Stephen Mann reminisces about the Animated Sweep tool in Maya and covers how it works.

New features in software often stack on the old ones. While some features get relegated, you never know when others might still have some value. That might be true for the animated sweep tool in Autodesk Maya. Stephen Mann has a look at how the tool works in Maya and how you can use it as a solution for specific tasks.

Animation Sweep From Motion Paths.

Creating a sweep is a multi-part process. You first need to create or attach an object to a motion path. Then, you can create an animation snapshot or create an animated sweep. The sweep allows you to generate an object from the motion path animation. You can even keyframe the development over time, as an easy way to create an animated extrusion.