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Added 11 Oct 04 Updated 20 Nov 08
Publisher Course Technology PTR
Publication Date 2002-11-27
Paperback - 720 Pages
ISBN 1931841330
This book encompasses the world of 2D and 3D software and game artwork techniques in one volume. It is the perfect stepping stone for the beginning or intermediate game artists entering the gaming industry.
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The main problem with this book is that the author isn’t very good at what he does. He details lovingly how to make the artwork but he simply lacks the talent to create 3D art that’s very good. The model he creates, Slogre is in the end, a lumbering snow man like mess of a creature poorly set up for animation.
The author spends a lot of time talking about concept art and why its important only to ditch it in production of the model, ditching all of its charisma to create an ugly mess that looks like it was created by someone completely inexperienced.
Most of the textures he creates end up looking very flat and ugly. The black and white printing causes a lot of his points to be lost. The best examples of this are on pages 225 and 226. He shows a demonstration of poorly tiling textures with noticeable seams. However, due to the cheap printing, the wall is just a solid block of grey making the visual aid wholly useless.
If you’re completely new to 3D art, there are far worse places you could start. This book has some decent primers initiating readers with certain aspects of various art programs including Photoshop. There’s a lot of information here and it’s not all useless.
However, if you are planning on getting into 3D art, I would recommend you start out with Milkshape 3D and Psionic3D tutorials. (Google those. Amazon doesn’t allow linking last time I checked.) For texturing, 3D Game Textures by Luke Ahearn is a much better resource than this.
If you have any experience in 3D art though, then you can probably skip this book without a second thought. There is likely nothing you couldn’t have figured out on your own. The things that are worthwhile for the experienced here are already available in Internet tutorials.
The only thing that would make this book of any value to an experienced artist is the collection of nearly 500 royalty free photos intended for use in your own textures. To some, these are probably worth the price on their own, but they’re photos that would be easy for someone to take on their own. Think twice about buying this book.
This book covers everything, from character creation, bones rigging, texturing of the character (and hundreds of general textures using Photoshop). The book uses 3DS Max 7 and Photoshop 7, expensive, but I’ve found that game companies use those avidly (or Maya, but not as much). Price is high for those but get a demo or hacked copy. The author covers character creation almost entirely, including export to the Torque game engine. The only down side is he doesn’t include animation, but I guess that’s a subject for another book. I hear he’s writing a character book that will include this as well. Very cool book, A+.
This book covers everything, from character creation, bones rigging, texturing of the character (and hundreds of general textures using Photoshop). The book uses 3DS Max 7 and Photoshop 7, expensive, but I’ve found that game companies use those avidly (or Maya, but not as much). Price is high for those but get a demo or hacked copy. The author covers character creation almost entirely, including export to the Torque game engine. The only down side is he doesn’t include animation, but I guess that’s a subject for another book. I hear he’s writing a character book that will include this as well. Very cool book, A+.
I was really excited when I got this book and could tell it was exactly what I needed since all aspects of making art for games was a mystery to me. However, I was disappointed that to go along with the tutorials, you had to use a TrueSpace demo or lay out the hundreds of dollars for the full program. The demo doesn’t let you save anything, so that makes it very difficult when you’re a complete newbie.
Every time you make a mistake, especially in undoable operations like Boolean operations, you have to start ALL the way over. :(
I would’ve preferred that the author used one of the more prevalent programs like Max or Maya - it made the learning curve even tougher, having to first learn TrueSpace before being able to do the tutorials in this book.
As I say - I’m glad I bought it, but it would’ve been MUCH more helpful to have been able to use a program/demo where I could save what I’m working on.
As the others have stated, purchasing these softwares (trueSpace 6, 3ds Max 5, Photoshop 6, DeepUV, DeepPaint3D) is a possible problem. However the content of the book is very good. As a programmer, I’ve always depended on other artists to produce art material. After reading this book, however, I can now make 3D models well with nice textures, so I’m very pleased about that.
In short, you will learn various tricks to model an object (gun) and a moving character (monster), then produce/manipulate/edit textures, learn about UV texture coordinate system in detail and you paste the textures on the models. You will learn how to use bones in 3ds max, and attach it to the character (so you can hand it over to programmers to animate). This book only tells you the basics of skeletal animation, but it is a good introduction for those of you who have been wondering how 3D artists prepare characters for games. If you already know how to model and apply textures well, or if you want to learn about advanced Skeletal Animation in detail, then this book is too shallow.
Personally, I liked how I can now feel right at home using Photoshop, 3ds Max and trueSpace. I became proficient with most Photoshop tools/filters which I used to avoid before and now I’m freely experimenting with confidence. Knowledge of modelling gained in trueSpace helped me to learn 3ds max in detail, which didn’t take long on my own. I actually don’t know why the book doesn’t teach you to model and configure UV in 3ds Max in the first place, but I suppose it’s good to get the hang of learning more than 1 software for the same task.
