You can bring 3D film effects to the big screen, generate realistic characters for a top-selling game, and create rich and complex design visualization. Autodesk[registered] 3ds Max[registered] 9 lets you maximize your productivity and tackle challenging animation projects. And this book, developed by Autodesk insiders, lets you master the essential tools and techniques. You can learn how to use 3ds Max 9 confidently in a production environment. Each chapter of this book has a series of theory lessons and one lab. The theory lessons introduce you to the functional areas of 3ds Max and explain these features with short simple examples. The lab demonstrates a practical application of the theory. Combined, each chapter delivers a sound understanding of the functions, features and principles behind 3ds Max 9, and shows you how to apply this knowledge to real-world situations. It provides a hands-on introduction to 3ds Max 9 from the Autodesk development team, tutorials and exercises designed for flexibility and ease of use, and a companion CD with tutorial media including support models, materials, textures, and animations.

By Autodesk, Autodesk’s Media and Entertainment division
produces award-winning software tools designed for digital media creation,
management and delivery across all disciplines: from film and television
visual effects, color grading and editing to animation, game development,
web/interactive, and design visualization. Autodesk Media and Entertainment
is based in Montreal, Quebec.

Bring 3D film effects to the big screen. Generate realistic characters for a top-selling game. Create rich and complex design visualization. Autodesk® 3ds Max® 9 lets you maximize your productivity and tackle challenging animation projects. And this book, developed by Autodesk insiders, lets you master the essential tools and techniques.

Learn how to use 3ds Max 9 confidently in a production environment. Each chapter of this book has a series of theory lessons and one lab. The theory lessons introduce you to the functional areas of 3ds Max and explain these features with short simple examples. The lab demonstrates a practical application of the theory. Combined, each chapter delivers a sound understanding of the functions, features and principles behind 3ds Max 9, and shows you how to apply this knowledge to real-world situations.

* A hands-on introduction to 3ds Max 9 from the Autodesk development team
* Tutorials and exercises designed for flexibility and ease of use
* Companion CD with tutorial media including support models, materials, textures, and animations

3ds Max 9 Essentials

As a new student and program user, I find that 3ds Max 9 Essentials is an outstanding book to start with in 3d modeling and animation. The chapters are well organized as well as the companion CD, making hands on use easy to incorporate with each lession. This book develops a strong foundation for those who plan to move on into either the 3d modeling or animation areas. One important item that needs to be taken into consideration is the need for the Autodesk 3d Max software (2009), which has a 30 day free trial available to download online.

3ds Max 9 Essentials

When I opened this book to Chapter one,I then had some doubt if this book was not a good book. But I soon learned that this was very effective book. Each lesson gives you precise explanation as to how to handle software on different level of development. Indeed, learning 3ds Mas is very very difficult. But this book opens up the way for leading you into
most effective tutorial process. Besides, each pictorial illustration on each lesson is geometrically shown for learner’s convenience.
I used to rate never more than good books I had purchased before but I can difinitely say that 3ds Max should be rated more than excellent.
Before I conclude my opinion, let me add this. I once attended free-trial
3ds Max lesson provided by courtesy of Autodesk Company in Japan.
This trial lesson was very good but I feel this book can give you more detailed explanation and perhaps answer your long-held question in a very precise manner. By the time you have finished reading combined with your computer handling of the software, you will have become a expert on 3dx Max.
Hidemasa Yamaguchi

Good Book for the Beginner

If you’re new to 3ds Max and are looking for a book written primarily for beginners, Essentials serves as a pretty good selection. It offers easy to understand step by step tutorials that take you through the majority of the production process. Also includes a few projects for Intermediate users. Not a bad addition when building your 3ds Max home library.

Typical lousy text for a lousy program

This book is a reflection of the program it ’teaches,’ namely out-of-date and growing quickly obsolete especially since Autodesk makes Maya and offers it for both Mac and Windows (3DS Max is only PC, an ungainly setup at best). 3DS Max’s interface is convoluted, clunky, and the book is way too thin on explanation of even basic 3D Modeling concepts. Here’s a quick hint: if you flip to the index section of a beginner’s book on 3d modeling and don’t even see things like "NURBS," "Sweep NURBS," and it mentions in the chapters concepts like Loft creation that then are used to create geometric basics like a screwdriver (as opposed to a more irregular, organic shape...like what nearly 99% of Loft NURBS are used for in reality), then put the book down and go find another program. Cinema 4D, Maya, Rhino, even Bryce 3D or Poser or SketchUp are better novice introductions to 3D modeling than this program or this book. Steer far and clear of this system. Find something that is just as or more affordable and can work on any system and has an interface that doesn’t take ten minutes of hunting (even WITH this ’helpful text’) just to do a simple boolean operation.

An excellent resource

In my opinion, I think this book is fantastic. You might be able to find the tips, tricks and shortcuts in the help documentation, but only if you know what to look for in the first place. The book is not simply a printout of the help files. It is full of useful information, helpful advice and tutorials that actually help you to learn 3ds Max. Max is a complicated program when you transition from simple modeling to particles, scripts, rigging, animation, etc. This book dives right in and helps you out every step of the way. It teaches good workflow and I consider it to be an invaluable resource.

Not Stupendously Splendid, but not bad either

Well, due to the reviews here, I was at first not going to purchase this book, but then I found it at the library,looked thru it and found some things I wouldnt have known about, unless I looked thru every bit of Max help....(Thats going to happen!) :-P That, and I do like having the page in front of me due to one screen usage,,If you have multiple screens, the online help may work for you,,,

I give it a 3-1/2..if it was in color, it would be nicer,but the graphics are quite nice,,and it is helping me out quite nicely!! (Already speeding up my animation process! )

I liked it...

I’ve used Carrera since it was Ray Dream and it was time for me to graduate. I tried Maya and didn’t like the interface or maybe it was the books that described how to use the interface, nevertheless, I thought I would look at 3ds Max. The way I learn best is by doing and although the help menu contains the information, it doesn’t have it in a form that is useful to me except as an after the fact, hunt and search type of reference.

This was one of the few books that I’ve used from cover to cover. It was clear, well laid out and error free. It takes you through using 3ds to make 3d scenes in a clear and concise manner. The three reference manuals for 3ds Max are 1358, 1840 and 1128 pages respectively. This book is only a little over 600 pages, so, no, it won’t tell you everything there is to know about 3ds Max but as the title suggests, if you want to know the "3ds Max Essentials", and if you learn best by doing, I would highly recommend this book.

What!

This is the kind of book that makes me want to sit down and write my own book, perhaps one that is actually useful to people that are trying to learn something that is not already in the help documents that ship with the software. Page after page of this book was just a summary of 3ds Max’s help file. There was no information that was specific to 3ds max 9, this book could just as well been titled "3ds max 6-9 Essentials". No new features, just the same old "So your new to 3d" junk that we have seen published a thousand times. How bout the new Fur/Hair engine, Mental Ray improvements, workflow changes, ANYTHING USEFUL? Save your money and read the help files located at the top of 3ds Max 9...you’ve already paid for that.