Takes you through the production of a complete project from modeling, adding materials, animation, lighting, and rendering the animated sequence. Covers planning and management issues to help you understand how to manage your own projects.

3ds max 6 Essentials: A Real-World Approach is written to take 3ds max beginners from an introductory knowledge base to a level of real proficiency. Using a complete 3D project as your guide, you’ll learn the essential tools and features of 3ds max. Beginning with a detailed overview of the interface, you’ll get an insider’s look into the ins-and-outs of this powerful program. From there you’ll begin working through the practical tutorials that take you through the entire process of creating our real-world project. Starting with the fundamentals of modeling an environment, you’ll learn the critical tools and insightful tips on efficient modeling techniques. Next you’ll learn how to light, render, and output the final project. Throughout the book, you’ll also learn various methods for manipulating the interface controls and how to customize the tools for your own projects. By using this real-world project, you’ll master the techniques and tools needed to create commercial-quality projects. And you’ll have a portfolio piece to help you get started in the 3D field.

Key Features: * Takes you through the production of a complete project from modeling, adding materials, animation, lighting, and rendering the animated sequence * Teaches alternative approaches and problem-solving methods by using different tools to build similar objects * Teaches why tasks and tools are used to help you understand when and where to use them * Covers planning and management issues to help you understand how to manage your own projects * Details essential techniques, including character animation with wired parameters, hierarchical linkages, creating an animatic, multi-layered material effects, lighting, rendering atmospheric effects and event driven particle effects with the new particle flow module

Touches a lot of areas

I’ve always been leary of books that tell you step by step every value to input. I like the format that incourages experimentation. A lot of ground is covered here, giving a glimpse at many features of 3ds, but it should be a good springboard towards the confindence to explore the ever deepening waters of 3d software.

Many of the tutorials that ship with MAX haven’t been updated since version 4 (in some cases version 3) and therefore miss out on some crucial new features.

Not a beginners real world approach

For an author who teaches and works with forensics, I’m amazed at Mr. Kalwick’s lack of attention to detail and the expected proofing of his material which really reflects on his professional credentials. The first four chapters of this book give you a basic overview of the program, no problems there. Chapter 5 however begins the meat of the book, an actual project, the whole reason I bought the book but which within a few pages will have you pulling your hair out and throwing the book at the wall because it’s not written on a beginners level, step by step, command by command and if that wasn’t bad enough it’s full of functional mistakes which renders it useless to a beginner from the outset. You can’t get a refund once the CD seal is broken but you can’t really get into the book without the CD and only then do you realize you’ve wasted your money. If I can help others avoid my mistake I’ll have justified my futile purchase. My solution! Discreet’s tutorial which comes with the software is suffice and if I was to recommend another book go with the "3ds max 6 bible" as a reference publication.