EFX [Chapter Six]

Chapter Six is an interesting chapter that could have been turned into a book on its own.  There is so much more to covered in this area and it is the one part, in my opinion, that helps tie everything together.  The book covers:
3D props leading 2D animation with Maya and Photoshop,
2D leading props using Photoshop's new ability to work with simple 3D objects.
The best topic to work with is that of tones and shadows and how to use them (in a 2D or 3D method) to tie your 2D 3D assets together.

Heck, the software alone covered in that book is worth about three more books: Maya, Photoshop, Toon Boom, Flash, Shake, After Effects.  But...there's more techniques to be uncovered. What have you found?

The picture below shows elemental EFX that we talk about in the chapter. We also discuss props and other EFX items (non character items).
 Image by Troy Gustafson

Chapter Six's Project: 3D Prop Leads
For this chapter’s project you are challenged to animate a 2d character riding a 3d bicycle. The scene must also contain shadows and tones. For this project you will only want to keep the animation very short, a cycle is suggested.
Use the maya file CycleLegs.ma found in the companion data for this chapter.  

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