BlueCast Studios posted a tutorial on YouTube, Realistic Explosions (but really, pedestrians in San Francisco aren't that jaded).
This one is good for those just learning After Effects (you know who you are), who might follow Todd's sage advice: "the best place to start is at the beginning." If you're at the beginning, try these then some of these and maybe these; then see Andrew Kramer's explosion compositing demo and his explosion tutorials).
Steve Holmes has several tutorials on integrating fire and smoke into environments in his Artbeats videos. Todd Kopriva summarizes these in a kind of course outline in Steve Holmes Artbeats podcast.
Update: The CGSociety was digging through its vault and goes back to 2005 for the basics with a study of the anatomy of the explosion by Kieron Helsdon; see BANG! The Anatomy of Explosions.
"the quickest technique for typing words with Particular. Its really handy and easy to setup and it will save you tons of time especially when you want to write a longer word or even a sentence."
Shortformvideo also has a new one, similar to one long out-of-print from Total Training, AE Tutorial – Laser-etched metal title (part 1 embedded below):
"Here’s a new two-part tute on how to create a laser effect that burns your text into a sheet of metal. While this can be achieved using CS3, it’s a lot easier with the Convert Text to Masks option in CS4 and CS5, so I’m using CS5 for this one.
I ran over a bit on part two and had to butcher it to fit into the 15-minute limit – so it’s a bit choppy, and I cut out the parts where I added a flicker to the laser highlight, masked the smoke layers, and re-adjusted the keyframe positions on the Opacity values."
There's more in the mists of the past and on YouTube, depending on search terms, but here's 1 more related resource, Light graffiti in AE on demos by Aharon Rabinowitz and Andrew Kramer.
@rymden notes a new "layer removal" tutorial for Particular, Dealing With Spontaneous Particle Combustion by Ben Watts at AEtuts. Here's the preview; Ben says:
"In this tutorial I will demonstrate how to build up a procedural dispersion effect using Trapcode Particular. This is great for burning off logo’s, text or even 3d renders. The color and motion of the effect can be changed easily as well as the wipe angle thanks to handy global wipe control we will construct."
"After rendering the final clip I noticed I had to change the Particle>Size over Life curve so the particles size faded out rather than just disappearing abruptly. I also setup Aux>Opacity over Life so the auxiliary particles faded out (using opacity)."
Video Copilot has a new tutorial, 107. Green Smoke, that uses smoke particles to reveal text. Andrew Kramer show some tips for randomizing the particles using Trapcode Particular and real smoke samples (something he favors in several of his tutorials, like 63. Smoke Screen).
"Most of the time it is the best practice to manually control the lights in your After Effects scenes. There are situations however, when you may want to automate the dynamic changes in light color and intensity while maintaining high level of control over the look of your composition. That’s what the Automated Light Rig is all about.
In this tutorial I will show you how to link your lights with automated samplers on an image map, creating an ever-changing, yet unified, light rig. While the tutorial explains the expressions in depth, I am also providing you with presets simplifying the entire process into just few clicks.As a little extra, I will also show you how to create a 3D light-aware smoke using Trapcode Particular (my method is a bit more involved than the standard Particular setup, but produces results that are much more true to life)."
via Toolfarm and PVC, GenArts announced GenArts Monsters GT™ for After Effects, CS5-compatible, to be available in May 2010 for $999.
Monsters GT was acquired in the purchase of SpeedSix, adding to GenArts stable of AE filter sets that include Sapphire, Tinder, and particleIllusion. Monsters GT features these tools:
Stylize effects such as CCTV, NightVision and Brush
Warps and distort effects such as HeatHaze, Puddle and Ripple
Particle effects such as Rain, Smoke and Snow
Fluidz, a set of plug-ins that use the power of 2d fluid dynamics to create Fire and fluid flow simulations (was in Raptors)
Trailz, a set of plug-ins that create a variety of smooth, particulate and stop-motion trails (was in Raptors).
Update: Ah plug-ins for Nuke... "As part of the strategic alliance agreement between The Foundry and GenArts, signed in February this year, GenArts are the flagship partner and the first to offer their Sapphire plug-ins alongside those of The Foundry."
Andrew Kramer again shows an example of nice work with CC Particle World (the pict doesn't do the animation and environment justice):
"Well here is a test I did using CC Particle World linked to a 3D NULL! I used several copies featuring different settings to serve as the smoke particles and the light debris. I think CC Particle World has great potential to create amazing particles but it may take a little more work when compared to Particular."
He gives you a CS3 After Effects project, but sadly without the lovely environment in the render. Here are some handy examples and After Effect tutorials from earlier AEP posts (gee they're almost all from Video Copilot):
In a new After Effects tutorial from Vieo Copilot, Smoke Trails, Andrew Kramer uses Trapcode Particular and a single smoke picture to create smoke trails with 3D turbulence. Andrew also add bright lights with Video Copilot's hot new filter Optical Flares.
