Best 3D S Max tutorial website?

Freeman · 14 Jan 2007 at 12:26

I need a tutorial which will teach me the complete basics and further. Basics as in terms of an object, vertices, polygons and son on, and what they mean and how to use them.

I know there are a few websites posted on this forum linking to tutorials of Max but i was wondering if anyone knew which is the best for a complete beginner.

I know Max is an abolutely massive program, so i doubt there is any website out there covering 100% all of it for a noob.

Is it best to go the tutorial website way, or do yo think i should buy a tutorial book?

Cheers.

badgermonkey · 14 Jan 2007 at 12:33

Although I can't remember the name of it, I found a book that came in 3 volumes (anyone help me out here? :confused:

) that took you through the various features of 3ds Max 6. While I know use 3ds Max 8, they have very little difference until you start really delving deep.

Messiah Khan · 14 Jan 2007 at 12:34

Im a fan of the tutorials over on www.3DTotal.com They range from the complete beginner, right uo to the silly hard.

RevBillyG · 14 Jan 2007 at 12:53

www.3dbuzz.com

Helped me a lot. Some great videos on there.

bubbletron · 14 Jan 2007 at 23:40

The tutorials that come with it should be perfect for getting you started its what they are designed for

.

Failing that i would reccommend going for a book, I find it a lot easier than having to switch to a website all the time. Failing that, sites like buzz and simply max are probably the best as they have videos.

Is there particular reason why your learning max and not a different program?

boycee · 15 Jan 2007 at 09:17

bubbletron said:
The tutorials that come with it should be perfect for getting you started its what they are designed for .

Failing that i would reccommend going for a book, I find it a lot easier than having to switch to a website all the time. Failing that, sites like buzz and simply max are probably the best as they have videos.

Is there particular reason why your learning max and not a different program?

Second there.

Work through the tutorials built into the program. They are simply amazing and pretty much cover everything to get you started. They even become quite complicted allowing you to fully rig characters for animation.

Just work through them mate, they should more than get you started.

Messiah Khan · 15 Jan 2007 at 09:20

bubbletron said:
Is there particular reason why your learning max and not a different program?

Probably because its the best.

boycee · 15 Jan 2007 at 09:32

messiah khan said:
Probably because its the best.

or at least the one with the most web based support to help you learn.

For support forums check this site out http://forums.cgsociety.org/ some proper skilled guys on there, and they're always up for helping you out. They also have some amazing videos and pics to check out for inspiration.

Chaos · 15 Jan 2007 at 13:17

The best site for a beginner imo is

http://forums.ego-farms.com/index.php?topic=78.0

this has tons of video tutorials for a complete beginner.

http://www.3d-palace.com/index.php?page=tut1 also has some good free video tutorials.

Then if you find you like Max then get the training dvd Max Fundamentals at 3dbuzz.com

Freeman · 15 Jan 2007 at 16:44

bubbletron said:
Is there particular reason why your learning max and not a different program?

For a beginner i've read a lot, and heard that it is one of the better programs to start with. It looks like a challenge when you first open it but i suppose once you know what your doing it's an extremely good base to move on to other more powerful gaming engines.

I did try C++ a while ago, but the version i have is so old now i decided to get 3ds max.

Dup · 15 Jan 2007 at 17:05

If it's games you'e interested in then you'll probably find more than one program is used, but Max is usually the starting point.

I take it you're looking into modelling game related material, IE non-smoothed content.

The best base to start would probably be a vehicle. There are lots and lots of Sim game modders out there and car enthusiast modelerers out there. Search for GTA and 3Ds Max tutorials and you should get lucky for a beginners crash course. Look at other peoples wire frames. www.gtaforums.com and www.smcars.net have some great forums full of peoples work and they're very willing to help. Mainly car based though.

It's the way I've learnt and to be honest its much easier than other applications I've tried.

I tended to use a tutorial but use a different subject to model. Say a car modelling tutorial but I wouldn't use the same car they did. I'd just mimic each stage to my personal taste. This gives you a more personal feel to learning and makes it much more exciting too.

From there you could apply most techniques which are documented seperately like UVW unwrapping, normal mapping etc.

In my mind basic modelling is so easy to do I could probably talk someone through it on MSN, if I had the patience. Do not worry about most of the buttons on the interface. Just learn what you need. Tutorials are there to reference, you don't need to cram it all in at once.

bubbletron · 15 Jan 2007 at 18:34

Fair enough, I prefer xsi or maya but it dosnt make too much difference, the majority of the tools work in a very similar way.

NokkonWud · 16 Jan 2007 at 14:34

messiah khan said:
Probably because its the best.

Agreed.

3D Studio Max for Modelling and Texturing.
SoftImage XSI for Animation.

socreative · 16 Jan 2007 at 14:51

I would suggest buying a 3DS max bible or some similar books. I always prefer hard copies to pdfs and web tutorials :rolleyes:

Messiah Khan · 16 Jan 2007 at 16:43

NokkonWud said:
Agreed.

3D Studio Max for Modelling and Texturing.
SoftImage XSI for Animation.

Yuck yuck yuck!

XSI doesn't agree with me tbh. Probably because I was fairly fluent in max before trying it, so it just frustrated me. When it comes down to it though, all of the big ones(Max, XSI, Maya, Lightwave, Houdini etc) are basically just as good as each other, it just depends on which one you prefer.