A mammoth tome of over 600 pages, the Encyclopedia of Visual Effects from the Apple Pro Training series has a reputation of being one of the best collections of visual effects know-how and knowledge ever consolidated into a single text, making it this week’s Recommended Resources.

This is the ultimate recipe book for visual effects artists working in Apple Shake, Adobe After Effects, and Apple Motion. An impressive lineup of Hollywood and independent effects pros have pulled together this compendium of the coolest and most useful effects from A to Z (“Adding Clouds” to “Z-Depth Effects”). The book includes everything from practical everyday commercial techniques to breakdowns of well-known shots from blockbuster films. Readers learn to create light sabers from the artists who created them for Star Wars Episode 3; learn to freeze time from the wizard who invented the effect for The Matrix; and learn to create matte paintings from the pros who did them for Lord of the Rings. Coverage includes rotoscoping, painting, warping and distortion effects, dramatic lighting, adding lightening and fire, matchmoves, 3D CG integration techniques, advanced blue- and greenscreen techniques, and much more. DVD-ROM included. Foreword by Ron Brinkmann.

While it’s a bit dated (Shake is dead, afterall), the fundamental techniques and theories are still valid across several products.