Need to solve problems quickly to develop creative projects within your time and budget? Want to hone your 3ds Max skills so you can concentrate on your modeling, lighting, texturing, and animation? Then How to Cheat in 3ds Max is for you! Michele Bousquet shows how to work from the problem to the solution - from the viewpoint of a CG artist who has been commissioned to create a job and is working to a deadline.
With her in-depth knowledge of the little-known secrets used by the pros to produce creative, professional artwork and animation, Michele is THE go-to guru for designers and animators who want to create great effects fast.
This accessible, practical book and CD package is such a goldmine of artistic inspiration, timesaving practical tips, tricks and step-by-step workthroughs that you'll wonder how you survived without it. Written for 3ds Max 2009 and backwards compatible with 3ds Max 2008.
Table of Contents:
How to Cheat in 3ds max
Outline by Michele Bousquet
Introduction
Memory hogs - shadows, polygons, refraction
Seven tools you will need to know
Logo Treatments
Reflective surface
Video screen with animation or video on it
Video image then turn to the side to show 3D logo
Hiding something against the background (camera map)
Shadow with white background (matte shadow surface)
Animation
Bouncing Ball
Squash n stretch popping onto the screen (staggers)
Animated shapemerge slice (for pump)
Animating to music and sfx and VO
Random Wiggle (Noise constraint)
Perspective trick (change FOV and zoom at same time)
Affect Region (ball on trampoline)
Linked XForm (ball on trampoline)
Path Deform WSM as opposed to OSM
Architectural
Quickie fly-through
Putting people in it
Trees - different levels of detail
Cheap Shadows - negative light, projection shadows
Dissolve from live photos to 3D
2D picture becomes cardboard cutouts
Grass from Hair
Character Animation
Reference images
Basic Rules for Polygons
MeshSmooth, TurboSmooth, and Polygons
Quick Character Fit
Characters - no feet if possible - Making a person look like they're walking from the waist up by making the trajectory go up and down
Changing a freebie character to suit you
Quick facial animation with 2D images
Bullet time
Crowds - Random scripts
Special Effects
Smoke
Still water
Running water
Spraying water
Fire
Dust
Materials
Making a stripe from a checker map
All kinds of procedural map tricks (cover XYZ mapping)
Bump mapping for all kinds of cheats
About the Author :
Michele Bousquet is an Autodesk Certified Trainer who has been using 3ds Max since its first release. She has worked as a Senior Technical Writer for Autodesk and has authored more than 20 books on 3ds Max. Michele is currently the Director of Marketing at TurboSquid.com, the largest online marketplace for stock 3D models in the known universe. TurboSquid and Michele were recently featured on CNN's Anderson Cooper's 360 Blog.
Review :
'My first impression was "WOW!" and my second impression was "This is what reference material should look like!" The balance between illustration and text is just right for visual people - 3D artists will love it.'
- Borislav "Bobo" Petrov, Technical Director of Visual Effects at Frantic Films
'This excellent book will inspire anyone to dig a little deeper into this incredible piece of software.'
- Stefan Vittori, Managing Director Tangram 3DS
'The most visually interactive training tool ever for 3ds MAX. It is visually engaging and sets a new standard for understanding complex concepts. Michele Bousquet Rocks!'
- Richard Lapidus, Assistant Professor, 3D Animation, Mechanical Design and Drafting/CAD
'Best tricks of the trade, deliciously illustrated. Michelle reveals the secrets behind the magic of using 3ds Max. Move over David Blaine.'
- Mark Gerhard, 3ds Max Guru
'I was instantly blown away by 'How to cheat in 3ds Max 2009'! Michele has managed to capture many of the 3D industry's leading techniques and processes as well as a lot of advanced content that a lot of the pro's all use. Not only that - but in a very straight forward and easy to follow process that should be every beginners handbook and a very useful resource for even the most advanced users! Thumbs up!'
- Allan McKay, VFX Supervisor
'I found this book to be thoroughly readable and filled with time saving ideas. It's well organized and clearly written. There's lots of information in each section and the abundance of pictures makes it easy to follow. I know this book will soon become a well used and dog-eared reference in my classroom. It's filled with just the type of information my students need every single day. Each topic is covered in a single two-page spread so it's easy to read and quick to put into practice.'
- Pat Gombarcik, Autodesk Certified Instructor
'Finally a book that conveys the fun and fast side of 3ds Max. Bousquet has packed the pages with colorful and quick tutorials that help you master all of 3ds Max's main concepts.'
- Jim Lammers, President, Trinity Animation Inc.
'Here's a book you'll want to keep close to your workstation, with important workflow techniques in an attractive and accessible format. Remember that computer visualization is all fake, so "cheating" is exactly the way to increase your productivity. Good luck and have fun.'
- Ted Boardman, independent 3ds max instructor and author
On Model, Rig, Animate with 3ds max 7: "A concise, handy reference. I'll be referring to it again and again." -- Vishnu Ramdass, Autodesk Product Support
Other books by Michele Bousquet: Harnessing 3ds Max 5 (Thompson, 2003, 9781401827557, Bookscan: 683) Harnessing 3ds Max 8 (2006, 9781418048136, Bookscan: 1,923)
