Modeling a Character in 3DS Max, Second Edition (Wordware Game Developer's Library) [Paperback]

Paul Steed (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 155622088X | ISBN-13: 978-1556220883 | Publication Date: January 10, 2005 | Edition: 2nd

In this update to his best-selling character modeling book, professional modeler and animator Paul Steed shares a number of tips, tricks, and techniques that have made him one of the industry s most recognized 3D artists. Modeling a Character in 3ds max, Second Edition provides readers a professional-level skill set as it chronicles the creation of a single low-poly real-time character from concept to texture mapping, and gives insight into the process of creating a high-resolution character. Learn how to: Model with primitives, Use extrusions and Booleans, Mirror and reuse models, Optimize the mesh, Create and apply textures, Loft shapes

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Paul Steed is widely considered to be the dominant 3D game modeler and animator in the business. He has worked in the computer game industry for nearly 14 years, and is currently the Creative Director for Xbox at Microsoft. His career spans six companies and over 15 shipped titles or online products. Most well-known for his character models, animations, and plan files while at id Software (Quake II, Quake III Arena, and Quake III Team Arena), he also worked on the Wing Commander series at Origin Systems. As a producer at WildTangent, he used the Internet to unleash a small but popular online-delivered, Tempest-inspired third-person shooter called Betty Bad. His popular dancing girl visualizers that work with the Winamp plug-in remain some of the most highly downloaded pieces of content. Steed has written articles for Game Developer magazine and tutorials for his "Thinking Outside the Box" column on Loonygames.com. He is a frequent speaker at the annual Game Developer Conference and is into-high polygon women, his family, his truck, and playing pool.

Product Details

• Paperback: 584 pages
• Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Publishers; 2nd edition (January 10, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155622088X
• ISBN-13: 978-1556220883
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #616,305 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bad Book, October 7, 2002

By 

Norman Hechavarria "Eyes Open" (Fort Wayne, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Modeling a Character in 3DS Max (Paperback)

I purchased this book after skimming it over in a local store. I wish I had taken a closer look at it. I just came off a 2 week break from work and school. During my break I decided to work on a new model and following along with Mr. Steed's book. This turned out to be frustration hell. The methods in his book are fine if you are into wasting alot of time. Boolean and splines to make a simple character like the one in his book actually doubles your work. You wind up wasting more time cleaning up the errors from following his tutorial. Why he didn't demonstrate the way MOST people in the industry model, which is box modeling, is beyond me. He basicly tries to reinvent the wheel. I found much better tutorials for FREE on the web. Save yourself from learning bad modeling techniques. I happen to also know that Paul Steed DOES NOT model the way presented in the book. This should raise a red flag or two.

32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Does exactly what it sets out to do...and a bit more :), October 16, 2001

By 

Camilla "millavk" (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Modeling a Character in 3DS Max (Paperback)

If you're new to character modelling and have an entry-level grasp of the 3D Studio Max interface this book was designed for you, without a doubt. If you're more advanced you will very likely get a lot out of it as well, as it's a medley of different techniques and riddled with very helpful hints, but really this book is tailor-made for the novice.

Paul has made a point of screen-dumping every step, every dialogue, and making explicit the reasoning behind what he teaches. This makes for a detailed and clear step-by-step map of the process and methods he uses to create his characters.

I should add that Studio users may have some difficulty and would be well-advised to familiarise themselves with the Max interface before tackling this one, but unless you know every possible route to character creation it's probably worth the effort.

A nice touch is the sprinkling of anecdotal gems thrown in. Steed has had a very public career as a character modeller/animator, and there are a few excellent star-studded stories in the mix as well as the actual education.

If you want something that you can sit in your lap and work through you want this book. I recommend this book unreservedly to anyone interested in pursuing this branch of digital art. The design chapter of the book alone is invaluable to you, let alone the technical side, and Paul is amply qualified to hold forth on the subject matter.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth it, November 15, 2004

By 

Guy Dufour (Petite-Rivière-St-François, Quebec Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modeling a Character in 3DS Max (Paperback)

I'm sorry but this book is written with 3ds max 3 in mind (editable mesh). If you want to model a character today I cannot insist more not to buy this book. I strongly suggest investing your hard-earned dollars on 3ds max 6 animation by barret fox because his way to model a character is much better and in a ~350pages book he even show how to create a scenario, how to rig + animate your characters and the after-production retouches with combustion 3. sorry for my english!