UPDATE
I’ve submitted this current version, so i’ve also changed the title to be FIN instead of WIP.
Current Progress:
Effect Only Cut:
https://player.vimeo.com/video/219063757
Check out the quoted post below for more.
I’ve just done a quick proof of concept on getting a fluid sim of the transformation from houdini to UE4.
Huge shoutout to @luiz for his Houdini 16 Game Tools. They sped this process up immensely.
I have got a lot to do, I want to switch out the assets for something more thematic, and I need to do an effects pass for each step of the process. But I’m pleased to have something in engine.
Super simple steps. Put it in the Epic: “Matinee Demo” because I like the look of the scene and where I plan on going with it, i think it will fit really nicely.
Setup some basic Sequencer stuffs to create a framework I can build on.
Also redid the fluid sim setup a bit. I noticed that some of the initial splatter strands didn’t seem to be falling at a regular speed. Turned out gravity was being modulated because I’m sometimes dumb. So now the initial splatter will run at a more normal ‘water like’ speed. I may make changes to that again depending on what the newer assets end up looking like.
New character to explode, courtesy of my coworker Clinton Crumpler. Makes everything feel a bit more real. Just testing in unlit mode for now to see texture/material curvature easier.
First preview and tests at the character swap. Timing, anticipation, and additional effects work all need work (need to exist at all).
So much to do. 
I’ve blocked out my effect and the story now with some work in progress work. The setup is a droid on patrol comes into the room, does a quick scan, then a full scan before seeing the protagonist (probably just a place holder at somepoint) then charges. During the charge the protagonist sets off a magic spell (maybe laser beam?) that melts the droid then reforms it into the more friendly shape of a usable washing machine.
First real setup with some blocking, the basic and primary set of fluid effects. Some material work for the dissolve and reformation.
I’ve transitioned to a top down, tactics/moba game viewpoint, and I think I am going to run with that, i’ve been playing a lot of HOTS, and so currently it resounds with me. I am going to add a bit of polish to the floating drone, especially a sight cone effect that will go red right before the charge.
Primarily though since I am currently thinking of going on a magic bent, I am going to start a layer of effects work for the beam or blast that causes the initial melt effect, and some particle and magical effects to help motivate the forming/gathering of the fluid and the transportation to the target sight.
Also need to revist lighting and character materials since currently I’m just using what comes with the MatineeDemo.
EDIT: Also I revisited the effect to make it a flying transfer, because @Ben-O has got the melting and reforming effect on lock. 
Make sure to check his out: Benoit Onillon: TGT Competition WIP - #11 by Ben-O
Thanks man. Please melt all you want I think we’re doing very different things, especially with all that story you got going on.
Love how the fluid dissolves around the washing machine at the end!
Some more minor progress.
First thing I did was revisit the timing, the whole sequence didn’t feel right to me after looking again last night and I realized my sim’s frame rate and what I had in engine didn’t match… duh… so I’ve fixed that up. I do now feel that the splatter doesn’t fall quite fast enough (looks a bit floaty) but the whole sequence feels better to me.
Manipulated materials a bit, and added an animated pass of high-frequency liquid noise detail. It is a bit hard to see, but during the explosion I blend in a top down projection of water-like ripples that scale up from the point of impact to a halt as the liquid settles. Then I blend them back in and scale them inwards during the initial suction moment.
Also I have started making the first set of ‘magic-like’ effects, to add some intention and direction to the entire effects. Early days still in that regards, but now I have a fancy automatic ribbon spline blueprint maker that I can use to ensure I get high quality curves.
I definitely wasted a bit of time trying to go down the particle ribbon route. I first got them working with sequencer scrubbing, and then set up a good deal of animation with them that I was theoretically happy with, but ultimately had to scrap the Cascade ribbons because the speed at which I wanted them to animate meant I couldn’t get nice smooth curves without more tech investment.
Anyway, I’m happy with what I did manage to get done, though I think I’ll have to revisit the textures and look of my magic bits.
Awesome man! I really like that swirling effect at the beginning, it get’s me excited for something amazing about to happen, I really feel that build up of excitement when watching. Only thing is the angle of the camera and distance… it’s just slightly far away. is there a way you could get in there a liiiitle closer to your effect? I wanna see all those details 
Thanks mate!
I’ll see what I can do about being so far away. I like it being a MOBA/Tactics like effect, so I do want to focus on it looking good at that classic MOBA distance, but I might try out some camera adjustments for the next render. Maybe I could zoom in and make the camera follow the effect instead of being static.
I could always set up two cameras, once doing that type of follow cam, and once with a static cam.
yeah totally see where you’re coming from on this xD. I think the thing that I’m mostly responding to is the end of the effect is a bit far off to the edge of the screen 
Definitely. Next capture i’ll do a follow cam and see how that feels.
I’ve added a pass of effects to the droid. Some engine fire, a scanner, and some engine wash. Did a slight pass of its materials, adding some additional Fresnel to keep it more visible. Not super happy with the scanner, So I may remove it, even though since the beginning I’ve been thinking of having it. What do y’all think? I don’t want to spend a ton more time on the character effects since I still have a lot more to do when it comes to the actual destruction effect.
Speaking of which (not in this video) i have started on the actual attack effects, but I’m being pulled in a couple of directions, so I’ll need to figure out if I want to stick with a set of trails effects or if I want to do something more physical. Got a lot to think about, and a lot of work to figure out the actual effect that causes the melting.
For Petrie I pushed in on a more zoomed in follow camera, though I think now I’ll need to up the resolution of the noise normals on the mesh to match the texture density in the level since we are now closer to it.
Coming down to the wire now. I think next I’m focusing on the attack part, and then I want to do another pass over the formation. I also want to look into adding some more typical bits of effects to it, like heat distortion and whisps of smoke/and/or magic throughout the whole effect.
Bonus: I added some secondary animation to the lid during the reveal. I was inspired by @NikolaD’s teapot’s lid.
Haha, awesome! I’m glad I have inspired something as cool as this 
Keep up the good work!
https://player.vimeo.com/video/218396060
Whew! All the components are now in.
There is always iteration and work that could be done. Gotta love that polish, but I’m pretty pleased.
Infact, I may take a stab at audio if I do anything else, because I have always wanted to mess around with that stuff. We’ll see, I know nearly 0 about sound stuff so it is a bit presumptuous of me to think I’ll be able to pull it off. But still, we’ll see.
I’m pretty pleased.
I did some audiosss…
I feel pretty overwhelmed by audio actually, but I dont’ hate it. And it was interesting learning new stuff even if I still feel like I don’t quite get it. It was definitely fun going through freesound.org for the first time. So many audio files!
I’ve updated that last video with a bit more audio polish, some more electricity sounds, liquid sounds, and increased the impact of the washing machine door hit. And I’m uploading a quick shorter version just right before the effect starts, skipping the intro, I’ll place that in the first post.
I put another final pass of audio polish. I’m going to submit this version, mostly because I’m out of time, but also because I’m pretty happy with where I got.
https://player.vimeo.com/video/219063313
Since i’m submitting this, if people are interested in different parts of the effect, i’m also up for answering questions and maybe making breakdowns.
The fluid transition is really great and adds a lot to the fx, I’m not sure about the yellow “swirl”, it seems out of context, I’d try a version without it just to focus on the nice fluid motion
I love the Tarkovsky vibe that you have in this scene. Nice stuff =]
Thanks!
Yeah originally I had everything just going with the fluid, but it didn’t feel right to me, without something to motivate the fluid motion. I get what you are saying though.