3ds Max Speed Modeling for 3D Artists

by Thomas O. Mooney

Is your 3D modeling up to speed? It soon will be with this brilliant practical guide to speed modeling with 3ds Max, focusing on hard surfaces. Raise your productivity a notch and gain a new level of professionalism. Overview What you will learn from this book Approach Step by step illustrated tutorials are supported by a focused commentary. The examples are designed to proceed from starting to model through model finishing to putting models to work within projects and presentation. The book shows both - the entire flow of asset creation and granular methodology. Who this book is written for This book will appeal to anyone interested in 3D modeling who wants to improve their speed modeling ability, particularly artists whose work is relevant to industries where hard surface modeling or model prototyping is required, such as games, films, or visualization. Production of 3D art is an exciting medium, but the task of modeling requires intense attention to detail, so speed and efficiency are vital. This book breaks down speed modeling workflow in 3ds Max into stages you can easily achieve, with a focus on hard surface modeling and methods you can apply to your own designs. "3ds Max Speed Modeling for Games" will help level up your 3D modeling skills. It focuses on hard surface modeling, and shows the range of tools and techniques in 3ds Max 2013. This book shows content creation methods aimed at 3ds Max modelers preparing to show their skill to the industry. The key feature of modeling that artists must exhibit is speediness while preserving technical accuracy. The author helps you follow set project guidelines while pushing creativity and outlines the entire workflow from concept development to exporting a game-ready model. The book begins with introductions for new users to the interface and modeling tools, and progresses to topics aimed at users already familiar with 3ds Max, who want to improve their content creation process. You'll also see ways 3ds Max content is used with other applications, like sculpting software and game editors, and learn features of speed modeling, efficient workflow, re-use of content, and tips on getting more done, more quickly. By the end of this book you will have learned key topics in modeling, ready to face professional level work with elan.

422 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2012

Reviews

[Abhimanyu Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been using 3Ds Max for quite some time (about 8 years) and though i'm not an expert and and have not had any professional training i've been able to get by making the things i wanted to make by watching online tutorials and reading various books on the topic. I was recently asked to review one such book 3ds Max Speed Modelling for 3D Artists -Thomas Mooney. Let me start off by saying that I like this book. It is quite useful as a reference manual and might actually be used by beginners to understand as to how to get around using 3Ds Max.

This book focuses on 3Ds Max 2013 which is currently the latest and greatest version of the software available. 3Ds Max is a huge software and many of the features have evolved over the years. This book does a great job of explaining the current feature set available in 3Ds Max and how to use it. It does not however tell from where these features evolved which would have been a nice touch to have though not necessarily in the scope of the book. Actually this book trumps my current favourite book "3DS Max Bible" in the area of modelling as a reference manual for a quick look-up when you get stuck somewhere. Don't get me wrong the Bible is awesome but it is a bit cumbersome (being 1200 pages and all) when it comes up to look at a problem. This is an area that i feel 3ds Max Speed Modelling for 3D Artists excels in.

I actually went through the whole book and did learn a few things i did not previously know so for me personally reading the book was worth it.

Things that i liked about the book.

- Great for a quick look up.
- Uses 3Ds Max 2013.
- Well written with simple explanations.
- Can be used by beginners to get acquainted with Max
- Price - At the time of writing the price listed on the website is Rs.166.20 (~$3.50) for a digital version which is a freaking steal.
- Does not dwell on details but on the process of getting stuff done.

This book is a tool that if used properly can yield to great results. If you are a 3D artist (mostly a beginner or an amature like me) using 3Ds Max my suggestion would be to get a copy of the book.

[Tom Mooney]

Packt asked me to do another book, after I finished the UDK Cookbook, and I wanted to cover 3ds Max. This edition was tied to the software release, which was at the end of its cycle, but it's still a valid guide to good polygon modeling, and is filled with pointers and shows overall scope of preparing models for games or similar projects. I did the cover, from one of the projects, making a robot, and sometimes I wish I'd included the render from the Scalpel project, because that is actually much more beautiful.