Polygonal Modeling: Basic and Advanced Techniques

by Mario Russo

Book Overview

Meant for aspiring CG artists, this book covers the basic aspects of polygonal modeling theory, as well as practical lessons on topology construction. It focuses on the fundamentals of the subdivision... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1598220071
• ISBN13: 9781598220070
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Wordware Publishing
• Length: 411 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Nice Foundation!

I just encountered this book about a year into my coursework and I wonder why it hasn't appeared any sooner. It has a great deal of information that would have been helpful to know up front, such as detailed explanations about WHY things work the way they do, such as typical subdivision (a.k.a. smoothing algorithms.) It also covers modeling specifically for a subdivided final product (and how your cuts and other operations will effect the smoothing in the end) which is also something books don't tend to specifically cover. It's pretty important to know how to control the outcome of your modeling, as most models WILL need smoothing to look good in the end (unless you plan on manually implementing tons of polygons, which isn't a very efficient way to approach things, AND will *NOT* work for game models.) Overall, I think this is a really important book to look into if you're serious about 3D modeling. There is a heavy focus on character modeling, which tends to be one of the most struggled with subjects in 3D modeling, and he covers it for both a male and female model type. Just be aware... this guy is super advanced and actually ends up with T-junctions in his work because he knows how to effectively control them. This may be confusing to early students, since you taught to avoid T-junctions at all costs. Just be aware that you generally don't want those in your mesh, but when you're advanced advanced enough, you'll know how to make them work FOR you. Just don't jump the gun!

Excellent beginner's or mid-level reference

This book has very little anatomy reference. But for actual anatomy I strongly recommend getting an anatomy-for-artist book, the kind that fine-art students refer to habitually. This book is strictly about polygonal modeling, and the advice it offers is excellent. It guides you step-by-step through the process of creation of a "correct" male figure, a female figure, a hand, a foot, a face, an ear. Though not the only way of modeling a human, you can draw a lot of insight from the method presented in this book. This book I highly recommend for beginners and mid-level non-professionals. Professionals should already know all the info presented in this book. Oh and, this book omits many crucial topics: texturing, rigging, animating, scene setup. This book is a tutorial on polygonal modeling only.

Theory

I've been working in max for about 1 year but was lacking the basic theory of subdivision which troubled me a lot using meshsmooth modifier....but this book has explained in detail the theory of subdivision now I know what to do with the meshsmooth modifier and secondly the book takes you through different projects of character modeling which is very good for a novice to begin his carrer

A must for beginner or seasoned modeler.

This book is a definite must have for a beginner and seasoned poly modeler.

Excellent reference

I was looking to learn Maya after years of using 3ds max, and this book's Maya Quick Start chapter got me right to the poly modeling tools and workflow without any detours. The tutorials have lots and lots of pictures--any semi-experienced modeler could work from the pictures alone. There is also a short, well-worded, to-the-point chapter on modeling for games, with the best explanation I've ever seen of poly arrangements and their importance. It's great to see a book with so little fluff and so much substance.