Mastering the Art of Production with 3ds max 4 (One-Off) [Paperback]

Jason Busby (Author), Michele Bousquet (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0766834700 | ISBN-13: 978-0766834705 | Publication Date: October 17, 2001 | Edition: 2

Model and animate an alien, a remote control, and a rover vehicle! Through hands-on, step-by-step tutorials and directly relevant discussions, Mastering the Art of Production with 3ds max 4 entices readers to participate in the process of taking a full 30-second animated commercial for a realistic model company - Ion Z Batteries - from concept through to completion. Developing project requirements by reviewing storyboards and planning a live video shoot for 3D element integration is just the beginning! As they progress through this thoroughly engaging and fast-paced book, readers will also experiment with various styles of modeling and skinning techniques; gain expertise using IK controllers; develop user interfaces to simplify complicated animation techniques and implement MaxScript for further animation control; create and apply global illumination; use procedure maps and PhotoShop to generate textures for objects in the scene; apply proper rendering techniques; and complete post-production editing with Discreet's Combustion. Ideal for anyone with an interest in digital art, 3D modeling, or animation, this all-inclusive introduction to contemporary industry techniques is centered on producing a professional product for a client, takes optimal advantage of leading-edge 3ds max 4 tools and options to develop a seamless character setup, and is perfect for users of all abilities.

Editorial Reviews

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: 640 pages
• Publisher: Delmar Cengage Learning; 2 edition (October 17, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0766834700
• ISBN-13: 978-0766834705
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,659,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highest Possible Recommendation., December 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Mastering the Art of Production with 3ds max 4 (One-Off) (Paperback)

When you will receive the book. You first toughts will be.
"that book is not that thick, there must be an error..."

Dont let that fool you. The book is really a big 630 pages.

I have bought other max books and this one is one of the top books i would recommend.

My recipee so far to learn max.

Visual quickstart guide for max 4. This book will get you up and running.

Modeling a caracter in 3d studio max.Different modeling techniques from Paul Steed.

And this book.

I have other ones but they do not compare to these 3 books so far.

Ok enuff of the cheap pops.

Inside you will have tons of photos, maxscripts, and a nice companion cd to boot.

Also in this amazing book you will learn:

Business side of the 3d business, do's and don'ts.
An Overview of what you should do to save time and money and to make money.

Modeling: the set up (virtual studio) tutorial alone is worth the price of the book. This set up for reference and modeling is the easiest one i have seen yet and it does not take forever to do too.

You learn many modeling techniques...box modeling..splines etc..etc...etc..

You learn max scripts and how to apply them to your works.
If you ever wondered how to make wheel turns on a car in max or how to make tank tracks turns, there is a script in the book that makes it happen.

You learn to build interfaces to animate your caracters.

You learn texturing and mapping.

And there is a cool set up for lighting that makes your animation look like real stuff not like the usual plastic look that you see in the usual 3d images.

You learn how to use enveloppes and skining and how to bone your caracters for animations.

You learn rendering and post production to combustion wich is a great tutorial by the way.

In fact this books cover most of the stuff that took me 3 other books to get info on.

I am forgetting stuff but this book is top of the line and the authors should do more books on max that way.

The only thing missing was a chapter on caracter studio. That should have been in the book since most people use caracter studio to animate their work, but they still give you the basics to make your single caracter work.

Chapter by chapter here it is:

Chapter 1: the job
Chapter 2: modeling the remote control
Chapter 3: modeling the alien
Chapter 4: modeling the rover
Chapter 5: introduction to maxscripts
Chapter 6: technical set up for thr rover
Chapter 7: skeletal set up for the alien
Chapter 8: alien skinning and defromation
Chapter 9: alien ui control system
Chapter 10: camera tracking
Chapter 11: texturing and lighting
Chapter 12: animation and rendering
Chapter 13:postproduction with combustion

There it is all you need to make a cool animation.

My highest possible recommendation!!!!!!!!!!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Max Book... Ever...., February 6, 2002

By 

Nicholas Stevenson "TwistedSheep" (Madison, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mastering the Art of Production with 3ds max 4 (One-Off) (Paperback)

Hello, I have been into the Max 4 scene for quite some time, specifically the Scifi Art and Meshes area, relating to Star Trek, Babylon 5, and as of late, there has been a lot of original work

I have been having trouble learning just how these ships take shape, modeling has always been a daunting task, and seemed just too large to overcome.. But I have bought my share of books trying to understand it...

I have tried 5 different books just trying to understand modeling, I own 2 others but for their special effects chapters...

And all 5 of the books are extremely basic and just plain sorry when it comes down to detailed modeling.. They are all skimming the surface and nothing in depth...
Something along the lines of
'Ok, now we are going to build some supports for our bridge, create a circle spline and extrude it to a value of 10', since when has bridge struts been perfect cylinders? that is why modeling has always been such a difficult task, when I try one of my books, the chapters are sooo non informative that it is frustrating, I have done quite a bit of work out of each, and I have had very minimal luck.....

Light at the end of the tunnel:
But with this book.. The tutorials are precise... it is amazing how much this book has fit into it.. I have already learned very good methods of modeling, as well as how to go about setting up a project deal, I will keep that chapter in mind when I get there, I can't speak highly enough of this book, it is a wonderful wonderful book and I am just on page 45 (I have done a bit of skimming through later chapters, but I hate looking at what it will eventually look like, makes the project kind of difficult and I cause myself to get too anxious to sit through a lot of chapters... I really think that what killed the fun of learning modeling was the lack of new things I learned with the other books I own, I am sure they would teach me a lot of I worked through them completely, but... at the rate they taught, it would have taken forever..

But anyway, I can't recommend this book enough, it is a wonderfully detailed book, well written and with a fun project to it!

I would recommend this book to everyone!
This is a must buy for any max arsenal!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best all around 3ds max book you can buy, November 28, 2001

By 

Ryan Bartusek - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mastering the Art of Production with 3ds max 4 (One-Off) (Paperback)

I have been searching for a book like this since I started learning 3ds max. It is hands down the best book I have purchased. It explains each part of a project from negociating a contract to each step of the production. I still can't believe how they could cram so much good information in so few pages (about 600). 100% recommended.