3DStudio Book
35 messages in this thread
Is there a book that teaches more about 3D Studio than the manuals? Does
anyone think Waite Group Press should publish such a book. My only concern
is that the installed base is too small.
Mitchell Waite
It's not possible to teach more about 3D Studio than is already contained
in the magnificent, and all-encompassing documentation. <g>
– Jack
What, hasn't Autodesk learned it's lesson? Or learned the lesson of
Novell? It's important to have an obscure, esoteric product with a lot of
margin for a safes and dealer network, and poor documentation to build
inertia from a large third-party and after-market base. If us third-party
software developers, writers and dealers can't make our bucks, the product
might be dislodged from a number-one market slot. So, next time around,
cut back on the docs, so we can write books about it. (Tongue firmly in
cheek.)
I'll have to talk to Jack about that…
Jack?
– G
Hmmmm…. Maybe on 3dsR3 we could just reprint the release 2 docs? Or do I
have to actually _work_ at making them obscure? <g>
– J
Work? That's a novel concept. <g>
– G
Work a Novel concept? Does that mean it's a fiction? Ali
Well, in my case, I think it's a biography. <g>
– G
Hi,
I don't know if this is appropriate to place here, but I'm currently
working with a publisher regarding a 3DS book. They are doing the
Marketing research now. I've also had someone else offer to publish
something for use in training departments – sort of a fast track training
guide.
Nancy Fulton
Sounds interesting, Nancy… please keep us posted when it's available!
– G
I will tell you when its available.
Actually, you (all) may get a call from the people publishing it.
Hope you are well.
N.
Thanks Nancy. Mucho appreciado. All's fine here. I'm even taking
Sunday's OFF these days!
– G
Gary, John,
Of course, Jack did such a fine and comprehensive job on the documentation
that there is probably room out there for a Readers Digest Condensed
version. Maybe something like, "Lose 30 pounds and learn 3-D Studio in only
7 days" or how about one of those cute one trivia fact per day calendars
for tips and tricks " The Yost group 365 day 3-D Studio desk calander"
Bruce
I like the desk calendar idea… maybe we could get Gary Larsen to
illustrate it?
– G
Gag, umfff, choke, choke…. Somebody pop Jacks head before it gets too
big…
-MM
Mitch –
I for one, would be very interested in such a book. Although the manuals
are pretty complete, I am overwhelmed trying to learn to use 3ds as an
artist. My head is spinning and a book with a different tone would be very
helpful. Just keep it under a thousand pages!!!
Larry
Thanks for the reply Larry. I am concerned about the small installed base
of 3DS. I am wondering if there is some way to increase the potential base
of buyers by making the book more than just "more 3DS". Perhaps extending
the concept to include more fundamentals of animation for example. Perhaps
including a CD that contains a lot of flics that demo ideas. Maybe some
tools that would enchance a 3DS person toolkit. Any ideas? Would you pay
$44.95 for such a book if it came with a CD and had say 350 pages?
It seems that, in this particular point, we in Germany are in a better
position. At least 3 (three) books on 3D-Studio are published or announced:
/ Auf Deutsch ist bisher erschienen:
R. Geyer, "3-D Studio – Der fundierte Einstieg in Multimedia", iwt, DM 98
inkl. Diskette, 200 S. (Einfuehrung und Referenz, leider nur
Schwarzweiss-Abbildungen)
Fuer 1993 sind angekuendigt:
G. Poppe, "3D-Studio 2.0 und AME 2.1" ,tewi, DM 79, ca. 400 S.
R. Brugger, "3D-Computergrafik und Computeranimation", Addison-Wesley, ca.
89,90 inkl. Diskette, ca. 500 S. (Einfuehrung in die 3D-Animation am
Beispiel 3D-Studio)
Despite of the publisher's name, the last one seems to be a German original
edition.
Gruss / Regards
-nt-
Werner,
you're correct, all three titles are from german authors. Then there's a
forth one anounced from Data Becker.
With less than 1.000 copies of 3DS sold, I wonder if any of them will make
it to more than 300 copies sold.
Dietmar
(Edition Autodesk/Rossipaul Verlag)
My German is a little rusty Werner, so I am sure its worth importing the
three books you mention. I am surprised that in Germany there are books on
3DS and here in the USA where its born, there are only chapters in other
books. Are there more 3DS copies in use in Germany?
Mitch
Mitch,
The Germans are sticklers for documentation, I'll bet thier users actually
read the 3-DS manual cover to cover before even running the tutorials.
Americans on the other hand generally have little patience for anything
more than cliff notes before exploring a new program.
Bruce
Mitchell,
I definitely believe that there is a market for such a book. But… don't you
have one about to come out already? I'm planning to buy your "Multimedia
Creations" book and believed that it included a section on 3DS.
