3D Studio Max 3 Visual Quickstart Guide Book

The 3D Studio Max application is huge, and it has tremendous flexibility. The new user can easily be intimidated by the interface, even if all he or she wants to do is create some animated text. 3D Studio Max 3: Visual QuickStart Guide can help any new user get off the ground and start rendering in a matter of a few hours or less. This lightweight guide was designed from the ground up to be used by the student. It sits comfortably in one's lap, it is easy to get through and the table of contents is thorough. Too bad it doesn't have a spiral binding--the conventional book binding is the only thing keeping it from lying flat, open and accessible on one's desk. Each page contains two columns: one for step-by-step text in the form of a short tutorial, and the other for matching pictures. About half the pages have tips on things to do and things to avoid for any given topic, some of which may be new to you (using the F5, F6 or F7 commands to constrain the movement of an object to one axis, for example). "Getting Started" and "Navigation and Display" are covered in chapters one and two. The next three chapters cover creating and distorting a basic shape, followed by chapter six, "Animation". Do not underestimate these introductory chapters--there is always material to learn, and even jaded, experienced users will likely glean some new keyboard tricks. The remaining chapters, seven to 13, begin to leave the basics behind as they go into more and more detail on topics such as animation, rendering, building complex objects, texturing and using cameras and lights. There are few book series as thoughtfully produced as Peachpit Press's Visual QuickStart Guides. Each one is inexpensive, concise and informative. 3D Studio Max 3: Visual Quickstart Guide is no exception. --Mike Caputo, Amazon.comRead More