Simulate An Advanced Muzzle Flash
Tutorial Details
- Requirements: Just After Effects... enjoy!
- Difficulty: Intermediate
Download Source Files
Final Product What You'll Be Creating
In this tutorial we’ll talk about the most realistic way (in my opinion) to go about making muzzle flashes for machine guns and pistols. Muzzle flashes, smoke, light simulation, slide action, and shells are all a must!
Tutorial
Download Tutorial .flv
File size 284MB
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By Clinton Jones
Hey my name is Clinton Jones and I'm currently 18 years old. I got into VFX and Motion Graphics about 3 and half years ago and have been learning ever since! You can check out my work at http://www.youtube.com/pwnisher
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Nice tut!
reminds me a little andrew kramers muzzle flashes
This dont look realistic, muzzle flashes are bigger, and you dont have illumination of environment, look on Freddiew tutorial on YouTube
I agree. FreddieW gives some amazing tips and advice.
And I noticed after watching that you said that you NEED After Effects. Hell, I can make a realistic muzzle flash in Windows Movie Maker. It’ll just take more work. This is one thing that FreddieW states, that you don’t NEED any certain program.
a question, have you ever seen someone shooting an mp5?
How do you know, eva shot a gun (i shot an ak74, ak47, m4a3,m16, ar15, a glock and others)
Go 2 a shooting range, muzzleflashes rarely happen ( except for those shooting ranges that use special ammunition , which adds a 55% chance that the muzzleflash will happen, so video game enthusiasts, will like the look of the gun better since it does have the muzzleflash) from my experience, the only weapon that has a muzzle flash nearly every time, is the d.eagle. i know the shells in this tut r cappy. but other than that it is the most realistic tut on utube. if u cant go to shooting rang, google someone shooting a gun.
No, this is realistic. Freddiew has unrealistic muzzle flashes. You are such a noob “muzzle flashes are bigger”. No muzzle flashes arent bigger idiot have you ever saw a real gun being fired before? you can barely see the muzzle flash unless you are observing then u can see a bit, but my point is freddiew=unrealistic muzzle flashes
I’m usually all about constructive criticism, but this isn’t good:
1) It’s called creating realistic muzzle flash and there’s no muzzle flash on the handgun at all. Yes, I get it: not all will create a muzzle flash, but then why state in the title/intro? Unless the preview is an incomplete job? Also, see point 4 below.
2) Camera shake? Why? Watch Youtube videos on actual guns firing. Even “first timers” don’t shake the camera. Makes no sense. Watch theatrical releases. They don’t have camera shake when guns fire, unless they’re cannons or huge artillery. So this is not realistic at all.
3) The slide on the gun is too much. Again, watch actual guns firing.
4) If the purpose of visual effects training is to make visual effects people can use to make filmic-looking effects, then why not study films and match what the professionals ACTUALLY do? For example, little recoil is done, large flash on nearly every shot, no camera shake, etc. What’s the point of learning visual effects if real visual effects artists don’t do it like this??
I’m sorry, but this pisses me off. If I didn’t know better, I’d end up doing amateur stuff like this and be laughed at by real technicians and professionals. There may be people out there who aren’t as aware.
So let me give some real advice if you want to know how to do visual effects:
1) Study a film you like
2) See how the professionals do it
3) Work out how they did it.
You’ll actually learn something that way.
Some of your points are fair, but then again with the point that the pistols had no flash, but you suggested showing little recoil and large flashes on nearly every shot. These kinda things are actually what make a lot of gun enthusiast (or any kind of fan) annoyed with many films today. Every time you see someone fire 10 rounds from a 7 round clip, huge flares from the barrel, cars doing tricks that they are not heavy or light enough to actually do. This really pisses them off. And while you may not be laughed at by “professionals” you will be laughed at by the comman man who paid to see your work.
I see your points, but I would argue the common man actually doesn’t really know what a gunshot looks like, at least the common man living in most major cities, and sees movie gunfire and thinks “that’s what a gunshot appears like.”
But my main point is that this website is for people learning to become more professional at their craft and how to create the effects the pros use. The effects in movies, perfectly realistic or not, are the professional level of visual effects. To teach what is “real” and what is “really used” are often two different things. And I still argue there are multiple points on this that don’t look “real” either. So it’s in the no-man’s land of neither real nor “cinematically” real.
have you seen some one firing a gun? Look i have owned a gun for 12 years now. I have collected several assault ifles ( M4 , M16 Ak47 and TAR21) i own 4 pistols/hand guns. And I fire them all the time. Muzzleflashes do occur at random. And Clinton jones is right to say 8-10 shots. But in between there are small ones maybe only 2-4 cm long. Most of the time all you see is smoke and the shell ejection. The only thing i cud critisize on this is the shell ejection. I doesnt look that real. And in movies/video games it doesnt look real. Thos evideo effect guys arent trying to makeit look realistiic they r trying to make it look/sound cool OK GOT IT?
Wrong…
1) ALL guns produce a muzzle flash, even pistols! Most are just so quick that you never have time to see it. Look at ultra rapid shots and you will notice it.
2) Camera shake can occur if the person holding the camera (I.E no tripod) isn’t used to gunfire. (Though you don’t want this in a movie unless you are showing first person perspective of a girl)
3) Correct
4) While you are correct that film makers do it one way and to be considered a “professional” film maker you should replicate them. The problem is though, are we trying to make realistic muzzle flashes or are we trying to make a freak show?
