Scene 17

The final scene took the longest to do, despite it being the only one created using an external tutorial. You see the crow flying through clouds in the sky. The camera follows it, panning side to side in places, until the end, at which point the camera stops and the bird continues on.

I followed the tutorial at http://www.3dtotal.com/team/Tutorials_3/jussing_clouds/creating_clouds_3dsmax01.php, then changed a few part to make it my own.

I created a particle generator and used the above image as the material. I also used it as part of a mask for an opacity map, the actual map being smoke.

I created a path for the crow and camera to travel on and assigned the controller to the path constraint. The camera itself follows a dummy node, this is so the target can be moved for more effect. The camera pans as it goes along.

I created a cylinder, and used the PathDeform (WSM) tool to shape it around the path and made it unrenderable . I made the cylinder the source of the particles and directed a red light at it. I increased the particle count and changed the colour of the light, as well as the camera angle and shots. There is a slight pause in between the flight movements, this is unintentional but can be used to simulate gliding.

I believe this scene is a very good ending to the animation, as you see the crow flying off into the distance, representing the crow escaping the harsh terrain and returning home.