The Art of Low Polygon Count Modeling [With CDROM]

The book will show you enough to know how to make a model and UV map the thing and to be honest when your new and want to get into modding games or somthing thats all you care about however in a way I agree with the ones that were unhappy with this book in regards to the fact that you do the same thing over and over but when your new thats all you do anyways so if you want to get your feet wet and "have the EXTRA money" go ahead and buy the thing it will teach somthing you didn't know.MAYBE:) Everyone has to start somewhere!!!!

This book seems to be targeted at beginning to intermediate game artists. The only assumption it makes is that you know how to use your modeler of choice. The book is written to be software independent, although the only samples provided on the CD are for 3D Studio Max.The book takes you through the creation of a wide range of models, including a barbarian, a female marine, a couple of cartoonish characters, a horse, several vehicles, and a weapon. For each model, you are shown the step-by-step details at every phase of creation, including creating the concept art, turning the concept art into a base model, sculpting the model to it's final form, creating a UV map, and then texturing. Lots of screenshots are included (they take up about half of the book) making it easy to follow along.Although the book is definitely useful to someone just starting out in modeling, it seems a little light on content. The fact that so many different models are used - some of which are similar to each other - means that a lot of the information is repeated. I would have preferred fewer models with unique attributes, and more space spent on different methods or tips and tricks.Overall, though, I was happy with the book. If you're just getting started in game modeling, and want to see a lot of detailed examples of model creation, this book is definitely worth a look.

This book is easy to read and understand. I had no knowledge of how to model 3D characters until I read this book. The authors are clearly very talented professionals. I found that the CD contained models that I could learn from and incorporate into my projects. This could easily be a standard training book in graphic design and programming schools. I look forward to their next book and would purchase it without hesitation.