# Blender 3D: Noob to Pro/Making Fire

|previous=Particle Systems
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framed\|**Figure 1:** My idea of particle
fire. We\'re going to
create a camp fire with a simple particle system. This tutorial is based
on the method described in the Blender
Manual.
The result of this tutorial is shown in **Fig. 1**, the Blend-File is
included at the bottom of this page.

If you need more realistic looking fire, you should use the method
described in BlenderArt Magazine No.
16, though that method is more
advanced and uses Compositing Nodes heavily.

The starting point of the tutorial is how fire behaves physically. The
flames are made of hot gases. These accelerate upwards due to their
lower density in contrast to the cooler air in the environment. Flames
are in the middle hot and bright, to the outside they are darker.


## The particle system

!**Figure 2a:** A simple
scene{width="300"}
I\'ve created the usual scene with some stones and a few pieces of wood
(the wood is by courtesy of Teeth). (**Fig. 2a**).

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  **Noob note:** I made the stones by adding an Icosphere of 3 subdivisions, and then used the proportional edit falloff (**OKey**) with the random falloff mode. And then subdivide and smooth.
  **Noob note 2:** For the wood I used a modified Plane with an Image texture created with **GIMP**
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-   Add a *Plane* in the middle of the stones.

This will become the particle emitter.

-   Rename the *Plane* object to \"Emitter\".

If you use good names you will find it much easier to orientate yourself
in your scene later. Having 100 objects named \"Cube.something\" will
make it very difficult to quickly select a desired object.

-   Subdivide the plane once in *Edit* mode.
-   Change the shape of the plane, so that it\'s shape equals the base
    of the fire.
-   Change to object mode.

framed\|**Figure 2b:** The particle
system

-   Change to the *Particle* buttons of the *Object* buttons.
-   Create a particle systems (*Add New* in the *Particle System*
    panel - and make sure the plane is selected!).
-   *Type: Emitter* The plane emits the particles.
    -   *Amount:* 9000 The total amount of particles.
    -   *Sta:* -45 The simulation shall start before the rendering, to
        have a fully developed flame in the first frame.
    -   *End:* 200 The simulation shall last 200 frames - here: the
        particles are emitted till frame 200.
    -   *Life:* 16.6 I\'ve adjusted the lifetime of the particles to
        their speed. Both parameters together regulate the height of the
        flame.
    -   *Rand:* 0.5 The lifetime is changed randomly.
-   *Emit from:*
    -   *Random*
    -   *Faces*
    -   *Even*
    -   *Random*

This creates particles with a random distribution on the faces of the
emitter object.

The movement of the particles is controlled with particle physics. You
set the *Initial Velocity* and let the physics do the rest.

-   *Normal:* -0.099 The particles are emitted slightly against the
    direction of the face normal. This leads to a bit wider fire at the
    base.
-   *Random:* 0.014 This creates a random start velocity as well in
    speed as in direction (you could use a texture to randomize only the
    speed, see the discussion page for that).

After you have given the particles an initial velocity they are moved by
forces.

-   *AccZ:* 2.57 A force in positive Z direction (upwards).

-   *Drag:* 0.1 Air drag decelerates the particles.
-   *Brown:* 1.99 Random movement simulates agitated air movement.

!**Figure 2c:** Particles without
material{width="200"}
The particle system is finished. Until now is doesn\'t look like much
(see the white Blob in **Fig. 2c**). Therefore the emitter will get a
material, this material will be animated.

## Material

framed\|**Figure 3a:** Material for the emitter
object.

-   Create a new material for the emitter, call the material *Flames*.
-   Activate the *Halo* button in the *Links and Pipeline* panel. Else
    we couldn\'t set the particle parameters. The particles would be
    rendered with the default Halo values.
-   *Halo* color: 1/0/0 (red)
-   *Alpha:* 0.8 The particles shall always be a bit transparent.
-   *HaloSize:* 0.132 I wanted many, but fairly small particles.
-   *Hard:* 45 The transition from fully transparent to fully opaque.
-   *Add:* 0.875 Several *Halos* over each other combine their power.
    This makes the fire in the center really bright.
-   *HaloTex:* A Halo can bear an individual texture, but only the
    texture in the first texture slot is evaluated.

To give the Halo a bit more structure, give it a texture:

-   Add a new texture in the first texture slot.
-   *Map To:*
    -   *Col*
    -   Color: Bright yellow (1/1/0.664)

!**Figure 3b:** Adjusted
texture{width="600"}

-   Use an adjusted *Clouds* texture with a *NoiseSize* of 0.6.

### Animation of the particle material

framed\|**Figure 3c:** Animation of the *Alpha*
value
The particles \"pop\" into life and vanish suddenly. We should change
that. Therefore we\'re going to animate the *Alpha* value of the
particles.

-   Make sure the material buttons are visible in the buttons window.
-   Change to frame 21, move the mouse cursor over the button window and
    press **I**-\>*Alpha*. This is going to be the maximum visibility of
    the particles.
-   Change to frame 1. Change the *Alpha* value to 0 and insert the next
    key.
-   Change to frame 100. Change the *Alpha* value to 0 again and insert
    the third key.

If you want to see the IPO curve in the *IPO Editor* window you must
change the *IPO Type* selector in the window header from *Object* to
*Material*.

The *Alpha* value therefore changes during the individual lifetime of
each particle from 0 to 0.8 and back to 0 (**Fig. 3c**).

## Rendering

Our particle animation is finished.

-   Change the end frame in the *Anim* panel of the rendering Buttons to
    200 and click on *Anim*.

**Note: If after rendering your particles are too small, such that the
fire doesn\'t look realistic, try increasing the *Halo size* slightly. I
used 0.300 instead of 0.132**

To actually let the fire glow you have to use one or more lamps and
animate them as well. But that would be part of another tutorial \...

