I’ve been trying to boost my skills by breaking down professional VFX, but I’m at a loss for how the flames in this move are able to tear apart so organically with just sprites. I’m 90% certain that flipbooks are not being used for the flames shown here, and yet this doesn’t look like a case of simple UV distortion, either. I know that opacity erosion with a texture is being used in some sense, but I can’t tell what the shape of the erosion is…
Is this just careful stylized VFX composition with many very handcrafted sprites or something else? If it is, how would one manage the draw calls to all of those without going overboard?
See timestamp 1:15 to 2:00 here: FF XVI Fire Attacks