3D Studio MAX & VIZ Resources

There are a lot of dedicated sites for 3D Studio out there and many of them are very nicely designed too. The Maxforums site is a good example. However, despite the popularity of both MAX and VIZ, good tutorials are a bit thin on the ground. I put this down to the complex nature of these applications and to the "difficult" interface. 3D Studio is by no means an intuitive application and it's difficult to write a tutorial that doesn't start from first principles. Most of the resources offer free textures and models and there are also a number of forums where your questions may be answered.

Beginners Start Here

Book Recommendations

MAX and VIZ are both complex applications and it's unlikely that you'll find everything you need in a single volume. These book are recommended for beginners. Advanced users will find any number of titles that cover specific areas of use.

    coverMastering Autodesk VIZ 4 by George Omura. Omura is probably best known for his excellent "Mastering AutoCAD" book and this new book is at least as good. It's probably the only dedicated VIZ book around and is written for a specific audience. The book focuses on Architecture and many of the examples are of buildings, both interiors and exteriors. An excellent all round introduction to VIZ. The book comes with a CD containing software, sample files and web links and is available from Amazon.co.uk for £39.09.
     

    cover3D Studio MAX 4 Fundamentals by Ted Boardman. As the title suggests, this book is for absolute beginners. However, it covers the ground really well and will get you up to speed with all the basics very quickly. It is concisely written and full of step-by-step tutorials. The accompanying CD contains all the tutorial files along with other useful stuff. This is probably the best introduction to MAX you can buy. It's a bit pricey for a relatively slim volume (530 pages) but it is worth every penny. It's available from Amazon.co.uk for £30.99.
     

    coverInside 3DS MAX 4 by Kim Lee. This is another book published by New Riders, and follows on very well from their "Fundamentals" book (reviewed above). This book isn't for beginners and assumes some basic knowledge of the application but will take readers of Ted Boardman's book to the next level. It's available from Amazon.co.uk for £38.99.

Tutorial Sites

Portals & Tutorial Listings

    3D CAFE4 Stars
    A massive listing of tutorials, all with brief descriptions.

    3DLinkResources4 Stars
    A great general purpose 3D portal site covering a range of software including Bryce. The 3D Studio tutorial listing is relatively short but tutorials are rated and given a short description.

    Huntfor - 3D Studio Max4 Stars
    A really good listing of tutorials with descriptions.

    Maxforums5 Stars
    A beautifully designed 3D Studio resourse portal that has almost everything you might need or will at least tell you where to find it. The tutorial listing contains no comments but it is laid out by topic, making it easier to use.

    Tutorialfind - 3D Studio MAX4 Stars
    A constantly updated listing of tutorials. Check it frequently to see what's new.

    Ultimate 3D Links - MAX Tutorials3 Stars
    Lots of tutorials listed here but lack of comment makes it difficult to find what you're looking for. However, there is also a very good resource listing on this site.

    Viz20005 Stars
    An excellent site with a really good tutorial listing. Tutorials are arranged by subject so it's easy to find what you're looking for. This is also a good portal site with links to all sorts of useful resources.