Animation Techniques

In animating the Guildhall sequence, I used a variety of techniques. The most common technique was path constraints - attaching a camera to a path that had been drawn in 3DS Max. This was very useful for capturing different areas of the Guildhall and providing good camera shots. It also enabled a first person view of the Guildhall, which was key to the animation - providing a tour around the building.

To open the doors I simply used a rotation tool - I had already modified the pivots to the correct position when initially creating the doors. In one of the scenes, Martyn created a hand that pushes one of the doors open.

Finally, I used a more advanced animation technique that strips away sections of the model, revealing the inside structure of the Guildhall. This was achieved by grouping areas of the Guildhall together and applying the slice modifier. When animated, this was used to slice away the landscape first, followed by the walkway, and finally slice the back wall away from the Guildhall so that the camera can then sweep in on a path constraint to show the different rooms.