Copyright Walt Disney Feature Animation.
CG Maya 4.0 training, 2003.
A deceptively complex animation and FX exercise. 3D elements over a 2D image plane.
The baton and ghost whooshes were hand keyframed. To place the 3D baton securely in the 2D hands without "floating" required great precision. The focal length of the camera had to be optimized beforehand to maximize the baton's impact when it is thrust into the camera. The bends are nonlinear deformers parented to the baton.
The pot screen-left was hand-shattered via projection curves. Each piece was then extruded, trimmed and hand-keyframed for 4 to 6 frames past impact, with careful consideration given to avoid interpenetration. The pieces were then converted to rigid bodies and allowed to fall and settle. As is usually the case, the rigid simulation yielded a mix of favorable & unfavorable results. The simulation was baked & the offending animation curves adjusted in the Graph Editor. In some cases a simple pivot adjustment & world rotation of the offending piece's god node did the trick.
The dust from the shattered pot & its pieces was simple surface emission from the pieces themselves.
The bucket screen-right was hand deformed via pushing/pulling control vertices, hand keyframed to 4 frames beyond impact and converted to a rigid sim like the shattered pot. I deemed the result of the rigid sim favorable; as such, little alteration was required post-baking.
