Hello,

A day before yesterday, I found a site that sells computer generated fire, explosion, and another amazing effects: www.finalight.com

Especially, these 37 computer generated seamless fire animations caught my attention:
http://www.finallight.com/orders/_FRT1.ASP [finallight.com]

Since I saw them, I've been thinking what tool did they use to generate them: Is it possible it was Houdini, or is that fire a typical output of Maya Fluids, or is it possible that a simple 2D particle engine like Particle Illusion was used to generate those shots? I bellieve, that different packages add a typical look its renders, and it could be possible to guess what tool was used to generate that fire.

I wrote to that company immediatelly, however, I doubt they would respond - its their know how, and they will hardly reveal what tools they use.

With regards,
Rene.

They're all just tools. It's the implementation and work put into getting that result and how carefully you're modelling it on reality that makes the difference. It's about time investment and skill of the crew, not the package. The package just makes life easy or hard for the crew(usually somewhere in between).

Some of that stuff was hard to tell given the image size. Some of the fire stuff I definitely saw what appeared like soft matte edges - they worked on live footage and made a loop in 2D(that's not a diss - they clearly say on their site some is from live footage). Obviously a lot looks like 3D though - the nuclear blast stands out.

Cheers,

J.C.

Hello JColdrick,

yes, I noticed that some animations, especially fireballs were real explosions.

Howeve from those I asked, none of me seem to be real life animation. http://www.finallight.com/orders/_FRT1.ASP [finallight.com] They all are CGI, i bet. I looked at Maya Fluid, but the images I saw seemed to me too plastic, comparing to those from Finalight.

Yes, you were right. The point is time, and the same effect might take 10 times longer to create with one tool than with another. This is very valid argument why to be interested in appropriate production tool.

Anyway, if anybody would have an idea what tools suits best to create such fire shots in the most efficient way, it would be interesting to discuss it.

Thank you and have a nice day,
Rene.

I've just figured out, that the atomic explosion has been created with 3DMax Afterburn.