creating smoke

[Jim Kanter]

Particle systems.

Or try creating some cloud image layers in Photoshop, bring them into AE and animate scale/position while using transfer modes.

Jim Kanter,
Digital Film Institute
http://www.dfilminst.com

[Joeythedog]

And try throwing in a displacement map for good measure

[Dex Craig]

I’ve been playing with the liquify filter for fog effects recently, as well. That can go a long way toward giving the wispy elements of smoke.

Of course, you can also try out Particle Illusion. They really excel at smoke and explosion effects.

I did some effects shots of flying saucers attacking San Francisco and used PI for virtually all of the smoke. You can see that clip (Windows Meida only, I’m afraid) on my site. Here’s the link:

https://www.dexfx.com/Invasion_clip.htm

[Mark Whitmore]

Thanks guys, I’ll start playing around see what I can come up with.

[Bill Oneil]

I have a simple smoke recipe using

[Joshua Ferg]

Just saw this and wanted to add an easier alternative of Radio Waves – with a few tweaks. The results can be photo realistic.