The war zone, part two

This three-part series of tutorials reveals how you can recreate the war movie-style VFX shot shown above from nothing more than a still photograph. Last issue, we set up the production pipeline necessary to complete the work quickly and flexibly. This month, we will look at the effects themselves.

Most of the visual effects you see in modern blockbuster films use a combination of 2D and 3D elements, and this shot is no exception. As well as creating falling debris within 3ds Max, we will implement 2D techniques to manipulate individual rendered images of smoke clouds to create a sense of motion.

We will also make use of pyrotechnic footage in our scene (kindly supplied by Detonation Films – see www.detonationfilms.com for more information), to further cut down production time. Using stock footage in this way is a common production technique, so we will explore how to set up material that has been shot on video to be worked on within a compositing package.

Next issue, we’ll bring all of these elements together in Combustion, and perform the final tweaks necessary to ensure a top-quality end result. Remember that compositing isn’t just about laying images on top of one another. With today’s applications, you’re able to do so much more, including working in multiple planes or using virtual cameras to make your composites and matte paintings come to life. By planning to make use of these capabilities right from the start of the production process, artists can avoid the need to render huge numbers of separate 3D elements, speeding up workflow and offering vastly increased flexibility with the look of the finished shot.

As with the previous part of the tutorial, source files for both the 3ds Max and Combustion workspaces are provided. However, you will follow the steps to render out the 3D scene frames on your own. 

Click here to download the support files (~52MB)