start with 3dsmax

[ChristophZollinger]

What about working yourself through the documentation and the lessons which are included in the packet?

There is nothing better then that to get started

[liQu1d]

yeah.. i already imagined this answer..
and i have to say you are right.. :blush:

[TimWoods]

tutorial thread at the top when your through the ones that come with the program. or buy a book, some are ok, some are pants.
:p

[yog]

The only effective way to learn MAX in my experience is :

1) Start playing around on a friends version, just to get that 3D addictivness growing, a demo version would do just as well.

2) Wait a year and buy a copy of Lightwave, it's more afordable when your starting out.

3) After 5 years of using Lightwave (and getting pretty good at it), try to learn Max again, from the demo disk this time as your freind has moved away.

4) Throw the MAX demo disk out in disgust, as trying to learn MAX is rotting your brain. Go back to using Lightwave

5) Wait another year and repeat steps 3 and 4.

5b) Optional repeat of step 5.

6) Get a Discreet distubuter to make you an offer on MAX hard to refuse. In fact don't refuse, just go and buy it.

7) Over the next 10 months beat yourself up constantly trying to learn MAX whilst doing all your bread and butter work with Lightwave. Give up frequently, it's the only way.

8) Give yourself a right mental kicking for wasting so much money on MAX if you don't intend to use it properly. Hang head in shame an begin learning MAX properly. Mix liberally with sessions of intence anger/misery/incomprehension and self loathing.

9) Buy a model transfer program like Deep Exploration or Polytrans so you can model in Lightwave and transfer to MAX for rendering with 3rd party renderer. This way you can claim a partial victory, if you are prepared to brush other matters under the carpet.

10) After using MAX in this way for a year or more you should find that without trying to learn, you have been learning, and that this MAX program isn't so bad after all. In fact your work now covers a lot wider range of jobs as you can now do things easily that neither program could do by themselves.

11) Feel great about yourself and go and buy yourself a beer (or 10) to celabrate.


Well, it worked for me :beer: :thumbsup:

[liQu1d]

first i laughed, then i wondered, now i am crying

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