cheers everyone ..

a friend of mine wants to learn modelling with 3ds max version 7. she has about zero knowledge about max/modelling in general - could someone recommend a good book to start with, that is not too expensive?

thanks in advance!

The help that comes with Max is quite good...i would suggest that she go through it first.

Most 3d application learning books are quite expensive. I bought the book "Harnessing 3ds Max 5" some time ago. It's a fantastic book that covers all necessery subjects of 3ds max.

If your friend is only interested in learning modeling then I would say the tutorials that come along with 3ds max are more than enough for the beginning. After that, you still can browse through all the 3d sites for tutorials. There are more than enough (especially for modeling).

If you've got a credit card, I think on simplymax.com you can also buy some training DVDs.

I bought the 3ds Max 7 Bible several months ago. It's helped me a lot, but it's kind of expensive. The book is kind of useless, though, since there is a .PDF version of it included when you buy the book. Other than that, 3dkingdom.org usually has a lot of good tutorials.

Why buy a book if internet has shitloads of tutorials'n'stuff.
Here is an example:
http://www.max-realms.com/modules/wflinks/

The tutorials that come with 3ds max are FANTASTIC for absolute beginners. Go to Help->Tutorials... and it'll open up the tutorials that were installed with your version.

The tutorials, online, for the most recent version of 3ds max:
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/it ... id=8177537
A lot of those, especially the basic modeling ones are probably unchanged since 3ds max version 7.

The tutorials included with MAX are the best for beginners.

In addition, I own:

Inside 3D Studio Max 2: Vol 1 (New Riders)
2.5" thick cinder block of a book. A little outdated, but still very good and in-depth. There might be a newer version. Volume 2 and 3 I didn't bother getting since I never got all the way through volume 1 yet.

3D Studio Max 3 Magic (New Riders)
Mainly for special effects and animation. Not much use for the average game developer.

3ds MAX 4 Workshop (QUE)
Mainly for the whole cinematic animation workflow. Good for animators, not for game developers.

Also several other books from Ballistic dealing with CG techniques in general which are a good read.

BTW, isn't 3ds MAX 9 out now? Unless she already has 7, she might as well start off up to date.

IMO it's not a big deal. It's all the same. Except for a few smaller usefull tools.

Everyone has great ways of learning, probably the easiest would be to go to Borders or Barns & Noble and just sit down and soak up some information from the books... Keep in mind these books are written with the frame of mind and intention that the readers are avid and/or up & coming professionals in the industry and often fail to relate to barebones basics. I find that if you are like me and learn with hands-on experience with the software, you can download a trial version or learning editions that can be freely downloaded from Autodesk, and then if you really want to learn the software and how the professionals in the industry go about building media inside the software, check out a video-tutorial based learning DVD series called The Gnomon Workshop! http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com These people are highly regarded artists trained and well versed in the tools of their trade that are hired to do these training dvd's for sale, ranging from $20 to $60 USD per volume. A great investment for anyone seriously considering obtaining skills with these programs! They train 3d studio max as well as other popular software applications!

In addition to the advices above, you can find video tutorials from 3dbuzz.com about 3ds Max.