3d explosions

[d4v1dz33]

whats a good program for rendering 3d explosions? not like particle illusion which is a 2d trick, but real 3d particles and such?
kinda like this:

http://www.alias.com/glb/eng/community/movie_gallery_details.jsp?itemId=2500004

[surf]

maya's render software, or mentalRay, but there are several good other renderer programs, only you have to set the options well

[Matt Grunau]

Every 3D program out there that can do Particles can do an explosion. The best would be Houdini, then Maya and Softimage.

It all depends on what you are wanting. And nothing looks as good (yet) as a real element.

[Rich Lee]

trapcode particular combined with exporting maya camera date into after effects can work really well...

http://www.trapcode.com/products_particular.html

http://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/new_page_wrapper.cgi?forumid=1&page=http://www.creativecow.net/articles/delafuente_rene/maya_cam_imp/index.html

maya has some really great defauly explosions that can be great starting points as well.

[MrPolarBare]

Well obviously Maya can do the effect, since that is that is the website where you got the video. Actually that explosion looked like Maya Fluid Effects to me, which doesn't just make fluids, but also makes unique looking explosions and stuff. As stated above, there are some cool default effects that you can use in Maya. Just tweak around the settings some and make the effect your own. :)

[Taylor Moore]

Yes that is a Maya fluid explosion.
I have been working with the Dynamics aspects of Maya, and it is insanely powerful but a monster to learn.
I am also working on a reverse explosion of glass shards.
The problem with the fluid examples is that they are limited in that the shaders are linked directly to the simulation.

[Taylor Moore]

Rich have you had much experience with the Particle Playground???
I am trying to do a HD rez thing, and man PP crashes my computer worse than Maya....
now that's an accomplishment.

[Rich Lee]

Rich have you had much experience with the Particle Playground???
I am trying to do a HD rez thing, and man PP crashes my computer worse than Maya....
now that's an accomplishment.


no i dont know much about it...

particles are tough...and not my thing...

whats the HD thing you are doing?

[Taylor Moore]

no i dont know much about it...

particles are tough...and not my thing...

whats the HD thing you are doing?

It is a glass sphere shattering in reverse using rgid body dynamics, then a crane down to a water ripple, to reveal the logo. It's going pretty well, but has it moments when working in reverse, and trying to make it one continuous camera move.

Here is a still render. It's pretty abstract as a still but works well as an anim.
Also Rich, are you going to NAB?

http://www.moorefilms.com/test1.jpg

[Rich Lee]

cool. id like to see a QT of it...post one when you feel its ready...


never been to NAB....i might check it out...not really sure though....

[seantree]

I use 3ds max for particles. PFlow is a really great tool and I always reference Allan Mckay's work. You can find Visual Effects DVD's by him. Just hit google up. There are also a ton of online tut's by him.

[manglerBMX]

if using maya, some particles are going to have to use hardware render and some will need software render and you will need to composite them together.