3ds max 6 Animation: CG Filmmaking from Concept to Completion (Consumer)

Rating:
Summary: Superior Instructions
Review: This manual may very well be the best available at this time. It will give you high-level skills in all areas of 3D production. To get the most value out of this book, I would reccommend being already well versed in 3DS MAX. This book will not be worthwhile to a complete beginner, so either take a 3D class or two, or read some beginner material first. I liked how this book makes you do alot of the work the pure, no plug-in way. For example, most people(and I assume the author as well)would prefer to use Biped as oppossed to a custom rig, but learning how to build you own custom rig is something a motivated animator SHOULD want to do anyway. Same goes for the custom attributes and paramater wiring of the bones system. Biped already has all that built in, but learning to do it from scratch is invaluable in my opinion. The modeling sections are great, although maybe some NURBS or patch modeling could have been included. Also very unique to this book is the first 100 or so pages that speak only to the planning and creative aspects of the field. Again, very wothwhile. The only complaint I have is simply a logistical one. Unless you have 3DS MAX 6, you cannot open any of the proj files. Many people including me still have version 5. Maybe retro 5 files could have been burned on the cd as well. Don't get me wrong, if your motivated you can still do everything without opening any project files. I did. You can still used the texture files, ect... If you buy this book, be prepared to work. Some days, you may spend 3-4 hours working, and only cover 5-10 pages of the book, that usually means you are learning this stuff the right way. This is because unless you have already worked in a high-end production facility, even if you know MAX well, most of the methods, techniques, and workflow taught in this book will be new to you. It gives you all the "Big Boy" production styles. Real professional methods. So if you want to go up to the next level, study this book.

Rating:
Summary: Superior Instructions
Review: This manual may very well be the best available at this time. It will give you high-level skills in all areas of 3D production. To get the most value out of this book, I would reccommend being already well versed in 3DS MAX. This book will not be worthwhile to a complete beginner, so either take a 3D class or two, or read some beginner material first. I liked how this book makes you do alot of the work the pure, no plug-in way. For example, most people(and I assume the author as well)would prefer to use Biped as oppossed to a custom rig, but learning how to build you own custom rig is something a motivated animator SHOULD want to do anyway. Same goes for the custom attributes and paramater wiring of the bones system. Biped already has all that built in, but learning to do it from scratch is invaluable in my opinion. The modeling sections are great, although maybe some NURBS or patch modeling could have been included. Also very unique to this book is the first 100 or so pages that speak only to the planning and creative aspects of the field. Again, very wothwhile. The only complaint I have is simply a logistical one. Unless you have 3DS MAX 6, you cannot open any of the proj files. Many people including me still have version 5. Maybe retro 5 files could have been burned on the cd as well. Don't get me wrong, if your motivated you can still do everything without opening any project files. I did. You can still used the texture files, ect... If you buy this book, be prepared to work. Some days, you may spend 3-4 hours working, and only cover 5-10 pages of the book, that usually means you are learning this stuff the right way. This is because unless you have already worked in a high-end production facility, even if you know MAX well, most of the methods, techniques, and workflow taught in this book will be new to you. It gives you all the "Big Boy" production styles. Real professional methods. So if you want to go up to the next level, study this book.