The 3D World

[might3d]

if you are familiar with the interface of maya . so here we begin :

1) first of all , you must create your emitter

a box for example , or a NURBS sphere

2) this step will insure that there is no history allocated to the sphere

edit=>Delete by type => history

3) now you have to go to the dynamic list and choose ( of course after selecting the emitter = sphere )
dynamic => Effects => create shatter

4) a new window will open , and has all the needed setting about the chunks
their extrusion , size ...

play with the values as you want , doesnt matter for now , you may change them later

now create the emitter

5) now , in the Particles => Create Emitter option box
set a high amount of the Rate ( about 3000 to 6000 )
set the Speed : 60 to 80
and the Random Speed : about 4 or 6 or 7

this Random Speed will randomize the speed of each chunk of the sphere

6)Place the emitter right in the centerof the sphere. while selecting the emitter , go to frame 10 ,In the channel box put value 0 into the row with Rate attribute. Click on the word Rate and highlight the row with a black color as in the picture. With the Rate row highlighted, click and hold the right mouse button above the Rate word. The dropdown menu will appear and in there choose "Key Selection". The red key should appear on the timeslider. go to frame 11 and set the value of the Rate to 5000. Set the key. Then go to frame 12 and put the value to 0 . now you have three keys in the timeslider

and the emitter will activate on 10 and stop on 12

7)In the Outliner select the particles and shard1. Then go to the Dynamics menu and select: Particles>Make Collide option box.

you may repeat this step on each shard of the shards , it us to u

8)
Select the particle node in the outliner and make some adjustments in the attribute editor. Select Random range in the Lifespan Mode dropdown menu. Set Lifespan value to 4 and Lifespan Random to 2. In the Particle Render Type dropdown menu select Cloud. Click on the Current Render Type button. Tick the Better Illumination box, set the Radius to about 1.5 and Threshold to about 2.
these values can be changed according to the type and the fury of the explosion .




this is the simplest way to do such an explosion .


in fact , it will always look very week , and it is not convencing

in CG , you have to compose your work to acheive such a realistic animation .
in cinema production , they enter some real explosions into the animation to ameliorate it and make it looks real .

i would suggest to use AfterBurn Plugin , it's made only to create very and high detailed 3d animated explosion and burning fluids .

it's for 3ds max , and maya|3d
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good luck