#3DS book out
31 messages in this thread
I just purchased a book by New Riders Publishing on 3d Studios that come with a
CD rom with landscapes , tiff files , and misc programs. Its a great book. To
order call toll free 800-428-5331
Mike:
Glad you like the book! It should be out in quantity within a few days.
Greg Pyros
Although you can hardly beat G & J for authoratative praise, let me just say
that, from a user's standpoint this looks like the kind of book I'll be reading
for months. I've gone through it twice already without even sitting down at
the computer, and had to spend serious time just thinking about many of the
points raised. I can't see how anyone interested in 3DS could not want this
book. Boy, I sure hope the New Riders book on special effects is somewhere
NEAR this level of quality.
(And that's despite the typos — all of them relating to illustrations — you
guys REALLY need a good proofreader)
>>despite the typos — all of them relating to illustrations — you guys
REALLY need a good proofreader)
Yup, you don't have to tell us about it <g>. Luckily we can shed ALL balme on
this point since none of us were EVER given the chance to review the
finished & notated figures (the production schedule was too fast to allow
it). The reprint should catch all of the glitches though.
Glad you like the book.
– Phil
p.s. My favorite typo is the "vendermesh" <g>.
Where can one obtain this fine book?
>>obtain this fine book?
Nearly any bookstore that stocks computer books! New Riders Publishing is a
division of Prentice Hall Computer Publishing (recently renamed to Macmillan
Computer Publishing) so it should be easily found, or at least ordered.
– Phil
I'm off to the Bookstop <g>.
>p.s. My favorite typo is the "vendermesh" <g>.
Yup, that's the first one I saw — I spent a few minutes on that one trying to
figure out what the heck I was not understanding (thought you guys REALLY had
some inside scoop!).
Gee Mike,
Thanks for the praise! If you have any questions be sure to post them here in
ASOFT. Just about everyone involved with the book hangs out here.
Steven
What does Inside 3d Studio teach about?
everthing you wanted to know about running animation , shaping , and rendering
Well, besides what Mike C. quickly sawn there's also the basics of color,
light and motion theory, hardware explanations & solutions, and extensive
sections on lighting and materials (as well as a CD full of textures).
– Phil
Andrey,
Mike's generous praise aside, (thanks Mike), I won't say we covered
everything but we did try to cover a lot.
"Inside 3D Studio" is divided into 6 sections Getting Started, Basic
Modeling, Advanced Modeling, Basic Animation, Advanced Animation, and an
Appendix.
Getting Started contains three chapters which cover installing 3D Studio,
organizing projects and files, camera theory, color theory, light theory, and
motion theory, as well as universal modeling techniques that are common to
multiple modules of 3D Studio.
Basic Modeling introduces the use of the Shaper, Lofter, 3D Editor, Materials
Editor, placing lights and cameras, and rendering 8-bit still images.
Advanced Modeling covers the same topics as above, but in more depth. Such as
editing objects at the face and vertex level in the 3D Editor, and creating
complex mapped materials in the Materials Editor. This section also includes
chapters on integrating AutoCAD with 3D Studio and how to create high
resolution still images for print output.
Basic Animation introduces the Keyframer including the concepts of tracks and
keys, linking, and simple morphing. Other chapters in this section deal with
animated materials, animated cameras and lights, and tips on creating 8-bit
flics for real time recording and on-screen presentation.
Advanced Animation continues with more linking, morphing, modeling, and
video post techniques. There is also a chapter on the techniques of
field/frame accurate recording.
The appendices include technical information on system hardware requirements,
output devices for video and printing, other software tools handy in the 3D
Studio environment, a case study of developing a multimedia project, and info
about the CD ROM.
The book should be showing up soon at major bookstores and your favorite
mutlimedia dealers. You can also order direct from NRP by calling:
800-541-6789
Thanks,
Steven
Jamie bought a copy of Inside 3DS over yesterday and Jack and I had a chance to
look through it…
All I can say is… WOW! It's so thorough! It's so well-written and the
illustrations are wonderful. I'm very very impressed, Steven, Phil and Greg.
You did an incredible job. You even cover relatively obscure features like
Object Snapshot and Render Blowup extremely well.
Along with Nancy's 3DS Applied, these two books and our reference manuals and
tutorials are enough to get ANYONE started with 3DS.
Great job!!!!
– G
Gary,
Thank you very much for the for the kind words about our book. Your praise
means a lot and makes all of the hard work worth while (well almost, a
royalty check or two from NRP will really make it worth while <BG>!)
It is especially gratifying to hear that you like the illustrations. Phil and
I spent considerable time thinking about the graphics for the book in the
early design stages. While we couldn't work out all of our ideas with NRP, we
did try to put as much as possible into the illustrations.
