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Final effect:
Hi there! Sketch #31. More ice.
The main reference for the effect is this strange ice phenomena, where methane bubbles form under the ice and they explode creating some awesome flames.
I really like the “floating” spiky blue flame. Plus, I’ll be adding some icy elements to it. 
Then, I’ll explore new ways to play with those elements!
Made some progress!
Got the basic scene setup plus the base material I’ll be using to create the icy surface. Obviously, just a WIP.
My aim for this sketch is to keep it simple. I’d like to explore some ice textures, shapes and forms.
Next step: Substance Designer fun! RnD time.
Color correcting the scene and applying some basic post-processing at the moment.
Also, changed the Unreal logo in the mannequin’s chest with the Realtime VFX logo 
Lookdev! I really like the penumbra setting. I will use that one plus an “overcast with almost no shadows” setting to flavour things up.
By the way, this reminds me of…
Substances have been designed! I used some of my fav nodes to create this, such as Slope Blur or Edge Detect.
Here’s the material in context. I really liked the penumbra scene, but I went for a “blue hour” look instead. I wanted the ice to look mystical, glowing with bioluminescence.
The material is a bit expensive though, but since it is a key part of this “mimic” scene I went a bit OTT with it.
Enough materials and environment stuff. Let the effects begin.
Jokes on you.
Surfing through ArtStation I came across this awesome ice material:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/O0Bl6
I liked that look better than the one I made previously, so I used it as a reference to create the latest version of my ice material.
Awesome software joins the battle!
Nick from @JangaFX gave me a license to use both EmberGen and VectorayGen for this sketch.
Sooo cool right? 
So, I’ve been playing with them for a while. They are super easy to use and I had such a great time creating diferent settings and iterating through until I found something I liked!
Download them both right now from the JangaFX website!
These are some of the first tests I made.
I’ll be using VectorayGen to create embers and snowflakes, and I’ll be using EmberGen for the flames.
Short video playing with some parameters such as cooling, fuel loss, combustion ignition, etc. Since the reference is methane bursting into flames and the environment is cold, the flames should dissapear fast and move upwards in a chaotic manner.
Brb gonna create some snow and such.
Done!
I created the frozen bubbles using blender. I made the central one a bit different and symmetrical to create contrast and thus making that zone the focal point, since the main effect is spawning there.
I kept working on the ice material since it is a key element to convey that “freezing cold environment” feeling.
Then, I made some snow using Niagara in combination with a Vector Field made in VectorayGen.
Added embers as a secondary read to the main flame effect. Then, added some heat haze to convey a “burning hot air” feeling.
Had such a fun time with this sketch!
Awesome work Lush 
Thanks for suggesting me to keep iterating on the ice material! It really made a difference hehehehehe
How ho you make underwater bubbles?
Wow amazing work ! great job
Great work! I’m happy to see that EmberGen worked out for the flames. I really dig the ice material too, definitely helps sell the whole scene.
EmberGen worked as a charm for this sketch. It gave me the freedom to create without the hassle of waiting for hours to see the results I wanted!
Thanks @Neall! Glad you liked it
Hey @Hovl!
The bubbles are just some basic geometry that I made using Blender. Then, I imported them into the scene, placed them wherever I felt like, and then merged them all into a single Static Mesh.
Since this is just a sketch, I didn’t worry that much about optimization and such. I just wanted to test stuff out, try new things and see if they would work well together in a real case scenario. It ended up looking great, so I left them as they are!
I thought it was parallax 
This turned out very nice, great work! 
I love the small detail in your video, when the unreal engine mannequin is sliding on your ice material, ha 
Thanks @Shr1mpsy!
The slippery floor was a cool experiment I made for fun but I left it because it felt really great hahahahaha 
