Grading the flames
We will now use the grading controls to further
enhance our flame effect. Click on the Grade timeline
track for your effect to switch the toolbox to the grading tools.
To smooth our flames out a bit, and blend the
particles together more realistically, we will use a bit of blur. There
are a number of different blur filters to choose from, including Blur:
Angle, Blur: Gaussian, Blur: Radial, and Blur: Zoom. In our case, the
reason the flames require some blurring is that they are moving. To
simulate a motion blur, we will use the Blur: Angle filter.
Blur: Angle
Using the Direction Wheel, set the angle of your blur to the general
direction the flames take as they come out of the window. I used an
Absolute value of 20.23. We don’t want a lot of blur, just enough to blend
the individual particles into one single fire entity. Use a Strength of 4
to achieve this.
Object properties
Every object on the timeline has additional
properties you can access by clicking its main title in the track listing.
The toolbox will change to show general information about the clip. A few
of the settings can be altered.
Composite blend mode
In the Composite menu, set the Composite Blend Mode to Lighten. The
initial effect on the flames is fairly subtle, but when you eventually add
smoke to the effect, it will help the fire and smoke blend together more
convincingly.
Now it is time for one final render, and
see how your flames look. Of course, they would look better with some
smoke. I hope to do a tutorial on smoke eventualy, but in the meantime,
you can download the smoke presets I have created and give them a try, or,
if you are up to it, feel free to try create your own smoke.
Hopefully at this point, you have a better
understanding of how the controls in the particle engine work. So, if you
see any aspect of the effect that needs adjusting, or you feel you could
improve it in some way, I strongly encourage you to try it.
Get back into the Emitter Attributes and try
making some changes. Maybe you want the flames to go a bit faster. Perhaps
you want to try a more complicated effect, where the sparks are created
and controlled by their own seperate emitter. Perhaps you think they are
too bright and want to bring a bit more color into the effect. Maybe you
want to introduce some additional textures, or replace some or all of the
textures entirely.
By all means, give it a try. Getting in there
and seeing what happens when you make changes is the best way to get a
feel for the controls.
