This work was one I made in order to learn more about material transitions and particle effects. I made a censer that swings back and forth on a chain, which heats up, ignites, and transitions to a more broken version of itself. I realized while working I had never tried to bring an animation into Unreal so I decided to use the opportunity to teach myself how to do so. I learned how to apply bone systems and bake animations in Maya so I could bring them into my scene. On my first try at animating I read that Unreal didn't like if you brought rigs in so I hand animated the chain. I later changed it for a much better method using IK rigs.
This project was a really good learning experience more than anything. My knowledge of how to better control materials, manipulate particle systems, and employ animations has grown a lot because of all the mistakes I made in the ten weeks this took to produce. I am very happy with the results.
Swinging Censer | Sean Graefen | Tech Art