Inside 3ds max 4

Kim Lee is a freelance animator/technical director based in New York City. A former senior animator at Curious Pictures, Kim has worked with many New York-based production houses, including Pitch Productions, Nick Digital, Spontaneous Combustion, and Shooting Gallery. He is also a freelance demo artist/trainer for Discreet, and is recognized as one of the top trainers for 3ds max and combustion. In his position as a leading Discreet Training Specialist, he has trained artists and instructors in both Europe and North America at companies as diverse as IBM, Electronic Arts, and MTV. He co-authored 3D Studio 2.5 Effects Magic (New Riders) and teaches part-time at the Pratt Institute's Continuing Education program. One of his passions is creating independent 3D shorts such as "Pool Tools," produced with Boris Ustaev, which was the demo reel signature piece for Discreet's booth at SIGGRAPH '99. He also owns Worlds Away Productions, a small boutique production company focused on broadcast and 3D Web content. Brian Austin is co-founder, along with Boris Ustaev, of orisian, a production/funding studio based in New York City. Formerly an animator at Spontaneous Combustion, a New York-based digital studio specializing in creating visual effects and design for the advertising, broadcast, and film industries, Brian's animation talents have earned him a Grammy nomination, plus two Telly Awards. His icon/interface design can be found on Reuters risk management software. Before turning to the commercial world, Brian worked as a fine artist; he has been in many shows, including, most recently, PS1 Contemporary Arts Center (1999) and Exit Art (1997) in New York City. His artwork is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art and C.W. Post College. In 1996, he developed and organized a group installation and public symposium at the Nexus Contemporary Art Center in Atlanta. He has created Off-Broadway theatre sets and exhibition design. Brian holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the School of Visual Arts in New York, and studied architecture and animation at Pratt University, NYU, and Parsons School of Design. Doug Barnard is presently employed at Illusion Inc. as an art director, designing the next generation of virtual-reality entertainment. In the evenings, he teaches 3ds max 4 at the DH Institute of Media Arts in Santa Monica, California. He has been a freelance digital artist/consultant for clients such as Sony Music, MCA, the Disney Channel, Krislin Entertainment, and Activision. At the bleeding edge of technology, he is an alpha/beta tester for Discreet's 3ds max, character studio, and combustion. His published writing credits include chapters in Inside 3D Studio MAX 2, 3, and 4 and chapters in Discreet's courseware for 3ds max 3 and 4 and character studio 2 and 3. He spends his off-hours scheming on ways to build a boat and cruise off to be a digital artist in paradise. Neil Blevins has been an artist since approximately the age of three. However, he entered the 3D arena about six years ago using POVRRay, 3D Studio DOS, and finally max when it was first released. He is actively part of the 3D community, answering questions on the Discreet Web board (http://www.support.discreet.com), writing tutorials, and displaying art at his Web site (http://www.neilblevins.com). After graduating from Concordia University with a degree in Design Art, Neil started working at the all-powerful Blur Studio in Venice, California, making content for video games, film, and television (commercials and broadcast). He has recently expanded his areas of interest to include scripting. Visit http://www.blur.com/blurmaxscripts for close to 100 scripts available for free download. Ian Christie is currently a senior technical director at Industrial Light & Magic, the largest and oldest

(NOTE: Each chapter concludes with a Summary.) Introduction. I. WHAT'S NEW. 1. Changes in the Interface. Resizable Viewport Panels. Expandable Command Panel. Redesigned Stack View Display. Redesigned Drop-Down Menus. Improved Transform Type-In. New Quad Menus. New Manipulators. Enhanced Track Bar. Enhanced Playback Controls and Time Configuration. Improved Interactive Rotation. New Visual MAXScript. 2. Changes in Modeling and Materials. Modeling Tools. 3. Changes in Animation. Character Animation Overview. Bones. Inverse Kinematics (IK). Constraints. Skin. Flex Modifier. Point Cache Modifier. Wire Parameter. Reactor Controller. Explicit Set Key. Spring Controller. New Space Warps. 4. Changes in Rendering. New Multi-Pass Effects. New ActiveShade. New Exposure Control. New Render Elements Functionality. Enhanced Network Rendering. II. PRODUCTION WORKFLOW. 5. Workflow in the Broadcast/Film Environment. The Project/The Elements. The Artists. The Tools. 6. Workflow in the Games/Interactive Environment. The Artist's Role on a Game-Development Team. Roles: Who Does What? Game Artist's Workflow. The Tools. III. MODELING. 7. Non-Organic Modeling for Broadcast/Film. Building a Toy Fire Truck Using Polygonal Modeling Techniques. 8. Non-Organic Modeling for Games/Interactive Applications. 9. Organic/Character Modeling Using the Patch Method for Broadcast/Film. 10. Organic/Character Modeling Using the Box Method for Broadcast/Film. The Advantages of Box Modeling. 11. Organic/Character Modeling for Games/Interactive Applications. IV. RIGGING. 12. Non-Organic Model Rigging for Broadcast/Film Applications. 13. Non-Organic Model Rigging for Games/ Interactive Applications. 14. Organic/Character Model Rigging for Broadcast/Film Applications. Defining Bones. 15. Organic/Character Model Rigging for Games/Interactive Applications. V. MATERIALS AND MAPPING. 16. Materials/Shaders/Mapping for the Fire Truck. 17. Materials/Shaders/Mapping for the Jester. 18. Materials/Shaders and Mapping for Games/Interactive Applications. Material IDs Versus Sub-Object Materials. VI. ANIMATION. 19. Camera Matching. 20. Animation Techniques. Animating Is Practicing. 21. Particle Effects. Basic Components of Particle Systems. Particle Classes. The Project. 22. Scripting Custom Animations. This Chapter's Exercise. The Script at Work. VII. LIGHTING. 23. Lighting Techniques for Broadcast/Film. The Nature of max Lighting. Preparing to Light. 24. Lighting Techniques for Games/Interactive Applications. Model Preparation. VIII. RENDERING AND COMPOSTING. 25. Rendering for Compositing. Motion Blur. Using Motion Blur. Multi-Pass Rendering. 26. Compositing and Finishing in Combustion. Why Combustion? Appendix: What's on the CD-ROM. Index.