This tutorial requires familiarity with Maya Interface.

• Select ‘Dynamics‘ from the drop down menu in the module bar to display the menu
• In the top menu select ‘Particles‘, click ‘Particle Tool‘ and click & drag to draw out some particles on the grid, click Enter.
• Open the Hypershade. In the ‘Create‘ Tab open Volumetric and click on ‘Particle Cloud‘.
• Assign the new ‘Particle Cloud‘ to the particles.
• Select the newly created Particle Cloud, Lambert1 and in the perspective view Particles.
• In the Hypershade create a Lambert Material and MMB click and drag over to ‘ParticleCloud2SG‘ Node; In the drop down menu choose ‘Default‘. Disconnect ‘Lambert1‘ from its connected Node(s).
• Select the ‘ParticleShape1‘ Node you just created and open the Attribute Editor
• Scroll down to ‘Render Attributes‘. In ‘Particle Render Type‘ select ‘Cloud [s/w]‘.
• Click on ‘Current Render Type‘, then increase the newly generated Radius slider to a value of ’2′(approx.)
• In the Hypershade select ‘ParticleCloud2‘, in ‘Common Material Attributes‘ load into the Transparency channel ‘Cloud’(3D Textures)‘. Then select ‘place3dTexture1‘ Node, click ‘Fit to group box‘ button and change the colour to white.
• Back in ‘ParticleCloud2‘ Tab under ‘Transparency‘ reduce Density to 0.255.Hit Render to view.
• In the Render viewport marquee select a region of the cloud.
• In the ‘Cloud1‘ Attributes under ‘Cloud Attributes‘ reduce Edge Thresh to 0.4 and increase Amplitude to 1.5(approx.).
• Right click over marquee region in the Render View,under Render choose ‘Render Region‘

This method would be best used to render out a static cloud scene,then composited as a background,therefore the black background would be transparent if saved with an alpha channel i.e. as a Tiff file.

From here on by adjusting the parametres you’ve just edited and scaling the place3dTexture1 Node, then checking the changes in the Render View using Render Region you can change the characteristic of your cloud from thick/heavy to light and wispy. This quick tutorial requires you to act intuitively as possible with the proceedure and as there are multiple parameters for the connected nodes I’ve only touched on a very few; therefore it’s left to you to experiment further and if it all goes wrong just start again.

I produced this an example for our animation students to demonstrate the use of Maya, Moho, Photoshop, GarageBand as visual and audio elements that could then be composited together in After Effects (in this case) or Final Cut Pro.

This little test animation was done with Moho. A great, intuitive 2D programme that I was working through as it had been recently introduced to the course curriculum. I thought I’d create something that would compliment the current Fox project that was on the go at the time. There’s a great feel to the programme, which is something that’s rarely said about the digital environment, it really wants to animate anything in it.

The idea for Wally Worm was for a series of short animations that involved the character being in different situations, that more often than not, ended in an unfortunate outcome for Wally. However, in the tradition of classic cartoon characters, he’s invulnerable and always returns in a new scenario non the worse (Or wiser) for any prior misfortune. Later I thought he looked too likeable to suffer such adversities, and therefore the pathos in the humor wouldn’t really work; he looks more like a character you’ d laugh with than at. Everyone who’ s seen the storyboard likes the frame shown above the most – you can see the rest of the storyboard here…

Quick demo for a series of animation shorts.
Professor Bigheadbrain continually experiments in his lab on experimental experiments that always go wrong. He was born in a lab from a genetic experiment that went wrong and in the interests of pointless academic science he’s used for observational purposes. He’s demented and so unsuccesfull in his work that he accidentally made contact with an alien life form that thought he was a primordial distant ancestor until he blew up the alien planet while experimenting on the spaceships Turbo Time Displacement matter Extrapolator which simultaniously transported Prof Bhb back to Earth where he was originally; incarcerated in his laboratory which is really a cell in a psychiatric hospital.

This little animation was done on the spot, in a manner of speaking, for a company who were looking for artwork to test the 3G (Or 2G as it was then) mobile phone network before it was opened for commercial, public use. They asked me to put something together and the next day I took it to their office on a CD (no memory sticks back then) because their internet connection was temporarily down and so was the website. They had quite a lot of 2D artwork which had been tested and wanted to try broadcasting some animation. I’d previously sent them some abstract animations which were very low file sizes due to the then narrow bandwidth and this piece was a little more adventurous.

Animation – Inverse & Forward Kinematics

Inverse & Forward Kinematics

The tutorial relates common principles to 3D modeling. Although written prior to the AutoDesk version of Maya, the tools and techniques are still applicable, however some of the functions have been renamed and the drop down menus stripped down and simplified from the Alias version.

Mayas Blend Shape modifier, commonly termed Morpher or Morph Tool in other 3D applications, is a quick, easy and flexible way to create morphing effects. This tutorial introudces this technique on a simple shape.

Morphing (Blend Shape)

The tutorial relates common principles to 3D modeling. Although written prior to the AutoDesk version of Maya, the tools and techniques are still applicable, however some of the functions have been renamed and the drop down menus stripped down and simplified from the Alias version.

A tutorial introducing Motion Paths which are common to all 3D applications and used to control the directional movement of objects.

Animation – attaching to Motion Path

The tutorial relates common principles to 3D modeling. Although written prior to the AutoDesk version of Maya, the tools and techniques are still applicable, however some of the functions have been renamed and the drop down menus stripped down and simplified from the Alias version.

Animating the Bouncing Ball

The tutorial relates common principles to 3D modeling. Although written prior to the AutoDesk version of Maya, the tools and techniques are still applicable, however some of the functions have been renamed and the drop down menus stripped down and simplified from the Alias version.