Need to get results with 3ds max fast? Why take months to learn every button in 3ds max when you can create great visuals with just a few key tools? Learn to create quick yet stunning logo treatments, special effects, and animated characters with the fastest techniques possible. Need convincing grass, trees, water, shadows? You can use the memory-hogging methods that choke your display and take forever to render, or you can get it done bing-bang with this book. When you need an animated character you can spend days fiddling with polygons, or you can use this book to put it together in minutes and get the entire project done in a day. How to Cheat in 3ds max includes a host of time-saving techniques as well as little-known tools that will make you look like an expert in no time flat. This book is for busy professionals who need to get it done right, but also need it done fast.

The CD includes scene files and bitmaps used to illustrate the cheats. also potentially Camtasia (video) files showing some of the trickier techniques that are better explained visually than on paper. Music files, organizational samples (i.e. dope sheets) or other files that are referred to in the book.

-Author is well-respected Max authority - she shares her secrets on little-known tools that save a bundle of time

-Concise, step by step, focused, examples with everything on CD so that artists and designers can start toying right away.

-New title in proven How to Cheat series: solution-oriented, quick results.

-No need to learn the entire program to look like a pro - info is quick, task-oriented, with real-life creative solutions.

An excellent resource

How to Cheat in 3ds Max 2009 provides an outstanding series of examples of how to approach a task with an eye toward a streamlined process and quality output. The concepts and procedures are clearly defined so that anyone with a basic knowledge of 3ds Max can incorporate them into their own projects to save time and effort. The words "why didn’t I think of that?" will undoubtedly go through your mind when you see Michele’s approach to some of the more time consuming parts of a project.

I like the fact that, rather than following a single project from the beginning of the book through the end, this text is organized by subject and task so that the readers can go straight to the subject that interests them and jump in. If you’re interested in completing your 3ds Max projects in the least amount of time then this book would be a great addition to your 3ds Max library.

Exactly What You Want

This book isn’t for the newbie - but it can help the newbie. It’s exactly what it says - a way to achieve various effects and modeling quickly and efficiently. It doesn’t have exercises to make the next full length animated feature but it can help you save time, money and energy for smaller projects. It’s written in an-easy-to-understand fashion but it does glaze over basic processes and tools. If you have a basic understanding of 3D modeling, it’s a great book. If you are completely new to 3D, learn a little and then buy this book.