Insights and ideas from an award-winning author! Expert Advice. John Chismar provides a glimpse into the way he and his team function, complete with tips and tricks to enhance reader skills. Quality tutorials. Throughout the book, Chismar presents carefully constructed exercises to demonstrate how the animations were constructed and most importantly - why they were developed using that methodology. The quality and clarity of tutorials in 3D Studio Max 3 Media Animation have been highly touted. Expect more of the same in this version! Fills a unique niche. No other book covers media animation with the detail or authority offered by John Chismar and New Riders. @SUMMARY= New Riders offers the most comprehensive coverage of 3ds max functionality of any publisher. No other book covers the start-to-finish process of developing media animations using 3ds max (the program of choice for media animators). And that is precisely what our marketplace wants! This book includes all new animations from Emmy Award Winner John Chismar. John Chismar, Senior 3d Animator at MSNBC, has been working in 3D animation since 1991 and in media animation since 1993. Using 3ds max, Chismar has garnered several awards for his work: 1997 and 1998 Emmy Awards; 3D Design magazine Big Kahuna Awards in 1998, 1999, and 2000; three Broadcast Design Association International Bronze Awards; and a 1995-96 Emmy nomination.

This latest edition of Inside 3ds max is retooled to focus on the needs of the intermediate to professional user, based on continuing conversations with our target audience. This market is crying out for information that goes beyond the basic to provide guidance on how to make the most use of the program in real-world work situations. Inside 3ds Max 4 explores changes in the program as well as more advanced functionalities and how they can assist the professional user in enhancing efficiency or output. Inside 3ds max 4 is organized into units that mirror and actually step through the workflow of a 3D project. Moreover, where differences exist in the application of techniques between the broadcast/film and game/interactive applications, the authors present careful analysis to assist readers in making the right choices for their technical work. The CD-ROM includes all of the project files necessary to complete the projects as well as any plug-ins referred to in the text.

This text teaches the fundamentals of 3D graphics and animation, including modelling, surfacing/texturing, animating, lighting and rendering.

Autodesk 3ds Max is the application of choice for professional animators working in game design and film effects because of its amazing set of character animation tools. But while the results these professionals achieve can be stunningly complex, animating characters with 3ds Max doesn't have to be hard. Its powerful Biped module, with pre-linked and realistically constrained skeletons and its suite of motion tools, dramatically speeds up the animation process. The easy-to-follow instructions in this book will have you animating your own characters in just a few hours.

Make sure you benefit from the explosion of new and exciting applications designed to let you create 3D animation for the web. See how you can use the power of 3ds max, Flash and Director to make your 3D fame or project a reality for the internet as well as learning generic skills allowing you to use many applications. Ideal if you are a web designer with little or no 3D experience and need an overview of how 3D could transform your work and how best to put it online, or if you are a 3D animator wanting to produce work for the web and need a guide to which applications to use. Insteadof being bogged down in code, this user-friendly, highly illustrated book teaches from a practical, technique-orientated stance, with only a minimal amount of code typing needed. Use pre-written code modules to create interactive are, animated characters and commercial websites. Then you can learn the techniques needed to make your own 3D games. Each chapter contains tutorials which you can do yourself, using the files on the free CD included with the book. Interviews with successful professionals show you what you can aspire to by sharing their tips and tricks as well as details on the pros and cons of each software package. For extra tips, information and help visit www.3dfortheweb.info

Make the Most of Today’s Leading Animation Package With release 4, max further establishes itself as today’s dominant modeling, animation, and rendering package. And with its fully revised and updated coverage, Mastering 3ds max 4 further establishes itself as the definitive max resource--just the book you need to master all the techniques supported by this powerful product. Inside, you’ll learn all about sculpting and texturing your characters, setting them in motion, lighting the scene, and producing the final animation--for movies, games, television, and the Web. You also get in-depth instruction in MAXScript, including detailed explanations of all that’s new to this release. Coverage includes: Understanding basic 3D concepts Modeling in polygons, patches, and NURBS Creating detailed models Optimizing models for low-poly environments Applying textures for real-time and pre-rendered output Animating using parametric animation, forward kinematics, inverse kinematics, and character studio Fine-tuning animation by editing keys and transitions Creating drama with lighting Applying post-process effects Cutting and cross-fading between shots Compositing in Video Post and combustion Exporting to Web 3D with Pulse Getting started with MAXScript Using scripting for scene manipulation Using scripting for animation Customizing the user interface Defining autostart scripts Creating your own plug-ins using MAXScript