A recent project we were given was a particle and composting exercise. We were given a file of a War bunker that we had to try and explode it in a realistic way using a mix of maya and compositing.

This was a fun exercise as any I quite enjoy working with and modifying dynamic systems. I started building this scene in parts and separate files.

I created a ground dust particle effect by having an expanding torus that acted as a emitter for a burst of particles. The torus was hidden,The particles then influenced a fluid shape.

The Exploding bunker was created with rigid bodies. I experimented with using Ncloth to explode the bunker as i wanted the bunker to explode in a staggered blast. So point of impact of shell the roof to start to shatter. Then shortly after having the rest of the bunker explode.

I ended up scrapping this method in favor for rigid bodies.

A problem that occurred with this method was the start initial frame would not save so each time re opening the file the scene would rest back to frame 1 as to opposed to the frame i intended.

With this scene i wanted the bunker to feel alive before being hit so i created a incandescent line that was attached to a spline then repeated through post infinity.

With this project i settled for only these two dynamics to be created in 3D the rest of the effects i blended stock footage and created effects in After effects. I found a neat tutorial that allowed me to add slight variation to the clouds that was originally a image but in the end looks like it is animated.

A little editing i did was add exploding ground before the bunker gets hit. This was created in After effects where i had a duplicate of the exploding bunker file then scaled it down and color blended to make it look more like the ground.

This project was fun as got a insight into compositing, more experience in dynamic systems.

Here is a video of the final shot of the bunker exploding.