Learning Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2008 | Foundation is your shortcut to learning 3ds Max quickly and effectively. Youll get hands-on experience with the key tools and techniques through easy-to-follow, step-by-step project-based lessons, while learning to model, animate, apply materials and render in both the games & design visualization pipelines. By the end of the book youll have a sense of the entire production process as you work on real-life production examples.

Whether youre a game artist or a graphic artist, Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2008 has the tools you need to succeed.

Game Artists will gain in-depth knowledge of the world-class Biped character animation toolset, unparalleled polygon modeling and texturing workflow.

Design Visualization Specialists such as architects, designers, and graphic artists, will gain the power to visually inform the design process through conceptual exploration, design validation and visual communication.

The Academy Award–winning Maya 3D animation and effects software is the top choice for film and video artists, game developers, and 3D design professionals. Learn to build, render, and animate your own digital models and scenes, and begin to develop professional-level Maya skills with Introducing Maya 2008.

This new edition of a perennial bestseller is the ideal initiation to 3D and Maya. Starting with the basics, it builds from the ground up, combining straightforward text with practical examples that make it fun and easy to learn Maya’s core tools while introducing the latest Maya 2008 features. Follow clear-cut, step-by-step lessons while you learn by doing using a wealth of hands-on files provided on the CD. You’ll also find compelling examples in the full-color insert to inspire you.

The enclosed CD features images, movies, and scene files that let you view material from the book. The support files will enable you to complete all of the tutorials. The CD also includes Maya Personal Learning Edition software.

Learn to navigate the Maya 2008 interface

Experiment with modeling by creating a hand, a rocket, and a locomotive

Explore the basics of NURBS, polygons, and subdivision surfaces

Discover the nuances of shading and texturing

Rig a locomotive model for automated animation

Create more natural lighting with mental ray® Final Gather and Global Illumination

Use Maya’s Render Layers and an Ambient Occlusion pass for greater reality

Quality rigging and animation preparation is vital for creating characters that can truly act and make an audience believe they are live, emotive beings. LightWave 3D [8] Cartoon Character Creation – Volume 2: Rigging & Animation includes both general theory and comprehensive tutorials for every aspect of rigging and animating 3D characters. Learn how, why, and when to use the most efficient techniques so you can have fun animating your own fantastic 3D characters.

Learn all about rigging characters, including weight mapping, bone creation, IK, and deformations.
Discover advanced rigging techniques, including expressions, FK/IK blending, quadruped rigging, and more.
Find out how to use the animation controls and animate using inverse kinematics.
Explore the intricacies of facial animation, including morphs, facial expressions, lip sync, and advanced morph controls.
Learn how to use dynamics for secondary body motion and clothing.

comprehensive tutorials for every aspect of modeling and texturing 3D characters. Learn how, why, and when to use the most efficient techniques so you can have fun creating your own fantastic 3D characters.

Find out how to configure LightWave 3D for character creation, and learn the necessary steps of the character concept, design, and planning stages.
Discover multiple methods for modeling characters and clothing using subdivision patches.
Understand the techniques for creating complex UV mapping.
Learn about surface attributes and surfacing characters.
Enhance the appearance of your characters through the use of gradients and procedural textures.
Explore a variety of techniques for creating image maps and applying them to your characters.

In this book you’ll learn:

How to model an architectural scene and create stunning materials that breathe life into your projects
How to use real-world photometric lights and global illumination to achieve photorealism
Efficient project workflow and scene assembly
Tips and tricks for the production environment that would take years to learn the hard way
How to market your services to prospective clients
Welcome to the world of 3D architectural visualizations using the most powerful and versatile 3D software package on the planet: 3ds Max. In just the last few years, the visualization industry has arguably become the fastest-growing 3D industry, and may soon overtake all others in total number of users. Just as the use of CAD became the norm for nearly all architectural, engineering, and construction firms in the 90s, 3D visualizations have become standard practice today. This book takes you through the challenge of learning one of the most complex computer programs ever created, by way of easy-to-follow tutorials and instruction. It specifically focuses on those parts of the program you need to know to produce stunning architectural visualizations. The intent is not to show you every possible way to accomplish a task, but rather some of the fastest and most efficient ways. At the end of the book, there is a guide to marketing your services, as well as 20 top tips that took the author almost 10 years to learn in a production environmentsometimes the hard way. 3ds Max is a large and complex applicationbut by learning just the features that apply to visualizations, you’l be learning everything you need to know to get ahead in the industry in the shortest possible time.

Let this in-depth professional book be your guide to Blender, the powerful open-source 3D modeling and animation software that will bring your ideas to life. Using clear step-by-step instruction and pages of real-world examples, expert animator Tony Mullen walks you through the complexities of modeling and animating, with a special focus on characters. From Blender basics to creating facial expressions and emotion to rendering, you’ll jump right into the process and learn valuable techniques that will transform your movies.

