 If you're a beginning/intermediate 3ds max user and you'd like to take some lessons from a master, I highly recommend Ted Boardman's 3ds max
5 Fundamentals. It communicates the fundamentals as well as a lot
of juicy little extras, but always in a step-by-step fashion so you never
get overwhelmed. Clear writing, an easy-to-follow layout, and ample figures
make this book about as painless a way of learning 3ds max 5 as I've seen.
(Note
on the figures: Although they're printed in black and white in the book,
they are on the accompanying CD in full color. This can be very helpful
when you're trying to get an idea what a project should really look like.)
The
book is basically 450 pages of tutorials covering many of the basic techniques
that a 3ds max animator might use every day. The author especially tries
to focus on new features, such as the new Editable Poly editing features,
global illumination and radiosity renderers, and new keyframe animation
techniques.
Boardman
provides not only technical how-to details, but also suggestions for optimizing
your overall workflow. For instance, he notes that set designers often
build a façade for outdoor shots and then several interior scenes
on a separate sound stage. He illustrates how this approach can work with
3ds max 5.
One
of the things that I really like about this book is that the author tells
you not only what to do, but also what not to do. For instance:
- Activate
a viewport by right clicking in it. If you left click, you could accidentally
select and transform an object.
- Scale
objects using the Xform modifier, which can be applied at any point
in the object's stack. Avoid the scale tool, which 3ds max always applies
at the top of the stack, and which can yield unexpected results if modifiers
are added or changed after applying it.
- "Groups
occasionally cause odd behavior, with no clear-cut explanations. Named
selection sets and the new Layers tool offer similar functionality with
no ill effects."
Boardman is not afraid to talk about 3ds max's weak points, a necessary preliminary to helping you work around them. For instance: "The buildings are not casting shadows, even though shadow casting is turned on for the Sunlight system by default. This is because of bogus settings in the default Sunlight system that you must change before it will work correctly. This is a source of much frustration for new users who quickly abandon the Sunlight system."
I also like the fact that Boardman not only tells you how to do things, but how to do them efficiently, both in terms of time and in
terms of computer resources. For instance, he discusses how techniques
like lofting, which create 3D objects based on 2D shapes, save both computer
resources and modeling time. And did you know that an omni light is actually
composed of six spotlights and can take six times as much memory, too?
Because of this, Boardman points out, omni lights should be used conservatively.
The
topics that are left out of the book are wisely chosen, as well. For instance,
NURBS and Booleans can be a bit flaky in 3ds max. Boardman avoids them.
Character animation using bones/skin or biped/physique, although a common
technique, is more appropriate for an advanced text. The author doesn't
touch it.
The
only thing I don't like about this book is the price. For a less-than-500-page
introductory-level book, it is fairly expensive: $45 list. Of course,
you can get it for about 30 percent less than that online. Anyway, it's
worth it.
All
in all, highly recommended. Four and a half Cows.
Michael Hurwicz
January 11,.2003
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