Customer Reviews

Essential CG Lighting Techniques with 3ds Max, Second Edition (Focal Press Visual Effects and Animation)

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

 

 

I'm an architect and i needed some book that actually focused on several types of ilumination for architectural visualization, and this book has it, it's divided in 4 parts, theory, techniques, tips and tricks and taking it further. I like that it has the light theory, an essential part to understand how light actually works in nature.

I've only read the theory, and i've browsed some other chapters and the explanations are very clear, very easy to follow and understand, any new or veteran user of 3ds Max will feel comfortable reading this book; lots of pictures to see in full color.

I'm not a professional lighting artist, I've been learning 3ds max for a few years, part-time. I've read several books and tutorials about changing a GI photon value from 1 to 10 or ajusting the spotlight faloff to 150, but I needed a book which gave me an integrated and comparative look on the various lighting techniques and methodologies 3ds max has to offer. This book does just that. It doesn't set out to explain every single button or value, it gives you the essencials about the way the various techniques work,not just by explaining sequentially scanline render, advanced lighting or mental ray, but also by transmitting good insight on production methods and light theory..The book explains the main parameters you have to adjust in order to make each technique work, and the pros and cons of every one of those. Obviously, apart from the tutorials in this book, you'll have to play with the values and learn the finer details for yourself. For me it was a great sistematization of all 3ds max lighting techniques, and I'm no longer baffled by the variety of ways I can use to light a scene, because I understood which techique works better in which situation.

I've been reviewing several books on lighting and rendering, in both Max and Maya, and from the reviews here I was expecting something a little better in this book.

The content about Max was slim pickings. It said almost nothing about most of the optional renderers like Vray and Brazil, just about a page each on those. Apart from that, there was general info from the manual.

The sections about how to actually light a scene were weak. It goes over basics of approaches like three point lighting, but I didn't find much in this book that deepened my understanding of how to actually light, it just looked like generalizations that could have been copied from older books.

I bought this book in hopes of improving my lighting skills in 3D Max. So far, it's more informational than instructional. I agree that there are a lot of intriguing images throughout the book, but the content doesn't give enough direction.

Still, if you want to learn more about lighting in 3D Max, this book covers more than most books do these days. It WILL tell you why lights react the way they do in your scene, as well as where you should insert your lights in order to render an interesting scene.

It is a good book. It really helps to understand different notions about the cg lighting. Well structured and uses everyday language.
Tutorials are good, sometimes maybe to long, but they help to structure and have an overview of the matter.
I recommend the book to everyone who want to have an understanding of how to set up lights in 3dsmax with maximum efficiency.

Now some of the information was extremely useful, especially if you know nothing at all about lighting. But there is nothing in this book that you couldnt find from a training DVD from Gnomon or something like that. Another thing is, I had to request 2 brand new DVDs because each one was missing a lot of models and textures. 3rd DVD yielded a flawless one and I was able to complete all of the tutorials. If you know nothing about CG Lighting, its worth a look at, if you have a minor understanding, you may want to look into Gnomon or something along those lines.

Not exactly what I was looking for. I was looking for a book that would guide me through the pit falls but what I received was a mish mash of vague ideas and then there were comments like, "I hope you see that this stuff is great." It was like reading molasses. Please learn to create outlines and procedural steps. Everything in this book can be learned from online tutorials and the 3DS Max help and tutorial system.

If you like pretty pictures you might buy this as a coffee book but don't expect to get any real tips as to how to get up to speed making those images.

An ok book but for me this was very basic stuff and would suit someone starting out in 3d lighting.

Advanced user aren't going to learn anything revolutionary, but over all this is a good beginner/intermediate level guide to CG lighting. As with many other Focal Press titles, much of this book's contents are covered in Max 9's own tutorials and user reference.

This is a good looking book with full color prints. One of the tutorials was highlighted in 3D Magazine as an example of 3 point lighting. I experienced some difficulty with some files when I tried to use the radiosity plugin. Also, one tutorial has missing files. The instructions kind of jumble together in think prose. Not easy to follow. The material, however, touches on light theory, shadows, HDI, and renderers. The HDI tutorial is a good one to introduce you to the concept and yes, HDI maps are included. I think this is a good cocktail table book. Nice discussions and great graphics. Can't take learning specifics about Max lights seriously. But good discussion and some good examples.