Kelly’s new book indeed deserves to be called a Bible. Its comprehensiveness and level of detail are quite remarkable." -Chris Ford, Director of Product Management, 3D Animation, Discreet/Autodesk If 3ds max 6 can do it, you can do it too... Whether this is your first introduction to "Max" or you’ve been eagerly awaiting the newest version, you’ll find everything you need in these pages. If your fingers are tingling to actually create something now, the Quick Start project in Part 1 is made for you. If you can’t wait to check out the new features, start exploring detailed coverage of the Particle Flow interface, architectural objects and materials, Shockwave 3D Export, improved VertexPaint features, and more. All the details are here. Inside, you’ll find complete coverage of 3ds max 6 Examine BlobMesh and other new modeling features, and work with compound objects like Lofts and Morphs Learn to use the Particle Flow interface to control complex interactions between particles Delve into character creation, including bone systems, skin, rigging, and character modeling Discover how the new reactor 2 works to create realistic physics-based animation sequences Assign the new mental ray rendering engine to render scenes using custom shaders, caustic photons, and other new features Explore focused chapters on using 3ds max 6 in game development, architectural visualization, and special effects Study the work of top 3ds max professionals in the 16-page color sample section Set up network rendering to help you render scenes in a fraction of the time Learn to access Mapping Channels in the Channel Info editor TWO BONUS CD-ROMS Demo version of 3ds max 6 3D models from Zygote Media and Viewpoint Datalabs Over 500 MB of tutorial files and a searchable color PDF of the book

* Shows beginning users how to create an exciting animation their very first day with 3ds max, the world’s most popular animation modeling and rendering software for film, television, games, and design visualization
* 3ds max is used to create high-profile animations for feature films such as X-Men 2, Minority Report, and Tomb Raider, and in the creation of popular games such as Dungeon Siege, Spiderman, Command and Conquer: Renegade, and Grand Theft Auto
* More than 150 tutorials give readers valuable hands-on experience under the expert guidance of 3ds max master Kelly Murdock
* A valuable CD-ROM will include a demo version of the new 3ds max release, tutorial files, 3D models, bonus plug-ins, and more
* A sixteen-page, full-color insert shows how contributing artists are taking max to the next level

i’ve found

that books are very dry, and hard to learn from. stick with VIDEO tutorials. there are a TON of them on the net. but yes, seriously, video tutorials are where it’s at. nothing is ever left out, you can see where they clicked. and how they got their results EXACTLY!

Not much help to the beginner

As a person trying to learn a new program from scratch, this book was not helpful as it should’ve been. Aside from the MAX interface and toolbar explanations, this book did not do much in explaining key functions. I understand one book, no matter how many pages it has, is not enough to explain in detail a complex program like MAX, but this book was just not helpful to me. I found the tutorials that come shipped with the 3ds MAX software to be much more user friendly and in-depth. In fact, I learned how to use the program mostly through the software tutorials than any reference books. If you are familiar with the format of the Wiley "Bibles" and like it, than buy this book. For me, this is my third "Bible" series from Wiley and I have not been satisfied with any one of them.

www.hjlbookreview.com

dictionary

This is a great book. Not a step-by-step guide on how to do stuff, or a tutorial. It is a dictionary where you can find answers for your questions. It’s great. A must for every 3ds Max 6 user.

About as Complete as you could Ask

This huge 1255 page book is truly Bible sized as is needed to describe such a massive software system. By any standard ‘max’ is massive. It is, of course, a graphics software package capable of the most advanced graphical images.

Books on software systems have to balance between being a reference book with a structure that makes it easy to find what you seek. Or the book can be a tutorial that leads the reader along a path intended to get him using the software quickly. This book draws an interesting balance between the two. There is basically a reference book structure, but imposed within it are numerous tutorials on building particular images. This approach works well for me, when I’m looking for something specific, lighting for instance, I can find it. Or, if it’s a brand new subject the tutorials lead through getting started to produce something useful. Then the reference like descriptions lead on to the more specific details needed for the particular project.

This is the fourth edition of this book. This has given the author time to work out the details the way he wants them, to take into account comments made on the previous editions requesting more information about specific points, and of course to completely cover the new features in ‘max 6’.

mediocre at best

I’m a pro max user and I’d have to agree with previous reviewers that this book is just plain boring and poorly organized. Then again it’s not a good ’reference’ either as a successful reference makes no pretenses of being boring or not because it must function as a kind of a matrix style index that describes in detail the specific functions of the program. Unfortunately such a book does not exist so I had to settle for this title that sits so awkwardly between being a tutorial and a reference. By the way, don’t use this as a tutorial because it gives you examples of objects that are already constructed (on the CD) while only barely hinting at how to actually construct them. If you know that purchasing this title (I’d get it used) is merely a provisional purchase for intermediate users, then it would be worth getting to fill out your already existing prowess in the program.

Weak tutorials .. detailed reference

A huge, boring refence-style tome...

I am not sure if it can be useful in any way.. the tutorials are too

simple or to "mechanical" to be a good learning instrument for the Max newbie, and the theory is very ample but not deep enough to be

useful to the expert. Not recommended unless you are a UI maniac interested in the name of every single button and menu item of the huge Max interface.

Weak tutorials .. detailed reference

A huge, boring refence-style tome...
I am not sure if it can be useful in any way.. the tutorials are too
simple or to "mechanical" to be a good learning instrument for the Max newbie, and the theory is very ample but not deep enough to be
useful to the expert. Not recommended unless you are a UI maniac interested in the name of every single button and menu item of the huge Max interface.

Book fairly represent the title

I’ve been looking for the book that contains full information about this program and i think i’ve found it. this book is NOT for people who didnt work on 3DS MAX 6 befor because it doesnt mention the basic concipts. How ever, this book claims the best out of me and i finally found the right resource.

Working through this book is a punishment

I am a newbe to Max6 but not to computers in any area, my
biggest problem with this book is the fact you cant work fast
through it. You are (not always but to often) looking for what
Kelly means by click here and there so you spend a lot of time
looking for that knob or button he mentions. For example page 228
where can i find te ’Use Selection Center button’ on site i
found with google they talk about ’Pivot Point Center’?? Also
the examples he uses are very poor quality it would be better
to explain MAX6 with a high quality scene project and not with
the poor given examples you find on CD.

Look at www.3dluvr.com/content/article/82 the object wich
is made here you won’t find it alike in this book. Yes the book
is big with a lot of subjects, but the way its brought to you
is boring and ’search the missing key style’ A better aproach
would be give at least one killer scene with some objects and
work then through MAX it would be more entertaining.

I bought this book on the reviews i red from here but if i would
know what i know now i would look somewhere else thnx a lot for
your reviews.

Useful as a reference book

If you are a advanced user like myself you will learn very little from this book BUT it is incredibly useful as a reference book because it explains everything within the studio max interface (except max-script). For example it will even explain what the phisical scale roll within the radiosity using interface does in a fair amount of detail. It is also useful in explaining the different cahnges within the MAX interface. It is not really usefull however in learning complex modeling techniques and suchlike. The tutorials are also just too easy (e.g. Modelling a shell) and will not satisfy the advanced user. Very good reference book though