15 Inspiring Particle-Based Tutorials from Around the Web

Mar 27th in Articles by Topher Welsh

If you saw an after effect piece that blew your mind, odds particles were involved. This week Topher rounded up 15 of the most inspiring particle-based tutorials from around the web.

Author: Topher Welsh

Topher Welsh is a post production artist working mainly in the fields of motion graphics and visual effects. He is a freelancer out of Tacoma, Washington, and also runs www.VisualFXtuts.com, which provides a daily fix of tutorials from any and all applications in the visual effects industry. His personal website is found here: www.Toe-Fur.com.

Particle-Based Tutorial Roundup

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  Forging Fire Studios - Burning Title Plate

  We are always looking for ways to create realistic fire, and Forging Fire Studios figured out one way. Using CC Particle Systems II, some Vector Blur, Glow, and Curves adjustments, this is quite an impressive result.

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  Forging Fire Studios - Text to Smoke

  Using Trapcode Form, Forging Fire Studios show us how to take type, turn it into smoke and let it drift off into nothingness.

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  Drew Mazanac - Particle Lightsabers

  This is a really freakin' cool concept. Lightsaber battles where the lightsaber beam is made with particles. If you want to see why I am amped, what the short film HERE.

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  Drew Mazanac - Lightning Duel

  Inspired by THIS VIDEO by Ryan Weiber, this tutorial aims to recreate the effect of the Dumbledore/Voldemort duel in Harry Potter. It's four parts which is pretty long but worth it to create the effect.

  Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

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  Video Copilot - The Ring

  Although this has already been featured in a previous post, it wouldn't do it justice if it wasn't included in a Particle Tutorials Roundup. Andrew Kramer demonstrates how to recreate the branding that Troika Design Group created for TNT's new branding. Good thing about this tut is that he gives you techniques for using Trapcode Particular as well as CC Particle World.

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  Video Copilot - Energy

  Another from Video Copilot. No surprise though, Andrew always tends to make really cool tutorials. Anyways, this tut shows how to create a crazy looking energy field in the middle of a busy street, complete with tornado-ish elements, flying paper and debris. Only uses CC Particle World.

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  Video Copilot - Speed Particles

  Alright! Last one from Video Copilot. This tutorial uses some expressions to emit a certain amount of particles based on the how fast the layer is moving. Got a crazy wiggle going on... you could have millions of particles emitting. Slow that down... the less particles you get. Kind of like the way cars kick up dirt when they burnout... I actually saw Comedy Central use this exact technique copied onto the promos for Chocolate News with David Allen Grier.

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  Barbecue Design - Lexus Hybrid Drive

  This tutorial is for creating the orbs seen in the commercial for Lexus Hybrid Drive. Created and hosted by Rüdiger Chmielus on his website, Barbeque Design can be found here. The tutorial that I am linking to is HUGE so beware. Therefore I am providing tons of mirrors (with permission of course)

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  Graymachine - 4D Fractal

  This tutorial, hosted by Harry Frank, is from his training DVD, Complete Training for Trapcode Particular. It shows how to make a smoky/plasma-ish look with Particular.

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  Red Giant TV - Looping a Particle System

  Aharon Rabinowitz hosts this tutorial over at Red Giant TV on looping particles systems to make them flow seamlessly forever and ever. The tutorial uses Trapcode Particular, but the technique can be adapted into any particle generator, or anything that you need to make loop.

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  Maltaannon - Particle Playground on Fire

  Maltaannon aka Jerzy Drozda Jr. has a cool tutorial on creating the effect of emitting fire out of your hands, similar to that of the Human Torch from the Fantastic Four or those brother and sister from Heroes. The technique uses Particle Playground, which is always nice for those of you that don't have Trapcode Particular. Additionally one of the techniques used is to generate particles that inherit motion and velocity from the live footage you are using.

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  Maltaannon - Particle Playground on Ice

  Another one from Maltaannon, almost exactly opposite of the last one. This one shows you how to create snow, but instead of just overlaying it on your footage, have it react with your character in your scene, and have it stick on them. Again, this one only uses Particle Playground. Give it up for AE's built in tools!

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  Tony Agliata at Creative Cow - Creating Lottery Balls with Particular

  Well obviously, the subject of this one is to create lottery balls with Trapcode Particular. The techniques you will be exploring are using CC Sphere to make your ball, having a custom "Ball Map" to apply to the CC Sphere, and then use an expression to modify the numbers on the Ball Map to create a bunch of different lottery balls.

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  MaxAfter.com - EKG Heart Monitor with Particular

  Here is another use you usually don't think of using Trapcode Particular for. You will be controlling the position of the particles emitted with separate x,y,z values.

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  MaxAfter.com - Particolor

  Last one, and a crazy awesome one to end with a bang. This tutorial explores Trapcode Particular's Physics Time Factor to create colorful dynamic particles by controlling their motion. Keep an eye out for MaxAfter's newest tutorial being released soon (its based on the effect from the new movie "Knowing").

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