3D Animation in Maya and Visual effects

[Anonymous]

Hello there, 

I am posting this question to expand the knowledge and overcome this mystery which is in my head for a long time even though its been almost two years since now i m on Maya. I need some suggestion and ideas about this particular shot mentioned below:

So i have created an animation in Maya in which 2 Character facing each other for a battle. Now i want to show that 1 character shoots a fire ball from his hands towards the other person , while the other person shoots a Lightning streak. Probably the most close example you can think of it in Street Fighter game we had in which the opponents attacks each other with powers. 

now the problem is after creating animation, how can i make these effects? 
does these effects are created in After effects after camera tracking the 3d animation?

I should i use Maya fx to create such effects? 
 
Whats the professional approach in CGI animated movies? 

Any help, suggestion or mentoring will be highly appreciated. Thanks 

[mspeer · Accepted solution]

Hi!

As in most cases this depends on your project requirements and personal preferences.

Both options will work.

a) In general a 2D approach in a compositing application is faster set up and rendered.

b) If you do this in Maya there is no limit for reality or complexity of the effects and you don't have to care about camera movements or last minute changes to camera settings. All scene elements, incl. the FX, are properly placed by default.

Also you can still add 2D elements in compositing on top, if required.

[trs_andre]

What @mspeer said 😉👍

Plus, should the goal be creating a video game, taking care of the effects inside the engine (Unity, Unreal, etc.), or in a separate software, would be a good option as well!