Mastering the Art of Production with 3ds Max 4

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 workI 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!

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 jobChapter 2: modeling the remote controlChapter 3: modeling the alienChapter 4: modeling the roverChapter 5: introduction to maxscriptsChapter 6: technical set up for thr roverChapter 7: skeletal set up for the alienChapter 8: alien skinning and defromationChapter 9: alien ui control systemChapter 10: camera trackingChapter 11: texturing and lightingChapter 12: animation and renderingChapter 13:postproduction with combustionThere it is all you need to make a cool animation.My highest possible recommendation!!!!!!!!!!!

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.