The Five C's of Cinematography

 This book is considered a 'must read' source of information by many, and I agree. It is  divided in five chapters (Camera angles, Continuity, Cutting, Close-ups, Composition) and  explains very well the concepts of cinematography. One word of caution: the first four  chapters read very 'easy', the last and fifth chapter has so much info in it, that you'll be reading  this one over and over again.

  Cinematography Screencraft

 This first book in the Screencraft series is a collection of interviews with famous cameraman  and directors. It talks about their experiences on the set, and especially taught me a lot about  using shadows.

  film directing Shot by Shot

 This book by Steven d. Katz is about visualizing a movie from storyboards to final cut. It  includes many examples from movies (most noticeable to me: a piece of storyboard from the  movie Blade Runner that was not used) and gives practical examples on how to shoot certain  scenes.

  film directing Cinematic Motion

 The follow-up to Shot by Shot has got even more practical examples and variations on  camera-staging. Included are interviews with a lot of people from the movie industry talking  about practical tips that can be used.

  Transitions

 This book is filled with great examples from the movie industrie, explained by professionals. It  also gives a look at the history of compositing and cutting. Very good.

   The Illusion of Life

 Considered by many 'THE' book on how to give your animation life. The rules that apply to  the traditional art of animating are very important to today's 3D-animation and are a vital  piece in making your animation's look non-computer generated.

  The Animators survival kit

 Before I say anything: "Buy this book!!". When I received it in the mail I couldn't stop  reading, and during this experience it inspired and motivated me so much to make new  animation's. The author got his information by years of talking too the great Disney animators  and working with them, and his way of explaining it in this book is fantastic.

  Professional animation

 The only specific 3DSMAX book on the list. I have a few more, but this one really stands  out. It gives you detailed information about skeletal and facial animation, among other things.

 Cartoon Animation -- by Preston Blair

 This book can be found online: here

  Facial Expression

 A great study on Facial expression, with thousands of drawings. It's geared towards the  traditional illustrator type of person, but has invaluable information for anyone who wants to  do facial animation.

 3D Lighting

 This book explains the basics of color theory and lighting and contains many examples for  multiple 3d packages.

 Texturing & Painting

 A great book on making realistic textures. One of the best parts of this book is where he  talks about learning to look at everyday's examples around you.

 Digital Compositing

 'The Art and Science of digital compositing' can be described as a technical book on  compositing. It explains all the basics and has a lot of examples from the movie industry.  Don't be discouraged by the technical aspect of it.

 After effects in production

 When you want to learn hands-on working with After Effects, get this book. It's a collection  of projects, very easy written and powerful.

 Special Effects

 This is a very nice book about the special fx industry. My philosophy is that we (in the 3D  realm) are emulating the real world, so the real world techniques apply to ours and a lot can  be learned from the veterans. Beautiful book with a ton of info.

 Cinefex Magazine

 Cinefex magazine is a great source of info for anyone who wants to know how today's  special fx movies are made. It is very in-depth and the wide-screen format of the magazine  (!) enables them to print very nice production stills from the set.

 STAR WARS chronicles

 I probably own a copy of every (art) book on STAR WARS ever made, this being the nicest  one. The SW universe will always be a big influence to me, that's why I've listed this book.

 Industrial Light & Magic - into the digital realm

 The kings of special fx. A nice book with lot's of great photo's. But I think they could do a  third revision by now. (this is the second one)

 Blue Sky studio's

 These guys know what they are talking about. This book describes the complete process of  making and animated feature film. And it's also very useful to let people who haven't got a  clue about 3D animation (relatives etc.) to learn something.

 The making of Final Fantasy

 Science fiction is one of my main influences, and the technical designs in this artbook are very  inspirational. The film is truly a work of art, too bad that most people think it's all about 'the  rendering of realistic human beings'.

 The art of The Fellowship of the Ring

 This book contains a incredible amount of concept drawings for this movie. When you like  nice organic trees etc. get this one

 The Invisible Art (of matte painting)

 A fantastic book about the art of matte painting. It starts in the beginning with the first  experimental paintings on glas, up to the matte artists of today using the computer. A great  look at these talented people.

    Texturing & Modeling

 As the category implies, this is a technical book. It explains a lot about fractals, perlin noise  routines etc. I'm very interested in using the computer to simulate natural phenomena, so this  is a good standard to read.

   The Computational beauty of Nature

 Beware! This one is not for the faint of heart. It deals about Genetic algorithms, Evolutionary  algorithms, Chaos, Complex systems etc. I find it very inspiring to read and to get idea's from  for my scripting projects, but it is very academic in style.