To summarize: If you don’t have problems getting the required software, this is such an excellent all-in-one Introduction to the world of 3D modelling artists (in fact, that should be the title of the book). I’m giving 4 stars instead of 5 because the use of 3ds max in this book is wasteful - if you’re going to buy 3ds max, you really ought to use it extensively and this book fails at that (but I guess that would have doubled the book).
As the others have stated, purchasing these softwares (trueSpace 6, 3ds Max 5, Photoshop 6, DeepUV, DeepPaint3D) is a possible problem. However the content of the book is very good. As a programmer, I’ve always depended on other artists to produce art material. After reading this book, however, I can now make 3D models well with nice textures, so I’m very pleased about that.
In short, you will learn various tricks to model an object (gun) and a moving character (monster), then produce/manipulate/edit textures, learn about UV texture coordinate system in detail and you paste the textures on the models. You will learn how to use bones in 3ds max, and attach it to the character (so you can hand it over to programmers to animate). This book only tells you the basics of skeletal animation, but it is a good introduction for those of you who have been wondering how 3D artists prepare characters for games. If you already know how to model and apply textures well, or if you want to learn about advanced Skeletal Animation in detail, then this book is too shallow.
Personally, I liked how I can now feel right at home using Photoshop, 3ds Max and trueSpace. I became proficient with most Photoshop tools/filters which I used to avoid before and now I’m freely experimenting with confidence. Knowledge of modelling gained in trueSpace helped me to learn 3ds max in detail, which didn’t take long on my own. I actually don’t know why the book doesn’t teach you to model and configure UV in 3ds Max in the first place, but I suppose it’s good to get the hang of learning more than 1 software for the same task.
To summarize: If you don’t have problems getting the required software, this is such an excellent all-in-one Introduction to the world of 3D modelling artists (in fact, that should be the title of the book). I’m giving 4 stars instead of 5 because the use of 3ds max in this book is wasteful - if you’re going to buy 3ds max, you really ought to use it extensively and this book fails at that (but I guess that would have doubled the book).
I agree with the majority of other reviewers on the content of this book, especially the sections of texturing. Very in depth and covers a whole lot of topics on inorganic and organic textures and how to use them. He also takes you step by step through the modeling process of a gun and a big ugly monster.
But instead of spending too much time repeating what everyone else is saying good about the book, I am going to tell you what I think isn’t so good about the book because there are a few not-so-good things about the book you should know before spending half-a-hundred dollars on it. Though, I still give the book 4 stars because it has many more good points than bad.
The most depressing thing is that you really need full versions of all the software programs used to be able to follow along with the book the way you need to in order to learn what your reading. Sure, you get some experience working with a bunch of programs like 3d studio max 5 (very heavily used in 3d game model production) but you don’t even do 3d modeling it. Instead, you follow along with the modeling process in TrueSpace 4 or 6. What you’ll find REALLY frustrating about that is, unless you have $595.00 to spend on the full, legal copy of version 6.6, you won’t be able to save any of your work using the DEMO version that comes with the book! So, you may spend an hour or more modeling your gun, and then have to close the program down and load the model that the author made on the book’s CD in order to continue to the UV mapping, texture painting, optimizing and triangulating which is done in 3ds max 5 (of which the demo version is also included on the book’s cd-rom). The modeling process could have been done just as easily in 3ds max 5 which is much more powerful than TrueSpace anyways. Why switch between the two programs when one can do both tasks? 3ds max 5 costs an arm and a leg (around $3,105.00), but can do EVERYTHING that TrueSpace & DeepUV combined can do. The full, retail (useable) version of DeepUV costs $795.00.
If you don’t believe me about UV mapping for characters in video games using 3ds max, then check out the book "Mastering 3DS MAX 4" which has a section on modeling a character then UV mapping it just like it is done in DeepUV. DeepUV is a complete waist of money if you own a copy of 3ds max 4 or higher.
Now when texturing you use two different programs, Deep Paint 3D 2.0 and Adobe Photoshop 6. Both programs are equally good and equally powerful, though Photoshop is much more popular. I do not understand why he spreads tasks out across the two programs when he could have done just about everything in one program or another without using both programs. Deep Paint 3D 2.1 costs $995.00! Adobe Photoshop 7 costs you about $609.00!
See what I’m getting at? You gotta have a fortune to spend on graphics production software in order to fully and completely follow along with this book and to be able to do ANYTHING productive with the information you’ve learned after reading the book, especially if you are a game programmer like me who has to make 3d models, then texture them and plug them into a 3d rendering engine.
You can do anything and everything this book covers by having a full version of just two peices of software, Adobe Photoshop 7 and 3ds max 4 or higher. That’s it...that’s all you need. Buying two 3D modelers, a program for UV mapping, and two texture paint programs is a waist of a whole lotta money. I understand the good it can do because one program can essentially be better at one task than a similar program can, but how many of us hobbiests have over $6099.00 to spend on software to follow in the footsteps of the book author? Not me, certainly.
