Designers and animators will learn skills from modeling a still life scene to animating photorealistic and fantasy characters in a variety of organic and mechanical backgrounds in this resource guide to 3D animation. Each lesson allows users not only to master the basic techniques of working with 3ds max, but also to create a professional project. Comments and tips at the end of each lesson advise on improving final products and avoiding common mistakes. The CD-ROM contains all files necessary to accomplishing the lessons in the book: intermediate and final versions of all projects and scenes; images, maps, and clips in AVI format; and free plug-ins and scripts.

Good for beginers

This book is really basic animation and modelling. It doesn’t go into detail much about the animation part the author just tell you to copy his pictures, which I don’t feel teached somebody to animate. If your a beginner at max this book will help but for more advanced users its pretty useless.

I have actually read this book...

I just wish to state that this book has some major tutorials/projects on using splines, cvs to model flowers in a vase and then a fantasy animal, using the normal polygon methods.
It is not for beginners, even the book states that some basic previous knowledge is required. If you go to the publishers website it states that the book is aimed at intermediate users of 3ds max.
It is an excellent book that covers many tools that are overlooked or disregarded, but which are necessary for ie. plants, organic objects, spaceships, vases etc.
yours...

well written and genuine interest of teaching different elements of 3ds max

Too often splines, line and editing vertices are briefly mentioned in tutorial books. Here B. Kulagin has devoted a very detailed large portion of his book to these very important tools. His tutorial on the rose in a vase can be transfered to other vegetation and static objects. ie.(leaves, trees, flowers, vases etc.) He even shows us how to set up an artifical photographic studio, via how lighting works (in as few words as possible, very useful for showing clients and future employees your work in a professional manner. The other major tutorial shows us how to model, rig and animate a 4 legged mythical animal. These tutorials are lengthy and detailed, enough for readers to create stunning work and can be utilised on other projects.
New elements are cloth simulation and hair and feathers.
The complete book is well thought out with original tutorial content so that is why I give it 5 stars.
It is not really for a beginner but someone who has leant the basics but has still unanswered questions about some of the tools 3ds max utilises and wishs to model and animate some creature.

Graphic Tutorial

Great book above all for a beginners. Reading this book it is no necessary to buy a generic help guide for 3Dmax.

3Ds Max 8

I personally liked the concept of this book. It tells you how to Model and step by step it blends with Animation.

I recommend this book for those people who want to get their hands fast with 3Ds Max 8+