Books ?

[Mr. Jones]

I read 3Ds Max Media Animation, and I thought it was a pretty book. Its very well put together and has some really nice projects. It doesn't deal with character animation but will help you get your feet wet in 3Ds max.

[Xilica]

you got any local books stores like Barnes and Nobles (a huge book store chain the USA)? if you do you should check one of them out and browse through the 3d graphics section and i bet you'll find a book there on what you want :thumbsup:

[Eleven]

well i live in holland, so the selection available here is very limited -_-" i just order from amazon

[Mr. Jones]

Amazon has just as many books on 3Ds max, then Barnes and Nobles. Just check out their site and do a search on 3Ds studio max in the book section.

amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com)

[Eleven]

yeah i know been there but they had a crap load :P so i figured i'd ask some of the people here what they thought was a good book

[Aaron]

I posted this in response to alaklij when he asked about books to reccomend for his students. These are the max books I own and my thoughts on them =) I hope this helps!

-------

My school doesn't provide us with access to the book that shipped with max (if they do, I know not of it), but I bought 4 max books for my first class, so I've got a pretty good range to choose from. Each book is only 3 feet away from me even as I type -- I use each book on a regular basis, each one having its strengths and weaknesses.

Here's a quick rundown:

Mastering the Art of Production with 3ds max 4
Jason Busby and Michelle Bousquet

Very good, detailed text that covers a mock commission job from conception (weak end of the text) to modeling (moderately strong) to texturing (weak) to rigging (very strong) to rendering and even a little post production in combustion (camera matching, colour correction, etc).

The book's strongest section, IMHO, is the rigging section. They use standard max bones with a skin modifier -- this was the section I bought the book for, because relative to the other books I bought, it kicks ass =) The modeling section is passable, but the texturing section is all procedural -- it's not bad, it's just not good if you want to learn detailed texturing.

It also has some maxscript tutorials that even a programing dimwit could understand. Good stuff.

I give this book an 8/10 rating =)

Mastering 3ds max 4
Cat Woods, Alexander Bicalho, with Chris Murray

This was my first max book, and with good reason. It takes you from absolute complete novice level to pretty mid-level stuff in only 950 pages =)

The modeling chapters cover the different approaches (nurbs, box, spline cage) with varying degrees of success, but the strongest section is the spline caging chapter. It gives you a rundown on the creation of a human face from splines and shapes. While it's not the best method, and the tutorial is by no means perfect, it IS a good starting point -- I remember the trouble I had with learning to do spline cages, and this book really helped me in that department. The texturing chapter is pretty good (it explains almost every field in decent depth); the rendering and lighting chapters are pretty solid, too.

The book does cover character rigging, but with biped/physique rather than bone/skin. Even then, the depth of that segment isn't very profound -- you can find better tutorials online. I reccommend Mastering the Art of Production if you want to learn character rigging.

Just as a side thought, neither book has particularly good animation chapters -- I don't think any of my books do, really. They explain it, but the depth isn't that great. :: Maybe someone has a different opinion on that.

Rating: 8/10 for beginners, 5/10 if you know the basics fairly solid (though I still reference it once every couple of weeks).

Inside 3ds max 4
Kim Lee

Woah ... this book has depth, but only in certain areas. This is the more "technical" of my books, if it can be called that. The good chapters: most of the modeling chapters (5 of them, organic and non organic), materials, some of the animation chapters, rendering and post. The not-so-great chapters: some modeling (gaming models in particular), rigging (too confusing, stick to Mastering the Art of Production).

The book's biggest failing is the lack of illustrative examples. I know this sounds bad, but it didn't have enough pictures for me. I need pictures to see where in the interface I'm going, what my setup needs to look like. This book failed in that respect.

Don't get me wrong -- Inside 3ds max 4 is a great book. I still use it often enough, but I don't reccomend it to a beginner.

Rating: 6/10

3ds max 4 Media Animation
John P. Chismar

The first three books are character-based film/game animation books. This book is the total opposite. It covers broadcast animation, motion graphics and stuff. TV station ID logos, voting machine advertisements, etc. This book has some interesting case studies, and some good info on motion graphics related animation. If this is your forte in 3d, I HIGHLY RECCOMMEND this book. If not, then I'd stay clear of it. I don't do motion graphics -- not yet any way, and probably not soon -- so I don't use this book that often, but it is still good reference on occaision, and another insight into the 3d process is always welcome.

Rating: For motion graphics people: 8/10 Non-MG people: 5/10

Hope these "reviews" help. I also reccommend any tutorials you can possibly find online. Visualboo's tutorials thread at the top of the forum is a good one. The Joan d'Arc tutorial on 3d total is amazing -- you will not find a better character modeling resource online.

Again, hope this crap helps -- I'm still pretty new, but these books have helped me a bunch.

Good luck!

[Eleven]

very help full indeed, any of those books leaning towards this ?
really like the idea of designing worlds of characters (again the FF series being my role model ^_^)

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.