small update:
- scene is not lit by the effect
- tweaked novas
- tweak final explosion
- final splashes/debris now have some rotational velocity
- core is now stretched/squished the faster it rotates
- BUG: orange slice on stones is missing!
10 Likes
I totally love the art direction and progress for this!!! 
Great work, Simon!
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thank you @Shr1mpsy! 
- today i present the first 60 fps recording
- reworked novas
- added space/time warping at the beginning of the effect and slowly building up before the whole things explodes
- reworked stone timing: they fall a bit later now
- bugfix: glowing slice is back
- end sparkles now turn from yellow to purple
11 Likes
Delicious work ! The timing, the build up, the colors, everything is perfect!
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OMG! it keeps just getting better and better 
Awesome work Simon!
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Thank you @Arklan & @Laura_041!
I finally finished the effect!
Here is the Artstation Page, Breakdown & Project Files:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/B3v258
29 Likes
This is beyond gorgeous 
I wonder how much performance this VFX eats up. While the smoke builds up around the core it consists of 5+ meshes which all use transparency, right? Would you say this could be put into a PC game as is, or would it need like a “reduced” version for lower graphic settings?
(I read that you recorded it with 60 fps, but I imagine your hardware specs to be on the higher end and I’m working with Unity, so can’t take a look at your UE project, unfortunately.)
Once more, amazing work! 
Good question 
I think from an overdraw standpoints it’s ok because the very big novas are just 1 layer of transparency and the core where stuff happens doesn’t fill the whole screen and there is nothing like 100 big soft smoke particles on top of each other. But I must admit that I put a lot of mesh resolution in the geometries i used. I guess I would re-visit this and see if I can optimize more if it would be for a game. It’s also the question if this effect could appear 100x at the same moment on the screen or if it’s a very special spell only fired once.
Regarding the fps: I record in 4K via Sequencer. This means it’s NOT captured in real-time but rendered in a way that 1 frame can take way longer than it would be possible for a game.
Thank you! <3
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That makes sense. Yeah, I imagine it to be on screen only one time or maybe a couple of times, since it draws a lot of attention and would probably be to noisy for a smaller scale. Thanks for your answer! 
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Absolutely stunning!
Could you tell me how you did the distortion around the core that looks like its sucking the atmosphere around it before the explosion?
Thank you! It’s a simple particle with a disortion material and a cone-shapes normal map. You can download the project and check it out of you want.
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I will do just that!, thank you
I made a small project for my GDC22 talk which you can see here:
I’m extending the project a bit because I’ll give the talk again at ADDON22. Here is the current state:
ToDo Notes:
- explo slower
- lightning blue/white
- variation to watersplash
- additional elements (clouds?) for forground?
- rework lit from below/inner volcano smoke texture
14 Likes
- tweaked explosion to communicate scale better (everything slower)
- lightning now blueish
- watersplashes with a bit random scale
- lava debris colliding with volcano
Feedback/Todo:
Shockwave in Air & Water 1. https://youtu.be/BUREX8aFbMs?t=13
Improve water splash (2 stages, angled when stone hits at anngle?) https://youtu.be/iQW-BE8abZs?t=36
- additional elements (clouds?) for forground?
- Physics of smoke, lava lumps and water burts seem to be from different scales, not reading together.
Lava Flow - Steam Column
- Water Foam around Island
- Tweak colors? Discord
4 Likes
very satisfying to watch on loop and this iteration you made is even more impressive
these are the additions i could see attempting
- water highlighting around mountain
- lava flow
- steam column
3 Likes
@Torbach thank you so much for your feedback! <3
Update
- smaller debris
- smaller water splashes (with a first and a 2nd phase/splash)
- lava streams
- shock wave on water
Feedback/Todo:
-
Shockwave in Air & Water 1. https://youtu.be/BUREX8aFbMs?t=13
-
Improve water splash (2 stages, angled when stone hits at anngle?) https://youtu.be/iQW-BE8abZs?t=36
-
Small debris also with glow materials & collide with island
-
Rework Colliding Sparkles
-
Tweak Lightning (new core, color tweak)
-
Shockwave along terrain?
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Tweak Shield Wiggle according to shockwave
-
New Textures (lit below, lit from inside)
-
Recording- Fire should be colder( towards red). Lighting should be mix of blue and red, depending howclose it is tosmoke pillar. Lighting should be somewhat constrained to smoke pillar. -
additional elements (clouds?) for forground?
-
Water Foam around Island
-
Physics of smoke, lava lumps and water burts seem to be from different scales, not reading together.
-
Lava Flow
-
Steam Column
7 Likes
I like your volcanic lightning. In my opinion: you could make the lightning darker and more saturated for a stronger contrast.
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I’ll call this done. Could improve more but I need to finish it, document the texture creation and then give the talk.
New
- new Smoke Column Textures (improved lighting from below & inside)
- tweaked water splash (now with 2 stages, scaled them down a bit)
- Lightning Strikes have a glowing “blob” at their core now
Closer:
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Working on a small effect for a class I’ll give soon. The idea is to have a relatively simple material/shader (mainly uv distortion + alpha erosion) and still get somewhat complex motion:
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A new version. All elements (sphere, ring, smoke, fire, drips, puddle) use the same shader. The drips & circle are inspired by Alex Fedorov: Sketch #20 WIP @AlexFedorov
preview:
7 Likes