Itim Kongsakulvatnasook

Week 05 - Refine Particles FX | Lighting and Particles Look Development

02 - 08 Feb 2026

Week 6 Review

Mentors Feedback and Suggestions

  • Combine Shots 3 and 4; Shot 4 is the hero.

  • Shot 3: Consider a more macro approach

  • Shot 3-4: Particle speed is too fast—formation should feel progressive, not explosive.

  • Shots 3-4: Particles don’t clearly connect to the paint/printed surface

  • Shots 3-4: Hitting a collider instead of the surface feels unintentional

  • Shots 3-4: Let particles contribute to lighting.

  • Shots 3-4: Layer multiple sims (particles, smoke, trails)

  • Shots 4: Particles feel solid/glittery—aim for liquid, chalky pigment

  • Shots 4: Too big and too few—use more, smaller particles.

  • Shots 4: Add motion blur; watch substeps and banding.

    • Completed

    Team Tasks

  • Shot 1-2: Change the fluid to particles and refine the look of the particles

  • Shot 4-5: Refine the motion and look of the particles and set up lights for render

  • Refined lighting for shot 1-2 and final shot

  • Custom height/displacement for the painting shot

  • Refined materials

  • shot 1-2, 4: Render AOVS

  • AOV testing

    • Individual Tasks

  • Shot 3: Create emissive mask of the particles

  • Shot 3-4: Lighting

  • shot 3: Render AOVS

    • To-Do Lists

    Team Tasks

  • Shot 1-2: Refine the particle flow and improve its smoothness.

  • Shot 4-5: Refine the look of particles

  • Custom height map for objects post-printing

  • Render AOVs

  • AOV testing

  • Render AOVs

    • Individual Tasks

  • Shot 3: Add layer of surrounding particles

  • Shot 3: Create material for surrounding particles

  • Shot 5: Add colorful particles floating together with the objects

  • Shot 5: Add particle from shot 4 at the beginning of the shot so it’ll look continue

    • Emissive Mask for Dropping Particles

    Use age attribute to control the area and amount of the emissive material

    Without Emission

    With Emission

    Emission Mask controls using VEX

    Add Spill Lighting

    Problem: Want to have an obvious spill light from the emissive material but when the intensity is too high, the particles look blown out

    Solution: Use mesh light with the same texture as the particles to create spill light

    Without Mesh Light

    With Mesh Light