one week deadline before all hell breaks loose. The DemonSlayers: Book 1 DemonFire Kate Douglas Book Trailer Find out more about this author here : http://www.katedouglas.com Find out more about this book http://tiny.cc/NezUX Paranormal Romance

Friday, February 12, 2010

For Your Heart Only Anthology Book Trailer

Five sweet contemporary romance stories dedicated to the wonderful men and women of our national Intelligence Community who work tirelessly to keep us safe. Brought to you by five authors: Anne Elizabeth, Leslie Wainger, DC DeVane, Chryssa Carson, and Tara Nina. Delving into the I&A, DEA, NSA, FBI and Treasury, there is action, adventure, espionage, and escapades in GOOD VIBRATIONS, MINDWARP, LOVE ACTS, DECODING LOVE, and A FATED HEART. Uncover the secret, and therein lies the path to freedom andlove. It's For Your Heart Only! For Your Heart Only Anthology Book Trailer Find out more about this author here http://www.foryourheartonly.us Find out more about this book http://tiny.cc/vZKj7

For Your Heart Only Anthology Book Trailer

Five sweet contemporary romance stories dedicated to the wonderful men and women of our national Intelligence Community who work tirelessly to keep us safe. Brought to you by five authors: Anne Elizabeth, Leslie Wainger, DC DeVane, Chryssa Carson, and Tara Nina. Delving into the I&A, DEA, NSA, FBI and Treasury, there is action, adventure, espionage, and escapades in GOOD VIBRATIONS, MINDWARP, LOVE ACTS, DECODING LOVE, and A FATED HEART. Uncover the secret, and therein lies the path to freedom andlove. It's For Your Heart Only! For Your Heart Only Anthology Book Trailer Find out more about this author here http://www.foryourheartonly.us Find out more about this book http://tiny.cc/vZKj7 Romance, U.S. Intelligence Community/Military, Sweet

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The Right Call Kathy Herman Book Trailer

With information that could solve a series of murders but endangers the girl he loves, a college boy grapples with what to do, and whom to trust. Will he make the right call? Find out more at http://tinyurl.com/yfvq8eq David C. Cook Publishing Christian Fiction, Suspense The Right Call Kathy Herman Book Trailer

Chosen Ginger Garrett Book Trailer

The first in the Lost Loves of the Bible series, Chosen is the story of Esther, the story of a girl unsparingly plunged into heartache and chaos, who would save a nation of Esther, who would be queen. Chosen Ginger Garrett Book Trailer Find out more about this book at http://tinyurl.com/ydhezyp Find out more about this author here http://gingergarrett.com/ Christian fiction, historical

The Meeting of the Waters Fritz Kling Book Trailer

Equal parts travelogue, character study, and global documentary, The Meeting of the Waters is for any Christian leader or layperson eager to make a difference in a changing world. Identifies seven trends having a major impact on the Church around the world-and on every Christian at home in every country.The Meeting of the Waters by Fritz Kling Find out more about this author and book here- http://tinyurl.com/ybcdv8d Christian Ministry

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Malice Lisa Jackson Book Trailer

Malice by New York Times bestselling author, Lisa Jackson is now available in Paperback. Was she back from the dead? Detective Rick Bentzs ex-wife died years ago, but he saw her today. Real or imagined, one thing is for sure, the people she once knew are starting to die. Detective Rick Bentz tries to catch the elusive woman before he ends up as her next victim. Malice by New York Times bestselling author, Lisa Jackson, on sale now! Malice Lisa Jackson Book Trailer Find out more about this author here http://www.lisajackson.com/ Find out more about this book http://tinyurl.com/yznbah9 Romantic Suspense

The Last Surgeon Michael Palmer Book Trailer

Bestselling Author Michael Palmer returns with a heart-pounding new thriller, The Last Surgeon. A hired killer is executing a medical ream, making their murders look like accidents, or suicides and he has only one thing left to do...Kill The Last Surgeon. The Last Surgeon Michael Palmer Book Trailer Find out more about this author here http://www.michaelpalmerbooks.com/ Find out more about this book http://tiny.cc/E0P5m Ring tone and MP3 http://tiny.cc/viykL Suspense

The Complete Guide to Hiring a Literary Agent Laura Cross Book Trailer

Get a Literary Agent and Sell Your Book! Step-by-step instructions to navigate the publishing industry, find and select a literary agent that is right for you, establish your author platform, and craft a winning query letter, book proposal, and synopsis. Advice from professional agents and published authors. The Complete Guide to Hiring a Literary Agent Laura Cross Book Trailer Find out more about this author here www.GetALiteraryAgent.com Find out more about this book http://tiny.cc/8n6l4 Non-Fiction

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Behind the Scenes on the 13th Princess


by Mike Miller

The 13th Princess Process Overview

There were quite a few steps involved in creating The 13th Princess. Here is a brief overview of some of the main components -

The Book -

The book and the surrounding environment were all created in Lightwave 3D. I scanned in actual pages from the book and mapped them onto the 3D pages. I made the pages in such a way that they would bend as I folded them back.

The images in the book were created after I completed all of the shots in the video. I took the first and last frame of each shot and made them gray scale in Photoshop and comped them onto the image I used for that particular page in Lightwave. When I rendered the full animation of the book, I set envelopes that would swap the first image of the sequence for the last image of the sequence once the camera was zoomed in on the graphic. So, in other words, the camera would zoom in on the first image of the sequence, hold for a few frames, the image would swap to the last frame of the sequence, the camera would hold a few more frames then pull back for the page to turn. After page turned we were on to our next sequence. I rendered all of this out as a single sequence and then cut it up and inserted the live video sequences in Adobe Premiere.

