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3DS Max Lighting Review by erik turchin
High Quality 3ds max Resource
If you are already good at modeling and texturing, you really owe it to yourself, your models, and maps to pick this manual up and study it so that you can coax the most out of the many lighting options 3ds max gives you. You may say, well, I already know alot about 3ds max lighting. You may know enough to get by, but after you read this book, you will be doing more with 3ds max lighting than just getting by. This author will teach and give you alot of insight into how to properly manufacture different lighting situations. The majority of the book is of the ideals, practices, and methods you should employ while being concerned with lighting. There is not very much actual 3ds max lighting work or training, hence the 4 star rating, but the way in which this type of information is presented is probably the best choice for "understanding lighting for the long haul." The author takes the approach of explaining everything about light to you in detail, then essentially leaves it up to you how you proceed from there based on what you have learned about light, NOT JUST 3DS MAX LIGHT! I agree with this method. I would rather understand light, and in turn be able to apply that in 3ds max with much greater effect than just knowing what the 3ds max tools do, but not why they work the way they do. 2 different mindsets really, and I'll bet that the student of light first, will produce higher quality overall results most of the time if not all of the time. This author writes very well, and I liked his book alot. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars is because although the included tutorials are reasonable and serve the purpose, perhaps at least one or two complex/advanced lighting effects, or exercises could have been included to really blast the reader off in the right direction and give the user a concrete notion of how to tap the lighting power. Even without this though, this book is worth your time. It will make a very noticable difference in renders, and will unlock the world of lighting to you. Maybe it would be nice to see this author offer other cg topics in the future!