by John Swanson

Product Name: CG Academy Modeling Fundamentals 1
Media: This product is available as DVD and as a download
Instructor: Chris Thomas
Level: Beginner
Running Time: over 5 hours 20 mins
For Prices and to Purchase: CG-Academy web site

From site: “This is the first in a four DVD series that aims to teach the fundamentals of modelling in 3dsmax. In this first DVD you will learn how to effectively navigate and manipulate objects in 3D space. Then the DVD moves on to teach you what polygons are and how they are fundamental to all modelling systems. Then we learn about Primitives and how we can change their form using Modifiers and Spacewarps. And finally we make a start on a series wide project to build a go-cart using the skills developed in this DVD.
This DVD is aimed at a user who is new to 3dsmax and modelling. The DVD makes no assumptions about your 3D knowledge and aims to give you a ground up tuition in modelling. Its topics are wide ranging and form a foundation for the DVDs that follow in this series.”

This single DVD is the first in a series of four DVDs. Each can be purchased individualy or as a four DVD boxed set. I was impressed right from the start. The video, whether it’s white board or of the Max interface, is sharp and clear, as is the audio of Chris Thomas’s voice. Professional is the word that comes to mind when thinking about the presentation of this product from start to finish.

As stated on the home page at CG-Academy - every title is available for download if that is what you want. That is the option I went for. I downloaded all four modules in this series but review is about the first one only. I look forward to covering the other three in the near future. Unziping the downloaded file and clicking on the EXE file in the folder opened up a short splash screen movie with CG Academy’s logo end-user license agreement. Then the easy to navigate Training interface is presented and ready to use.

In the obligitory introduction video Chris Thomas points out how important it is to have a varied toolset at your disposal when making any kind of model. Before you set out to make a model in 3ds Max it is important to understand how to use as many modeling tools in Max as you can. Any kind of model with any amouint of detail will most likely be constructed with a number of different tools. Splines, box modeling, sub-d techniques may all need to be combined to accomplish what you want the end product to be. The main goal of this first part is to walk the beginner through the Max UI and introduce them to the basic concepts of 3D modeling and how they are handled in 3ds Max specifically. It is a fundamental look at the modeling in the Max program.

I think a novice will get that basic 3D knowledge from this tutorial series. Let me point out that the version used in Max 7. So there are no Graphite Modeling Tools used – it is all Command Panel based. Since this is an absolute beginner course I think that this is OK. They are being taught the basics and the basics can all be found in Max 7. Of course it would be nice to be instructed in the latest version but at this level, where a student is being introduced to modeling, this series is still a viable choice for that purpose.

I like the way Chris explains the ins and outs of Max. There is little or no filler here. You are given a very comprehensive tour whether he is talking about the navigation, the Max interface with the pertinent keyboard shortcuts, or even the ‘What is a polygon?’ section. His explination on polygons, or at a more basic level, triangles - is excelent. Moving on to base geometry types we are introduced to editable meshes and editable polys and the differences between the two. This will help a person to undersatand why editable polys were developrd by Autodesk – a lot of good background info is given here. He does an equaly good job at explaining what tessellation is in regards to the primitive creation process.

On the topics of coordinate systems, grids and snaps we are shown their use in the virtual 3D world inside of Max as they relate to modeling. Some of the areas are past over for now, but that is completely understandable. We are here to learn about modeling so what we are shown in this section will provide us with enough information to get the job done. Chris reminds us a number of times to check out the excelent online help in Max for a more in depth look at these tools. I like it when any instructor tells us his preferences when it comes to the usefulness of these features and Chris Thomas does not hesitate to do so. Although you may never use the spinner snap feature, or precent snap for scaling, it’s good to know they are there and how to access them if you need them.

Things really get interestig when we are formaly introduced to modifiers and the stack. This is not the most complete explination of these tools but it is one of the best introduction to this subject that I’ve come across. It’s one of the first times that I’ve come across training where the modular AND linear aspect of modifiers are explained. Throughout this DVD the uniqueness of the approach to 3ds Max training is demonstrated again and again. We don’t go into all the modifiers on this section, that would take way too much time, but we do get a good start on the topic.

Next we get into setting up space warps with a quick explination of how they differ from modifiers. We are shown how to access the Geometric/Deformable as well as the Modifier Based type of space warps in the Comand Panel. The indepentant nature of space warps that are grounded in world space as opposed to local space is stressed. The way the differences are demonstrated here is a good thing for any beginner 3ds Max user to realize. Chris finishes up this section with some really cool demos of space warps with modifiers.

At this point in the training we start a project that will run throughout all four parts of this collection of training DVDs. This part it is covered in the final three chapters. It will give the student a chance to use the skills he or she has just learned. The Align tool is used extensively when we are creating, copying, re-scaling and replacing parts of the Go Cart. The rough parts we are replacing were put there by Chris in the first tutorial Max file suplied with the training. The reason we are replacing them is so that we end up with a model that will render nicely. We are creating parts with more detail. For the most part we use Extended Primitives for this purpose. In addition we are shown how to use the Bend Modifier to model some of the parts. I found this instruction easy to follow and was able to get similar results to what was shown on screen. Here is the results I got when I followed along.

I am impressed with this training. If you are new to 3D don’t be turned off from this training because it’s using Max 7. Yes there has been a number of releases since that version and new tools have been added along the way but the vast majority of the information provided is still relevent – it’s things you have to know. I believe it accomplishes what it sets out to do – and that is to give the novice a good foundation in 3D modeling in Max. I know that by watching this training and following along, utilizing the suppied Max files, a person will get a firm understanding of the basics of 3ds Max. A few of the concepts are clearer to me because of the approach that Chris Thomas uses in his well thoughtout explinations of modeling basics in 3ds Max. I was impressed when Chris took the concepts a little further than what is usually presented in beginner training material. I look forward to reviewing the rest of this series that is comprised of four parts.