I'm with mtv65... a nice big heavy book! One that doesn't scrimp on interface details and uses terms that laymen can understand. A common lament readers had that reviewedboth the Animation Master 2002 books was that the authors used animation terms and phrases that beginners had a hard time with initially. I think the toughest decision on a book of this nature is how much to assume the reader knows about animation basics. Who is your target audience?
Perhaps a plan for 2 books, one that covers "Animation 101" material as a groundwork and uses A:M features to illustrate the principals; an absolute beginners book. And a second, more advanced book to follow, building on the first that develops more complex animation techniques and uses the A:M features to accomplish them.
As a corollary, I found this to be a good approach in the evening programming classes I teach at the local college, the first class is always basics and I "set the hook" and generate interest for my "advanced" class. It also gives me an indication of how many students intend to return for a second class early on...
Just my 0.02 worth. Thx.
