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3D Studio MAX 3(r) Fundamentals
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Author: Michael Todd Peterson
List Price: $45.00
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0735700494
Publisher: New Riders (16 July, 1999)
Edition: Paperback
Sales Rank: 54,833
Average Customer Rating: 2.83 out of 5
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Customer ReviewsRating: 4 out of 5
The point is moot...but this book is wonderful.
I know the point is late in coming since Peterson has moved on to AutoDesk Press and MAX4 is now the proper subject of any review, but there is no way this book deserves the poor reviews it has received from a couple of reviewers here.There are two books on the market that new users of MAX should consider: 3D Studio MAX 3 Fundamentals by Michael Todd Peterson and 3D Studio MAX 3 In Depth by Rob Polevoi. Of the two, this one is the more basic and gradual. The thing that both of these volumes have in common is that they seek to create an understanding of working in MAX rather than simply describing the programs functions. It is true that instructions and illustrations are not repeated again and again throughout the book, but I count that as a strength, not a weakness. If you need to remember what the MeshSmooth button looks like, refer to Illustration 1.1! This book is head and shoulders above 3D Studio MAX 3 Visual Quickstart Guide, and I believe 3D Studio MAX 3 Bible and Mastering 3D Studio MAX 3. Visual Quickstart (and to a lesser extent the other two titles) simply lists the "steps" to perform each function without giving you an understanding how all the parts work together to actually create animations. For MAX4 users, got to Petersons new book from Autodesk Press or Boardmans book from New Riders. I Haven't seen the new volume of In Depth yet, but it seems to have nearly doubled in press, so I would steer towards these two.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Buy another book instead
In a nutshell, this book misses ilustrations, no pictures of buttons after the presentation of them in chapter One. The author takes for granted lots of things in his step by step tutorials. I have also had problems following instructions in the first animation exercise. Steve Burke did a great job in the cover but not in the book itself. LOOK, what a beginner expects in a book that says FUNDAMENTALS is visual help, when I decided to buy this book I came to this same page and did not consider what the other people wrote about how terribly writen and designed this book was, I thought the others who gave 5 stars were the ones I should listen to and here I am completly disappointed. I have read and practiced the book cover-to-cover and it is incredible how dissociate topics are, how irrelevant examples are and how graphically poor this book is. This book is an act of irreponsability towards beginners a waste of money if compared to the visual quickstart guide and other books that were written instead of dictated to a secretary and better illustrated in the inside than in the outside.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Reasons why you should NOT buy this book
Well, if you are dealing with 3D Studio for a month already or have read another book on the theme this book would not suffice your expectations. What if you have not read a previous book or have not been working with 3D studio? The answer is the same no. Have in mind 3D Studio has an interface divided into 3 singular menus/tabs not including the menu Bar, if you can not go through one to another you will be lost and won't be able to accomplish any project and that is the main problem with Toddy's book, there are no pictures! He presents the tabs in the first chapter and that means that you will have to memorize all the buttons and where they are because he won't show a single picture of a button after that chapter. The book misses essential examples and places other that are completely irrelevant. The first project you will be challenged to do is to create your first animation. As I could not accomplish it after 3 hard working and dedicated nights, I decided to share the problem with other students of 3D animation here in Barcelona. They could not accomplish it either but took the book to an animation professor who rewrote the steps and added the missing writen information (the author forgot to assert points that were essential) besides drawing all the buttons that should be shown in the book. Kind of stupid to have it done in 2 hours after this editing. Of course, you can learn something with this book but it will take you a lot of time to accomplish simple things due to lack of graphical help (Steve Burke was suppposed to do it but he spent more time doing the nomad with plastic-like breast and rubber-like pants that appears in the cover) and examples and a considerable amount of technical errors. Concerning the CD-ROM it is good but the whole set (book and cd) is not worth your time and money, buy '3D Studio Max R3 in Depth' by Rob Palevoi instead, you won't regret.
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