3ds max Animation and Visual Effects Techniques (Charles River Media Graphics) [Paperback]

Sanford Kennedy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 27, 2003 | Series: Charles River Media Graphics

Written for professional and advanced users, 3ds max Advanced Animation Techniques is based on an actual film project that required a variety of visual effects and advanced animation techniques. Models from the film are used in the tutorials to explore animation techniques and concepts. In addition to the detailed coverage of animation in 3ds max, the entire production process from story concept, and final layoff of the finished animation, to motion picture film are covered. Advanced 3ds max techniques and topics are also covered.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sanford Kennedy (Los Angeles, CA) is an author, animator, and designer, with Bachelor's degrees in Fine Arts, History, and Industrial Technology. He has worked in Hollywood special effects since 1977, and computer animation since 1994. Over the years he has worked on 54 movies and numerous commercials. He now owns a computer animation studio in Los Angeles and teaches 3D Computer Animation at the Otis College of Art and Design. He has written over 100 articles and co-authored six books on 3D computer animation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 474 pages
• Publisher: Charles River Media; Bk&CD-Rom edition (March 27, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584502266
• ISBN-13: 978-1584502265
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,808,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!, June 2, 2003

By 

"mangocheese" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 3ds max Animation and Visual Effects Techniques (Charles River Media Graphics) (Paperback)

Up-to-date sprung to my mind when I skipped through this book. It follows the paradigm of building a short animated film from scratch using all the latest features of 3ds Max 5.1 and Character Studio 4. It even has a chapter devoted to Combustion 2.1. Some of the chapters I was most impressed with were the human body modelling chapters. Finally someone has added a FULL tutorial on how to model a human body from scratch! The effects chapters are amazing too, thick, hollywood explosion techniques! Woohoo! I would say this book is aimed for someone who has used Max for quite sometime and knows a little about modelling. But I recommend this book to anyone that has Max!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A great book if you aspire to make cheesey renderings and FX, March 4, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: 3ds max Animation and Visual Effects Techniques (Charles River Media Graphics) (Paperback)

This book presents a good overview of the CG industry, with a few topics I've not found elsewhere. However, it is discouraging to work through a book that is filled with cheesey looking renderings. That's right, horrible. I don't mean to flame or be destructive in my criticism, but if you could only see the color plates contained in this book, you would treat the author with skepticism at best. I still can't understand how someone who obviously knows the tools he uses very well, i.e. MAX and Combustion, can turn out such B-rated models and renderings. This book is a good example that no matter how much technical knowledge you have, computer software, no matter how advanced, will never make up for an utter lack of artistic talent. Sanford Kennedy is very technically knowledgeable but his artistic skills are virtually noexistant. Try checking his website for an example of the 'great' renderings you can aspire to if you buy this book. 90% of the pages aren't even up, or have been under construction since 2001. www.sanfordkennedy.com

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Appalling..., May 5, 2004

By 

Sean Forsyth (Dublin, Dublin Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 3ds Max 6 Animation and Visual Effects Techniques (Graphics Series) (Charles River Media Graphics) (Paperback)

This is appalling, the models are terrible, the animation amateurish, and the texturing ugly (horrible misuse of procedural textures). Avoid if you can, there are many fine books on Max, this is NOT one of them.