VFX HQ: Digital Tools : Pyromania

Digital Tools : Pyromania

Pyromania and Pyromania 2 are two vital CD-ROMs for any desktop video system. If you are looking to add organic elements to your composites, you need these two discs. Included on Pyromania are 16 fantastic clips, ranging from explosions, shockwave blasts, fire wipes and flame effects, while Pyromania 2 adds smoke effects and fireworks, along with more explosions and fire.

All footage was shot on 35mm film by pyrotechnics professionals and were scanned at 2K resolution. All footage is presented in 640x480, and is perfectly set up for video, film and Quicktime composites.

Most of the footage clips do not contain alpha channels, but creating an alpha for explosions was surprisingly easy, especially in Adobe After Effects (just alter the mode of the Pyromania layer to "Screen"). You can see elements from these discs used in numerous TV shows and commercials.

I use After Effects heavily, and Pyromania and Pyromania 2 were exactly what I was looking for to add organic explosion and fire effects to my composites.

Pyromania and Pyromania 2 are available for both the Mac and PC. For more information and examples, check out VCE's web site at http://www.vce.com.

NEW PRODUCT: From the makers of Pyromania and Pyromania 2 comes Pryomania Pro, a 2 disc set of all new explosions and fire effects, many containing matte elements. A must-have if you're into desktop compositing.