funny you mention the shatter. . .i have about 2 seconds, so the thought has changed to a shatter effect. like the ice block is breaking apart. i also like the idea of the vapor. will probably do that in AE rather then maya. much easier and less time consuming to render for the amount of time on screen.

i have not done a shatter before either. been looking around to see how its done. and i am finding the easiest way is with a plug-in called Blast. i will probably have to do a bunch of reading cause so far its not comin easy!

if either of you have used this plug-in, can you lend a few tips? ? ? ?