House Explosion

My most challenging project to date is one I am very proud of. Since this shot combined destruction sims with pyro sims, having them as the center point meant making them look good was important.

To fracture the building, I separated it into different pieces (chimney, windows, walls, roof, wooden doors). This allowed me to fracture each piece accordingly. The constraints were a very important factor in selling the destruction effect. A building that explodes does not pulverize into a million pieces; some big chunks fly or stay behind on the ground.

For the fire explosion, several pyro simulations were used. The main explosion, which is the centerpiece of the shot, is followed by a secondary, smaller explosion that aims to fill up the area closer to the ground with smoke and soot. Mixing several explosions is a good way to create a more dynamic and random result. Additionally, an explosion like this would cause a lot of dust and smoke to be thrown everywhere. This was added via debris smoke, which emitted thick smoke matching the explosions from the separating pieces of the fractured house.