Hi,

I have a couple of questions I'd like to bounce of some of you Maya experts, : p

I've just commenced modeling characters etc for a 4-5 minute animation that I'm doing. I've been pondering a few issues, and was wondering what would be the best solutions. I have modeled with Maya for a couple of years now and done some short animation stings, but notihng on the scale I am planning to do.

First, question is regarding the models. I have been creating the models using the NURBS->Poly->SubD method. Would it be better to use the poly version of the models or the Sub-D? Things to consider are texturing, high resolution requirements, animation (skeletal and facial, etc.) and system resources, which leads on to my next question.

Second question is regarding the scene set up. All that will be in the scene are 2 human figures, a dragon and the surroundings (cave-type-doobery-thing). Of course I will be requiring several shot set-ups. Is it better to create a large scene and have lots of cameras (which would be my desired method (for simplicity)). No doubt a large scene with high-res models is going to seriously zap my system resources. My sys res's are: Athlon 64 3500, Radeon X300, only 512MB RAM (which worries me slightly). Would it be easier on resources if I were to split the scene into smaller files i.e. just have in the scene the things that the camera will 'see'. The problem I foresee with this approach is continuity - it might be prone to some fundamental errors like directing etc.

Perhaps you folks could offer some suggestion to my potential dilemmas and add new ideas etc. Or if you guys have done something like this you could let me in on your secrets : )

Any ideas would help, other than saying I should get somebody else to do it : )