Tornado Destruction Project

I'm super excited to share this shot created in my final term Demo Reel at Gnomon, taught by Eric Araujo, Matt Puchala and Stefano Giorgetti.

The goal of this shot was to create a believable tornado destroying a barn and integrate the destruction seamlessly into live-action footage.

The main look of the tornado was created using a custom velocity (vel) field in Houdini, giving me greater control over the tornado's swirling motion, strength, and overall shape. I then used that velocity field to drive the dust, debris, and turbulent motion around the destruction.

I focused on making the tornado interact naturally with the barn while matching the scale, lighting, and movement of the live-action plate. The main challenge was balancing physical believability with the cinematic look of the shot.

I utilized Theory Accelerated's Axiom Solver and Native Houdini Pyro Solver for Tornado Simulation.

Made with SideFX Software Houdini, Foundry Nuke, edited in Blackmagic Design with Davinci Resolve.

Responsible for all aspect except live Action Footage.