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Rating: 
Summary: Good book to start with and come back to!
Review: Ever have one of those days when you made one thing go REALLY well? Well that was the day I picked up this book. It is simple to read, teaches the basics without talking down to you, and you get a nice model of a kangaroo to boot. It compares to a textbook but reads like a novel. I could not put it down until it was done and then I found I knew how Max works. When R2 came out I went back to this book for inspiration and even then it taught me something new! Get it, it's very good. And the price is not bad, either.
Rating: 
Summary: I would hardly call these people masters
Review: First let me say that I had previously written a more positive review of this book; however, I may have been a little over zealous. I asked Amazon.com to remove my review as I no longer felt the way I did about the book. Many months later I see my review still on the board, so I have taken the time to write a more accurate review of this book. Now to the review: The book has a good section on the Fit Deformation command of the lofting component. The model that you make (a woman's high heeled shoe) is a good practical model for learning the Fit Deformation command and the other features that go along with the lofting component. A pretty good section on animating a hopping kangaroo, however... In the tutorial that shows you how to model and animate a kangaroo, the author clearly states that the boolean function may not work when modeling the kangaroo. She's right! I never got it to work. Boolean functions are indeed tricky, but to put a tutorial that is clearly going to have a difficult time performing a boolean function shows extreme short sightedness. As a seasoned 3DSR4 user, I had the patience to try this boolean over a dozen times before I gave up. I cannot imagine new users truly understanding the usefulness of the boolean function if it doesn't work in a tutorial. Half the book is made up of one tutorial in which half of that tutorial is composed of programming. Most 3D artists are artists, not programers. I don't mind learning some scripting but the tutorial they provide (which is pretty neat, by the way) is way too long and complicated. In sum, they should get rid of the kangaroo tutorial and the space buggy tutorial.
Rating: 
Summary: This is an excellent book for learning 3DS Max!
Review: I found this book to have most of what I was looking for. It had straightforward tutorials which many books on the subject do not have. If you want to dive right in and get started with 3D Studio Max, this is the book to have. The tutorials are challenging enough for the seasoned user to learn a lot about 3DS Max. This is one of the few books that emphasizes the importance of fit deformation which is probably the most important yet unlearned and unused tool of 3DS.
Rating:
Summary: Good book overall, I found some small errors
Review: I was pleased with the book. It started out with the basics and worked up from there. Some of the advenced expression controllers took some tinkering to get them to work by it also helps you understand them better. worth the money!
Rating: 
Summary: Not the greatest, but it has some value
Review: Overall, I was disappointed with the content of this book. While providing useful information to the seasoned pro, I found that it glossed over too many details during the course of the tutorials (i.e., they show you a picture and just say "adjust yours to look like this" without actually telling you how they did it). This might be okay for a veteran MAX user, but for a beginner, or even intermediate user, I think they just left too much out.
On the other hand, the tutorial subjects were excitingly diverse, from creating a kangaroo to creating and animating a space rover type vehicle. I just found that it didn't do it for me.
Rating:
Summary: "A Must Have for MAX Users"
Review: This book is essential for anyone who wants to get up and running quickly with MAX. I found the tutorials to be very intuitive(very important for new users), yet valuable in technique for the more experienced user.
Rating:
Summary: THE BEST!!
Review: This book tells you all you need to know about MAX. Everyone should buy it!!!
Rating:
Summary: I learned a little, but the book's out of date.
Review: This book, written ages ago for MAX 1.2, doesn't do the job now that MAX is up to v2.5. While I did learn a few interesting tricks, for the most part I was dissapointed. Several tutorials contained blatant errors or would not work as explained. Most of what you learn here, you learn by fixing the author's errors or figuring out the things he forgot to tell you. Add to that the fact that it's out of date, and it adds up to a definite last resort resource book.
Rating:
Summary: I would hardly call these people masters
Review: This is the book for anyone using 3D Studio MAX for the first time. After completing the first 3 chapters I was able to begin reading (with understanding) the more comprehensive manuals for experienced MAX users. GREAT MANUAL, THANK YOU Michele and company.
Rating:
Summary: Best starter book on the market
Review: This is the book for anyone using 3D Studio MAX for the first time. After completing the first 3 chapters I was able to begin reading (with understanding) the more comprehensive manuals for experienced MAX users. GREAT MANUAL, THANK YOU Michele and company.
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