Very nice article. I wish I was using blender, but I'm comfortable with my after effects. The only thing I didn't like about the atricle was his hatred for Maya. I have been a maya user for almost 5 years and it's a wonderful application albeit the price tag. I have noting against lightwave or it's users; I have seen many beautiful works from it. I have even had a few Lightwavers beat me on a few modeling comps. I think his hatered is from the politics within the CG world, and alot of people ( Corporate heads ) just want to make a name for them selves, reguardless of what the CG staff thinks. The corporate office needs to keep out of the work flow and let the CG team get the job done the way they know how to.

Your new X-wing clip was awsome. Your right about the engine glows, they need more work. The Lucasfilm ones are a bit more pinkish. The motion blurr looks good to. Did you set it to 50% like in the BSG link? However, If your at 50%, set it to 48%, that will match the 24fps shutter speed. The llighting still neeeds to be bumped up a little bit more in my opinion.