Customer Reviews

Sams Teach Yourself 3D Studio MAX 2 in 14 Days

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

 

 

This book struck me as a rushed product that could have used some proofreading. Some text doesn't match the illustrations or the files on the accompanying CDROM. The goal of the book seems to simply demonstrate, step-by-step, a sampling of the functions of the program, without really focusing on "why" or "when" you would use any given technique.

I was familiar with truespace already and thought "I'm sure I can figure max out without tutorials or reference books." I was wrong. This book gives you all the material you need to get up and going to create, modify, and conceptualize 3d ideas. I highly recommend purchasing one of the more advanced manuals in addition however, as you will want to delve into certain sections in more detail than what is presented here. The manual is dry, to the point, and unimaginative in my view, but it does what it says and that is really all that matters.

Overall, the book is a good place to start learning the basics of 3DS MAX2. The tutorials are easy to follow, and the descriptions of the program's functions are clear.

There are some problems, however. Graphics in the text are mislabeled, in the wrong places, or simply incorrect. The included CD's structure is not set up as it's described in the book, leaving the user to hunt for files. Some of the texture files used in the tutorials are missing. I had to recreate one textures to complete one of the tutorials, and in one of the tutorials in the camera chapter, a number of textures were missing from the model (this was particularly funny, since a few chapters earlier, the book went into detail on how to keep this from happening).

If you have some experience in 3D and want to get up to speed fast on MAX2, this book is a good place to start. If you're new to 3D, this book will help you get going, but you may find some of the errors and omissions a little confu! sing.

This book does a decent job showing you the many possibilities of 3D Studio Max 2.5, though it doesn't do to good a job teaching it to you. The author could have applied more time to his mini-tutorials to actually make them a tad exciting, rather than making nonsense shapes. And, like the first reviewer said, there are many flaws in the book. Most of these flaws can be fixed through a little rearranging, but it gets very annoying when things on the CD don't work! Most all of the materials are gone and it seems the whole CD is messed up. All in all it's a decent book to get started, although, it's definitely not the best!

Do not purchase this book if you are attempting to learn how to apply 3D Max in some kind of useful way. It has, for the most part, kept me in a constant state of confusion by way of cryptic instructions and a CD that may or may not match up with the text. Disappointing, to say the least.

This is a damn good book for beginners. It teaches the basics. The f/x series of books will take you to the next level after understanding the basics described in this book.

I read the book and thought it did a great job of teaching all the tools necesscary to effectively utilize the software.

The title of the book is a misnomer. That at least according to the table of contents, which describes the newer version, R 2.5. Throughout the entire text as well as the introduction and summaries lies an unresolved conflict of content. Just which version of 3D Studio Max this book covers is a mystery to an owner of just the R 2.5 version. The reference to the software this book is unsuccessfuly trying to teach, is fickle at best. The amount of times R2 and R2.5 are traded for one another is dizzying.

Responses from the publishing company did not serve to clear up this most basic question. The first email informed me that this book covers version 2.0 only. The second email which came from a completely different department having no knowledge of the first response, informed me that the book covers 2.5.

For the reader who has little or no experience in either two or three dimensional computer modeling, don't buy this book. The information is confusing and the lessons just scantly cover the subject.

Though the characters were a little flat I found the intertwining plot lines surrounding the basic primitives, keframes and texture maps to be full of go for the throat action. And the parts with the "Animate Button" were just dreamy.

This book is good as a tutorial. However, the step-by-step procedures are something that could be found elsewhere. This book is a poor reference book. One minor oversight is a lack of button pictures. If you are new to 3dsm, like me, it doesn't help a whole lot when the step-by-step directions refer to a button by name while the GUI only displays this name in a tool tip when you mouse over the button. It makes for a tedious and frustrating learning process. In short, you get what you paid for: moderate price and moderate lessons.