If the book was designed with the hobbiest or budding superstar in mind then it would have focused all it’s attention on production software that doesn’t require you to be a zillionare. In fact another software program out there, Jasc Paint Shop Pro 8 can also be used for making game quality textures and 2D sprite art very much like Photoshop 7 or Deep Paint 3D 2.1 but it only costs about $100.00 for the full retail version. And then there’s 3D modeling software like Milkshape 3D which is also VERY cheap in comparison to 3ds max, Maya, Lightwave, TrueSpace, Cinema 4DL, etc. And the best thing about Milkshape 3D is that it was made specifically for making game-only 3D models (originally made for the game Half-Life).
Don’t get me wrong, I do like a lot of things about this book. The book does a good job of showing you how to use an array of different programs and how to effectively use them for making game art such as 2D textures and 3D models and how to prepare those models for use in a game engine, and it even includes a demo game engine to plug your models into. But just be warned that owning those programs isn’t necessary to make quality 2D and 3D artwork for games, but IS required to follow along with the book completely. You can "work around" with the book using the demos that comes with the CD, but don’t get too excited because you can’t even save your TrueSpace 3D models anyways, so how are you going to get the models into 3ds max 5 for further manipulation and game prep?
totally cool book i got lots out of it. texturing was great too. got me totally into making models and using teh torque game engine. i think this book is killer so far
I haven’t seen a game graphics book on the shelves more loaded with juicy info... most only teach one program or show how to design and implement a single character. This one rocks! It has everything from game modeling, uv, character texturing, huge game texturing tutorials, bones and skinning, asset implementation, you name it. The best way to get into game graphics! Awesome book!
I have this book in hand and, with the previous comment can only agree that whilst the book covers 3D Studio Max for games, which is in fact fairly expensive, the other programs (Photoshop, DeepUV, Truespace) are not only reasonably priced (~£400 each) but are all WIDELY used in the game industry. The author thoroughly covers these programs in the game art design aspect; I especially was interested in the texturing tutorials which spill well over 100 pages.
Aside from possibly obtaining student editions of software, I believe the author was right on with teaching these programs. Should one find work with a game company, would they use junk or third rate software?? Besides, the techniques covered can easily be applied in the same manner elsewhere.
If you need a primer to art and modeling, including efficient UV mapping, modeling and general game engine preparation, this is the book. Very well done, clear and concise, 5 stars.
I have this book in hand and, with the previous comment can only agree that whilst the book covers 3D Studio Max for games, which is in fact fairly expensive, the other programs (Photoshop, DeepUV, Truespace) are not only reasonably priced (~£400 each) but are all WIDELY used in the game industry. The author thoroughly covers these programs in the game art design aspect; I especially was interested in the texturing tutorials which spill well over 100 pages.
Aside from possibly obtaining student editions of software, I believe the author was right on with teaching these programs. Should one find work with a game company, would they use junk or third rate software?? Besides, the techniques covered can easily be applied in the same manner elsewhere.
If you need a primer to art and modeling, including efficient UV mapping, modeling and general game engine preparation, this is the book. Very well done, clear and concise, 5 stars.
I would normally not consider writing a review until I had read a book from cover to cover, but in this case, I’ll break my rule, in order to issue a warning.
I give this book two stars because it is software-specific, in a very expensive way. In addition to Photoshop (which is industry-standard and no-one can complain about) it requires the use of Right Hemisphere’s Deep-UV and Deep Paint 3D (which weigh in at about $1450) and Discreet’s 3DS MAX (which costs about $3500-4000).
The book would serve the 3D game-developing community far better were it to introduce and explain concepts in a manner that is applicable cross-application, or to use less expensive tools, for example, Cuneyt Ozdas’s Texporter for UV mapping.
As it stands, I am very angry at myself for having bought a book that advertises itself as being a general guide (the title is "2D artwork and 3D modelling for game artists) yet which contains content that will be very difficult to apply without possessing Deep UV, Deep Paint 3D and 3DS MAX.
I would normally not consider writing a review until I had read a book from cover to cover, but in this case, I’ll break my rule, in order to issue a warning.
I give this book two stars because it is software-specific, in a very expensive way. In addition to Photoshop (which is industry-standard and no-one can complain about) it requires the use of Right Hemisphere’s Deep-UV and Deep Paint 3D (which weigh in at about $1450) and Discreet’s 3DS MAX (which costs about $3500-4000).
The book would serve the 3D game-developing community far better were it to introduce and explain concepts in a manner that is applicable cross-application, or to use less expensive tools, for example, Cuneyt Ozdas’s Texporter for UV mapping.
As it stands, I am very angry at myself for having bought a book that advertises itself as being a general guide (the title is "2D artwork and 3D modelling for game artists) yet which contains content that will be very difficult to apply without possessing Deep UV, Deep Paint 3D and 3DS MAX.
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