The 3D Studio Max application is big and has great depth, but most of the available books that cover it are either of the all-encompassing "bible" type--which are great reference books, but often lack in-depth tutorials--or the getting-started type--which are designed to orient the new user without inducing a bad case of "featuritis overwhelmus."

3D Studio Max 3 Magic nicely fills the need of the intermediate or advanced user. It assumes the reader is already familiar with Max, has been working with it for some time, and is ready to move on to the next level.

Featuring 20 chapters written by nine top 3D Studio Max artists, 3D Studio Max 3 Magic is designed to be read, used, and worked through, but not necessarily in sequence. Each chapter is an independent tutorial, demonstrating a specific technique, and each is well written and lavishly illustrated. Every page is in color, helping to make the book a pleasure to flip through and each chapter easy to work through.

A good case in point is chapter 6, "Lighting Effects: Rim Lighting and Diffuse Glow." The goal of this chapter is to simulate the lighting that falls on a fetus in a womb (or at least what we expect it to look like). An image of the final render is at the head of the chapter, and the translucency and highlights of the fetus are worthy of study. The text and pictures that follow describe not only the modeling of the baby, but also the process of achieving the desired look through lighting, materials, or both.

Some of the examples seem a little simplistic, but they demonstrate complex techniques. Chapter 8, for example, creates automated dust trails by using a particle system and expressions. The example is of a tank traveling through the desert, but the tank is simply a few polygons without textures and the desert barely looks like sand. However, the goal of the chapter is to teach the use of particles and expressions for automating the animation of the dust cloud that follows the tank, not to teach how to model and texture a realistic military vehicle.

The accompanying CD-ROM includes all the project and source files for each chapter; many of these files contain rendered movies for viewing the animation. In addition, four bonus chapters on the CD-ROM cover topics like creating a tidal wave and growing a block of ice around an object.

3D Studio Max 3 Magic is a quality workbook for an intermediate or advanced user. The layout is clean, the illustrations are plentiful, and the art direction of the book on the whole is a pleasure to look at and use. This book is a nice addition to any Max user's shelf. --Mike Caputo


From Book News, Inc.
Intended for intermediate to advanced users of 3D Studio MAX, this volume provides step-by-step instructions for creating a wide array of effects using several freeware plug-ins that enhance the power of MAX, as well as all the standard tools shipped with MAX. A number of plug- ins are provided on the CD-ROM. Color illustrations. 10x8.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


David Duberman, Editor, Spectrum: Interactive Media & Online Developer News
"The writers [of this book] are the Penn & Teller of special effects--they give all the pro secrets away."


Book Description
3D Studio MAX 3 Effects Magic is structured in as a cookbook for you, just like highly-trained chefs who are in constant need of new ideas for recipes. We know you don't need theory, and you don't need beginner level recipes. You need a cookbook you can use in the kitchen while you're working. No non-sense instructions on very imaginative recipes, that you can then take and either use as is, or use as inspiration for your own creations. This book has 25 can't miss recipes for getting stunning effects from 3D Studio MAX.3, cooked up by some of the best CG chefs in the world.


Book Info
Explains step-by-step how to create eye-popping effects. CD includes files and images needed to complete the exercises, a finished version of each effect, all plug-ins needed, and four bonus chapters. Intended for intermediate to advanced users of 3D Studio Max. Landscape format with abundant full-color illustrations. System requirements: Windows 98/95/NT. Softcover.


From the Back Cover
3D Studio MAX 3 Effects Magic is structured in a cookbook for you, highly-trained chefs who are in constant need of new ideas for recipes. We know you don't need theory, and you don't need beginner level recipes. You need a cookbook you can use in the kitchn while your working. No non-sense instructions on very imaginative recipes, that you can then take and either use as is, or use as inspiration for your own creations. This book has 25 can't miss recipes for getting stunning effects from 3D Studio MAX.3, cooked up by some of the best CG chefs in the world.


