My friend & fellow helo design enthusiast, Tom Heaverlo, pointed me to a site which has a (long) series of VTMs (video training modules) for most of the popular 3D modelling software and also Photoshop 7.
The beauty of these is that much of the stuff is applicable to gmax. The first video is over an hour long and deals ONLY with the User Interface. With one single exception, everything the video "teaches" is equally applicable to gmax.
To get them, you must "register". Once logged in, the login frame is replaced by a menu choice offering "downloads". After you go thru a screen agreeing to the conditions (bottom), you are then presented with a screen full of choices. The 2nd one is for 3ds Max and when you select it, you have hit paydirt.
The individual lesson downloads are quite large (one is over 90Mb) and you will require the Div/X 5 codec to be installed on your system. The VTMs are self contained but I find I prefer running the avi in WinXP's Windows Media Player which allows me to expand to full screen.
Oh yes, don't be fooled by the seemingly aloofness of the instructors. You will quickly discover the classroom atmosphere is very productive.
http://www.3dbuzz.com/Cal