This is a "magical toy box" that i was assigned to create last semester using MAYA. It glows, hence "magical" toy box.
the fun part was the particle effects though. Instead of using particles, I used a transparent plane with a bump map (gradient). the bump maps had a circular ramp where the reflective color went from bright orange to transparent(inner to outer)....making the particles fade out as the moved outward.
next thing to do is animate the bump map so the energy flows!
note, one thing to keep in mind: since i used planes, I had to remove the shadow link between my light source and the planes themselves so that they would not cast a shadow on the ground.
btw, lov your 3D work!
I will be working in maya quite a bit this upcoming year,
so some questions might be headed ur way...
and hopefully some answers too!
You have msn? It would be faster than DA
cursed bookface.
my gmail is bflynn22@gmail.com
email me 4 facebook if you wnat
cheers