In nearly all movies featuring gun fire i am constantly annoyed by the huge flames produced as people fire weapons and the excessive use of flammables when shells hit the ground or grenades go off.
In reality, you get a flash and then lots of smoke and dust. Only weapons that produce huge flames are in the Napalm family and very large bombs and blowing up barrels of petrolium based products etc etc.
The day a movie gets this right is the day i will congratulate them for making a good movie. Band of Brothers ALMOST gets it right, there is still some flammables used but not as excessive as other films. BoB therefore more accurately portrays what the men of EZ company might have experienced.
Especially in Bastogne with all the bright flashes and stuff flying all over the place.
nice tut, im going to try this now :) xxx
Now THIS is a handy tutorial! Thanks a buch, hope to see more!
Although, reading Mike’s comment and watching it again, I do agree with Mike…
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Cool effect :P.
I’m all for defending tutorials on this website, but this is weak.
hmm i mean this isnt amazing but its kinda cool. I think people who really want to learn after effects
should sit down and figure it out for themselves. Copying tutorials isnt really going to get anyone anywhere
I agree with Mike and Jeff.
We are not CREATING muzzle flashes, what you are doing is putting pre-recorded ones on the frame.
This is really just a ripoff of Andrew Kramer’s tutorial, where he shows how to do the slide moving and putting a flash on it; this is not anything different.
Your face morph break down was much better.
When did he do the face morph? I dont see it on Clinton Jones tutorial list for this site…
It’s only on his YouTube channel. It’s an outstanding effect.
This muzzleflash is probably the most realistic muzzle flash I’ve seen on and FX board. Anyone who has ever been shooting or owns REAL weapons, knows there are hardly ever big, fake Hollywood muzzleflashes.
Look on Youtube and search for REAL firearms being shot during the day; mostly just a bit of smoke will appear, and rarely a flash.
Get away from your Hollywood perceptions of firearms. The miniguns and 20mm on an AC-130 make the type of flashed you guys are looking for… ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=SsViAvVYoMQ&playnext_from=TL&videos=5AZJk3TcFTo
i really like how the shells looked, nice one! im gunna give it a try! aaaaand i disagree with Mike.
For the people who say it is not realistic:
I read in a book that Andrew Kramer recommended that not everything you do in AE has to look realistic. As long as its looking good to awesome its perfect. You want to transfer a feeling, emotion, not to show how it looks like in real life. Thats what real life is for.
Im not saying I agree with this tutorial or anything, just saying, let go the realistic aspect of making things like this
Hi Andrew!
I like your tutorial – the Shells look great!
We got Action Essential II from videocopilot for this muzzle stuff.
the slider part is obviously taken from the bullet tutorial by andrew kramer. nice that you pay for recycling tuts from other persons.
Isn’t this tutorial a sign that aetuts.com should just shut down. There has never been a more obviously amateur, youtube tutorial on this site…..ever.
R.I.P aetuts.com
The site that Lloyd Alvarez helped start is dead.
how the hell is this ameture
woot pendulum!
Man I’m usually the first person to defend anyone who put’s up any kind of tutorial, and I love to come here to learn new things, but COME ON!! seriously, can we have some fricken quality control on this site and offer some decent tutorials??
Wow! Freddiew’s tut was cooler. But what people fail to understand is that when you show people the video they’ll almost ALWAYS ask where the flash is. Mike is right, people watch movies and think that’s what a gunshot REALLY looks like, so when you go and make a vid that doesn’t look anything like that then obviously they’ll assume that it’s fake. Sure, gun enthusiasts will appreciate it but out of everyone you’ll show only about 10% will know that it’s not realistic. I don’t know about you but I’d like to entertain the greater percentage.
Anyway, it’s a great tutorial. I can build from this and extend it to my liking!
as a multiple gun owner and frequent shooter, I also enjoy creating computer animation/ visual effects. as such, I think I am VERY knowledgeable about how muzzle flash works. muzzle flashes are rather large (even with pistols), and occur often; perhaps EVERY shot even. they may be less noticeable (but still present) in places that are well lit, such as outside in the daylight. at night, or inside in a low light setting, they can occur with EVERY SHOT FIRED. also, the grain of the ammunition (ex. a .40 cal pistol fires ammo with grain amounts ranging from 135gr to 180gr) can have a strong impact of the amount of flash emitted.
also, I think it’s important to understand stylization. in action film making, it’s important to maintain realism but also jazz things up a little. the camera shake is too much. i don’t recommend it. masking the slides and bolt action of the weapons is not recommended either. use airsoft with a gas blow back action. I do however recommend adding brass casings ejecting from the firearm.
I also am a multiple gun owner and frequent shooter and the other day I filmed my shooting just to see how many shots really had muzzle flashes. Muzzle flashes occurred only once in ten to twenty shots, though sometimes not even that. Try it yourself. It does depend on the powder, but you will probably never see a muzzle flash every shot.
to bob,
I agree to disagree. i think that muzzle flashes occur more often than what people think. Mainly because the speed,size an stuff. But I dont think it happens every shot.
Hi Clinton,
Are you interested in freelance work. Mail me at info [at] redandblackfilms [dot] com if you’d like to chat about a feature I have coming up.
Cheers
i dont own a gun,and even for someone whos neva fired a gun this looks fake,but thanx 4 the effort.
Mike, stfu.
This is special effects with “After effects” not the most powerful program. Its time consuming, not everyone has the time to do it. For all you know the kid had something else much more important to do, like fucking your girlfriend. So shut your stupid ass up.