Rating: 
Summary: Simple to follow!
Review: Clear, simple, easy to follow! Will get anyone kickstart the basics of the application in a week or so. However, do remember it's for a beginner's reference. This book does not cover advanced animations or kinematics related animations. Otherwise, still good for beginners.
Rating: 
Summary: A great book for new 3D StudioMax users!
Review: First of all, you have to love the fact that this book is not some huge 1000+ page user guide that will confuse the heck out of you. This is a well written cocpact user guide that starts you from install. If you are a newbie to 3dsmax, I strongly recommend you to review this book.
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Summary: A great book to learn 3D Studio Max R3... QUICKLY!!
Review: Hello!This is a great book to get, to get you past the hurdle of learn 3DSMax R3. Once you read thru the book, either from start to finish or go to specific sections it will help you understand the program quickly.
Rating:
Summary: A great book to learn 3D Studio Max R3... QUICKLY!!
Review: Hello! This is a great book to get, to get you past the hurdle of learn 3DSMax R3. Once you read thru the book, either from start to finish or go to specific sections it will help you understand the program quickly.
Rating:
Summary: For a true beginner....
Review: I am just start to get into this world of 3D. This book is a big help seeing as how I had a problem putting a material on a sphere. This big is making the confusing well not so confusing. I like this big. While using this book I have been doing advanced thing by using tutorial from the net. I plan to finish this book and get me a Advanced Book. But how can you go wrong with Peachpit Books. I mean this is truely a book that a beginner needs.
Rating:
Summary: Very nice book
Review: I found this book to be very helpful and to the point. I appreciated the focus on the interface of the program. My background in 3d modeling and animation was nil until I got this book. As with any type of graphic software, you must come into it with a goal. With that in mind this book will get you from concept to "reality" very quickly. Buy this book
Rating: 
Summary: So basic its boring
Review: I'm a beginning CGI artist who recently purchased 3D Studio Max. I was looking for a basic beginners guide. I expected a good beginners book because I own other peachpit press books and they are wonderful. Taking one look I was disappointed because this book didn't offer very much. Half of the stuff discussed in the book I learned by just playing around in the program. There are several books that are better then this one. I even found the tutorial book that comes with the program more helpful. Your better off spending a few extra bucks and getting something with some substance.
Rating:
Summary: Beginner's paradise
Review: If you want to begin learning 3d Studio Max, this is THE book. I still reference it now. The examples are short and easy. No long explanations. By the end of the book, you will be able to make terrains, render fog, etc. This will not get you into Character Studio, or advanced topics which you will have to find in another book, but this book will get you more than started. I bought 3d Studio Max r3 Bible and it left me confused. This book started me on my way. There were a few minor mistakes in the book, but not enough to depreciate the quality.
Rating:
Summary: So basic its boring
Review: The book itself is well written and does give a VERY general overview of the program, but after reading it, you are left wondering, "Now what?" There are no intermediate to advanced topics discussed in the book such as NURBS and particles, and topics that she does discuss are not explained in detail. At least if she addressed advanced topics, then a novice would know what he CANNOT do based on the information in the book, which is just as important as knowing what you can do. I've found that I must spend a great deal of time tinkering with functions to get them to work at all, such as boolean functions and rendering animation, because the author does not state critical steps necessary to make them work (such as typing the name of the second object in the entry box for bolean functions, or typing a name to save an animation file in the reder dialogue box BEFORE you render it), but which she maybe taking completely for granted. In the classroom, Ms. Matossian could simply mention this to her students when they ask her these simple questions, but a book on fundamentals should be able to stand on its own. Because of such oversights, the book fails to give a beginner a solid foundation. New users (like myself) will find that you will soon have to buy another book that covers both basic an intermediate topics, which I wish I had done in the first place. I was quite frustrated when I found that, after reading the book, I still cannot create a tree, or bevel a chest properly. (For some people, a tree might pass as being a green ball on top of a brown cylinder, but since I am an artist, I refuse to be satisfied with such a kindergarten interpretation of images in reality.) For the sake of simplicity and speed, the book focuses on creating and modifying objects with the mouse, and as an after thought, mentions keyboard entry. Since this is so, the author does not discuss the variables in the modifier roll-outs, so a novice becomes neither proficient with the mouse (because if its inherent lack of accuracy) or the keyboad entry (since it is covered vaguely). This washed out compromising approach is typical of the entire book which leaves the novice feeling powerless to control or modify simple primitives with any degree of accuracy. She also mentions nothing about the steps or thought process necessary to plan even a simple project. Realistically, the purpose of such books is to serve as perpetual reference material. The author could have gone two ways with this book: she could have covered all topics--including advanced ones--in a general way, or she could have covered the fundamentals in detail. She does neither. As a result, the book quickly makes itself obsolete and will likely collect dust when I find something more comprehensive in dealing with both fundamental and intermediate functions. At least it wasn't too expensive. A final note: customer reviews influence me as to whether or not to buy a book, and because of the high rating, I bought this one. However, for your own protection, I suggest you take reviews by enthusiastic reviewers who have "just started reading" or "haven't yet finished" or "just recieved" a book with a grain of salt. The measure of worth for a reference book is how much you refer to it after you've read it, not how excited you are when it first arrives. Thanks and good luck to you all!
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Summary: Perfect Beginner's Guide to 3D Max #3
Review: This book makes an excellent reference guide and covers a lot of material for new users. Coming to 3dsMax from another rendering program, I found this book's easy style and sample photos extremely helpful. It's much easier to understand than the in-program help files.
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