Description:
If mastering 3D Studio Max is your goal, Mastering 3D Studio Max R3 makes a solid cornerstone on which to build your library. While not the easiest book to use, it is--like the software--big, rich, and full of good information. It thoroughly discusses the foundation of the topic (basic 3-D concepts, basic Max concepts, the Max interface, modeling, lighting, rendering), and contains excellent chapters on materials, lighting, rendering, and compositing. Part VI, "Using MaxScript," is the shining star; by itself, it's worth the cost of this massive tome. Spanning well over 200 pages, this section covers the basics of MaxScript, how to manipulate scenes with MaxScript, animating with MaxScript by using controllers and keyframes, and creating plug-in scripts. If you want to squeeze the most from MaxScript, you'll be in heaven with this section. The book falls short in two areas, unfortunately. The first is that there are no color illustrations to enhance the text on lighting, materials, and rendering. The second is that there is little information on animation and virtually none on character animation. Of the 745 pages, approximately 65 discuss creating and tweaking animation in Max. If you plan on using Max for complex animation of any kind, this book won't work for you. --Mike Caputo
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