[Dariush_Derakhshani,_Randi_L._Derakhshani]Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 Essentials(pdf){Zzzz}

A four-color, task-based Autodesk Official Training Guide covering the core features of 3ds Max

Beginning users of this popular 3D animation and effects software will find everything they need for a thorough understanding of the software's key features and functions in this colorful guide. The authors break down the complexities of learning 3D software and get you going right away with interesting, job-related projects. You'll learn the basics of modeling, texturing, animating, lighting, visualization, and visual effects with 3ds Max, exploring the methods and why they are used as they are.

An Official Training Guide endorsed by Autodesk and ideal for those new to 3D software
Written by CG professionals, featuring hands-on, real-world projects that offer realistic, job-related professional challenges
Teaches the basics of modeling, texturing, animating, lighting, visualization, and visual effects, explaining the entire program to help you learn about the entire production pipeline
Covers everything a beginner needs to know for a solid foundation in 3ds Max, with illustrated tutorials and full-color screen shots
Companion website features starting and ending files for the exercises and additional learning tutorials available for download

Autodesk 3ds Max Essentials is the ideal beginner's guide to the exciting world of 3D software.

Publisher: Sybex; 1 edition (June 5, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1118130553
ISBN-13: 978-1118130551

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Learn Autodesk 3ds Max Quickly and Easily

This Autodesk Official Training Guide thoroughly covers the fundamentals of Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 with focused, step-by-step tutorials. Hands-on exercises, such as creating a chest of drawers, a soldier, and the interior of a room, will get you up to speed on modeling, animating, lighting, rendering, and other core topics. Whether you're a beginning animator or updating your skills, this task-based book is the solid grounding you need.

Learn these Autodesk 3ds Max essentials—and more:

Primitives, polygons, and primary modeling

Animating objects, simple and complex

How to merge and reference prebuilt pieces

The basics of organic and character modeling

Adding color, glow, and other materials

Visualizing interiors with lighting and texturing

Rendering interior scenes effectively

Understanding mental ray and HDRI

Use Character Studio to create biped animations easily

Learn how to create materials and lighting to render an interior space

This striking Essentials book features:

Chapter-opening learning objectives

Step-by-step tutorials

Four-color screenshots and illustrations

Essentials and Beyond—summaries and additional suggested exercises

Downloadable exercise files

About the Author

Randi L. Derakhshani teaches 3D animation at The Art Institute of California and has worked as a digital artist and technical director for games and movie projects with Gizmo Games, RJB Enterprises, and Sony.

Dariush Derakhshani is an award-winning visual effects supervisor, author, and educator. He has worked on movies such as The Fantastic Four and Pan's Labyrinth, the South Park TV series, and numerous commercials and music videos. He teaches 3D animation and is the author of all of Sybex's Introducing Maya books. Dariush and Randi are coauthors of all of Sybex's Introducing 3ds Max books, as well as Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Essentials.

Customer Reviews

Very comprehensive in skill sets covered.
By Amazon Customer on November 19, 2012
The company I'm working for recently decided to switch over to 3ds Max for an upcoming project. In order to get the team up to speed they purchased multiple copies of Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 Essentials. I have to say I was a little skeptical about how helpful a beginning book was going to be. Once I started working through the projects though, it was clear that this book was laid out differently than other beginning books I had worked with in the past. The authors clearly have an understanding of the skill sets that need to be covered to get a person up and running in a 3D package quickly. It covered, hardware modeling, organic modeling, texturing, surfacing, UV tools, animation, lighting, rendering, particles (online chapter), break out for compositing, and even how mental ray is implemented in Max. I am a seven year visual fx industry veteran but have been using different packages other than Max, so I knew what I wanted to do in Max and this book really helped point me to all the right buttons and areas of the program. It explained new features and legacy features very well and overall was very comprehensive. This book really help a lot of us get up and running in no time. The concepts between all 3D packages are the same, and this book is a great place to start learning them. If you've tried to learn Max before and found it cumbersome and complicated, give this book a try. It really cuts through the excess of the program and gets to the core skills you need.

Very helpful
By Always Learning on November 11, 2012
I found this book, Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Essentials to be quite helpful. I had a lot of questions about this program and the book was set up very systematically and answered almost all of them. For the work I'm doing Chapter 11's Textures & UV Workflow: The Soldier was a gem and overall the hands-on exercises were a great way for me to hone my skills.