This screenshot-packed book, part of Discreet’s Official Training Courseware, clearly lays out the basics and beyond for this popular 3D animation software. 3ds max is used to create high-quality film effects in major Hollywood features such as The Matrix Reloaded, X-Men, and The Ring. It is equally popular among game developers, who use it to create stunning visuals in the top games. This book is intended for the beginner and works equally well for individual learning or as part of a course. Flexible in its design, the manual comprises six modules with a good balance of theory and hands-on lab work. The theory chapters introduce basic animation concepts, and are followed by lab chapters that demonstrate a practical application of the theory.

Welcome to the Discreet Official Training Courseware for 3ds max 7 software! Consider this book an all-access pass to the production and training experience of Discreet developers and training experts. Written for self-paced learning or instructor-led classroom training, the manual will teach you the fundamentals of using 3ds max 7. The book is organized into sections dedicated to animation, modeling, materials, lighting and rendering. Each section covers basic theory, and then includes exercises for hands-on demonstration of the concept. By the end of the book, you will have mastered the basics and moved on to full-length projects. Flexibility is built in, so that you can complete the tutorials in the way that works best for you. Complete the book and you will be a seasoned 3ds max pro, ready to work confidently in a production environment.

* For beginners or those new to 3ds max
* Tutorials and exercises designed for flexibility
* CD contains 3ds max support models, materials, textures, and animations for completing the exercises.

3DS Max 7 courseware and book

Great book for beginners, which I am. Very thoroughly detailed, with explanations of tools and their basic uses. If you’re new to this software, it’s a good book to learn tool use and locations and how to do really simple things, at first. By the end of the book, you should be able to produce a simple animation. I’m only 120 pages into it and found nothing difficult yet. First copy I ordered from a reseller was supposed to be new, but did not contain the required CD with examples you need to work with. The CD doesn’t seem to be availalble on the web, so make sure your copy comes with the CD. I also have the ’Bible’ by Kelly Murdock. I’ll probably use it after I finish this book. It has more intermediate/advanced stuff.

Well thought out

This book is in a textbook form. The layout is excellent. With each page divided into two columns, it makes it much easier to read and keeps my attention. I have bought other Max books, but i get bored with them easy. This is just what i was looking for!!!

Great reference, but not inspiring at all!

I bought this book with another book in mind, Alias’ book on their program Maya. That book is a project-based heap of tutorials on their software. And since this book is also written by the people behind the program, i thought it would be as inspiring, but i was proven wrong. Don’t be put off by this though; if you want a thick book for reference of all the basic functions, go for it. If on the other hand you’re easily put off by excessive technical details and just want to get your hands dirty ASAP (like me) you should consider another book. Regarding the lack of inspiration, i would like to inform you about the structure of things. The book doesn’t really have you model a lot on your own, but rather refers to tutorial files on the cd and use them to explain basic functions. I can’t say it too many times, the whole book should be based around an interesting project where each chapter introduces you to the basic functions while you actually feel like you’re doing something useful, e.g. making a part of the project. A plus to the book though is that you are free to read/do the modules in any order you’d like, and the book is made for the ease of doing so.

This book will guide you step by step

This book is really good. I always wanted to learn about 3dsmax, but it was like using a program written in Chinese. This book will help any beginner start with the right foot.

3ds max 7 Fundamentals and Beyond Courseware

This book is great learnd so much and esy to follow. Amazon sent exactly what I orderd and in a timely manner. All in All compleatly satisfied.

3d studio max review

The book is setup like a textbook with a cd. The book goes step by step through diffrent features.This makes the book very simple. I strongly recommend it.

Easy to Read and Learn from

This book is a great beginner introduction not only to 3ds Max but also to the terminology and concepts of general 3d animation.

Good for beginners

Has everything a beginner to 3d modeling would need, and comes with a tutorial CD. takes you step by step and explains what all the buttons mean. I recommend.

Not what I was hoping for...

After going through the excellent tutorials that accompany 3DS Max 7, I was hoping this book would be equally helpful and take me to the next level. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. The tutorials are very basic and the projects uninspired.

Complete course in a book-a great value

This is a complete (at 800 pages, I do mean complete) introduction to 3ds max 7 that doesn’t assume you know it all. The tutorials walk you through the all the steps painlessly, and it’s loaded with clear screenshots so you know what to do what and when. The steps are all clearly integrated with the CD.

I haven’t made it to anywhere near the end yet, but by the time I do I think I’ll be at a solid intermediate level.