3ds Max 8 Essentials (Paperback)

~ Autodesk (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A thorough tome...(it) will take you through the key features of this powerful tool, saving you days of trial and error experimentation." - Imagine magazine

Book Description

3ds max boasts over 200,000 users!

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Product Details

• Paperback: 776 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press (December 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240807901
• ISBN-13: 978-0240807904
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #884,682 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Starter Guide and Workbook., January 27, 2006

By	R. Sprague - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Though most of the book is a repeat of previous material from the Courseware Fundamentals text, I found the book well organized and clearly written for NEW or BEGINNING students who wish to learn how to use 3ds max in a logical and well structured approach. The lessons are written to help the user understand the approach to animation, not just how the software tool functions and will help users to better grasp how the software fits into a broad scheme of creating animation. All basic functional areas are touched except reactor and particles, but these are dealt with adequately in the online reference and tutorial manuals that accompany the software package if you are an experienced user. However, for most people who are just starting out in 3D animation, the online tutorials may be somewhat advanced and expect the user to already be familiar with the interface. In that case, 3ds max 8 Essentials is a great place to start if you have never before worked with an animation software application.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hands on for beginners, March 29, 2006

By	Na Merritt (South Africa) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am new to the world of 3d and have no clue with regards to a 3d environment. My company bought 3ds Max 8 and have also sent me on a course to "get-up-to-speed" quickly. Before the course started I thought I would purchase this book so that I do not look like a total novice on the course. What I love about the book is that it explains concepts and then moves into a practicle aspects of what it explained. At all times I knew exatly what I had to do (as they have many screen dumps) and I never found myself looking for a button or a tab (which I often find myself doing with training matterial). I have completed the book and have attended 2 days of the 3ds Max course. To my amazement I would say that I am compentent at this stage of the course.
To conclude: I think that attending a course is always the best way of learning (if you have a great facilitator) BUT this costs a lot of money. If money is an issue I can highly recommend this book to learn the basics of 3ds Max 8. I hope that they bring out another book that is more indepth.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great intro Book, March 28, 2006

By	Derek Elliott - See all my reviews

This is a good introduction to Max. The book is clearly written and is a great starting point to those new to Max. The theory of the techniques are covered well and the tutorials are simple and thorough enough so it doesn't seem as though they are just asking you to press buttons.

It does lack a little in the demonstration of the new features of max 8 such as pelt (there's only a brief description on it), and does teach some old techniques such as boolean and shape modeling which are used infrequently today.

Overall it's a great text for beginners and I'll be recommending it to the students in my 3d classes.