using 3ds max to create movies on DVD - help?

[AlienBZ]

Hi, I'm a new 3ds max user. I have 3ds max 2011 on my Acer Aspire 5745G laptop that has as specs a Intel Core i3 370M (2.4 GHz, 3MB L3 cache) CPU, NVidia GeForce GT 420M (I believe its maybe 1 GB VRAM), 15 inch LCD, 4GB DDR 3 RAM (planning to upgrade this to 8 GB come Xmas), 500 GB HDD (planning to upgrade this to a few TB hopefully) DVD Super Multi DL drive, and Windows 7 Home Premium OS, and currently I'd like to use my copy of 3ds max to create a movie that I can export and burn on a DVD so that it'll have menus, etc and be like the DVD movies that you buy in stores instead for now. Yesterday I was searching Barnes & Noble's website for a book that takes you by the hand & shows you how to create a movie with my 3DS max 2011 but the only thing closest to what I was looking for was this book (which I ordered yesterday from B & N's used book store,) I'm in debt to Mom currently, don't want to buy anymore stuff online until Christmas so please don't suggest any kinds of books to get now, as I won't be ready to buy online again until probably during the 12 days before Christmas, so please bear with me. I'll be back in a moment to link you to the book I bought yesterday thru B & N....

Ok, I'm back. Here is the link to that book I bought yesterday, http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/3ds-...=9781584503347 I know its an old book, but I feel it may fulfill some gaps left in newer books about this topic (such as creating aliens)

This book is coming from Philadelphia, Pa, and I live in West Mifflin, (suburb of Pittsburgh), Pa, and currently I'd rather work with this book to create my first movie using 3DS max than creating a game for the time being. Can you recommend a good, helpful 3DS max forum where all the members are polite, treat people nice, and are courteous, a forum where people also use 3DS max to create their own DVD movies - did I come to the right place?

[AlienBZ]

Hi, Currently I'm interested in creating my own movies on DVD that have menus, subtitles, etc, that're like the kind of DVD movies that you buy in stores like Walmart, Barnes & Noble, etc. I'm using my copy of 3ds max 2011 on an Acer Aspire 5745G laptop that has an intel Core i3 370M CPU @ 2.4 GHz, 4 GB RAM (which I'm hoping to upgrade to 8 GB this Xmas season), a 1 GB Nvidia GeForce 420M video card, a 500 GB HDD (which I'm hoping also to upgrade to a few TB come Christmas 2012), Windows 7 Home Premium, and to date I've searched both Barnes & Noble's website and Amazon.com's website for a 2011-era 3ds max book on filmmaking, I couldn't find any such thing, but the closest match I found were

3ds max 6 animation & visual effects (from Barnes & Noble's used book store)

and 3ds max 6 animation: CG filmmaking from concept to completion (consumer) (from Amazon.com)

Although these are old books, I couldn't find anything else that fits my needs in filmmaking (that is, I want to make aliens, and I need a "concept to completion" book that takes me by the hand and shows me how to do what I'd like to do.)

Furthermore, I do not want to buy anymore stuff online until the 12 days before Christmas so please, don't suggest that I buy anymore books as I'd like very much to use these 2 books that I mentioned to you guys to for my filmmaking.

So what I'm asking, is what do you guys think of these 2 books that I linked to? I believe that although old, they will suit my filmmaking needs, what do you think?

Thanks in advance.

P.S. I'm a 3ds max beginner, but I'm familiar with photoshop.

If you guys want more information about these 2 books, you may do a search for them on Barnes & Noble's and Amazon.com's websites and read the table of contents/description.

[StykFacE]

DVD Menu's can be created with Adobe Encore. And 3DS Max isn't a "movie" program. If you need to make realistic or creative 3D environments that are animated, then yes 3DS Max can do this, but most people use Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro for video animations, especially related directly to the DVD Menu animations.

[Cad64]

I've merged your two threads, since there is different information in each post, but I removed all of the links to that other forum which is what caused your first post to get moderated by the forum software.

Yes, those books are really old and outdated. They will still work, sort of, but you really need to find training material that is relevant to your version of Max, in order to get the most out of the program.

Making your own DVD is a pretty ambitious project. How much experience do you have with 3D modeling, animation, etc.?

Can you recommend a good, helpful 3DS max forum where all the members are polite, treat people nice, and are courteous, a forum where people also use 3DS max to create their own DVD movies - did I come to the right place?

