• Icosphere-Subdivisions 4
• Particle System add
• add Modifier Explode (check Cut Edges, Uncheck Dead, Check Size)
• In Scene, Check Gravity, Change Z:-2
• In Particle System: End:2.00, Emitter Geometry: Normal: 5.00, Trail Count:4, Length:(Around)0.277, Random:around 0.735
• Materials: Yellow Diffues, Specular-Yellow, Intensity:around 0.761
• Add another Icosphere, Scale it to x:0.8, y:0.8, z:0.8
• Add another particle system, Start:40, End:60, Emission: 300, Emitter geometry:Normal: 5.00, Emitter Object:Z:-2
• Materials: red
• add a modifier, explode, check cut edges, uncheck dead, check size
• Run the simulation (click File , Save As, to save the Blend file first before baking), then BAKE!
• This will give you a firework explosion, then after another firework explosion from the same place…You can use Shift D to duplicate both these items & stick them somewhere else, change the material colours, & change the timing…You can keep doing this to have multiple fireworks going off around the same time but not exactly…This is the easiest way I have found to do it…There are much much longer tutorials on fireworks, but I had some trouble with them & to be honest this does a pretty good job of getting the message across without hurting the artist’s brain too much…Or missing deadlines!!!
• Credits: especially this video tutorial in German:(but just watch & you can follow without understanding the words…http://youtu.be/-OCJ4lb19k4 Nico9147

Below is a Proof cover for a print version of our book…You can read the proof version still for free on the front page of our website at http://www.grovecanada.ca

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

•   Smoke & Fire in Blender:
• Get a domain(like a cube) & flow object(anything really) and make them “smoke” in Physics (You can make the flow object smoke & fire instead of just smoke after)
• Set the material of the domain to Volume, and the density setting to 0
• Create a texture for that material,
 Set type to Voxel Data, 
Set the domain object to whatever your domain(like Cube) is under the voxel data panel, 
Under the influence panel, uncheck emission and check density
• Extra: You can choose particle System as the thing the smoke & fire come out of if you already have a particle system set up…(So like the firework lesson at the top of this post-you can add smoke & fire to that!)…Fancy!
• Credits: ezraezra1 This person made a very instructive comment on this page: scroll down to see the comment there…http://www.blenderguru.com/videos/introduction-to-smoke-simulation/ This is where I got this crucial information relating to setting materials & textures when it comes to smoke & fire…I knew how to get it set up, but it wasn’t rendering…EZRAEZRA1 ‘s comment clarified the whole thing for me…You might not see it since it is in the Comment section, so I basically abbreviated it & put it here…Hope this is ok with you ezraezra1? Don’t have a link for you…

below: I set the Particle System to Lines & used Fluid as the choice…(the pink trails)…The smoke is set to particle system…if you mess with settings, you get to know how these all cool things work…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More on Fireworks in Blender 2.67b:

http://soundbible.com/692-Fireworks.html here are the firework sounds I used…From SoundBible.com

http://blenderdiplom.com/index.php/en/tutorials/item/87-firework-with-particles-in-blender-263 This tutorial, right at the beginning, has an excellent explanation of how to make the rocket launcher part of the firework…The thing that shoots up before the big splash…Though I worked through the entire tutorial, I did not get the rest of the stuff to work really…Sort of, but not really…So if you want to just learn the rocket launcher thing, watch that first section, learn it, then just use the really easy way to do the splash explosion I put first here in this post…Will save you a whole day of grief…

http://youtu.be/aDSGuA9tZ7w This is also a pretty involved fireworks tutorial by Andrew Price…I also had problems with it, probably because I am using a newer version of Blender, & the nodes section is much more intuitive now…Not sure why however…I did learn alot here, though I did not succeed…

Comment:if you are making animations that are copying photographs or video feeds, it really begs the question: Why? I would tend to agree…My feeling is that art is artifice…Artifice speaks to fiction…To possibility…To imagination…If you are copying from things that already exist, then you are not really making artifice are you? You are not really an artist…The art of it is making it different from what is out there…better…(worse sometimes)…But different…Something that does not exist already…I would encourage people to change their work from reality…Don’t try to slavishly follow reality…Your work may then become redundant…Why create an animation of fireworks that looks JUSt like a video of real fireworks when you could just use the video footage? It becomes silly…But not only silly, as an arts worker, your job will become redundant…But if you can make fireworks that don’t exist, then maybe you have a niche…Find a style…Gladiator was filmed with a blue tint-over the whole film…It creates difference, a signature of sorts…One can go further…The more you change things from the real, the safer your arts niche will be…

This post will be updated as I get new information…