3D Studio Max 3.0 Workshop

by Duane Loose

Teaching 3D Studio Max basic design principles, this work helps in learning techniques for creating 3D depth; texturing and reflection; specific material development, and dirt; wear and tear; smoke,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0789723433
• ISBN13: 9780789723437
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Hayden Books
• Length: 600 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.8" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Perfect for Beginners and Intermediate Users

This was the second book on Max that I bought. The first was the Visual Quickstart Guide which helped me learn the interface, but left me unsure of how to make a real animation or scene of any complexity. Workshop is exactly what I needed though. It takes you step by step through the creation of an entire scene and along the way explains why to use certain techniques and tools. The author also throws in several useful sections on general art and design principles. After reading this book I feel confident in making some simple animations and scenes that don't require any real complex modelling or animation. I also feel prepared to read intermediate books dealing more in depth with modelling, animation, etc. The only hangup I found was near the beginning of the book where a camera just appears in the scene without the author making any mention of how to create it. This was easy to fix though by importing the camera from one of the scene files on the CD-Rom.

excellent tutorial

3D Studio MAX Workshop is very well written, and like a having a personal tutor guide you through max.It may not be the book for someone who wants to jump in and do nothing but straight tutorials without reading. The author explains a lot of the theory in 3d design with appropriate timing throughout the tutorial, and I found it very enlightening and believe it has made me a much better artist overall. Another positive is the book is based on a complete animation project, so workflow and managing layers are explained, controlling lighting (up to 17 lights at one point), volumetric lighting, alpha mapping, rendering to frames, modelling, and special effects (all of this is from the top of my head, believe it or not). You end up with a pretty impressive animation when you are finished, all built from scratch.

One of the Best for Beginner and Intermediate Learners

This book focuses on developing the skills of beginning and intermediate 3D Studio MAX 3.0 user. This book uses a single project, which involves the knowledge of interrelated tutorials to guide you through a complete project development process. It also shines in the area of providing a good understanding of Computer Graphics Imagery in general. This book is a great investment to me as I have learnt much through it.

Great book to start out with!

I thought this book was absolutely perfect for me. I was just beginning to use MAX when I got this book, and it has taught me a lot. Some of the other reviews mention something about the missing camera file; it's true that it's missing, but it is very easy to replace. All you have to do is merge one of the .max files from the CD (example - "ExBGPyramid.max") and it will ask you what you want to merge into your scene, you simply select the camera and there it is. So to all the 3D Studio Max newbies out there, I urge you to purchase this book!

Simple Awesome

From trying ot get your thoughts on paper to leanring eye catching tips for scene setup, you simpl cant go wrong. The author starts by emplaining basic concepts of scene setup and walks you thorugha very logical order of setting these up in max and explaining every little detail about what is happening and why it you are doing it. The ONLY gripe i have is, their seems to be a key scene that in the beginning the author needs you to load for camera setup, and it is missing from the cd. Other then that, this book walks you through an entire project of modelling, atmospheric setup, specials effects, compositing and sound integration. EXCELLENT JOB, but i want that TheEndCamera.max file! :))