Product Description

This book takes you step-by-step through the process of creating a playable 3D character using 3DS Max.

Offering a complete overview of the 3D real-time character asset creation pipeline. Yancey Clinton will take you through the five major subjects used in the asset pipeline:
1. 3D modeling, including techniques specifically for both the body and head.
2. Unwrapping a model, which is one of the most misunderstood processes.
3. An overview of creating textures for your Unwrapped chararacter using Photoshop.
4. Rigging or Skinning a Character, using the industry standard Character Studio 4.
5. 'How to make your character move' with an overview of game animation and deeper into Character Studio.

But it doesn't end there! Yancey also shows you the final step; how to actually put the model into the Unreal editor and compile it for play in Unreal Tournament.

* Convenient learning - the companion DVD contains everything needed to complete the tutorials, so chapters and subjects can be tackled in any order
* Proven techniques - the book is based on the author's successful course at the Digital Media Academy
* Certified training - co-published with the software developer, Autodesk

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #414921 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 360 pages

About the Author
Yancey Clinton is an internationally known Master of 3DS Max. Having taught 3ds before Max existed, back in the 'dark days' of DOS, he instructed thousands for new careers in the 3D arts. With his own freelance production company and over 15 years experience in 3D production, Yancey has worked on all different kinds 3D related projects, mostly for video games, print, and production. As one of the few Discreet Certified Instructor of 3ds Max, and an Adobe Certified Trainer, Yancey brings his rich background of production and instructional experience to the DMA programs. He lives in San Francisco.

Customer Reviews

Unprofessional and contrived amateur misguide to character development
I looked forward a great deal to the release of this book as I know of no other book out there aimed primarily at game character modelling in 3D Studio Max for UT2004 but I have to say I was generally appalled by the techniques covered in this book and the ignorance of the author (i.e. from a cursory glance of it at least - I've seen enough) and this is why:

Modelling:
The author seems to have very little in the way of artistic ability in that the anatomy of the model is ridiculous and this stems from his bizarre, convoluted and laborious technique of developing a character mesh by `drawing' individual vertices then connecting them together (utter nonsense - most established 3D artists start with approximate primary forms as in fine art; and then work into them with low poly tools) this technique is prehistoric and ill advised as it is unnatural, time consuming and generates an appallingly uneven non-organic mesh I'm open to different ways of doing things; but this is a highly questionable an unintelligible approach to creating a character model and certainly ill advised for those wishing to learn how to model.

Texturing:
The author seems to have very little in the way of artistic ability in that his procedure for generating texture coordinates on his `mutant' anatomical character involves using lots of dated techniques which although are a means to getting the job done with zero finesse are hardly representative of easier, modern cutting edge approaches to organic texture creation in 3D Studio Max (i.e. like using the Pelt mapping gizmo designed purely for this purpose which has been in 3DS for years now - how long ago did the author write this book exactly?). Again I appreciate there are many ways of doing things but surely as this book has just been released it should be representative of what is going on now. All I can presume is that the author is an engineer posing as a 3D artist.

Its not all bad but there are far more useful, current and informed tutorials out there for free on the web; written by talented 3D artists who know what they are talking about from individual experience - no comment.

Very disappointing
Firstly the orthographic drawings were really badly drawn and showed little to no understanding of basic anatomy. I really can't see it being intentionally drawn badly as that wouldn't really help anyone. Unless its the author's way of forcing the reader to draw their own, which he succeeded doing in my case.

The modelling technique outlined in the book really seemed quite unnatural and judging by the resulting images in the book, doesn't yield great results. It looks blocky, very messy and seems to take quite a bit longer than some of the more common techniques. I was also a little concerned about the lack of documention on deformation too, which is important considering the model is going to be animated.

The next section of the book covered unwrapping. Unfortunately it was also quite badly done and also lacked any real depth.

I only really glanced through the texturing part of the book because I was getting fed up at this point, but from what I saw of it, it didn't seem all that great. I can't really comment on the UT2004 section of the book as I had no interest in it.

All in all, I really wanted to give this book a chance but it seemed to just get worse the more I progressed with it. I quickly found myself referring to other sources for guidance. For a book aimed at a novice, I'd advise anyone new to character modeling to refer to other sources instead, as the methods outlined here are dated and inferior.

Professional and complete guide to character development
This book is a great guide to the process involved in developing a character for a modern day video game. It details each of the main steps involved, providing the reader with a complete and well presented account of character conception, modelling, texturing, rigging and delpoyment in a working game engine.

Furthermore the DVD which accompanies the text provides further support in terms of exercise files, demo software etc. The author is fluent in his use of technical language yet the text remains easy to understand and follow. The pacing is just right starting with the fundamentals and working through to incorporating the finished model into the Unreal engine.

The one criticism I would have of the text is that the actual model isn't completely realistic but this is so that anyone who intends using the book can successful implement the design. All of the key priciples are addressed but further artistic development may be required from those serious about character development.

In saying that I have yet to find a better text that covers all aspects like this.