Major: Tests for robot sparks, sound waves, smoke and musical notes

Sparks Tests

I followed this tutorial to test creating sparks in Maya. I tried it out with one lot of sparks and then 3 lots of sparks. I created the sparks in Maya and then rendered it out as a TIFF sequence using Maya Hardware renderer. I followed this tutorial to test creating sparks in After Effects. Overall I think the After Effects sparks look a lot better and fit better with the robot, although there are probably still some alterations I can make to make it even better.

Sound Waves Test

I followed this tutorial to test creating sound waves in After Effects that pulse in time with the music. I think it works quite well although I think I can make better sound wave shapes to start with, even maybe make the sound waves in maya and then bring them in as images into After Effects.

Smoke Tests

I followed this tutorial to test creating smoke in Maya. I think a few things could still be altered to make it fit better with the robot, but I think it works quite well. I created the smoke effect in Maya and then rendered it out as a TIFF sequence using Maya Hardware renderer. I also followed this tutorial to test creating smoke in After Effects, but I don't think it has a good end result and I definitely think the Maya smoke looks better. 

Musical Notes Test

I also followed this tutorial (same as the one for the sound waves) to create musical notes that come out of the robots head while pulsing in time with the music. I think it could still be altered a bit to make it better but I do like the end result.