Customer Reviews

3D Studio MAX R3 f/x and design: Filled with Professional Level Effects From Experts in Film and Video

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book explore the various aspect of a good 3d design like lighting, composition and textures. Unlike the other book I bought, Inside 3d studio max 3 vol 2, the tutorial in this book is easy to understand and well worth your time. Definitely a must have for all 3d studio max newbies. The plug-in itself(Grebble,Blur,terrain) is worth the money.

Reading this book gives one an awareness of the many aspects of 3D. It awakens the senses of observation such as lighting, textures and motion. The effects are very intuitive and well chosen. The book does require prior knowledge of Studio Max and is aimed at the 3D artist wanting to take the software a little further. As a lecturer in Multimedia it is a must-buy for my students when it comes to 3D effects.

Both the previous 3D Studio MAX R2.5 and R3 f/x books present similar information -- cool tutorials that teach you how to do a wide variety of MAX special effects. And, as author Bell says, about one-third of the information from the R2.5 book is included in this new one, but updated. However, some of the nicest material from the R2.5 book, such as the planetoid landscape, mountain range, "Frankenstein" lightning effect, and even some models and textures are available only in the R2.5 book. Likewise, the R3 book has about 350+ pages of cool stuff in it that the R2.5 book doesn't have, either.

My advice is, if you're a MAX artist, grab both books. Get the R2.5 book before it's unavailable, 'cause the tutorials are still good for R3 -- and grab this R3 book as well!

Hoping there's a MAX R4 f/x book coming from these guys...

This book is an 'upgrade' of the last book. Some useful information is repeated and about 2/3 of the book is totally new.

The CD ROM alone is worth the cost of the book. I've made some incredible images using the techniques from the last book. Techniques I have seen nowhere else.

If there were ever 2 things I couldn't do well they were making good Materials and Organic Modelling...until I bought this book. Unlike other books that tell you how to recreate their effects, this book tells you what the steps presented do, allowing you to recreate and tweak them as you need. Excellent book!

I Think Mr. Bell is one of the few authors who has admitted that 1/3 of the book is from the previous edition. Still, I bought the book. And haven't regretted it. The new 2/3 is simply great and has made me more confident with the new MAX interface. Simply great!

This book isn't much more than a picutre book, showing what 3D Studio MAX R3 is capable of. The tutorials are poorly put together, and some of them are missing steps which for some users might not be able to complete them. Not a book I recommend buying.

If you want to get more out of 3D Studio MAX, then this book's for you. The chapters on advanced materials and lighting helped me create better-looking scenes immediately, and the special-effects stuff (including the great Greeble plugin) is well worth the price of the book. Highly recommended!

The only reason i would'nt recommend this book is because i have done 3 tutorials and BARELY finished one. The instructions are either missing steps (the blackbird) or the steps are in the wrong order (the disintegrating ball). Most of the other students at the college that i go to that have used this book have agreed with me. That is unfortunate because of the really cool content of the book and tutorials. So, unless you're an excellent problem solver, or an experienced Max user i'd have to reccomend leaving this book on the shelf for now.

Wow, I don't know if they have awards for these kinds of books, but Jon Bell should be able to run away with this one.

He covers a lot of great stuff in this book including all the new things that R3 has. Including Flex, the new material options, plus it has some sweet models you can try. Like the SR-71 Blackbird, and an alien.

The CD that comes with is also the best to come around in a long time. It includes a bonus material library, hordes of free plugins including Greeble!, lots of free maps and chapter files. The Cd itself is worth the 40-50 bucks.

This one is worth the money!