3D for the Web: Interactive 3D animation using 3ds max, Flash and Director (Paperback)

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Chapter 1 – 3D for Beginners. Basic Buttons
Why we all love buttons
Introducing modeling in 3D
How to make a simple 3D button
Preparing your button for the web
Get your button on the Web
Making a turtle in 3D
How to animate a turtle
Making a turtle into an animated button
Interview with Mach-Parat

Chapter 2 – Representation and Interface Design
Website issues
Creating a product based 3D website
Exercise: A realistic approach to 3D
Exercise: The fun approach to 3D
Creating the ‘wow’ factor – sexy graphics
Making the a website in Flash
Creating a multi-page website
Designing 3D websites
Finishing off a Flash website
Interview with Who’s We Studios

Chapter 3 – An introduction to Real time 3D
Working in 3D
3D engines
Maintaining a frame rate
Creating content for real time 3D
Exporting to Shockwave
Putting the knowledge into practice – Creating a sound toy
Exercise: Making the sound toy
Introduction to Macromedia Director
The important parts of the Director interface
Making our sound toy move
Interview with Eduardo Carrillo

Chapter 4 – Designing and Making Characters
Animation – The chores and the charms
Character design
Modeling in 3D
The eyes have it – How to make expressive eyes
Creating a quirky character for Flash
Creating the Hitme character
Forward and Inverse Kinematics
Applying the Skin Modifier
Animating the Hitme character
Making the animation interactive
Interview with Neostream

Chapter 5 – Making Characters for Shockwave
Deciding how to model and animate
Animating and exporting using linked hierarchies
Making a single mesh character
UVW mapping
Material mapping the Keystone character
The Unwrap UVW Map modifier
Interview with Electric Puppet

Chapter 6 – Animating for 3D interactivity
A live-action movie
Biped
Using Physique to attach your mesh
Animating the Biped for a Game
The waiting game
Walk cycles
Exporting our Character
Importing into Director
Adding a Camera
Interview with Titoonic

Chapter 7 – Building Virtual Environments
A real and virtual world
Terrains
Terrain building in a 3D application
Terrain building in Director
Trees
Water
Sky, clouds and backgrounds
Creating a new world
Interview with Ezone

Chapter 8 – Creating a Shockwave 3D Game
A generic approach
Marketing and financing
Planning
Game design
Physical point of view
Avoiding objects (collision detection)
Making a game world
Assembling a game
The future for 3D on the Web

Free CD of tutorials and links.