Some helpful techniques

 Hiding and Unhiding

During the process of animating I can come across a really useful tool in Maya which is the "Hide" tool. The hide tool allows me to make objects "hide" (go invisible) and they can be unhidden at any frame. This has been useful for creating bullets since once I am done using a bullet I can hide the bullet and therefore the bullet is no longer taking up any space and nor is it being rendered. The hide feature can be used by pressing CTRL + H on an object when on the correct frame. The object can also be unhidden using SHIFT + H.

Glow

Whilst creating my animation, I was always looking for a way to add a flare to the engine to give a better impression of the ships flying rather than just floating quickly in space. I attempted to use point lights and spot lights, however this did not give me the results I wanted and I found it difficult to get the right light settings possible. For example I would find that using lights, lit up other parts of the ship or would affect the lighting on the sky box which did not look right. I came to the conclusion that the best choice was to use the glow feature. This can be found in the "special effects" section in the attribute window on a material.

Here are some examples of the results I got from using the glow special effect. As you can see the glow effect gives a "powerful" shine effect which helps reflect the flare of the engine and gives a better impression of the ships flying.

The only downside I found to using the glow effect is that I now am required to render using "Maya Software" rather than "Maya Hardware." I have found that Maya Software is slower for rendering however the results make it worth the time.

SWOT Analysis

I have developed a SWOT Analysis to demonstrate the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities of the experience of creating my animation.
 
Strengths

30 Second Limit – Due to the animation only needing to be 30 seconds, I can focus on the quality of the 30 seconds rather than worrying about quantity (length).

Models Already Created – Due to the models already being created from the first assignment, I do not have to worry about creating any more star wars ships.

Experience in 2D Animation – I have experience with 2D animation in Flash and this gives me a very basic idea of how animating works.

Working from home and university – Since Maya is accessible at home and at university, this means I will often be in an environment where I can use Maya to work on the animation.

 

Weaknesses

30 Second Limit – Although this is mentioned as a strength, it is also a weakness since my story is only limited to 30 seconds. This will effect the quality of the storyline.

No Experience with 3D Animation – This is going to be my first time doing 3D Animation and therefore I will be learning at the same time.

More Models – Although I already have star wars models, I will need to create additional models for my animation. This will take up some production time.

Other concerns – Due to working on another module, I will not have as much time as I wanted to work on the animation.

Opportunities

Learning – Animating in Maya will help me in the future when in the process of creating a game. As well as making my own content using Maya, I will also be able to easily communicate with experienced Maya users due to having experience using the program. 

 

Threats

Time Constraint – I only have six weeks to create my animation. With the pressure of a deadline, this gives me less time to create additions to the animation which may have improved its quality.