The book teaches skills and techniques in a way that not only provides an understanding of MAX X and its functionality but also how to apply those tools to a normal work environment by using a single, comprehensive project. Each chapter contains a section that provides an explanation of the tools, features and techniques being used, some sample exercises for reinforcement, and some of the artistic insight behind the process. The chapter concludes with the "workshop" section, which walks the reader through a series of step-by-step tutorials that culminate into a final, working project by the end of the book.

The tear card, color section, tips, notes and sidebars are filled with expert advice and supplemental information and together with the chapter material provide the reader with an invaluable resource that they can return to time and again.

Amazon.com Review
3ds max 4 Workshop is very appealing in a number of ways. For one, the entire book is primarily focused on creating a single film, from sketching out ideas on paper to creating the final end credits. Also, the inside front and back covers of the book include a handy list of keyboard shortcuts, and a two-page tear-out examines the interface and defines every icon and palette.

While the book opens with the usual examination and explanation of the interface, the remainder breaks from the pack and introduces the tool set on an as-needed basis. The goal of the book is to create a sci-fi short film while teaching the hows and whys of the Max 4 tool set. This philosophy works very well, introducing tools based on need rather than just for the sake of the tool, and an ample number of screen shots clarify all instructions.

Over the course of the book's nine chapters, just about every major tool is used, from the various ways of modeling to adding surface detail to setting up bones and using kinematics for animation, through final rendering and compositing using Video Post.

3ds max 4 Workshop is not a handbook or reference, but more of a series of tutorials. This style of book makes a fine companion to the program's manuals and other 3ds max reference books, as it describes tools and techniques in a more in-context light. Designed for new Max users, the book goes out of its way to use features new to 3ds max 4, which are noted with a specific icon throughout the book. The sketch-to-final render examples are priceless, and the easygoing style of the text makes working through the chapters a breeze. --Mike Caputo