AutoCAD 2000 3D f/x and design: Elevate your AutoCAD 2000 designs to the next level [Paperback]

Brian Matthews (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 1999

Provides the incentive for more experimentation with the powerful modeling and editing capabilities built into 3D Studio. Overview of methods, procedures, and results attainable with the combination of AutoCAD and 3D Studio VIZ. Provides intermediate to advanced readers with an easy-to-follow, step-by-step format of the capabilities and AutoCAD and 3D design.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Using AutoCAD 2000 for rendering 3-D images is a discipline unto itself, and thanks to books like AutoCAD 2000 3D F/X and Design, users can find insights into this aspect of the popular CAD application with a minimum of trial and error.

AutoCAD is an enormous program, but because this book focuses on just one aspect of it, the author is able to explore 3-D rendering and explain it with depth and clarity. In three parts, the book covers learning to work with 3-D drawings, including coordinate systems and perspective views. Part II details the creation and editing of 3-D models, and explores the relationship between geometric modeling, surface modeling, and solid modeling.

Part III is the section that everyone wants, for it discusses the rendering tools and how to render 3-D models from AutoCAD. Although this is the shortest section, it is impossible to optimize your understanding of it without mastering all the material that precedes it. The book explains setting up scenes, using bitmap 2-D textures mapped to your 3-D model, attaching materials by color or by object, and using the landscape tools.

Like any mature program, AutoCAD 2000 is capable of some beautiful and accurate 3-D rendered images, as some of the color plates in the book clearly demonstrate.

The accompanying CD-ROM contains all the original project drawings used throughout the book, as well as evaluation versions of JASC Paint Shop Pro and Mech-Q drafting utilities. This is a handy volume for intermediate and advanced users looking to improve the quality of their 3-D rendered images. --Mike Caputo

From the Back Cover

Elevate your AutoCAD 2000 designs to the next level! With more than 250 illustrations accompanying hundreds of techniques, AutoCAD 2000 3D f/x and design helps you master AutoCAD 2000 and opens your door to the 3D world. Using an illustrative, project-based format, you'll create basic forms of 3D: wireframe, surface, and solid models. Learn how to apply rendering techniques and use color, materials, light, and texture for more realistic effects. You'll bring your designs to life by adding animation and sound to your images. Master the different model-viewing methods and view your 3D models from all angles. This book also shows you how to place your creations in other documents and how to send them over the Internet. AutoCAD 2000 f/x and design gives you the information to:
Visualize and work in three dimensions.
Extrude and revolve 2D polylines into 3D solid objects.
Join and edit primitives to form 3D models.
Produce multiview and pictorial drawings from 3D solids.
Create section views and intersections.
Place views in paper space and set up and control viewports.
Link images into drawings and place images and sound into presentation documents
The CD-ROM includes:
More than 100 original project drawings, image files, and sound files to help you work through the book's 3D projects.
Trial versions of today's hottest software, including JASC Paint Shop Pro and Mech-Q drafting utilities.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 500 pages
• Publisher: Coriolis Group Books (September 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576104060
• ISBN-13: 978-1576104064
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,333,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE best book on AutoCAD 3D, May 21, 2000

By 

"jmaybury" - See all my reviews

This review is from: AutoCAD 2000 3D f/x and design: Elevate your AutoCAD 2000 designs to the next level (Paperback)

This is by far-and-away the best book I have read on the subject of AutoCAD 3D. The book was a joy to work through from beginning to end, covering so many aspects (many of which other authors neglect to cover), all of which add up to produce a first class book and subsequently a well rounded course - everything you need to confidently tackle 3D CAD.

BUY IT.

1.0 out of 5 stars just a rewrite of the manual, August 22, 2003

By 

stephen (El Cerrito, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: AutoCAD 2000 3D f/x and design: Elevate your AutoCAD 2000 designs to the next level (Paperback)

This is probably the worst technical book I have ever read. The author simply covers the commands of the software without any insight. There is a total lack of fluidity between the sections--each one seems to have been written by a different individual who doesn't care what was said before or will be covered later. Lots of boring repetition without purpose and very dry humor. If you still would like to buy one, BUY MINE.