I received Nancy's book the other day and I agree with you that these books
in conjunction with the 3DS manuals compliment each other very well.
Thanks again and have a Happy Easter,
Steven
FYI, at our meeting today your book was "floating around" on the table, and
there was never a time when one of us wasn't perusing it and commenting on how
amazing it is.
We've already used the IPAS Browser from texture universe to index the CD that
comes with it… there are some great pictures in there! (Tim's pretty
incredible too.)
Thanks again… everyone who owns 3DSr3 ought to read these two books. From
now on, when anyone asks a question here in the forum, the standard answer
ought to be "Have you read Inside 3DS and 3DS Applied yet? If not, get
cracking!"
– G
Let me add to Gary's praise. "Inside 3DS" is a phenomenal book! Any 3D Studio
owner who doesn't buy it is either misinformed or crazy. (How's that for a
pullquote? <g>) Let me congratulate everyone involved. It contains all of the
type of information that's impossible to put in a reference manual, but that
I'd always hoped someone would write up. We won't have to answer questions on
the forum anymore. We can just refer them to "Inside 3DS."
– Jack
Yowza! Yowza! What an endorsement Jack! Especially as you've done such a fine
job on the Reference manual. Greg are you holding a copy for me?! <G>
-JE
John:
We just got our first shipment of "Inside 3D Studio" books in, yours should be
one of them!
Talk about something that will be impossible for us to keep in stock!
Greg Pyros
Nothing like great timing! eh? I just talked with Tony yesterday. And as I've
been saying for months now, I'm really looking forward to it! The endorsements
from both Gary, Jack and others have been very positive, but then I really
didn't expect any less. <G>
-JE
P.S. Glad I got my order in before the avalanche. 🙂
<<Talk about something that will be impossible for us to keep in stock! >>
brag…brag…brag…(g)
When are we gonna do a book swap? I have two which add up to the thickness of
yours. I'd say it's even, whaddya think? See ya next week when you are human
again…
Greg,
Hey there, picked up a copy of Inside 3D Studio yesterday at Software Etc. here
in Appleton, WI. Great book. Lots of useful info. Great pic of you also. Looks
like you put a lot of work into it – and the other authors. Thanks for the
great work.
Dave Mennenoh
David:
>> picked up a copy of Inside 3D Studio yesterday.
>> Great book. Lots of useful info. Great pic of you also. Looks like you
>> put a lot of work into it…
Were you referring to the touchups to the picture, or the book? <bg>
Greg Pyros
Jack,
Thanks a lot. We really appreciate such a compliment from the man responsible
for some of the best computer manuals in the business.
But please, stick around and keep answering questions!
Thanks,
Steven
Thanks for _your_ praise. I plan to stick around, but I probably won't be
answering too many questions this week 'cause I'm cranking on the new IPAS3
docs.
– Jack
Jack:
Thanks! Especially coming from you, we really appreciate the praise on the
book!
Greg Pyros
Gary:
Glad you liked it! Can we use your letter as a quote? <g>
Greg Pyros
Sure!
– G
Steven,
I would like to read this book! Why you did not mention tweening? Just
morphing?
Can we say morphing include tweening? How many different way of tweening can
3ds do? How does this compared to Animator Pro or Playmation?
Thanks.
Mei-Tien
Mei-Tien,
You should be able to find the book at most large bookstores, better
multimedia dealers (such as Pyros Partnership), or you can order direct from
NRP by calling 800-541-6789.
In regards to tweening, a lot depends upon your definition of the term. In
general the term refers to "in-betweening" which means the creation of a
series of intermediate frames/positions/shapes based upon the definition of
start and end frames/positions/shapes.
Morphing for 3D objects in 3D Studio is analogous to the Tween Panel for 2D
shapes in Animator Pro. The Keyframer employs positional tweening for
animation; and the Lofter uses cross-sectional tweening for modeling. So you
can see that the concept of tweening is spread through out 3D Studio.
Finally, there have been many threads on the forum comparing 3D Studio to
other products, what they mostly boil down to is that 3D Studio is a
full-featured, professional quality modeling, rendering, and animation
program that is hard to beat for overall quality and performance. Sure, there
may be other programs that do better at implementing a specific feature or
serving a niche market (Playmation supposedly excels at spline based chacter
animation for example) but 3D Studio comes out on top when you consider the
performance and value of the entire package.
Of course I'm not the least bit biased! <BG>
Animator Pro, OTH, is an excellent 2D paint and animation program that also
nicely compliments 3D Studio. In our book we look at Animator Pro as a tool
for creating material maps, and as a post processor and presentation tool for
flics created with 3D Studio.
Steven
Steven
Thanks for your explanation. Sounds like 3DS is the tool to use.
Mei-Tien