Customer Reviews

3ds Max Modeling for Games: Insider's Guide to Game Character, Vehicle, and Environment Modeling: Volume I

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've played around with 3ds max for a few years but never really got to grips with it until now.

3ds Max Modelling for Games has taught me more in a month than every other book and DVD I've wasted my money on all together.

The book is extremely simple to begin with, taking you through modelling a box, step by step.

Now I thought that this was a joke initially until I realised that the tutorial was not about modelling a box, but about setting 3ds max up properly with automatic backups, units, scale and the core principles of mapping and unwrapping textures. It even shows how to get a great looking render out of the simplest of models - something I had struggled with in the past.



The book moves on teaching more complex modelling techniques, more complex mapping and even how to take your own photographs and turn them into great looking texture maps - I didn't expect a number of great Photoshop lessons in a 3ds Max book.



Again the tutorials get more complex and cover normal mapping, dirt maps, ambient occlusion, scratch maps, specular maps, and complex lighting and rendering.

But the best thing about the book is that all of the tutorials grow all fit together as pieces of the final finished scene which is an abandoned warehouse. The models, the vehicle, the character - everything all fits together to make a scene with lots of rendering advice to put a good portfolio together.



Finally the book ends with some of the best advice I've ever seen on putting a portfolio together and how to act in an interview.



I haven't been able to put this book down since I got hold of it and I'm now looking forward to the massive character modelling tutorial.



5 stars from me.



p.s. The book has an accompanying website with extra content promised too.

I'm new to the whole 3ds Max modeling scene, and I was looking for a book that applied to my interests and goals, and this book does that for sure!

As previous reviews have said, what the author has you do has a purpose in the grand scheme of things, so you aren't just doing little filler throw away pieces. The book is a good length, and the included DVD is nice as it includes the files from each chapter as well as the materials used, and some extra materials so you have something to work on after you finish the book.

As my title says though in terms of beginners, its a little vague. The author tells you the steps, but isn't always really clear on where to go. Mostly this just applies to things like, "now apply (this)" and I was left sitting at the window looking around for where the appropriate button was. Although if your persistent and keep with it, he tells you most of it, but leaves a little for you to find out. I'm not sure if it was intentional, but by the way he leads you through the rest of the processes I sure don't think so.

All in all, Great book, just be prepared to do some digging around the interface and the overall basics while or before reading.

I have been in the game industry using 3DS max for over 9 years, and have bought many books on the subject. This one does the best job at not only covering the most essential techniques and tools, but emphasizes planning and working smart.

Even though it is geared more for the less experienced, I found many valuable tips and processes that would benfit many senior level people. Added bonuses are the coverage of third party software like "UV Layout", and how to prepare for interviews. This book is a must have.

Don't get me wrong Andrew 's a really really good modeler. The example are well explained but the only thing's that bugs me It's the pictures in the book. Those are way way too tiny you have to open every .Max scene to see what he did in the book. Also be sure that you've got a good base in 3ds max and Photoshop or else trust me, this book's gonna kill you.

I purchased this book about a month ago and I must say that I'm amazed on the things I have learned so far. I've worked with 3ds max before, but chose to get this book to improve and learn new things within the program. With this book, I learned some new shortcuts that make it easier to model and I learned some new techniques. This book is awesome on showing you what you should be doing, using a step by step process. Your skills will improve and it's pretty easy to follow for beginners. I would recommend you to look over the program first and see what each button is before you pick up the book, because it will make the reading even easier. Great book for anyone wanting to model and start their career making games.

The book is good, and will give you valuable skills for making static meshes in 3dsmax to import into gaming engines. It starts somewhat basic and moves at a pretty rapid pace. There are some places that the tutorials get a little fuzzy and diluted, so you need to know 3dsmax pretty well before even thinking about this book or buying this book, or any other heavy modeling book. The tutorials are pretty interesting and useful, I found my self spending 25% longer than the tutorials estimated for time. The things you create are easily translatable into games. This book is not for a beginner working with 3dsmax, but rather someone with a somewhat decent background with 3dsmax and a solid foundation in working with 3d modeling programs.

when most of us buy a tutorial book, we expect that the author will first, as all ways, build us a support frame for us to learn by. now, in this book i certainly got around to finishing the tutorials, but what this book lacks is a solid teaching foundation that sets you up for long term success. respectively, this book has good tips and tricks that you could actually just look up on the internet if you wanted to. so all in all, i think that this book really didn't cut it for me, and i was slightly disappointed by the lack of structural understanding that i believe is needed to truly learn the art and skill of CG design.

I took the basic 3ds Max class a few years back, and I also did a summer internship at a CG company, however I just couldn't go any further than Chaper3, P76 if I try to do exactly what it says on the book. It's also not very convenient how the images are usually on the next page and not syncing with the texts. It's hard to skip and do the next step when the step includes like 20 valuable tips in there, so it gets very frustrating. Also a floor buffer? really?

ISBN: 0240815823 (Modeling for Games, 2nd Ed.: Insider's Guide to Game Character, Vehicle, and Environment Modeling: Volume I) is an extensive and very detailed handbook. It shares many similarities with the industry standard "Inside AutoCAD", and it is almost equally useful, though still sufficient and quite understandable especially for someone with a previous CADD experience. It might not be the best handbook for total novices. The explanations seem to be synonymous and clear. 3ds Max is 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software for games, film, and television development. This book is a step-by-step tutorial teaching game character, vehicle, and environment modeling. The explanations are very simple and clear - by example. Almost all tutorial pages contain from one to several illustrations - mostly program screen snapshots. The book content is self-explanatory and can serve also as a reference work on the subject.

I bought the first edition of this book and was initially going to give it two to three stars due to the terrible chapter on normal maps, written no less by a guest writer and not the author himself.

Upon seeing there was a new edition however, I ordered it and saw that it contains new material, including updates to the offending chapters and am happy to now give it 5 stars. It is a real improvement, and though the chapters have been changed since the first edition (for example, the said normal mapping is now in the later parts of the book), the content overall is top notch, and matches the selection of the subject matter making it the perfect source.

What makes this book/volume worth its weight in gold is the breath of materials it covers while still giving you the depth necessary. It assumes you already have a background in 3ds Max and is indeed a perfect complement to it after you learned the basics. Although it is intended for 3D for games as the title suggests, what you learn is applicable to all aspects of 3D, particularly topics that are the most common and fundamental in modeling that other books do not cover.

For example, one of the better books in Max is Poly-Modeling for 3DSMax, which has good content for nuances in modeling, but the forgettable lessons there are matched only by the author refusing to even discuss UV mapping when even a single chapter would have helped a lot. Ditto for other books which are either too shallow and generalized, or simply don't have enough meat. They just don't hold a candle compared to this book (now, the first volume in a set of two), which covers what you need to know while covering all necessary aspects not just for games but 3D modeling in general.

I can't wait to read the next volume.