Hey guys couple of questions. I am working on a project with a freind of mine and i guess i really dont know where to start. The basic idea is that he wants to have a hero like character that can summon some sort of fire or ice i guess xmen style from his hand. Is it possible to create this using particles in maya. Im not sure how to work particles but ive looked at enough tutorials and asked enough questions to where i can figure it out. My primary question is, After i shoot the live action video on a DV camera how do i create the effect and import it into say Final Cut. Also if any one knows how would i set up the green screen shot to where i can get the effect around his hand vividly and it doesnt look like its just sitting in front of his hand...if that makes any sense.

Question number two is completely different and is more of a curious question. If i want to create an animated screen how do i set everything for the parameters of the "movie" or short clip to export it or do i just create the characters and all in maya...rig it and then export to and different animation program...

Thanks to anyone who has the time to answer!!