I started writing a text version of how to disintegrate someone a little while ago, but it isn’t quite finished yet. There’s only a few steps missing from the logo one to make it viable for destroying humans.
-Shoot the actor in front of a green/blue screen, pull the key from the footage in an editing or compositing program, and then import that background footage into pI with an alpha channel (a solid actor in front of a transparent background).
-Rather than hiding the background image with a box like in the logo tutorial, use the Background Image controls to turn off the footage of the actor at a specific frame (you can only turn off the background on a certain frame if you have the 3.01 update. In 3.0, you needed to edit the clip of your actor in your editing program so that it ends on the frame that you want the actor to dissapear on).
-Use an area emitter rather than a line one, make it cover the area where the actor is on the frame you want him to start disintegrating. By using Get Color and Get Transparency from Layer, you’ll be creating a duplicate of your actor out of particles, and you can then adjust the Weight, Velocity, etc to destroy them as you see fit.
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Elvis Deane!
The particleIllusion FAQ
particleIllusion Resources and tutorial CD
Astounding Adventures