create an explosion with fumefx

Syawish A rehman shares how to make a bang using Maya’s nparticles and Fumefx

Explosions are a huge part of our entertainment, from video games to full-on Michael Bay explosion porn. However, most of the time, the explosions you see on screen aren’t real. I remember seeing the making of a scene from the second Transformers movie, where an ILM artist was bringing in pre-made explosions from the archives. According to him, the company’s archives had thousands of such explosions. Some directors still prefer to use real explosions, but even then they send their footage to be redone in post to make the explosions bigger and cooler.

There are a lot of things that go into simulating an explosion. If one tiny thing is off it might not look right. To simulate an explosion, you have to think about the units you’ll be using, and consider the fuel that’s supposedly igniting the explosion. You also have to think about how high the impact will go, the colours that’ll show up and the directions it’ll travel in. All these things and many more combine to give you the perfect explosion that looks stunning on the screen.

You don’t always have to worry about all of these elements, though. That depends on whether you’re working on a production or a video game. In video games, in general, there’s less concern about being realistic, so you can get away with an explosion that makes a bang and looks cool. Let’s get started.