A Virginia-based 3D animator-game designer offers a tutorial for non-beginners in 3D modeling with 3ds max 4 tools, starting with a blowing up the planet project. The 13 project chapters in a two-column format matching text with images each overview a technique, and gives tips for getting started and creating the desired effect. The CD contains the requisite files and products to complete chapter and bonus projects. Includes contributions by several other leading 3D artists. In landscape format. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Sean Bonney is a 3D animator, fine artist, and game designer who lives in historic Fredericksburg, Virginia. Sean graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, in 1991 with a BFA in illustration and design. He has been employed as Graphic Designer for the Central Rappahannock Regional Library system for nine years. He has worked for Rainbow Studios in Phoenix, Arizona, on a variety of game and broadcast projects. Sean has written for two previous New Riders books, 3D Studio MAX 3 Magic and 3D Studio MAX 3 Professional Animation. Sean is currently the principal of Anvil Studio and specializes in freelance animation and game design. For more information about Sean Bonney or Anvil Studio, visit the Web site at http://www.anvil-studio.com or email sbonney@anvil-studio.com.
Laurent M. Abecassis comes from a traditional animation background and has worked with 3ds max since the release of 3D Studio R3 for DOS. His projects have included character projects for video games, TV series, special effects, motion capture performances, and other outlets. Prompted by his desire to spend more energy on enhancing his expertise in 3ds max, Laurent left his position as the research and development lead for KliK Animation in 1999 to pursue freelance opportunities. He has since found numerous ways to share his knowledge with the 3D community. Laurent is now a discreet Training Specialist based in Montreal, Canada. He teaches all class levels of 3ds max, character studio, mental ray, combustion, and Lightscape, as well as how to incorporate plug-ins from various developers. All his courses are devoted to bringing 3D characters to life.
Laurent is also president/product manager of Di-O-Matic, a company that produces plug-ins and training CDs for 3ds max. For more information, visithttp://www.di-o-matic.com.
Sue Blackman is a freelance artist from Temecula, California, who in the early 1990s was delighted to find a common use for all her interests as a 3D artist.
Horse training, exhibiting and judging, fine furniture design and creation, landscaping and horticulture, house construction, and of course, several of the more traditional fine art media have come together to provide a solid base for the 3D environments and animation she produces for Radish Works, a Southern California game developer. She also finds time to teach 3ds max at two Southland community colleges and is in the process of finishing a long-forgotten degree at UC Riverside. She admits to being a "max junkie" and a compulsive tutorial writer, and she has always been fascinated by widgets and all things mechanical.
If she can ever find enough time to create her Web page, it will be found at http://www.3dxxzone.com. That is, XX as in the female chromosome, not X-rated (sorry guys)!
Pete Draper had a passion for 3D from an early age. Pete originally started out as a fine artist and graphic designer before and during university, where he studied for an Engineering IT degree. After discovering 3D Studio MAX 3 in one of the uni's CAD labs, he decided to channel his love for art into this new medium. Now a die-hard max nut, he spends his days as Head of Media for Orchard Creative Design Group, based in the southwest of England, and he moonlights by night as an artist and tutorial and Q&A writer for 3D World magazine. If you've got nothing else better to do, his Web page can be viewed at http://www.xenomorphic.co.uk.
Richard Katz is an artist and animator living in the San Francisco Bay area. Originally from New Jersey, he received his BFA from Trenton State College before heading west to make games. He is currently the Lead Artist on the Playstation 2 title Warriors of Might and Magic at the 3DO company. He has been working in the games industry for
