Customer Reviews

3ds max 4 Magic (Magic (New Riders))

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

 

 

Max4 Magic builds upon the its earlier edition for Max3. The 13 tutorials are well set out and easy to read, you can put it down and pick it back up where you left off with ease. Well constructed and clear presentation giving details only where necessary and not dealing too much with basics. I was highly delighted with the book and CD and feel it a worthy addition to anyones library. Recommended for 3ds Max fans

Definitely I give this book 5 stars, and mostly because it's not a tired treatise on the POTENTIALITY of what can be done with Max 4, but gives practical, workman-like exercises that provide an excellent jumping-off point. Given the burgeoning explosion in animation techonology, there is still only limited, specialized groups of professionals working to provide clear, concise instruction in these books and bring in new artists who will expand the medium with powerful ideas and fresh perspectives. The book is fast and lean, looks good, and approaches Max 4 like it's a TOOL to unlock your imagination, which it is. You can look at '3d Max 4 Magic' like the old Chemistry 101 text Ash uses in the ARMY OF DARKNESS movie. It's all about application, baby.

I rented the last max magic book out from my college library; now working as a 3d artist I decided to buy this latest book. A fine improvement on the last max magic book, this one delves deeper inside max 4 and explains how and why every step should be taken. New features such as parameter wiring are used, and the cd is a wealth of information. This being said, one or two of the chapters do let the side down ever so slightly, mainly due to the end result not being too hot, but the techniques you learn through these chapters are what this book is all about.

Heartily recommended! Well done to the Max 4 Magic team!

If you are an intermediate level Max user, 3ds max 4 Magic, is a great resource. With concise and to the point directions, full color illustrations and tutorials that cover a wide range of Max's capabilities, this book can guide you to the next level. This book is not for a beginner. The authors assume that the reader is familiar with all of the tool sets available, at least to the extent of knowing where to look. Although the time that I have invested in this book's tutorials has been technically demanding the wow factor has made it well worthwhile.

3ds max 4 magic is full-colour, glossy and packed with 13 projects covering a variety of common tasks, individually written by professional 3D artists. There are detailed chapters on for example simulating flowing water (without expensive plugins), creating realistic underwater scenes, using the new max 4 IK, churning out textures for games, and even a bit of camera matching. And as usual, they are detailed enough to be usefull but advanced enough not to be patronising and time-wasting for the experienced reader, for whom the book is intended.

The small critisism I may have centers around the lighting effects in certain chapters. They seem somewhat basic, explaining much to very little effect. In general though, the tutorials do expand on many of max 4's new features - and the accompanying CD features bonus materials and projects from those authors that got a little carried away. Good stuff!

I found this book to be really useful and inspiring, as it shows how to get the most out of the features in Max 4, and uses high-quality models and animation in the tutorials. I've often been slumped at trying to create good-looking water, but the tutorials in this book on trickling water and the surface of an ocean gave me ideas I will use in my own animations. I also really liked the mechanical chapter, finally a good explanation of all those cool new controllers. Considering the earlier review, well, sometimes you find a book that covers the kind of topics you're interested in, and sometimes you don't. In this case, I certainly did.

Some good tutorials, some really bad. Just like the first book its not written by designers but more by those techie guys who do beta testing :) But I got something out of it anyway.

This book concentrates on about 10 different features of 3ds Max and does a step-by-step explanation of them. The value in this approach was that it guides you through an unknown area of max very methodically. On the down side, the extra verbiage might be unappealing for someone that's more fluent with the program. As a student using the program for the first time, it allowed me to very quickly expand my capabilities. This should be a companion to another more comprehensive book. Includes final movies of the projects covered so you can compair your work.

I bought this book straight away after the being very happy with 3dmax 3 magic which had a mixture of great, quality projects to work through with only a few pretty poor, cheesy ones. This new version for max 4 must have been rushed out because most of the projects here are very average at best.

I recently purchased this box and have been extremely disappointed. The projects are extremely interesting and detailed, if you can complete them. Out of the 6 projects I have tried, I have not been able to complete any of the them. Problems range from not getting the correct colors and textures to appear after following the steps listed to "intuitive" steps that are not listed that I evidently don't know. There is "help" available from the book's authors, if you can get a response, and they don't always know what is wrong. Overall, I have not found this to be a helpful book.