Table Of Content3ds Max Modeling for Games
Volume II
Praise for 3ds Max Modeling for Games, Volume 1, Second Edition
“This book is a must-have resource for anyone wanting to learn how to make game art in 3ds
Max. It has great support on the forums which is a testament to the author’s enthusiasm for the
subject. My students would be lost without it. If you want to understand how to really make 3d
art for games then this is the book you need.”
—David Wilson, programme leader, BA (Hons) Computer Games Modelling and Animation,
University of Derby, UK
“This is a great book covering most aspects of modeling for games including the basics of 3D,
Ambient Occlusion, Normal Maps, Character, Vehicle, Scene Creation and much, much more. It
covers everything you need to get you started for your career in games.”
—Andy Manns, lead artist, THQ
“An extremely comprehensive book covering all the basic theory and techniques with 3ds Max,
currently used within the best game development studios in the industry.”
—Alex Perkins, art director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
“For a beginner, getting to grip with 3ds Max is a daunting prospect, but this book picks on the
relevant features and aims to get you producing usable 3D game art quickly and efficiently. It
gives you a great understanding of what goes into make good 3D video-game art and will give
you the vocabulary needed to talk with confidence about in-game models.”
—Don Whiteford, creative director THQ Digital UK Ltd.
“This book is one of the most comprehensive, straight-forward, and easy to follow guides for
modeling precise and efficient 3D game assets and environments. Andrew Gahan has heard
everything every educator has said about what a textbook needs to do to meet the broad stroke
of students’ needs and abilities in learning how to master 3D modeling with 3ds Max. With simple
understanding and imagination, this text can be used to transform modeling for games into
modeling for animation or modeling for simulation.”
—Tim Harrington, national assistant dean, Game and Simulation Programming,
DeVry University
3ds Max Modeling
for Games
Insider’s Guide to Stylized Modeling
Volume II
Andrew Gahan
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Acknowledgments
Thanks to:
Laura and Lauren at Focal Press
Extra special thanks to:
Ant O’Donnell for Vegetation
Seth Nash for Robot
Allan Wales for Robert
Andy Manns for the Scene
Adrian Burrows for the Trashcan
Finally, thank you, for picking up the book.
ix
Introduction
Hello and welcome to 3ds Max Modeling for Games. We must be kindred
spirits, as for the last 20 years I’ve been reading through books just like this
and learning new software just like you are now. I’ve also spent a lot of time
understanding the best way to teach what I’ve learned to others, so hopefully
you’ll be able to learn a lot of new things quickly and enjoy this journey.
You’ll find that this book isn’t just a set of tutorials, it is also an invitation to a
great community and the opportunity to make some friends and build your
confidence and professional connections along the way.
I’d like to start off by explaining how to use this book in conjunction with the
website to help you to get the very best out of this experience in the fastest
possible time.
Website and Forum
As previously mentioned, along with the tutorials in this book you also
have access to an amazing community and website, which can be found at
www.3d-for-games.com.
FIG 1 The 3D for games website.
xi
Introduction
FIG 2 A view of the forum front page.
xii
Introduction
Probably the most useful part of the website is the forum. Here you can
post questions about the tutorials in this book and the other books that I’ve
written (or any other 3D, art, games, or even film-related questions for that
matter).
It’s also a place where you can ask for help and advice on your personal or
professional work, and there are some great tips on getting into the industry.
Quite a few of the forum members have already achieved their dreams of
landing their first job in the games industry and are quickly becoming well
respected and talented professionals.
Also on the forum, there is a great resource for reference materials and website
links to almost all the 2D, 3D software and reference sites that you’ll need.
You’ll also find free competitions to enter, a showcase gallery to show off your
work, as well as a work-in-progress section to postprogress section along with
lots of other 3D and game art-related discussion threads.
The forum can be found at www.3d-for-games.com/forum sign in today and
have a look at what’s going on.
Also, unlike almost every other book, I’ll be available to help you on every step
of your journey, along with the rest of the community, so don’t be shy, log on,
and say hello and we can start working with you immediately.
Also, on the forum, there are a number of live projects that you can get
involved in. At the time of writing, there is a short film project called Mila
(www.milafilm.com) and a games project with The Pixel Bullies – a small
independent games developer. These are great ways of learning new skills,
improving to a professional level, and meeting some great contacts – not to
mention getting to work on published games and films.
Level
This book is mostly aimed at intermediate 3ds Max and Photoshop users.
By intermediate, I mean you will have already used 3ds Max to create a few
assets and are familiar with basic modeling, unwrapping, and texturing
techniques.
If you find that you are struggling with the tutorials and if you feel that you’re
not familiar enough with all the tools and techniques, don’t worry. I’ve written
another book that is published by Focal Press titled 3ds Max Modeling for
Games – An Insider’s Guide to Game Character, Vehicle, and Environment
Modeling. There is also a 2nd edition available, which has a lot of new and
different content. Both books are ideal for getting you to an intermediate/
advanced level of modeling.
The 2nd edition has a new introduction and new tutorials on LOD’s, normal
maps, creating trees and foliage, and a completely new scene. It was written to
complement the 1st edition rather than to replace it.
xiii
Introduction
FIG 3
xiv
Introduction
FIG 4
xv
