Fire Tornado

This project showcases Houdini 21’s new COP Pyro solver in a dramatic fire tornado setup. It walks through how to build a source with a POP Solver and a custom Pop Force Along Curve tool, then use it as a driver for Pyro inside COPs.

Shaping operators in COPs are layered in to refine the look of the tornado, adding turbulence, breakup, and detail to the swirling column of fire. The setup also demonstrates how to extend the effect in SOPs by creating a procedural fire field, adding secondary flames that trail from the tornado’s core.

To round out the workflow, a Solaris/Karma scene is included to render the effect with physically based shading and lighting.