Recent Technology Books at OPL
ZBrush Character Creation : advanced digital sculpting / Scott Spencer, Wiley Pub., 2008
Here is a user manual for ZBrush, a sculpting tool for human like characters (though the examples are quite inhuman!). Large format, with high res graphics for the examples, 300 pages, and a DVD containing tutorial videos.
Mastering Maya 2009 / Eric Keller, Wiley, 2009
It is amazing what realistic 3D graphics you can do with Maya. This book is a user guide, with a DVD containing sample files. You will need a high-end PC and Maya to make good use of this book. 1000 pages.
Google SketchUp and SketchUp Pro 7 bible / Kelly L. Murdock, Wiley, 2009
Here is a tutorial and user manual for SketchUp, Google’s free 3D modeling app. Maybe you could learn SketchUp by playing with it, but I think this 500 page book is useful.