Digieffects launched a new inexpensive plug-in for After Effects, Atmosphere, which:
"... simulates atmospheric conditions such as haze and fog in your composition. Layers further away from the camera appear to be more deeply immersed in the haze/fog than layers closer to the camera. This also applies to parts of layers: If one edge or area of a layer is closer to the camera, this area will appear less immersed in the haze/fog than the pixels further away."
Here's a tutorial from Digieffects:
Atmospheric effects without a filter assist can be complicated; here are some resources:
Video Copilot has a free Particular 2 project for download in Illuminating Particles. The sole element is a smoke movie (seen in the inset) that was used as a custom sprite.
Update: You can do similar custom particles with built-in particle systems. There's also a couple of more stylized examples in Creating Smoke with CC Particle Effects at AEtuts.
The Genesis Project's Adobe Beginner Classes Episode #26 is available. It shows you how to create semi-realistic fog inside of After Effects. The clouds are created on 4 layers in Photoshop then animated in After Effects.
There are several essential techniques shown, and the final effect is easy to replicate. As usual there are several additional ways to do this effect. You can adjust the method by using a square image size in powers of 2 (512 or 1024 for example), so that the image is seamless when the Clouds filter creates the fill. Layers can then be used as a seamless tile for animation with the Offset filter in AE. Though spare, you can get away with only 3 layers (as seen in at least one 3rd party fog filter). Other additions should include a light touch of a favored distortion filter and/or 3D moves. Sebastian Sulinski showed how to create a seamless animation loop in another tutorial, Animated clouds effect with Photoshop and After Effects. Here's ABC Episode #26 (mentioned above) from AdobeTV:
A less archaic approach that may require more experimentation is just using the Fractal Noise filter in After Effects; for background, check out the resources in the AEP post Spare time for Fractal Noise.
Dean Velez also showed how to use Fractal Noise in the Total Training course Advanced Adobe After Effects 7 Pro. Here's a video excerpt if you want to sit through a commercial:
See also a few related implementations in tutorials by Video Colpilot, for example Smoke Screen (using puffs of smoke as particles) and Stabilize Shaky Footage.
Motionworks' sorta weekly tour of built-in AE filters continues with CC Time Blend FX with Brian Maffitt. This is nostalgia that still informs:
"CC Time Blend FX was originally published as part of the Final Effects plug-in set, but is now included in After Effects as one of the Cycore (CC) plug-ins. In his recent Unplugged interview, Total Training founder and After Effects legend Brian Maffitt discusses the Total FE (Final Effects) training series and how he used Time Blend FX to make realistic smoke and plasma [before Spawn's Violator]. It’s my privilege to tell you that Brian has given Motionworks permission to host the Time Blend FX tutorial. It’s over 10 years old (the After Effects was black and white back then) but is still amazingly useful. Special thanks to Carey Dissmore for transcoding from tape."
"Projecting one 3D layer onto another is useful for creating film and video projections as well as stained glass effects. In After Effects: Light Transmission, instructor Chris Meyer demonstrates the required steps, including mastering shadows and the Light Transmission parameter. He teaches numerous tips and tricks for building 3D worlds (including using seamless tiles), grouping together layers and lights, softening or sharpening projections, and using "negative light" to remove unwanted light leaks from a scene."
If you don't have a Lynda.com subscription, click here for a free 7-day pass.
Update: Lynda.com is also carryingAfter Effects Natural Light Effects, which tackles "volumetric lighting effects, such as light rays and glows, [which] are susceptible to two common problems: They can look too synthetic, and they are prone to banding when compressed for DVDs and the web. ...Chris Meyer shows how to make light look more realistic by adding dust or swirling smoke, creating natural imperfections that help with compression. He demonstrates how to do this using stock footage of this natural phenomenon or the After Effects Fractal Noise and Turbulent Noise effects."
Turbulence.2D, from Jawset Visual Computing, brings fluid dynamics to After Effects, with 7 channels of video input, one texture coordinate channel, and numerous other controls to help create organic textures, animations and typographic effects. You can find samples in their gallery, more about features, and a demo version at Jawset.
A similar filter in public alpha testing from the same company was mentioned last year in AE smoke filter(s) in alpha.
Update: BTW, there was similar filter Fluid Dynamics filter from Electrocolor that was released for AE 7.0/CS3. And Kevin Goldsmith noted that David Lenaerts has created a smoke/fluids simulation in Pixel Bender utilizing 49 Pixel Bender kernels per frame; he's giving out the source code.
After Effects filter developer Philipp Spöth of Frischluft.com posted a note on the AE-List about "a friend who is working on a Smoke and Fire plugin. This will not be the usual fake stuff. So maybe you are intersted in giving him some good feedback to help him turn this into a great plugin."
