Autodesk 3ds Max 2015 Essentials Autodesk Official Press

402 Pages·2014·17.99 MB·English

by  Randi L. Derakhshani

®
Autodesk
®
3ds MAx 2015
ESSENTIALS
Randi L. Derakhshani
Dariush Derakhshani
Acquisitions Editor: Mariann Barsolo
Development Editor: Kim Beaudet
Technical Editor: Jon McFarland
Production Editor: Rebecca Anderson
Copy Editor: Linda Recktenwald
Editorial Manager: Pete Gaughan
Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley
Associate Publisher: Chris Webb
Book Designer: Happenstance Type-O-Rama
Compositor: Cody Gates, Happenstance Type-O-Rama
Proofreader: Jennifer Bennett, Word One New York
Indexer: Ted Laux
Project Coordinator, Cover: Lauren Buroker
Cover Designer: Wiley
Cover Image: Courtesy of Randi L. Derakhshani
Copyright © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana
Published simultaneously in Canada
ISBN: 978-1-118-86721-1
ISBN: 978-1-118-86753-2 (ebk.)
ISBN: 978-1-118-86770-9 (ebk.)
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Dear Reader,
Thank you for choosing Autodesk 3ds Max Essentials 2015. This book is part of
a family of premium-quality Sybex books, all of which are written by outstand-
ing authors who combine practical experience with a gift for teaching.
Sybex was founded in 1976. More than 30 years later, we’re still committed to
producing consistently exceptional books. With each of our titles, we’re working
hard to set a new standard for the industry. From the paper we print on to the
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I hope you see all that relected in these pages. I’d be very interested to hear
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CHRIS WEBB
Associate Publisher, Sybex
To Max Henry
Acknowledgments
Education is an all-important goal in life and should always be approached with
eagerness and earnestness. We would like to show appreciation to the teachers who
inspired us; you can always remember the teachers who touched your life, and to
them we say thanks. We would also like to thank all of our students, who taught us
a lot during the course of our many combined academic years.
Special thanks go to Mariann Barsolo, Kim Beaudet, Rebecca Anderson, and Pete
Gaughan, our editors at Sybex who have been professional, courteous, and ever
patient. Our appreciation also goes to technical editor Jon McFarland, who worked
hard to make sure this book is of the utmost quality. We could not have done this
revision without their help.
In addition, thanks to Dariush’s mother and brother for their love and support,
not to mention the life-saving babysitting services.
Writing on the HP EliteBook
Having a good computer system is important with this type of work, so a special
thank you goes to HP for keeping us on the cutting edge of workstation hardware
by providing us with a fully decked-out EliteBook 8760w, which was our primary
computer in writing this book. What struck us about the laptop was that it was not
only portable, making it easy for a writing team to collaborate; it was also powerful
enough to run truly demanding tasks. It takes a special machine to run graphics-
intensive applications, such as the Autodesk® 3ds Max® software, and we were
thrilled to write this book on the HP EliteBook.
Running an Intel i7 CPU with 16GB of RAM and an NVidia Quadro 5010M (with
a whopping 6GB of memory) gave us the muscle we needed to run multiple appli-
cations alongside 3ds Max splendidly. Dual 320GB hard drives gave us plenty of
space for Windows 7 Professional and its applications, and still left lots of room for
renders. We opted out of the RAID option to mirror the drives (you can also stripe
them for performance), but that doesn’t mean we neglected our backup duties with
this machine! The 8760w was easily integrated into a Gigabit network in the home
ofice, and on fast Wi-Fi everywhere else, so we had constant access to the home
network and the hundreds upon hundreds of iles necessary to write this book (and
all their backups!).
And since we are so very image-conscious (as in the screen!), we wondered if the
images we created and captured for this book would be done justice on “just a lap-
top screen.” The EliteBook has a stunning 17-inch, 30-bit IPS display panel that put
those questions to rest very quickly! The HP EliteBook screen is no less than profes-
sionally accurate and calibrated for optimum image clarity and correct color. Barely
a handful of high-end mobile workstations could even come close to meeting the
demands image professionals put on their gear. But this notebook HP DreamColor
display is remarkable—there’s just no other way to put it—going as far as besting
any of our desktop screens in color and vibrancy.
With performance at such a high level, and in a
nice portable form, we were easily convinced
that we should perform all of our intensive work
for this book on the EliteBook. Going back to a
desk-bound tower quickly became a non-option.
Thanks, HP!
About the Authors
Randi L. Derakhshani is an Autodesk-Certiied Instructor. She began work-
ing with computer graphics in 1992 and was hired by her instructor to work at
Sony Pictures Imageworks, where she developed her skills with the Autodesk® 3ds
Max® program and Shake, among many other programs. A teacher since 1999,
Randi enjoys sharing her wisdom with young talent and watching them develop.
Currently, she teaches a wide range of classes, from Autodesk 3ds Max, Autodesk®
Maya®, and ZBrush to compositing with The Foundry’s Nuke. Juggling her teaching
activities with caring for a little boy makes Randi a pretty busy lady.
Dariush Derakhshani is an Autodesk-Certiied Instructor and Certiied Evaluator, a
visual-effects supervisor, a writer, and an educator in Los Angeles, California, as well
as Randi’s husband. Dariush used Autodesk® AutoCAD® software in his architectural
days and migrated to using 3D programs when his irm’s principal architects needed
to visualize architectural designs in 3D on the computer. Dariush started using Alias
PowerAnimator version 6 when he enrolled in USC Film School’s animation program,
and he has been using Alias/Autodesk animation software for the past 14 years. He
received an MFA in ilm, video, and computer animation from the USC Film School
in 1997. He also holds a BA in architecture and theater from Lehigh University in
Pennsylvania. He worked at a New Jersey architectural irm before moving to Los
Angeles for ilm school. He has worked on feature ilms, music videos, and countless
commercials as a 3D animator, as a CG/VFX supervisor, and sometimes as a composi-
tor. Dariush also serves as an editor, and is on the advisory board of HDRI 3D, a pro-
fessional computer graphics magazine from DMG Publishing.