Yes and no. Yes, you did come to the right place, but I'm pretty much the only Studio Max guy here. If you browse through the other threads in this section you will see that I answer about 99% of the questions. The problem is that I don't do animation. I can help you with all of your modeling, texturing and rendering questions, but I can't help you with animation or creating DVD's. That's just not what I do.

If you want to check out some other forums, I would suggest 3DPalace and The Area. But as for friendly people, lets just say that Cadtutor is the friendliest forum online and leave it at that. I'll let you make your own decisions about where you want to spend your time.

[AlienBZ]

If you need to make realistic or creative 3D environments that are animated, then yes 3DS Max can do this,

Yes, this is what I'd like to do to start off with.

Yes, those books are really old and outdated. They will still work...How much experience do you have with 3D modeling, animation, etc.?

As for these DVD menus, and animation, I do have the Adobe Premiere and I have the Adobe Encore version for Windows that goes with Premiere, as well as photoshop, After Effects, and Adobe Audition of the same suit. To date, I've installed 3DS max 2011 on my other laptop, a Dell XPS M1530 with specs: Intel Core Duo 2 @ 2 GHz, 256 MB NVidia GeForce 8600M video card, 300 GB HDD, DVD burner, 4 GB RAM, Win XP Home_sp3 (32-bit).

Yes, I'm glad that these books will still work for me. As for the 3D modeling and animation experience I have, I have absolutely no experience, I'm a beginner. Another, more updated book I just got in the mail today is the 3DS Max 2011 modeling for games book, I read part of the first chapter that's about the intro to 3DS max, and so far, this book is taking me by the hand and showing me things, and it also has tutorials in it.

[StykFacE]

Yes, this is what I'd like to do to start off with.

If that's the case then I'll side with Cad64 - this is very ambitious if you're truly a beginner. Not trying to discourage but letting you know what you're in for so you can manage your expectations.

[Cad64]

Yes, this is what I'd like to do to start off with.

Ok then, get started.
If you need help with anything, just come back and start asking questions. Just be sure to start a new thread for each new question.

[AlienBZ]

this is very ambitious if you're truly a beginner. Not trying to discourage but letting you know what you're in for so you can manage your expectations.

Ok, These 3DS Max 6 animation books I ordered - one is coming from Philadelphia and the other from Ohio, and I live in the outskirts (West Mifflin) of the Pittsburgh area, so I believe they'll be here any day now. And when they come I'll work my way thru them, chapter by chapter/section by section as I go along, they should give me the basics. I'm planning on working thru these books (incl. the book that came today) in my spare time before school starts (after Labor Day), then come the 12 days before Christmas I'll consider getting updated books of this sort from either Barnes & Noble's local store/website or Amazon.com that I'll let you guys pick/recommend for me when December (and a month of school Christmas vacation) comes.

As I said, I'm doing this stuff in my spare time as a hobby, and once school starts I'll be devoting my time to classes/exams/homework assignments but I believe that I'll have the time to play around with this stuff during my remaining free times such as after school work is finished for the day and my local friends are too busy to have me over their houses (this gives me something fun/exciting to look forward to even though my local friends happen to be very busy with limited time for me).

So what do you mean you're letting me know what I'm in for so I can handle my expectations?

EDIT - the book from Philadelphia was shipped on Aug 9, and the book from Ohio has a status of pending shipping (shipping soon).

EDIT 2 - I'm now starting a new thread dealing with Chapter 2 from the 3DS max for games book that already came today.

[StykFacE]

So what do you mean you're letting me know what I'm in for so I can handle my expectations?

I'm just simply telling you that usually things like this take years to start to comprehend how to do things on a professional level. Hobby it may be but we here always assume someone is doing things professionally. Just take your time, and dive in, and in years to come you can have a great grasp on things. I do not know 3DS Max very good, but I do know it's not an "easy" program. You can't just "jump on in and start going". It'll take time, that's all I mean by managing your expectations. In other words I wouldn't expect you to create top notch professional 3D DVD menu's in six months. But also note, Adobe After Effects is a key component in making great DVD Menu's. Also note that the creative environment in Adobe After Effects is 3D, and combining plugins can get you great 3D results too. Not 3D "models", but 3D "effects" - there's a difference.

I've made a few DVD Menu's in my day and made some very nice 3D animations just fine without 3DS Max.