Ground Crack

HOW IT'S MADE

Ground Crack is drawn with 30 glowing strokes, lines with a hot core and a soft glow traced along their shapes, plus 10 particle emitters. Techniques worth a look: paths and keyframed parameters.

It loops seamlessly every 2.2 s, and 3 of its layers fire in bursts, so it pulses instead of flowing evenly. To recolour the line, select "Crack Rim 1" and change Core and Glow; Start and End set how much of it is drawn.

Layers, in draw order

1. CraterparticlesA single long-lived particle that stays for the whole loop. It grows as it ages.
2. Crack Rim 1, Crack Rim 2, Crack Rim 3 +27strokeA glowing line traced along a path. Its start and end are keyframed, so it writes itself on and off.
3. Flash, Shock Ringparticles / additiveA single particle at 0.06 s. It grows as it ages. Colour: pale gold.
4. Dust Spurt 1, Dust Spurt 2, Dust Spurt 3 +2particlesA stream of smoke puffs along a path, its rate keyframed over the loop. They grow as they age, spin and slow down with drag. Colour runs from white to pale orange over each life.
5. Popping ChipsparticlesA stream of debris from a disc, its rate keyframed over the loop. They spin and slow down with drag. Colour: orange.
6. Centre DustparticlesOne burst of 14 smoke puffs from a disc at 0.06 s. They grow as they age, spin and slow down with drag. Colour runs from white to pale orange over each life.