Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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!!!!!!!!!!!

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!

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.

All I have to say is wonderful book Jason Busby and Michele Bousquet. Very concise and in depth. It covers absouletly everything and I mean everything from the beginning to the end of what a 3D production is and how to get it done.
I honestly can't put it down, it's an amazing resource.

Kudos!!

What an impressive book! This thing has everything... modeling, character setup, skinning, sophisticated material design, MAXScript, animation, rendering tips, and post-production (a full chapter on Combustion!). There are even Photoshop tutorials on the CD along with great information on net rendering. This book is excelletly executed. It has been a complete joy to work through. I wish other authors would pick up on this type of book and write more books like it. Mastering holds your hand through every step of a complete production and it does it well! I've learned quite a bit and hope to see other books like this.

I was a total newbie when I bought this book, and it have really made me improve in almost every aspect that must be known in 3ds max. Of course if you already know advanced techniques you'll probably get bored with the book. In the animation aspect I think is a bit short (talking about teaching you how to simulate motion like the walking cicle for the alien and so.)But the tutorials in modeling are excellent and very easy to understand.
I really don't know if this is useful but I must say that I completed this tutorials with 3ds max 5 and there was no problem.

This is a good book overall. It basically takes you through the whole book like you are a professional 3d Artist and you have just received a job from a major company to design a commercial. The book takes you step by step through the whole process from design, to the final render.

In my opinion this book is not the idea book for beginners. It was my first book to buy, and after finsishing it I sat at my desk wondering to my self, "What now?" It explains everything well, but it only explains a tool for the purpose of using it in the example givin. So when you finsh the book, you know how to do the things in the book, but as for creating something other then what is givin your left in the dark. Mainly because you only know how to use a certain tool for a certain object. The lighting section is very week too. After completing this book I still have no clue on how to light a scene properly. So I say if your a Newbie to 3d Studio, get another book first. Then come back and get this book.

Everyone is diferent in the way they learn. But you should definetly buy this book some time in your life.

Books are really good friends, as no body taught me 3ds max i solely rely on good books.I am working on max for the past two years and i am just mad about it.At this stage in max where i need really something advanced, "Mastering the Art of Production" is upto my expectations, since i had already read the book "Harnessing 3D" written by the same author, so i was expecting the same good level.The initial knowledge about cliental agreement written by the author is very appreciating & after finishing the book you can say that you really know something in 3ds Max.
If you want to go with my advice you should really need this book.

This book to me is the greatest book I had ever bought.
I bought the combo. Mastering the Art of Production with 3ds max 4 and Modeling a Character in 3DS Max. These two books are the greatest books on the face of the earth. I opened up Mastering the Art of Production with 3ds max 4, and In the first few tutorials I can now actually box model. It has step-by-step tutorials from begining to end. The greatest tutorials for 3ds Max. I am happy that I have bought this book. It is the greatest book ever. If I could go higher I would rate it 5+.

I am a beginner of Max here myself. I found no difficulty following the tutorials in this book at all.
It's a great book with plain English, clear step-by-step tutorials. But,if you are a 100% newbie of 3ds Max, I'd suggest you to read "3ds max 4 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide" first for the basic concept & familiarity with the interface.
Once you feel comfortable with 3ds Max UI & tools, you can jump into this book for more serious stuffs. Otherwise, you might mess up like one of the reviewers here.