Thanks a lot gster123. From what I'm reading in the documentation about the "black hole" setting that should be exactly what I'm looking for. I haven't figured out how to actually do it yet, but you've given me the clue that I need so I should be able to figure it out. Thanks again!

Thanks jsprogg, that is a good idea. You're right that it would probably be easier to use masking in a composition package in some cases, but in other cases (like a really big spear :-) ) the intersection would be far too complicated to "draw in" with a mask. I'd rather leave that for Maya to handle. But thanks for the suggestion.