Any way, I feel that what is really needed is a book that doesn't just
provide technical infomation about 3DS, but rather focuses on producing good
animations/renderings with 3DS as the preferred tool. Include such topics as
color theory, lighting design, set design, scene transitions, the art of
motion, and efficient modeling techniques. Such a book would attract most
computer artists even if they didn't use 3DS (and hopefully convert them into
3DS user's <G>).
Wayne Hodgins [72137,1460] of Adesk's Learning Systems Group is collecting
3DS training materials from many ATC instructors. You may want to drop him a
line in the Education Issues section of this forum.
Steven
>
I definitely believe that there is a market for such a book. But… don't
you have one about to come out already? I'm planning to buy your
"Multimedia Creations" book and believed that it included a section on 3DS.
>
Multimedia Creations has info on using 3DS top make animations but its not
exhaustive. The book really focuses on GRASP.
>
Include such topics as color theory, lighting design, set design, scene
transitions, the art of motion, and efficient modeling techniques. Such a
book would attract most computer artists even if they didn't use 3DS (and
hopefully convert them into 3DS user's <G>).
>
That sounds good Steven. What I had in mind was a 3D Studio How To, a book
that shows how to do practical and important things, things the manual
didn't have enough trees to cover. For example how do I get a camera to
swing around an object in a smooth circular manner (that puzzels me). We
have a book called Visual Basic How To that does this and its very popular.
Thanks for the tip on Wayne too!
Mitch
Mitch,
You're welcome. BTW I believe that Jack already answered the camera path
problem in his response to your question about planet rotation.
Steven
One suggestion for a 3DS book following along on Mike Kelley's excellent
ideas is to include short interviews with animators who have produced work
shown on the 3DS demo tape and/or the CDROM. They could discuss the
techniques and tricks they used to produce their work.
Alec Jason
How about a "Best of 3DS Video" to go along with it…
I wrote a feature on animation, including quite a lot a background. The
response was very good. A number of people brought it to my attention
(they didn't read the byline!)
One of the problems I have is that it's too bloody easy to get lost in 3DS.
And there is nowhere to go when you stuff up. You know the kind of thing:
you render a black image. Why? You don't see all the elements, why?
Although others may disagree, the tutorial is not hands-on enough. It
would be nicer to do small, increasingly complex projects than drown in a
morass of geometry. 3DS is disheartening, discouraging and other
dis-words. I have a couple of sequences in my head (and storyboarded) but
there is no way that I can put them together with 3DS. The documentation
just doesn't support me because there is no clear "how to". Look at the
WordPerfect documentation. The workbook is a task-orientated manual. Want
to do a task? Look it up in the index. Say I want to create an image of a
long cable being taken up on a spool. Where do I start? What features do
I use? How do I bring an object into field of view as a closeup on the left
and send it out into infinity on the top left corner of the screen. How do
I create some of those logo images on TV?
Ali
Maybe what is needed is some sort of newsletter with tips and stuff like
that. A full blown magazine may not be justified but a newsletter will
definitelly do it. User groups? I don't know…
I agree with you, though I'd probably use fewer 'dis-words' – maybe
challenging and somewhat frustrating, instead. I'm for anything that takes
the tutorial material and frames it into projects. Instead of asking "How
would that be done?" I'd rather be saying, "Oh… That's how it's done!"
In other areas, like graphic design, there are a slew of 'how-to' pubs,
like "HOW" magazine, "Step-by-Step", "Before & After", and all the 3rd
party stuff like "ALDUS Magazine", etc. I look at all the things 3DS can
do and everything _I'd_ like to do with it, and often get stuck somewhere
in the middle.
-Eli
My 2 cents: I'd like to see AD send out the 3DS tape I recently saw at the
dealer's shop, ACCOMPANIED by notes on each segment. While I got lots of
new ideas from the tape, I kept asking myself, "Howwwdd they do THAT???".
If anyone does a newsletter, sign me up.
JKJ
Yesterday Gary Yost said that Autodesk had announced they sold the 10,000th
copy of 3DS during the summer. Too small?
FWIW
David Taffet
We (New Riders Publishing — 1.800.541.6789) have a book called AutoCAD: 3D
Design and Presentation that includes several chapters on 3DS and Ani Pro.
_____kevin
Thanks Dave I will check into that book.
10,000 is pretty small for an installed base. Our books typically sell
around 30,000 to 50,000 copies, so this would not even get us started. I
wondered about expanding the scope of the book so that it would be more of
a way for people to discover the things that 3DS could do. That would open
it up to a larger crowd (all people interested in animation). How to do
that. Get Autodesk to license me a scaled version of 3DS. Or build a
simulator that mimics its features.
There's a book, AUTOCAD 3D Design and Presentation (New Riders Publishing)
that's got a couple of chapters on 3D Studio (version 1!).