MASH is a very powerful Motion Graphics and Visual Effects plugin that now ships with Maya. It is a procedural system that allows you to create complex simulations and animations with an easy-to-use interface.

MASH is often used for motion graphics, however, it can also have great uses in VFX due to its ability to create dynamic and realistic simulations. This is especially true when combined with the power of the Arnold Renderer.

This course aims to break down the process of creating Wi-Fi trails in MASH for Maya, similar to the animations you would expect to see on Watchdogs, Telecommunications adverts and the opening sequence of BBC News. In the course we will design, texture, render and composite our Wi-Fi trails, utilising Maya and Nuke and/or After Effects.

The pre-requisites to this course are as follows:

A basic understanding of navigating Maya
A copy of Maya from 2017 onwards
A copy of Nuke or After Effects

The rest I will teach you from the ground up across 1 main exercise. You will then have the opportunity to practice these techniques in a final summative assignment.

Course outline

Lesson 1 – Creating our Wi-Fi trails with Mash (A walkthrough of how to simulate, texture and render our Wi-Fi Trails)

Lesson 2 – Compositing the shot in Nuke (A breakdown of how the composited shot comes together in Nuke)

Lesson 3 – Compositing in After Effects (A breakdown of how the composited shot comes together in After Effects)

Project Task (Assignment) – (This lesson will walk you through the final assignment that you have been tasked with, summarising the skills and techniques learnt in this course.

Assignment Inspiration - (This lesson will give you wealth of options and resources to help drive your project)

As mentioned above in the course outline, the course will finish with a really fun assignment where you will have the opportunity to practice the skills that you have learnt in this course! I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys create so please upload your work!

I hope you enjoy this course as much as I enjoyed creating it!