About the Author
Jeffrey Abouaf is a fine artist, designer, and instructor whose experience includes animation and design for television, print, and the Web. He is a contributing author to Inside 3D Studio MAX Release 2.0, Volumes I and III, Inside 3D Studio MAX 3, and 3D Studio 2 Effects Magic. He follows industry developments in 3D graphics, animation, and virtual reality as a reporter and product reviewer for several publications, including Computer Graphics and Applications (IEEE), IEEE Multimedia, Game Developer Magazine, CGI, and CyberEdge Journal. He holds B.A., M.F.A., and J.D. degrees. He teaches 3D Studio MAX at San Francisco State's Multimedia Studies Program and the Academy of Art College in San Francisco. He has authored online tutorials for Kinetix for 3D Studio MAX R2 and spends substantial time exploring 3DS MAX as a fine-art tool. He can be reached at jabouaf@ogle.com or http://www.ogle.com. It was a dark day in Canadian history back in '76 when Neil Blevins was born. Discovering early his love for art, he has attended numerous art classes and programs in the Montreal area, as well as several years of pure and applied science and computer programming. Graduating last year from Concordia University with a B.F.A. in design art, he now works full-time at Blur Studios in Venice, California, making special effects for film, video games, and broadcast media. His involvement with 3D Studio started back in the DOS days, when he was obsessed with making more complex and realistic images for video games. He's known in the 3D Studio community for many things, among them his involvement in the Kinetix Web board as a forum assistant, frequently answering questions and giving tips. He's also known for his distinct art style: dark, somber, and slightly disturbing images of alien and robotic life forms living in fantastic worlds, somewhere between Giger and the Top Cow comic books that he collects and loves. As quoted several years back, "All my life all I've ever really wanted to do was make cool monsters and get paid for it. And this is exactly what I'm doing." His Web page is located at http://www.soulburn3d.com. Sean Bonney is a 3D animator, fine artist, and game designer who lives in historic Fredericksburg, Virginia. Sean graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, in 1991, with a B.F.A. in Illustration and Design. He has been employed as graphic designer for the Central Rappahannock Regional Library system for eight years. He has worked for Rainbow Studios in Phoenix, Arizona, on a variety of game and broadcast projects. Sean is currently the principal of Anvil Studios and specializes in freelance animation and game design. For more information about Sean Bonney or Anvil Studios, visit their Web site at anvil-studio.com or email sbonney@anvil-studio.com. Brandon Davis has a long and varied background in art and animation. While serving overseas in the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), he gained a reputation for his traditional artwork created in his spare time. However, at that time, the digital revolution in animation was beginning. In 1995, he left the service after six years and pursued a career in digital animation. He has since worked on projects ranging from architectural and engineering animation to games and visual effects for film and broadcast. Since 1998, he's been filling the role of effects animator at Computer Café, a visual effects studio on the central California coast. His credits include the films Armageddon, Fever, and The Crow: Salvation, as well as dozens of commercial spots. Currently he's creating several shots for the new film Battlefield: Earth. For more information about Brandon, check out his Web site at http://www.3dluvr.com/brandon/. Sanford Kennedy is an animator, author, and teacher of 3D computer graphics in Los Angeles, California. He worked in the motion picture special effects industry for 20 years and then moved into computer graphics. He has his own studio and currently teaches 3DS MAX at four colleges. Douglas King is a professional writer and animator for the film and entertainment industry. He is also a contributing editor for Computer Graphics World magazine. He has written the script for an animated feature film to be released in 2001 and will be working on the production of the film as well. Eni Oken is a freelance 3D artist based in Los Angeles. As an architect with 12 years of experience in computer graphics, she has participated in the creation of 3D art for numerous interactive projects, such as games, Web sites, virtual worlds, and multimedia for well known companies, including Activision, Sierra On-Line, L-Squared, and others. She has received several awards for her work, including two 3D Design Big Kahunas and others. She is also the author of three books, various magazine articles, and some chapters covering topics related to computer graphics. She is a frequent lecturer at well known conferences such as the 3D Design Conference and GDC. Currently, Eni devotes her time to creating texture collections, tutorials, writing, and creating unique pieces of 3D art. To contact Eni, or to see samples of her work, go to http://www.oken3d.com. Michael Todd Peterson is the owner of MTP Grafx, a digital media company. MTP Grafx is located in New Orleans, Louisiana, and has a close working relationship with Digimation. In addition to writing, Todd still teaches, plays golf, and watches movies. Sung-wook Su is a 3D artist and writer. He is currently working for NueArt Pictures in Montrose, California, which is making a 3D feature film. He received a B.F.A. degree in sculpture at Hong-Ik University in Seoul, Korea and has been involved in computer graphics for the past 10 years. Previous projects include creating CG simulations of the artist Nam Joon Paik's video art. He has served as an instructor of sketching, drawing, and computer graphics at various arts academies in recent years. He has also written the books 3D Studio MAX and Hints for 3D Studio MAX, versions 1.2 and 2.5. They are currently bestselling books in Korea and Japan. His Web page can be found at http://www.cyber.co.kr/~ssumax/.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

3D Studio MAX 3 Effects Magic is structured in a cookbook for you, highly-trained chefs who are in constant need of new ideas for recipes. We know you don't need theory, and you don't need beginner level recipes. You need a cookbook you can use in the kitchn while your working. No non-sense instructions on very imaginative recipes, that you can then take and either use as is, or use as inspiration for your own creations. This book has 25 can't miss recipes for getting stunning effects from 3D Studio MAX.3, cooked up by some of the best CG chefs in the world.

FROM THE CRITICS

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