Who Should Buy This Book?

Have you wanted to learn how to create 3D models, but were concerned that you lacked the artistic skills or were daunted by looking at a computer interface with hundreds of controls? Perhaps you wanted to learn to model, but were put off by having to wade through a 500-page discussion of the UI before getting down to business. If so, this is the book for you.

From the very first page (well, the first page of the Introduction, anyway), you’ll start modeling something you can show your friends. We’ll pick up anything you need to know about the UI when you need to know it. This book will get you up to speed modeling faster than you ever thought possible! And without having to spend years studying artistic techniques.

Okay, I can see you don’t believe me. I have absolutely no artistic skills. None. Fortunately, you don’t need them to model in 3D. That’s right, I said it out loud! I told you 3D’s dirty little secret. All those things you need to know to draw a life like image of your Aunt Sally — perspective, balance, shading, etc. — are done for you by the program. You don’t even need to be able to draw a straight line. Modeling in 3D is more like building something with LEGO bricks than painting, sketching, or modeling with clay. You start with building blocks, called primitives, which are a lot like LEGO pieces, and combine them to make your model. If you can build something with LEGOs, you can model in 3D. It really is that simple.

What Can You Expect?

As I said, this is a book designed to take you from not knowing anything about modeling to building a sophisticated model in a short amount of time. This book will not teach you to design the coolest robots ever. If that’s what you’re looking for, might I suggest two excellent Gnomon Workshop DVDs by LucasFilm’s Feng Zhu:

If you’re interested in learning more about lighting in Max, I’d suggest Wordware’s 3ds Max Lighting by Nicholas Boughen (1-55622-401-X).

Who Should Not Buy This Book?

If you’re the type of person who buys 3ds Max for Dummies, and then complains on Amazon.com that it didn’t have enough advanced modeling techniques, this is not the book for you. This book is designed for beginners. Does that mean there’s nothing in here for intermediate modelers? No. I try to touch on as many tools as I can. So while you may be an intermediate modeler, you may never have had the need to use a Hose primitive or Soft Selection and you can learn to do that here.

If you are interested in more advanced techniques, here is a list of excellent resources you may find valuable:

Using This Book

From the very first page, you’ll hit the ground running by building your first model. We are not going to spend a lot of time explaining what every button and drop-down list does. As we go along, I will explain how to use each of the relevant controls. I’ll also provide you with the exact values that I’m using so you will get results similar, if not exactly the same, to mine.

While this book may seem dauntingly long, it’s because I’m taking pains not to skip any steps. When I was learning 3D, I became very frustrated by books and videos that either skipped steps or made model modifications between lessons. This does not happen here at the risk of going a bit long. To help with the length, I’ve broken the modeling down by days. You are not limited to this. If you want to sit down and do an entire model in one sitting, by all means go ahead.

I’ve also provided some unique tips and notes boxes to help you learn.

What’s on the DVD?

And finally, the companion DVD contains includes all the images in the book in full color, a PDF version of a chapter on creating an android, and video tutorials totaling 10 hours. The files are organized in the following folders:

The author may be contacted at [email protected].