by John Swanson

Product Name: How to Cheat in 3ds Max 2010
ISBN: 978-0-240-81161-1
Published: 2009
Author: Michele Bousquet
Level: Beginner/Intermediate
Current Pricing: US $39.95
Site: www.focalpress.com

This book starts out like this:

“How to cheat, and why” - followed by this:

“The truth about cheating
The word cheat has an interesting history. In its original meaning, it described the passing of an inheritance to someone other than one's heirs. This definition has come up through the ages to mean getting something dishonestly, or getting things by tricks or good luck.
In this book, you'll learn shortcuts to make 3ds Max do amazing things without having to learn it all from scratch, and thus make your own good luck as an artist. There are some very thick books out there that cover every possible tool in 3ds Max-in fact, I've written a few of them myself-but this is not one of them. If you want to get the job done in the least possible time while making your clients (or your boss) happy, then this is the book for you.
The "cheats" in this book were all gleaned from real-world jobs and projects, where the client wanted something done in three days, not three months or even three weeks. I learned most of this through trial and error, and eventually developed my own bag of tricks. With this book, I've opened the bag and spilled out the contents.
Enjoy your inheritance."

If you are looking to dive into 3ds Max 2010 and get some kind of results from the program quickly, without having to read about what every button does, then this may be the book for you. It’s written with the intention that you do not have to start at page 1 and read through it to the end. You can jump around and read about the techniques that interest you at the moment try the exercise then you may be ready to apply it to your own current project.

You might wonder why a book like this is reviewed on a 3ds Max User Group site - after all aren’t we Max geeks that want to know what every button in Max does? Even if that is not possible, we do want to learn as much as we can – at least in our chosen field of interest. Let me say I honestly believe there is value for us in a book like this. The way Michele approaches the topics of modeling, animation, materials and mapping, lighting, special effects, etc may not be the last words on these subjects but they do contain some very good information that many of us may not have been exposed to before. This info is delivered in a very concise manner. Two pages – you are in and out. Within those two pages are beautiful color illustrations, hotkeys you can use to make you faster, and hot tips that I found well worth reading.

Before I go any further perhaps a brief list of the way the book is laid would help us get our bearings.

Introduction
1 Modeling
2 Materials and mapping
3 Lighting
4 Shadows
5 Reflections
6 Glass
7 Animation
8 Character animation
9 Rendering
10 Logo treatments
11 Parameter wiring
12 Appendices: Challenges, CD files

The companion CD contains sample animations, scene files, bit maps, and Camtasia videos.

The book does start off with a good dose of the typical 3ds Max basics to get you up and running. Things like transforms, selections, panning and zooming – very basic but necessary like how to properly prepare before you get down to work. I think that one of the best things about this book is the feeling I get that we are being guided by someone who has a lot of experience in the program AND knows how to present it. She will tell you what is and what isn’t important to know if you want the best results with the least amount of effort – that is - without wasting time. Through out the remaining chapters a great deal of ground is covered and covered well.

As mentioned before, each exercise is started and finished in two pages. So we don’t get very deep into the what Max can do. ‘Concise’ is the word to describe the exercises. A specific task is chosen then it’s step by step solution is explained. For the price of the book you do get a lot of good information along with some good advice thrown in. Two training ingredients that are not always offered together, but when they are delivered to you by a competent instructor, you benefit. You won’t walk away as an expert in 3ds Max even if you go through all the exercises found here. But that is not what the book is for. If you are new to Max, or have been using it for a while, you will get some new techniques under you belt that will help you work more efficiently in the program. You should learn skills that you can use in a number of situations in your own projects. You may pick up tips that allow you to approach the program in a way you might not of thought of on your own. I’ve been using Max for a number of years and I must say that I picked up a few useful tricks that I know I’ll be using very soon. For instance the next time I’m trying to tweak some refraction through glass I’ll know that sometimes the ‘correct’ numbers are not always the ‘best’ numbers to use. The book is filled with many useful insights and that is where it’s strength lies..

Contents

UPDATES FOR THIS EDITION:
High-end techniques:
More cheats geared toward realism and games.
Game-centered cheats
Normal maps - Realistic bumps
Subsurface scattering - Realistic skin and marble
HDRI - Use of images in conjunction with lighting to make realistic lighting in scenes. This technique is tricky, but the results are astounding.
More on mental ray - Sky, Sun, portals
MAXScript basics and cheats
Hair/fur - both for hair/fur and grass/vegetation

NEW DVD Content:

Camtasia MOVIES where Michele will show some of the trickier techniques.
All the techniques above - 5 or 6 movies
Skinning - 2 movies
Character animation - 3 movies
Controllers - 2 movies