Customer Reviews

3D Studio Max 2 : Effects Magic

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I really find this book is a lot of fun. Not every effect is perfect, however, they don't need to be. I almost never use the effect the way they are defined in this book, but the great thing about this book is it gives you many starting ideas, from which you can tweak and change to come up with your own brilliant effects. If you have no imagination and just want to copy effects, then maybe this book isn't for you. If however you love to explore and experiment, seeking new and dazzling artistic effects, but would like a few clues how to get started, then this is a great place to begin. Let's face it, Max is huge and complex and there is a dizzying array of choices. I find it really useful to see how Carbonaro does it, then take his ideas and add my own. This book is for the artists, not the technicians.

This is an excellent book for learning special effects. Don't bother buying Max 3 Effects because this book has WAY more effects, better quality and better content-range of effects, it's way better value for your money, and it's entirely applicable to the new versions of Max, not too much has changed.

It tells you how to make cool water effects, build land geometry, do space effects, some cool weather effects, and more. If you just want to make terrain and water this book will be a great help. Or if you want to make a space scene this book has some great help in that area too to easily make starfields, planets, etc.

The quality here of what you can make (for the most part) is completely professional looking. It's full color all the way through as well which is a bonus for the price of the book. I've been into computer graphics since I was a kid, and although I'm just starting to properly learn Max now after using it for over a year, this book is a great help to get some cool effects easily.

You'll want to have a basic knowledge of the Max interface, because the book is very succinct. Also just by reading it and playing with Max you'll learn new things about the Material Editor and other areas that will help you overall doing 3d Animation.

Certainly this book will get you off to a flying start. With detailed step-by-step analysis, it should be possible for beginners to quickly complete the same special effects that the pros do. However, it's worth bearing in mind what other reviewers have said - a lot of the effects need a powerful machine, some of the effects look dreadful and, inevitably, the book assumes prior knowledge of Max. (On a side note I agree with the reviewer from England who complained about the price, scandalously high on this side of the world!) Overall you'll be glad to have bought this book if, like me, you know what you want to do but just aren't sure how to do it...

Coming to this book with only a basic knowledge of 3DS Max, I found it terrific. It is, as the author says, "A Receipe Book" Looking for a book that tells you exactly how to do things, step by step, and without all the dribble? This book is it. The effects are fantastic...most of them. The Earth Scene is one of my favorites. Its amazing how real it looks, and how quickly and easily you can make it. The water is fantastic. Even though the book gives you step by step instruction on creating a specific effect, I have found that it is easy to incorporate any element of them into any animation.

This is a great book. It's just easy to read (for intermediate users) with full color illustrations on all pages. The instructions are quite simple to the follow. Although it does not contain all the effects in the world, this is definitely a book for new comers who want to get into the effect world of 3D Studio Max. I save myself tons of guessing works and experiments using this book as a reference. With this book, readers should be able to experiment more effects on their own. It is just a great enjoyment to see the final rendered works after you are done with the effect settings.

I really liked this book. I tought me a great deal on creating special effects in 3dSmax.

Wow! when I saw this book I really couldn't believe it. Should it be so easy to create totally realistic, cool looking effects? It actually is. If you ever dreamed of creating a rock-slide that makes your audience duck away in front of the computer, don't let yourself be stopped from purchasing this book. Also the other approx. 45 Efects are hyper-realistic. It simple styled structure makes it become very easy to reproduce the greatest effects I've ever seen on a computer.The content of this book makes you wait for the renderer to finish, so that you can do another effect.

This is a great book. It's just easy to read (for intermediate users) with full color illustrations on all pages. The instructions are quite simple to the follow. Although it does not contain all the effects in the world, this is definitely a book for new comers who want to get into the effect world of 3D Studio Max. I save myself tons of guessing works and experiments using this book as a reference. With this book, readers should be able to experiment more effects on their own. It is just a great enjoyment to see the final rendered works after you are done with the effect settings.

This book is more like a recipe book, if you are looking for a "how - to" book, this one is it. I would recommend it for intermediate to advanced Max users and it does have something for everyone. I enjoyed reading it and the excellent pictures. Not too shabby. Well worth the price these guys are selling it for.

Its very cool, awsome, great, fantastic, book! i reading it right now its very good... BUT its not for begginers, the autor was not deatiled so mutch, you must know good max for get the point and how to do stuff... and also there is a very good design of the book! i really loved it! BUY IT if you know some max and whish to make good effects!