Authors like to say that nobody writes a book alone. We say that because it’s true. It gives me great pleasure to thank my friends and colleagues who helped me make this book possible.

For their consistent and enthusiastic support of this project, and for helping me feel good about it all the way through, I am enormously grateful to Eric Braun, Steven Drucker, Eric Haines, and Morgan McGuire. Thanks also to Georgia, Jenn, and Michael Ambrose for always providing cheerful conversation after I’d spent too long at the computer.

Thanks to the reviewers of this book’s first edition, whose generous and insightful comments greatly improved the presentation: Adam Finkelstein, Alex Colburn, Alyn Rockwood, Angelo Pesce, Barbara Mones, Brian Wyvill, Craig Kaplan, Doug Roble, Eric Braun, Greg Turk, Jeff Hultquist, Kristi Morton, Lesley Istead, Matt Pharr, Mike Tyka, Morgan McGuire, Paul Beardsley, Paul Strauss, Peter Shirley, Philipp Slusallek, Serban Porumbescu, Stefanus Du Toit, Steven Drucker, Wenhao Yu, and Zackory Erickson.

Special thanks to super reviewers Alexander Keller, Eric Haines, Jessica Hodgins, and Luis Alvarado, who read the whole first edition and offered wonderful feedback on both presentation and structure. Thank you to technical reviewers George Hosu and Ron Kneusel for their insights.

Thanks to Todd Szymanski for advice on the design and layout of the book’s first edition and to Morgan McGuire for the Markdeep layout system, which enabled me to focus on writing and not word processing mechanics.

Thank you to the wonderful folks at No Starch Press for taking on this large project. Giant thanks to my editor Alex Freed, who read through the entire manuscript and offered numerous insightful comments and suggestions that greatly improved it throughout. Thank you to copyeditor Rebecca Rider and production editor Maureen Forys. Thank you to Rachel Monaghan for shepherding this project to completion with skill and grace. Thanks to publisher Bill Pollock for believing in the book and supporting the process.

My terrific colleagues at Weta Digital, Ltd. gave me professional and personal support and encouragement as I tackled this second edition. Thank you to Antoine Bouthors, Jedrzej Wojtowicz, Joe Letteri, Luca Fascione, Millie Maier, Navi Brouwer, Tom Buys, and Yann Provencher.