Randi Lorene Munnis a staff instructor with The Art Institute of California
at Los Angeles. She began working with computer graphics in 1992, and she was
hired by her instructor to work at Sony Pictures Imageworks, where she developed her
skills with 3ds Max and Shake, among many other programs. A teacher since 1999, Randi
enjoys sharing her wisdom with young talent and watching them develop at The Art Institute,
as well as at the UCLA Extension. Currently, she teaches a wide range of classes from
Autodesk 3ds Max to compositing with Apple Shake and Adobe After Effects. Juggling her
teaching activities with caring for a little baby boy makes Randi a pretty busy lady.
Introduction ?– xv
Chapter 1 ?– Basic Concepts 1
Chapter 2 ?– Your First 3ds Max Animation 31
Chapter 3 ?– The 3ds Max Interface 61
Chapter 4 ?– Modeling in 3ds Max: Part I 107
Chapter 5 ?– Modeling in 3ds Max: Part II 183
Chapter 6 ?– Character Poly Modeling 239
Chapter 7 ?– Materials and Mapping 295
Chapter 8 ?– Introduction to Animation 369
Chapter 9 ?– Character Studio and IK Animation 411
Chapter 10 ?– 3ds Max Lighting 455
Chapter 11 ?– 3ds Max Rendering 501
Chapter 12 ?– Particles and Dynamics 545
Appendix ?– About the Companion CD 583
Index ?– 587
CONTENTS AT A GLANCE
Introduction xv
Chapter 1 ?– Basic Concepts 1
How to Read This Book 2
What Is CGI? 2
Production Workflow 4
CG Workflow 8
CG Specialties 13
Core Concepts 14
Coordinate Systems 23
Basic Animation Concepts 24
Basic 3ds Max Terms and Concepts 27
Summary 30
Chapter 2 ?– Your First 3ds Max Animation 31
Getting Around in 3ds Max 32
Project and File Management Workflow 32
The 3ds Max Interface 35
Jumping Headlong into Animation 40
Setting Up the Hierarchy 51
Ready, Set, Animate! 58
Summary 60
Chapter 3 ?– The 3ds Max Interface 61
What Am I Looking At? 62
Screen Layout 62
Command Panels 72
Controls at the Bottom of the UI 79
The Viewports 89
Contents
Managing Scene Objects 97
Scene Explorer 105
Summary 106
Chapter 4 ?– Modeling in 3ds Max: Part I 107
Planning Your Model 108
Modeling Concepts 109
Modifiers and the Modifier Stack 115
Look at the Mesh You Got Us Into! 121
Editable Poly Tools 131
Modeling a Chest of Drawers 139
Modeling a Hand 167
Summary 181
Chapter 5 ?– Modeling in 3ds Max: Part II 183
Building the Red Rocket 184
Summary 237
Chapter 6 ?– Character Poly Modeling 239
Setting Up the Scene 240
Creating the Basic Form 246
Adding Detail 271
Final Touches 290
Summary 293
Chapter 7 ?– Materials and Mapping 295
Materials 296
The Material Editor 298
Mapping a Pool Ball 314
Mapping, Just a Little Bit More 323
Maps 326
Using Opacity Maps 331
Mapping the Rocket 333
Summary 366
Chapter 8 ?– Introduction to Animation 369
Hierarchy in Animation: The Mobile Redux 370
Using Dummy Objects 374
The Bouncing Ball 378
Using the Track Editor??“Curve Editor 379
Track View 394
Anticipation and Momentum in
Knife Throwing 398
Summary 409
Chapter 9 ?– Character Studio and IK Animation 411
Character Animation 412
Character Studio Workflow 412
Creating a Biped 415
Animating a Biped 424
Associating a Biped to a Character 438
Using Inverse Kinematics 448
Summary 452
Chapter 10 ?– 3ds Max Lighting 455
Basic Lighting Concepts 456
Three-Point Lighting 458
3ds Max Lights 461
Common Light Parameters 474
Ambient Light 482
Lighting the Red Rocket 483
Atmospheres and Effects 493
Light Lister 498
Summary 499
Chapter 11 ?– 3ds Max Rendering 501
Rendering Setup 502
Motion Blur 511
Previewing with ActiveShade 513
Cameras 513
Safe Frame 518
Render Elements 519
Rendering Effects 523
Raytraced Reflections and Refractions 526
Bringing It All Together:
Rendering the Rocket 534
Summary 542
Chapter 12 ?– Particles and Dynamics 545
Understanding Particle Systems 546
Setting Up a Particle System 550
Particle Systems and Space Warps 565
Using Rigid Body Dynamics 571
Using Soft Body Dynamics 578
Summary 581
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish 581
Appendix ?– About the Companion CD 583
Index 587
Introduction
Welcometo Introducing 3ds Max 2008.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25