Yeah as Omar said, it would be fun to see how you did the rig. You mentioned its not made with bones, and if you want to keep it in Blender might be fine with the way the new animation system is developing. Keep in mind if this needs to move around programs or game engines, I think an armature is still going to keep those transitions cleaner.
The animation looks really fun! I love these transformation type animations and the source material is a good one! The only little critique I have is the diamond pattern between the struts. It stutters a little bit as it attempts to fan out and fill in the shield. You can see it move away from its previous strut and pop back towards it then move away then pops again. (did that make sense?) Otherwise, its gold Nick! Keep going, keep posting, this is very inspirational!
