Exercise in bringing Houdini wood destruction, pyro, and smoke elements into Unreal.
Real time shot. All effects are done by me. Environment and a tree model is from Unreal Marketplace.
Main idea is to capture tree destruction after a lighting hit (but without lighting itself).
0. Scene light is briefly very bright to indicate lighting strike
1. Outer layer of tree bursts with explosion coming from a line (where lighting went through) and several pieces fly off. The line in the bark is visible after explosion went off.
Refence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESLsVqo2RY0&ab_channel=DailyPicksandFlicks

2. On the bottom of a tree a smoke briefly appears (where lighting touched the grass). It dissipates with the wind.
Reference for smoke on the bottom same as above
3. Secondary action of small pieces of bark falling from a tree + some tree branches with leaves on it
Reference for pieces (but less destructive) - https://youtu.be/afctVo5gInU
4. Tree starts burning from in its crown. There is some smoke on top, rising in a column.
Reference for smoke color https://youtu.be/6xod5Nw_L0k?t=109
5. Sound effects were added to increase the immersion, everything is triggered though Unreal Timeline.