WEEK 1
Artistic principles and fundamentals of FX and Explosions
What we will cover:
We'll cover artistic principles and fundamentals of FX and explosions, including timing, animation, shapes, and color theory. We'll dive deep into the detailed anatomy of explosions and how to recreate them, learn about creating realistic fire simulations and developing effective shaders, and discover how to draw inspiration from Anime & Game FX techniques to apply them to your work.
WEEK 2
Pyro & Volumes Refresher amd Making costum XPU Shader
What we will cover:
Pyro 101 refresher (this is not an intro workshop but we will still cover this just in case), volumes 101 refresher (this is not an intro workshop but we will still cover this just in case), Constructing the Master Exploder emitter setup (the Artists way), Making the custom Crispy Chicken XPU shader.
WEEK 3
Master Exploder & Skadoosh
What we will cover:
Guest lecture by Corbin - Building Master Exploder and SHADOOSH toolkit for a Studio Pipeline (the FXTD way) (vex and python heavy module) for FXTDs
WEEK 4
The Moonshot
What we will cover:
In this module, you will learn how to optimize your scenes to handle heavy volume simulations efficiently in Solaris, create and control grains & particles emitters for car effects as part of the Master Exploder setup, and master color control techniques for post-simulation volume instances in explosion effects.
We'll also cover designing realistic ground shock waves and pressure setups, managing rendering workflows in Solaris, and finishing your work with professional compositing techniques in Nuke.
WEEK 5
Red Angry Tornado
What we will cover:
Bending and manipulating Volumes, Secondary particle and Volumetric FX, getting the Red Core in the Tornado.
WEEK 6
Jericho - Iron Man
What we will cover:
In this module, you will learn how to build custom trails tools for scattering and wedging explosions. We'll explore techniques for creating massive, realistic explosions using the Master Exploder system, and dive into large-scale shockwave setups with crucial optimization techniques.
You'll master the rendering and layout workflow in Solaris, learn professional compositing techniques in Nuke, and finish with color grading in Davinci Resolve to achieve cinematic results.
WEEK 7
Dune Explosion
What we will cover:
In this module, you will master the art of creating dynamic trails and instancing for explosions, bringing life and complexity to your effects.
You'll learn advanced techniques for efficient layout and rendering workflows in Solaris to manage complex scenes.
The course will teach you professional techniques to achieve Hollywood-scale shots using home computing resources, and finally, you'll develop essential compositing skills in Nuke to perfect your final output.
WEEK 8
The Last of Us
What we will cover:
Explore the intricacies of creating realistic nighttime explosions, including dynamic fire effects and secondary elements like embers and trails.
Master RBD destruction techniques, learn efficient rendering and layout workflows in Solaris, and perfect your shots with professional compositing in Nuke.
WEEK 9
The Creator - Water Nuke
What we will cover:
Shore water sims with Flip. Multiple workflows for creating the water splash (Flip & Particle).
Layout and Rendering in Solaris. Composting will be done in Nuke.
WEEK 10 - BONUS
The Kong shot
What we will cover:
One of my favourite CG explosion shots comes from analyzing and replicating a shot from KONG.
We'll explore multi-layer explosion setup techniques, handle rendering and layout in Solaris, and finish with professional compositing in Nuke.
WEEK 11 - BONUS
Scatter Killer Nuke
What we will cover:
Make a nuke explosion with shockwaves. Rendering and layout in Solaris.
Scatter Killer workflow to control the hot and cold Temperature patches. Compositing in Nuke.