Introducing 3ds Max

Dariush Derakhshani is an award-winning 3D animator, author, and educator. He has worked on movies such as The Fantastic Four and Pan's Labyrinth, the South Park TV series, and numerous commercials and music videos. He teaches 3D animation and is the author of Introducing Maya 7: 3D for Beginners (Sybex). Randi L. Munn teaches 3D animation at The Art Institute of California and has worked as a digital artist and technical director for games and movie projects with Gizmo Games, RJB Enterprises, and Sony.

Introduction. Chapter 1: Basic Concepts. How to Read This Book. What Is CGI? Production Workflow. CG Workflow. CG Specialties. Core Concepts. Coordinate Systems. Basic Animation Concepts. Basic 3ds Max Terms and Concepts. Summary. Chapter 2: Your First Max Animation. Getting Around in 3ds Max. Project and File Management Workflow. The 3ds Max Interface. Jumping Headlong into Animation. Setting Up the Hierarchy. Summary. Chapter 3: The 3ds Max Interface. What Am I Looking At? Managing Scene Objects. Summary. Chapter 4: Modeling in 3ds Max: Part I. Planning Your Model. Modeling Concepts. Look at the Mesh You Got Us Into! Editable Poly Tools. Modeling a Chest of Drawers. Modeling a Hand. Summary. Chapter 5: Modeling in 3ds Max: Part II. Setting Up the Scene. The Editable Poly Tools. Lofting the Barrel. Lathing the Wheels. Using Snapshot to Create the Tracks. Summary. Chapter 6: Organic Poly Modeling. Setting Up the Scene. Creating the Basic Form. Adding Detail. Final Touches. Summary. Chapter 7: Materials and Mapping. Materials. The Material Editor. Mapping a Pool Ball. Mapping, Just a Little Bit More. Maps. More Mapping Exercises. Mapping Coordinates. Summary. Chapter 8: Introduction to Animation. Hierarchy in Animation: The Mobile Redux. Using Dummy Objects. Bouncing Ball. Using the Track Editor-Curve Editor. Track View. Anticipation and Momentum in Knife Throwing. Summary. Chapter 9: Character Studio and IK Animation. Character Animation. Character Studio Workflow. Creating a Biped. Animating a Biped. Associating a Biped to a Character. Using Inverse Kinematics. Summary. Chapter 10: 3ds Max Lighting. Basic Lighting Concepts. Three-Point Lighting. 3ds Max Lights. Common Light Parameters. Ambient Light. Creating Shadows. Atmospheres and Effects. Light Lister. Summary. Chapter 11: 3ds Max Rendering. Rendering Setup. Motion Blur. Previewing with ActiveShade. Cameras. Safe Frame. Render Elements. Rendering Effects. Raytraced Reflections and Refractions. Summary. Chapter 12: Particles and Dynamics. Understanding Particle Systems. Setting Up a Particle System. Particle Systems and Space Warps. Using Rigid Body Dynamics. Using Soft Body Dynamics. Summary. Index.