Let this in-depth professional book be your guide to Blender, the powerful open-source 3D modeling and animation software that will bring your ideas to life. Using clear step-by-step instruction and pages of real-world examples from talented Blender users, expert animator Tony Mullen walks you through the complexities of modeling and animating, with a special focus on characters. From Blender basics to creating facial expressions and emotion to rendering, you’ll jump right into the process and learn valuable techniques that will transform your movies.

Walk through the complete process of building a character
Master mesh modeling tools and organic modeling
Fashion skin, hair, and clothing with material shaders, textures, and other tools
Learn to sync lip movements with a sound file
Understand interpolation curves, keyframes, and the basics of animating
Model your characters using a variety of mesh editing techniques

See how armatures, lattices, and IK interact

Light and render your work for exactly the effect you want

Whether you’re creating animation for television, advertising, games, or multimedia, [digital] Character Animation 3 can help you bring your imagination to life. In this updated classic, both newcomers to digital animation and old hands looking to hone existing skills will find essential techniques for creating lively, professional-quality animation that are applicable to any software application. Combining the fundamentals of modeling, rigging, and animation with advanced-level information on characterization, directing, and production management, author George Maestri has created an essential resource for digital animators.

[digital] Character Animation 3 is packed with beautiful new artwork and Maestri’s invaluable expert tips. Along with clear instruction on the theory and practice of foundation techniques such as rigging, walk-cycles, and lip-synch–the tutorials and exercises in this book let you practice what you’ve learned. Maestri also offers in-depth information on creating nuanced characters that feel “alive” and win audience empathy and attention. The book’s final chapter guides you through the entire filmmaking process, from story development through voice casting and animation directing.

A game is only as intriguing as the characters that inhabit its world. Game Character Design Complete demonstrates each step of modeling, texturing, animating, and exporting compelling characters for your games. You’ll learn how to model in 3ds Max from sketch references, texture in Adobe Photoshop, rig bones, and animate a character back in 3ds Max. Game Character Design Complete covers all aspects of character creation-from the technical to the artistic. Don’t worry if your artistic ability isn’t awe-inspiring. You’ll cover every aspect of the design process in easy-to-follow steps, including texturing and animating your character. If you have a working knowledge of 2D and 3D graphics, then you have all of the skills you need to begin creating cool characters for your games.

Digital animation has become essential part of commercials, corporate presentations, and filmmaking. Virtually every commercial on television, and most TV shows and films, use digital animation effects. Hugely reduced start up costs have resulted in small digital animation studios cropping up all over the country, and established video shops adding animation to their palettes. This is a one-stop resources for setting up and operating an animation studio – it deals with every basic digital animation technique in step by step methods, and covers each major software package available. It is designed to be a must-have resource for one of media’s fastest growing markets.
From the Inside Flap
JOIN THE RANKS OF CREATIVE, HIGHLY PAID DIGITAL ANIMATORS!

MASTER DIGITAL ANIMATION — USING THE THREE HOTTEST PROGRAMS
Essential to today’s commercials, feature films, games corporate presentations, and education digital animation is the hottest career prospect in the media creation business. In this new arena, creativity is king, not the size of your studio.

In the Digital Animation Bible, Videography and Digital Cinema magazine Contributing Editor George Avgerakis, a professional digital animator and videographer, gives you everything you need to get started, showing how any determined and creative reader can master this exciting new field by learning the fundamentals — and getting comfortable with any of the three leading software packages that form the common language of contemporary digital animation.

STEP BY STEP: HOW TO SET UP AND OPERATE YOUR OWN DIGITAL ANIMATION STUDIO

Digital Animation Bible:

* Helps you get your fist professional experience as an intern

* Provides essential information on choosing and using the right software, with dozens of hands-on examples

* Shows you how to put together a killer show reel

* Guides you into your first paying job, from interview to paycheck

* Shows you how to take a client from a need to a complete storyboard

* Helps you originate, define, and render unforgettable characters

* Facilitates your skill in lighting 3-D animations

* Prepares you for your new life as a professional digital animator or studio owner!

Everything you need is in this book, including a CD that allows access to FREE learning versions of 3ds max, Lightwave, Maya and other useful animation software!

The perfect desktop guide to AutoCAD Civil 3D 2008 from a trio of award-winning authors who are Civil 3D experts; their practical tutorials and real-world examples focus squarely on teaching vital Civil 3D tips, tricks, and techniques
Covers the best methods for creating, editing, displaying, and labeling all of the elements of a civil engineering project
Features in-depth, detailed coverage of surveying, points, alignments, surfaces, profiles, corridors, grading, LandXML and LDT Project Transfer, cross sections, pipe networks, project management, Vault, and data shortcuts