Mastering 3d Studio Max R3 - Softcover

Bicalho, Alexander; Montiero, Alex; Woods, Catalina

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0782125611 ISBN 13: 9780782125610

Publisher: Sybex Inc, 1999

Synopsis

3D Studio MAX R3 is the latest version of the leading professional-level program for rendering 3D images and animations. It's used to create special effects for films, television, advertisements, and games. Written by a team of Discreet-certified training specialists, Mastering 3D Studio MAX R3 is filled with proven, practical examples and projects that teach novices and experienced users how to make MAX perform. This book includes a full-color insert featuring an impressive gallery of MAX projects and artwork for examples discussed in the book, plus a CD with MAXScript code samples, models and materials for the projects, and trial versions of plugins.

About this title

Review

If mastering 3D Studio Max is your goal, Mastering 3D Studio Max R3 makes a solid cornerstone on which to build your library. While not the easiest book to use, it is--like the software--big, rich, and full of good information. It thoroughly discusses the foundation of the topic (basic 3-D concepts, basic Max concepts, the Max interface, modeling, lighting, rendering), and contains excellent chapters on materials, lighting, rendering, and compositing.

Part VI, "Using MaxScript," is the shining star; by itself, it's worth the cost of this massive tome. Spanning well over 200 pages, this section covers the basics of MaxScript, how to manipulate scenes with MaxScript, animating with MaxScript by using controllers and keyframes, and creating plug-in scripts. If you want to squeeze the most from MaxScript, you'll be in heaven with this section.

The book falls short in two areas, unfortunately. The first is that there are no color illustrations to enhance the text on lighting, materials, and rendering. The second is that there is little information on animation and virtually none on character animation. Of the 745 pages, approximately 65 discuss creating and tweaking animation in Max. If you plan on using Max for complex animation of any kind, this book won't work for you. --Mike Caputo

Edition details

• Publisher: Sybex Inc
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0782125611
• ISBN 13: 9780782125610
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 745
• Editor: Murray Chris