The “magic” during the page turn was added in After Effects using Trapcode's Particular. I hand-tracked the emitter to the corner of each page as it flipped. If I would have been smart and pulled back my 3D camera a bit more, I may have been able to use the Motion Tracker in After Effects and saved myself some time. As it was, the corner of the pages went out of frame so I had to hand track it.

Image 1 - Wire frame of the book and table

Image 2 – Book in “Preview Mode”

Image 3 – Perspective view

The Sequences -

The Castle was created from pieces of imagery on the book cover. I had to create some pieces that were missing. I cut everything up and put each item on its own layer.

The butterflies were from the cover. I cut them out in Photoshop and animated them in After Effects.

The birds in the far background were created in After Effects by animating masks on solids.

One effect kind of got lost - there is a subtle ripple on the water below the castle.

I layered the imagery in 3D space in After Effects then did a slow camera push through the layers.


The Kitchen was all modeled in Lightwave. I mapped some video footage of a fire onto a polygon and placed it under the cauldron. I animated lights in Lightwave to flicker along with the fire to simulate an interaction between the firelight and the room. I rendered the table in a separate pass so I could place it in front of the actress.

The actress was shot on a greenscreen and motion-tracked into the shot in After Effects. I used the After Effects Cartoon Filter to blend her into the shot.

Image 4 – Kitchen Model

The Window/Moon shot turned out to be more work that I anticipated. I added markers to the greenscreen and did a dolly push up to the actress. Unfortunately, the shot had a lot of subtle bounces as the wheels rolled over the dolly tracks. I think I accidentally turned off the stabilizer on my video camera, but I did not notice it until the actress was long gone. I had to do some major motion-stabilization to the shot before I did my 3D track because every tiny bounce translated to my 3D camera in Lightwave and the shot looked awful! There was also an entire sequence cut out where the actress looks at one of her sisters worn-out shoes. I had scuffed up/dirtied up the shoe to the point that the actress didn't really want to touch it, but because of the low resolution of DV, plus the Cartoon Filter softens the detail, the shoe did not look very worn at all by the time the shot was finished. The client had me just cut the shot short.
Image 5 – Window Model

The Bedroom was another Lightwave model. For the “magic staff”, we placed a light in front of the actress that we turned on to simulate the glow of the magic once she raised the staff high enough. I placed a tracking marker on the end of the staff so I could track it and lock my “swirling magic” to it. The swirling magic was created in Particle Illusion. I rendered it out as a sequence and tracked it to the staff in After Effects. I also did some interactive lighting with the background as the magic appeared.

Organization -
Like I mentioned earlier, I had to have my video sequences comped together before I could create the graphic images for the book. Several processes relied on other processes to be complete. So the hard part was figuring out the correct sequence of events so it all fit together!

I have learned to be organized with my projects over the years, but this one took it to a whole new level. Because of all of the 3D elements, motion tracking, chroma keying and other time consuming pieces, I had to make sure my pipeline was very organized and flexible enough to handle any changes requested by the client. I used a lot of pre-comps so I could swap out animation and videos segments without destroying to overall main comp. Plus, I kept everything a segmented as possible so I could swap pieces out and/or re-time them in Premiere.

The 13th Princess was fun, but a LOT of work!

Behind the scenes shots -


Thursday, February 4, 2010

The Thirteenth Princess Diane Zahler Book Trailer

Zita is not an ordinary servant girl, she is the thirteenth daughter of a king who wanted only sons. When she was born, Zitas father banished her to the servants quarters and she can only communicate with her royal sisters in secret. Then, after Zitas twelfth birthday, the princesses all fall mysteriously ill. The only clue is their strangely worn and tattered shoes. With the help of her friends, Breckin the stable boy, Babette the witch, and Milek the soldier, Zita follows her bewitched sisters into a magical world of endless dancing and dreams. But something sinister is afoot and unless Zita and her friends can break the curse, the twelve princesses will surely dance to their deaths. The Thirteenth Princess Diane Zahler Book Trailer Find out more about this author here http://www.dianezahler.com/ Find out more about this book http://tinyurl.com/ygye5w4 YA

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Patton Oswalt reads THE EXTRA by Michael Shea Book Trailer

Hollywood actor and comedian Patton Oswalt reads about Hollywoods next box office hit: Live-Death films with expendable extras going up against extremely sophisticated, electronically controlled mechanical killing machinesall in front of a live audience. A lot of people are dying to make it big in Hollywood...The Extra Michael Shea Book Trailer Find out more about this author here http://www.michaelsheaauthor.com/ Find out more about this book http://tinyurl.com/yh8zv24

Birmingham Sunday Larry Dane Brimner Book Trailer

In the years leading up to 1963, racial bombings were so frequent in Birmingham that it acquired the moniker Bombingham. Until September 15, these attacks had been threatening but not deadly. Birmingham Sunday tells the story of the brutal blast that claimed the lives of four children. Birmingham Sunday Larry Dane Brimner Book Trailer Find out more about this author here http://www.brimner.com Find out more about this book http://www.amazon.com/Birmingham-Sunday-Larry-Dane-Brimner/dp/1590786130

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

If I Were Your Woman LaConnie Taylor Jones Book Trailer

If it doesnt have a scientific basis, Dr. Laney Olivia Houston doesnt believe in it and that includes love at first sight. Jazz musician, Raphael Baptist is no stranger to women or their beds. But one encounter is all it takes. And there lives are changed forever... If I Were Your Woman LaConnie Taylor Jones Book Trailer Find out more about this author here www.laconnietaylorjones.com Find out more about this book http://redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/index.php Romance