Randomizing
We're going to focus on the machine gun wielded by the
marine on the right. You don't tend to see every single muzzle
flash from a machine gun, so the best way of making the
gunfire seem realistic is to randomise its appearances.
Change the Rate of Fire slider to 30:
This will result in a 30% chance of the muzzle flash
appearing on each frame. If you use the arrow keys to advance
through the frames, you will see that the flash only appears
occasionally.
Dimensions and position
By default the muzzle flash points directly to the right.
We'll align so that it is facing the correct direction.
Advance through the frames until you get to the first
appearance of the flash.
Set Angle X to -28.60 to point it slightly to the
left.
Set Angle Y to 42.06 to point it upwards.
Drag the canvas handle onto the end of the barrel to
position the flash correctly.
Increase the Barrel Gap to 0.15. This will separate the
main core from the side ejection fingers (see below).
Get the size right
The length and height sliders determine the overall size of
the flash.
Change the Length to 197.
Change the Height to
0.34.
Colour
The strobe light used in the example clip gave a blue
light, whereas the default muzzle flash colour is orange.
Although the autotmatic weapon's muzzle flashes will not
appear specifically on the strobe frames, we still want to
change the flash so it matches the lighting. Click the orange
bar near the bottom of the toolbar to display the colour
palette.
Select a light blue colour and click ok:
Adjust the Intensity of the Core Ejection (the higher
slider in the toolbox) to 0.42.
