This book covers the basic aspects of polygonal modeling theory as well as practical lessons on topology construction most often overlooked in other titles. The book is not software specific and focuses on the fundamentals of the subdivision workflow and operations. Providing in-depth coverage of polygonal modeling, this book is dedicated to a discussion of the technical aspects and methods of modeling organic and inorganic objects, revealing the tricks for absolute control of polygonal mesh modeling. The book includes an illustrated quick start modeling guide to 3dsmax and Maya.

Nice Foundation!

I just encountered this book about a year into my coursework and I wonder why it hasn’t appeared any sooner. It has a great deal of information that would have been helpful to know up front, such as detailed explanations about WHY things work the way they do, such as typical subdivision (a.k.a. smoothing algorithms.) It also covers modeling specifically for a subdivided final product (and how your cuts and other operations will effect the smoothing in the end) which is also something books don’t tend to specifically cover. It’s pretty important to know how to control the outcome of your modeling, as most models WILL need smoothing to look good in the end (unless you plan on manually implementing tons of polygons, which isn’t a very efficient way to approach things, AND will *NOT* work for game models.)
Overall, I think this is a really important book to look into if you’re serious about 3D modeling. There is a heavy focus on character modeling, which tends to be one of the most struggled with subjects in 3D modeling, and he covers it for both a male and female model type.
Just be aware... this guy is super advanced and actually ends up with T-junctions in his work because he knows how to effectively control them. This may be confusing to early students, since you taught to avoid T-junctions at all costs. Just be aware that you generally don’t want those in your mesh, but when you’re advanced advanced enough, you’ll know how to make them work FOR you. Just don’t jump the gun!

Good reference book

This book is a good primer (through the first few chapters) to those just getting started with polygonal modeling without tying itself directly to one program or another. There are many illustrations, so a first read-through of the book will be very quick; there’s enough detail in the illustrations and tutorials that you’ll spend time delving through on re-reads to practice the techniques. Also useful is that the author displays different approaches on similar-looking models. On the first face, he uses a planar extrusion style beginning with an eye loop; on the second head he box-models and refines the geometry. That flexibility of additive and subtractive methods would be useful to any modeler; perhaps more useful to me since I’m still beginner to intermediate as a modeler. Towards the end, there are specific chapters on Maya, 3DS, and Zbrush which you’l lfind helpful if you have access to those programs- I thought this was a nice surprise, but some may see this as a disappointment if they don’t use those tools. It was also refreshing to find in this book more info about the history and development of sub-d mathematics. Definitely recommended, and the concepts discussed will be valid even as some of the program features change.

Excellent beginner’s or mid-level reference

This book has very little anatomy reference. But for actual anatomy I strongly recommend getting an anatomy-for-artist book, the kind that fine-art students refer to habitually. This book is strictly about polygonal modeling, and the advice it offers is excellent. It guides you step-by-step through the process of creation of a "correct" male figure, a female figure, a hand, a foot, a face, an ear. Though not the only way of modeling a human, you can draw a lot of insight from the method presented in this book. This book I highly recommend for beginners and mid-level non-professionals. Professionals should already know all the info presented in this book. Oh and, this book omits many crucial topics: texturing, rigging, animating, scene setup. This book is a tutorial on polygonal modeling only.

quite disappointed

Our teachers from Lucas and Pixar don’t allow us to make triangles on poly. They said that u’d find problems or cracks on render image. At the beginning, I bought this book ’cos i want to know the correct facial lay-out but there r some triangles structure in this book. it doesn’t meet the 3D industrial requirement, at least not Lucas’ or Pixar’s standard. One good thing is that it covers zBrush.

Not what it claims to be...

I purchased this book after reading the reviews on it here and at several other sites because I was looking for a book to help me learn polygonal modeling in 3Ds Max.

While this book has very much in the way of theory and some instruction it is far too general to be of much use to someone new to the subject or someone new to their chosen 3D package. The term "Basic" should have been left from the title. There are four sections mislabeled as tutorials which are supposed to walk you through modeling a simple human male, human female, ogre, and a cartoon character; however the references to the particular tools you are supposed to use are obscure at best and the direction given in the "tutorials" is more like being shown a hammer for the first time and then being told to go build a house, rather than the widely accepted "click this, now move it here, now click here" formula of even poorly written tutorials. This is the kind of formula I expect when I see "Basic" on the cover and "tutorial" on the back. Also distinctly lacking is the accompanying CD or DVD or at the least the downloads section of a website with the "tutorials" in various stages of completion for reference, all you can download from the author’s website is a few hand drawn sketches to use for reference.

If you are VERY experienced in your package than this might be a good choice to bone up on the theory of subdivision, but if you are at a "Basic" level of understanding and need a "Basic" book on the subject - look elsewhere.

Theory

I’ve been working in max for about 1 year but was lacking the basic theory of subdivision which troubled me a lot using meshsmooth modifier....but this book has explained in detail the theory of subdivision now I know what to do with the meshsmooth modifier and secondly the book takes you through different projects of character modeling which is very good for a novice to begin his carrer

A must for beginner or seasoned modeler.

This book is a definite must have for a beginner and seasoned poly modeler.

Nothing new, just in one volume

I got this as a gift for the holidays, went through it, and promptly returned it to the store. There is nothing new to this book, though it does compile a lot of information in a single place. This book is about 1/3 theory, and about 2/3 practical tutorials through a male, female, and Ogre character. The tutorials are average; I’ve seen much worse, but I’ve also seen much better. The discussion of topology is pretty thin, and discussion of anatomy, which is essential for character modeling, is nonexistant. Personally, I would have rated this two stars for myself, but because it contains a lot of information in one place, and a lot that many people may not know already, I gave it three. If you’re serious about the topic though, just spend time reading online. You’ll get the same thing, usually from better sources, and much cheaper, as well as the secondary relevant information factor, which you usually come across when researching a topic.

Excellent reference

I was looking to learn Maya after years of using 3ds max, and this book’s Maya Quick Start chapter got me right to the poly modeling tools and workflow without any detours. The tutorials have lots and lots of pictures--any semi-experienced modeler could work from the pictures alone. There is also a short, well-worded, to-the-point chapter on modeling for games, with the best explanation I’ve ever seen of poly arrangements and their importance. It’s great to see a book with so little fluff and so much substance.

Awesome reference tool

I gave it 4 stars because I wished that there had been some reference to non-organic modeling as well....but, in spite of that, this is the book i’ve been searching for for 3 years now. Very informative. I found Chapter 3 on Polygonal SubDivision theories particularly interesting. This book is helping me to become a better modeler.

Thanks