Harnessing 3D Studio MAX Release 3 [Paperback]

Michele Bousquet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 23, 2000 | ISBN-10: 076680576X | ISBN-13: 978-0766805767 | Edition: 1

Finally! The essential guide to understanding 3D Studio MAX® is here. This comprehensive field-tested new text teaches the commands and concepts of 3D Studio MAX. The style and sequence of instruction uses lessons that build upon one another to make learning MAX easy and enjoyable. MAX applications are reinforced through tutorials and exercises that link to drawing files and AVIs on an accompanying CD-ROM. There are workbook-style questions and exercises at the end of each section. This book allows all 3D Studio MAX enthusiasts to learn at their own pace. Questions and worksheets reinforce your progress along the way.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

3D Studio Max 3 is an enormous program that can easily intimidate a new user. The dense interface, sliding windows filled with options, and array of modeling and rendering options can form a jungle in which one is easily lost. Fortunately, in Harnessing 3D Studio Max: Release 3, we have a trustworthy, experienced guide.

Author Michele Bousquet is that rare combination of talented user, experienced instructor, and outstanding writer. New Max users are lucky that she has penned a book that not only covers all Max basics, but does so in words that aren't couched in jargon. For some users, even the Max manuals and tutorial booklet are a bit murky. This book illuminates Max's features in a clear, bright light.

In just over 800 pages, every important feature is covered: introduction to the Max interface, different modeling methods, applying materials, cameras and lighting, animation, rendering, and special effects. Missing, however, is a section on MaxScript, the software's powerful scripting feature. Still, this book is geared toward new users of Max, and using MaxScript presumably isn't their first priority.

A generous use of screenshots and a well-spaced text layout make this book easy to read, and each chapter features tutorials on the topic at hand. An important feature of the book is the set of review questions at the end of each chapter, making this an excellent curriculum guide for those teaching Max.

The enclosed CD-ROM includes all the files used in the book, including textures, but it also includes a wide variety of plug-ins, texture maps, and a document listing Web-based Max resources.

This is not a book for someone who knows his or her way around Max. But for users new to the program, or struggling with it and now feeling lost in the jungle, Harnessing 3D Studio Max might be just the ticket to clarity. --Mike Caputo

About the Author

Michele Bousquet is the owner of Many Worlds Productions, an online shop specializing in hard-to-find items for 3D Studio MAX and Character Studio users. She is a graduate of McGill University and was the winner of the Big Kahuna Award in training/education in 2000.

Product Details

• Paperback: 864 pages
• Publisher: Delmar Cengage Learning; 1 edition (March 23, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076680576X
• ISBN-13: 978-0766805767
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,081,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teaching Assistant Supreme, May 1, 2000

By 

David Conroy (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harnessing 3D Studio MAX Release 3 (Paperback)

I am a professor of Industrial Design at Pratt Institute, and teach 3D Studio along side a CAD program for product development and visualization. It is impossible in this curriculum to teach 3D Studio in a comprehensive manner. I have been using Harnessing 3d Studio Max to enhance my teaching and allow the interested student to learn beyond the course work. I have found this book to be an excellent self-teaching book, written in an easy to follow language, with appropriate examples and step-by-step construction techniques. A thorough contents page allows you to find previously read sections, making this book a frequent reference. Michelle writes in a human voice, anticipating the many questions of the new user. I have enjoyed the book to further my own understanding of the program and to learn techniques that have previously escaped me. I recommend this text to anyone learning 3D Studio Max on their own.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Harnessing 3dStudio MAX 3, April 13, 2000

By 

Steve Beck - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harnessing 3D Studio MAX Release 3 (Paperback)

If you are a 3DSTUDIO MAX user with over a weeks experince this book is not for you. This book is very very basic interms of examples and explenations as the Fundamentals book released last August. The back cover suggest tutorials for intermediate to advanced. An example of this is the tornado scene. It merely looks like a fade in the paper, resembling nothign of a tornado. The sunset scene tutorial is the basic tutorial floating around the web since the release of 3DStudio MAX release 1.2. Overall I have ot rate this book low because the other dozen max3 books to date has far exceeded this book in quality of its teachings.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I read every page!, December 16, 2000

By 

Cynthia L. (Kansas City, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harnessing 3D Studio MAX Release 3 (Paperback)

As a new user to 3d Studio Max, I had previously purchased 3d Studio Max Workshop and made it half way through the book but lost interest since I found the workshop model that you follow through the entire book to be completely uninspiring for me despite the positive reviews of that book. After a few days of not wanting to open Max on my pc and feeling pretty defeated, I borrowed Harnessing 3d Studio Max 3 from a friend and now don't want to return it. The book must be read from the beginning to the end since the tutorials build from previous chapters. I savored every word and found there was a tutorial every 2-3 pages. I loved the book and now after 800 pages feel like I can move around Max with some confidence and am better able to look for more advanced books that will focus on specifically what I want to accomplish with Max. The book is written as though it's a course book for teaching Max to students. The book's forward says there is a companion workbook you can order through AutoDesk Press that expands on the chapter tutorials. I would definitely would like that. It is definitely a beginners book but if you have been frustrated with Max and are willing to spend some time with a 800 page book I would definitely recommend this book!